Jason Strand Tallies Two Top Fives at Red River Valley
WEST FARGO, N.D. (May 31, 2017) – Jason Strand and the E85 Racing team were back in action last weekend with a pair of events at Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo. Despite having just one race under his belt prior, Jason raced to two top fives at the three-eighths mile dirt oval.
The racing weekend began on Thursday night, where Jason raced from seventh to fourth in his heat race.
“It was the first out again pretty much,” he said. “We are in a new car, new track, and didn’t really know what to expect. I was happy with where we ended up there.”
The two-night Dakota Cat 100 special was dedicated to Mike Bruns Sr. and was highlighted by 42-lap features, honoring Bruns’ long-time racing number.
Jason was mired deep in the field for the main event, starting 15th. The driver of the North Dakota Corn Growers / American Ethanol No. E85 began moving forward at the drop of the green flag.
In the closing laps, Jason was racing with fellow eighth row starter, Tyler Peterson, for a spot inside the top five. At the checkers, Jason had advanced 10 positions, finishing in the fifth spot.
“That was fun. I was hoping we wouldn’t have gotten the caution late, because we were rolling through the lapped traffic and catching up to the leader,” said Jason. “I don’t know if we would have caught the leaders, but lapped traffic in that situation was definitely an advantage to me.”
On Friday night, Strand returned to Red River Valley Speedway for the second and final night of the Dakota Cat 100.
“In the heat race I started front row outside, but [Mike] Greseth got by me right away. I just stayed there and held on for second.”
That put Jason in the fourth starting position for the 42-lapper.
“Right away I fell back to around eighth or tenth, but I worked my way back up there. On one of the restarts I was back up to fourth, but ended up with sixth. The car was good, but there wasn’t anything to get ahold of on the track. I learned a lot and know what to try next time out.”
Jason will be making is season debut at Norman County Raceway tomorrow night before heading back to Red River Valley Speedway on Friday night.
Season Stats:
Races: 3
Wins: 0
Top Fives: 2
Top Tens: 3
Heat Wins: 0
