Prelude to the John Seitz Memorial 6th annual

The is the Prelude to the Johnny for the sixth annual John Seitz memorial race. Thursday was the NLRA Late Model Season Championship and this is the video from the "A" feature.

Night 1 of the John Seitz Memorial.

A time for reflection:
Last night was the opening night of the two day John Seitz Memorial Late Model Invitational at River Cities Speedway. One could say that River Cities Speedway has been planning for this weekend races for a long time. This race was in honor of John Seitz who was one arguably of the best late model drivers in the upper Midwest. This past winter John Seitz tragically passed away in his sleep of natural causes on February 4th 2007 while on a snowmobile trip out west.

The real shocker to me was how many people actually showed up for the first night of the John Seitz Memorial Late Model Invitational. Where the heck was everyone? It would be an understatement to say that the crowd on Thursday night was very small and disappointing,. Seriously folks there couldn’t have been 2000 people there in the stands.

My first question is how could this happen? Is this how we honor a hero or legend? It can’t be. Seriously, this was supposed to be a big weekend to honor a great driver. It’s only one night and it still could be a big crowd tonight, but seriously folks, this was supposed to be the night River Cities Speedway honored the great late John Seitz, super late model driver, the man; the legend; the racer. The drivers put one hell of a show on and the fans disappointed.

If you look at this event in a serious light; this weekend was not planned over night, this was a weekend that was planned over the course of the summer and there is no reason that this event shouldn't have been a bigger, the opening night of this event should have been a smashing success with a huge crowd showing up. There should have been 4000-5000 fans in the stands like the World of Outlaws special.

Frankly, there is no reason for not having a bigger crowd at the speedway to honor a great racer, on a beautiful night For the life of me; I can’t understand how this could happen, seriously folks, there should have been a bigger crowd at the speedway tonight and there really isn't any excuse for not having a bigger crowd at the speedway tonight. It’s not like the event was very expensive. As most of us know there is nothing else going on in Grand Forks, ND on this Thursday night; except for this late model race. The only thing I can think of that kept people from coming to the speedway was the small threat of rain and that it was a school night.

Did I mention there were some really great drivers at River Cities Speedway last night? Wow, what a line up.



Number 92

This is a picture I took of Trin and the Goon standing next to Don Shaw's Late Model, Shaw had a race Car with John Seitz's old number and paint Scheme on it. Lets just say that it was nice to see the 92 car racing again at River Cities speeday.




Gordy Tuel

Tonight we had the pleasure of talking with River Cities Speedway flag man Gordy Tuel. Gordy was a legend in his racing days at River Cities Speedway.

Don't Miss the John Seitz the 6th and 7th of September

This is an event that I have been waiting for all summer long. This past winter River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, ND lost one of the areas top Late Model drivers in John Seitz, as he passed away on February 4th 2007 in his sleep while on a snowmobile trip out west. One could say that there is a void at the speedway not seeing the 92s on the race track winning races.

On the 6th and 7th of September River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, ND will be host to one of the biggest Super Late Models races in the History of the Upper Midwest. The two day race ends with a feature paying 9200.00 to the winner. That purse of $9200.00 is second only to the 10,000 grand that Joey Saldana won in the a main of the World of Outlaws sprint car feature they had the track earlier this summer at River Cities Speedway. The speedway is expecting probably in the neighborhood of 45-60 cars on the weekend. This ladies and gentlemen is a must see event. I am not going to miss this event unless its raining pitch forks and hammer handles.

Although I am not a person know for using cheesy clichés this really does puts things into perspective. You never really know how much time you have left in this world, and what a better way to honor a great racer than to have an awesome weekend of late model racing like this. I believe we are very lucky in Grand Forks, ND to have a racing facility such as this. There is going to be a lot of action at River Cities Speedway this weekend, I can just about guarantee that. In looking at the World of Outlaws Late Models series schedule and I happened to noticed that the big boys are not racing this weekend, so you kind of wonder who is going to show up at the track to compete for the $9200.00 purse. I am crossing my fingers and hoping that mother Natures is very nice to us this weekend.

Big turn out expected for next weekend.

In less than a week, Brad Seng will race in one of the biggest races of his career.

The John Seitz Memorial Late Model Invitational is on tap at River Cities Speedway next week, a two-day event that pays the winner $9,200.

Seng and Seitz, the Bemidji driver who died last winter, were good friends.

And Seng couldn't have asked for a better tune-up for the Seitz Memorial after the Grand Forks driver pulled off a thrilling win Friday night in the 20-lap late model feature race at RCS before an estimated 3,000 fans.

Seng utilized heavy lapped traffic to overtake Brent Larson of Lake Elmo, Minn., and Pat Doar of New Richmond, Wis., with five laps to go. Seng then held off Doar in the final laps for one of his biggest wins at RCS.

The RCS late model field totaled 28 cars, including a handful from eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin that race regularly at the Cedar Lake Speedway. The non-RCS regulars were on hand to get a feel for the RCS track in anticipation of the Seitz race, which is expected to attract close to 60 drivers.

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John Seitz's web page