Pederson Scores First Win Of The Season At River Cities
By Spieker Promotions
EAST GRAND FORKS, Minn. (June 22, 2021) – After coming close to win number one earlier in the month at Buffalo River Speedway, Joey Pederson made a big pass on a late restart to win at River Cities Speedway last Friday night.
Pederson began his night starting in the third spot in his heat race, improving one spot to finish second, earning him the sixth starting spot in the 20 lap main event.
Pederson stormed on the outside of turns one and two, moving up to third in the first pair of corners. In the following five laps, Joey shadowed the lead duo, while continuing to run in the third position.
Joey lost third to Dustin Strand on lap eight, but held the fourth spot through lapped traffic until a pair of cautions with less than five laps remaining.
Joey moved past Kevin Robertson on the first restart, then caught a big run off the bottom of turns one and two on the second restart, passing both Strand and race long leader Brandon Fuller. Joey went on to collect his first feature of the 2021 season, 41st at River Cities in a Late Model, and first since opening night in 2019.
The win meant a lot to the Pederson family as Joey said in Victory Lane, “This means a lot. There are a lot of friends and fans up (in the grandstands) that have followed me over the years. This win is really, really special. We found out my wife (Julie) has cancer, and this one’s for her.”
About the final pass, Joey said, “I just sent it honestly, hoping it would turn, and it didn’t turn every lap, but it worked out. It was a great race, it was a lot of fun, and it’s fun to be back up here. I didn’t get a win last year, and that hurt, honestly. I’ve been doing this a lot of years, and it’s the wins that keep me going at this point. It’s great to be back (in victory lane).”
There wasn’t much luck to be found for the rest of the Pederson racers, as both Kelsi and Tucker each ran two races last week, but were unable to either start or finish their races.
Tucker had a heat win with the Street Stock tour on Saturday night at Devils Lake Speedway, but he got caught up in a pileup early on in the 30 lap feature, ending his night early for the second consecutive night with the tour.
Kelsi was unable to start the Lucas Oil POWRi Minn-Kota Lightning Sprint Series feature at Norman County Raceway on Thursday night. Then on Saturday at Devils Lake, she was leading the feature by a full straightaway just past the halfway point of the 15 lap feature, when mechanical woes again ended her night early.
Another full slate for the Pederson’s is on tap for this weekend, as Tucker will run on Friday at River Cities. Tucker will return to Devils Lake on Saturday with Joey who will run the NLRA show at the speedway. On Sunday night, Joey and Kelsi will race at River Cities on the final night of the Greater Grand Forks Fair.
The entire Joey Pederson Racing team would like to thank all of their great sponsors for their continued support!
Shawn Horn Realtor
Amy Dallum Photography
Dahlstrom Motors
Markit County Grain LLC
Northdale Oil
Invision Ag
Channel Seed and Red River Bean Co
Northland Sheds
R&R Farms
Ad Monkeys
B&E Meats
Big Jim’s Tires
Olson Underground
Votova Trucking
Dynamic Welding & Machine
Advantage Lawn Care
Northern Valley Fertilizer
Phil Thompson and Associates
Custom Stripes Inc.
Lind Electric
Energy Release
Sky-Vu Drive In
Moen Farms
Southline Farms
Marcus Steien Agency – American Family Insurance
SEASON STATS:
Joey Pederson:
Races: 7
Wins: 1
Top Fives: 4
Top Tens: 6
Kelsi Pederson:
Races: 7
Wins: 0
Top Fives: 5
Top Tens: 6
Tucker Pederson:
Races: 6
Wins: 0
Top Fives: 2
Top Tens: 3
