Season Preview – Pulling Double Duty in 2018!

March 28, 2018 Mike Spieker 0 Comment

PORTLAND, N.D. (March 26, 2018) – Racing season is fast approaching in the Red River Valley. In what will be Jason Strand’s 16th year behind the wheel, he shows no sign of slowing down. As usual, Jason will be piloting the ND Corn Council / American Ethanol #E85 IMCA Modified. However, he will be pulling double duty on several occasions throughout the year with the addition of a WISSOTA Midwest Modified to the E85 Racing stable.

Jason will be racing both the Modified and Midwest Mod as much as he can on Thursday nights at Norman County Raceway (NCR) in Ada, Minn. The 2018 schedule will look very similar to that of Strand’s 2017 season with weekly racing at NCR and Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo, N.D.

Jason would also like to hit the road a bit this summer with both the Modified and Midwest Mod and hit some of the region’s highest paying events.

The 2018 season officially got underway for the E85 Racing team at the King of America at Humboldt Speedway with the USMTS Modifieds.

The action began Thursday, March 15th and Jason wasted no time picking up his first checkered flag of the season as he cruised to the heat race win. Jason then started on the outside of the front row for the A-main.

He settled into the third position in the early going on a rubbered-down, one lane track. Midway through the event, another driver blew up and laid down a bunch of oil on the racing surface. On the ensuing restart, Jason got pushed up into some of that oil and slid back to the sixth position, which is where he went on to finish.

“It was exciting to know that my little crate engine could keep up,” said Jason. “I was definitely a little rusty, but running that well on the first night gives a guy a little more confidence going into the season.”

Friday night consisted of qualifying heat races for Saturday’s finale. Jason raced to a third place finish in the first heat and a ninth place finish in heat race number two. That put him 37th in passing points out of the 82 drivers entered.

On Saturday, Jason rolled off in the 12th position in the C-Main and raced his way into a transfer spot by finishing in eighth. From there, he lined up 18th in the B-Main, but unfortunately his night, and ultimately his weekend, would end in the ‘B’.

“I was still happy with it. When you race with those guys, it’s just a whole other level,” Jason said. “It was a good way to start the year. The car worked just as good as it did the last time I raced it in Ada in August.”

Jason and the entire E85 Racing team would like to thank all their sponsors for their continued support!

North Dakota Corn Council, American Ethanol, Flex Fuel, Bergstrom Ranch, Sower Power Racing Engines, The Pit Stop, Proseed, Finley Motors, Inc.-Finley, ND, Butler Machinery Company, Central Plains Ag Services, Precision Electric, Plumbing, and Hvac, Bud Light and Blasey Farms.