Off to South Dakota with the MSTS 360s!
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (October 6, 2017) – This weekend Wade Nygaard and the Auto Finance Super Center crew will be making the haul to Wagner, S.D. to compete with the MSTS 360s at Wagner Speedway. The event will mark the series’ season finale and Wade’s first-ever appearance at the high-banked three-eighths mile dirt oval.
Wade last competed with the MSTS 360’s at the Jackson Nationals, where he raced to two top 10 finishes, including one top five, in three events.
Wade was last in action on September 21-23rd at the immaculate Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. It was Wade’s first-ever trip to the “diamond of dirt tracks.” The three-race weekend with the ASCS national tour allowed Wade and crew chief for the weekend, Todd Slocum, to dial in the setup on the Valley Oral / Gary Paulson Farms No. 9N.
“We learned a ton at that race track to get our car better and faster. I can’t wait until next year. We should be right in the ball game next year,” Wade said. “It’s kind of a tricky track to set up for, compared to other tracks that size. It took us about two days to get the gearing right.”
Wade was fast right out of the trailer on Thursday night, winning the first heat race of the weekend.
“One of the things maybe that hurt us was winning that first heat race right off the bat,” he continued. “Because then we thought, we got this. We soon realized that when it slicks off we have to do some changing. You have to be ready to run the top and the bottom.”
Wade was mired back in the qualifier on Thursday, which led him to missing a transfer spot in the B-main by just two positions.
On Friday, Wade made the 24-car A-main field. It was a long night of racing after a heat, a qualifier, racing to second in the B-main, and wrapping up the night with a 25-lap feature. Wade took the checkers in 22nd against the country’s top 360 touring series.
On Saturday, a ragged start in the qualifier resulted in a DNF for Wade after contact knocked out the front end of his machine. Once again, that relegated him to the B-main, where he started 18th. However, Wade and Todd nailed the setup and Wade passed 12 cars in the 12-lap race.
“I think if we would have had a yellow, we might have been able to pick off a few more,” Wade said.
At the checkers, Wade finished sixth, just two spots shy of an A-main transfer position.
Up Next:
Oct. 7th: Wagner Speedway – MSTS 360s
Wade and the entire crew would like to thank all of their sponsors for their continued support including, Auto Finance Super Center, C&M Ford Sales, Inc, Valley Oral & Facial Surgery, Ground Round Grill & Bar-Grand Forks, ND, DeMer’s Stor-All, Superior Steering Wheels, Gary Paulson Farms, Energy Release, Northland Custom Woodworking, Bosh Enterprises, Rider Racing Engines, & J&J Auto Racing!
2017 Stats:
Races: 42
Wins: 7
Top Fives: 24
Top Tens: 25
Heat Wins: 9
by Speedway Shots
