Truscinski Wins at the Bullring, Pederson Crowned 2018 Champ

2018 NLSA champion, Kelsi Pederson (left) in victory lane with River Cities Speedway feature winner, Alan Truscinski (right).

By Mike Spieker

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (September 19, 2018) – The 2018 season for the Northern Lightning Sprint Association came to a close under the bright lights of River Cities Speedway. Entering the night, Kelsi Pederson held a slim nine point lead over Alan Truscinski.

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Pederson began the night by charging from dead last in her heat race to take the win. The driver of the No. 93 Lightning Sprint took the lead on lap three and went on to take the win by over three seconds. Truscinski wasn’t far behind. The Greenbush, Minn. driver wheeled his way from fifth to finish second.

Pederson and Truscinski then shared the front row for the 15-lap main event. Pederson jumped out to the early lead, but Truscinski remained within striking distance. A midrace restart gave Truscinski an opportunity to take the lead, but Pederson shut the door going into turn one.

Coming to the white flag, Truscinski snuck around the outside of Pederson to take the lead. On the final lap, Zak Kwiatkoski also snuck by Pederson. Truscinski went on to claim his second win of the season at the Bullring.

Kwiatkoski, Pederson, Alex Truscinski and Mike Schmiedeberg rounded out the top five.

“It’s been an awesome run with all these guys. All us Lightning Sprint families are real close,” said Truscinski in victory lane. “We had a tight run in our NLSA points this season. All in all, it was a great race tonight.”

“I’ve been fortunate enough to start up front here a lot of the time. Tonight, Alan earned it. I was getting looser and looser and started to overdrive the car. That’s just how racing goes sometimes, but it was a lot of fun,” said Pederson in victory lane after being crowned the NLSA champion.

RESULTS:
A Feature (15 Laps): 1. 13-Alan Truscinski, [2]; 2. 17K-Zachary Kwiatkoski, [7]; 3. 93-Kelsi Pederson, [1]; 4. 10-Alex Truscinski, [3]; 5. 79-Mike Schmiedeberg, [11]; 6. 11-Dexter Dvergsten, [4]; 7. 16-Kyle Cole, [6]; 8. 1W-Mark Williams, [8]; 9. 22H-Dylan Herman, [5]; 10. 40-Lawrence Veralrud, [9]; 11. (DNF) 21-Steve Hildebrand, [12]; 12. (DNF) 2-Clifford Steyn, [10]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 10-Alex Truscinski, [2]; 2. 11-Dexter Dvergsten, [1]; 3. 22H-Dylan Herman, [4]; 4. 17K-Zachary Kwiatkoski, [5]; 5. 2-Clifford Steyn, [3]; 6. 79-Mike Schmiedeberg, [6]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 93-Kelsi Pederson, [6]; 2. 13-Alan Truscinski, [5]; 3. 16-Kyle Cole, [2]; 4. 1W-Mark Williams, [3]; 5. 40-Lawrence Veralrud, [4]; 6. (DNF) 21-Steve Hildebrand, [1]