MULLEN WINS WAYNE ANDERSON CUP FINALE AT RIVER CITIES
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (September 6, 2023) – Brendan Mullen parlayed some recent speed into a feature win last Friday night at River Cities Speedway, parking the Home of Economy / Auto Finance Super Center No. 11M in victory lane during the finale of the Wayne Anderson Cup while also scoring a pair of top fives over Labor Day weekend at Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, SD.
Mullen started his night with the third fastest time of the night in qualifying, putting down a 10.710 second lap, just over a tenth off of the quickest time in the session. From there, Mullen improved from fourth to second in his heat race, landing a spot in the feature redraw, where he drew the pole for the 30-lap main event.
Mullen grabbed the lead on the second attempt to start the race, pulling away by a straightaway in just three laps. Mullen then proceeded to work lapped traffic at the end of the fifth circuit.
Mullen continued to keep a sizeable advantage even when he had to abandon the top of the track to make passes.
Nearly having to decide to split a pair of lappers in turn two with 12 to go, Mullen held the point, though Austin Pierce was able to close in a bit at that point. The final two cautions with nine and six laps remaining saw Mullen restart the race in single file formations.
The final restart saw Mark Dobmeier restart in second, though a battle between him and Pierce allowed Mullen to pull away in the closing laps to score his second win of the 2023 campaign.
“I’ll be honest with you, when that [caution] with eight to go came out, I was kind of excited about it because it’s a deal where I was in thick thick traffic and I kind of just had that feeling like [the leaders] got to be coming.” Mullen said in victory lane about the late restarts.
He continued, “When that [first caution] came out, I was okay with it, we had a great restart and then thought I was probably out and gone there but when the second one came out, I was like, oh well, just got to finish it out now like the heat race just get it done. All in all I think starting on the pole in that race was a big deal. Track was fast and my guys had this car absolutely perfect.”
After a late night in the shop in preparation for the remainder of the Labor Day weekend, Mullen and crew headed south for the final two events for 2023 at Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, SD.
Night one saw Mullen qualify sixth quickest in time trials and finish second in the heat race, landing a spot in the redraw where he drew the pole for the main event for the second consecutive night.
Mullen ran second in the early portion of the 25-lap race, going side-by-side with Australian Scott Bogucki through lap six. Entering lapped traffic, Mullen was tasked with having to hold off Mark Dobmeier for the second night in-a-row.
Having done that, Chase Randall was the next driver to challenge Mullen for second at the midway point, though he and Dobmeier were able to make passes in traffic just before the ten to go mark.
A late caution for Dobmeier saw Mullen finish on the heels of Henderson and Aaron Reutzel, ending the race in the fifth position.
Sunday night brought with it double duty for Mullen as the team campaigned an MSTS 360 Sprint Car alongside the 410. A fourth-place run in his 360 heat placed Mullen on the outside of the ninth row for that 25-lap feature.
Mullen made a quick right-handed crank of the steering wheel to remain uninvolved from a four-car pileup on the initial start. Realigned in the 15th starting spot when the race went back green, Mullen restarted 13th following the second red flag of the race on lap three.
The first long green-flag run of the race saw Mullen climb into the top ten at the conclusion of the tenth lap where he remained until passing veterans John Lambertz with ten to go and Chuck McGillivray with eight laps left.
A caution with six to go saw Mullen improve to seventh before the final red for Carson McCarl put Mullen sixth with four circuits remaining. Mullen slid past Justin Henderson on the final restart to go three-for-three in top fives on the weekend with one feature to go.
Mullen, after qualifying 16th in time trials and finishing fifth in his heat race, started 16th in the 410 A-Main. Having missed all the troubles the 360 race brought, Mullen’s luck ran out when he was collected in an opening lap wreck in the 410 feature.
Thanks to all of our sponsors for their continued support!
Native Nations Cannabis
Knife River
Home of Economy
Auto Finance Super Center
Royal River Casino & Hotel
605 Lending
Simplot – Grand Forks, ND
State Bank of Fairmont
Valvoline Instant Oil Change
Bergstrom Electric
Northland Custom Woodworking
Bosh Enterprise
2023 Stats:
Races: 52
Wins: 2
Top 5’s: 15
Top 10’s: 20
