TUCKER’S EARNS 25TH VICTORY OF THE SEASON AT BUFFALO RIVER
EAST GRAND FORKS, Minn. (September 20, 2023) – Tucker won his 25th feature of the season last Sunday night at Buffalo River Speedway in Glyndon, MN which was also his fifth at the quarter-mile track. Tucker hitting the quarter-century mark in victories this season matches the win total that Joey scored in his pursuit of the WISSOTA National Super Stock championship in 2000.
Tucker spent most of the week at I-94 Speedway in Fergus Falls, MN as he made his WISSOTA 100 debut. Tucker raced each night from Wednesday to Saturday with the first three nights serving as qualifying nights for Saturday’s finale.
Tucker missed the transfer to Wednesday night’s feature while giving up his ninth-place finish on Thursday night to try for a better starting spot in Saturday night’s championship main event. Tucker fell back to as low as 13th early in the race and survived a late race pileup to finish fourth on Friday night.
Friday’s finish put Tucker in the middle of row four as the WISSOTA 100 championship features start three-wide. Tucker was in the front of a 20-car pileup at the start of the race after a pair of cars turned sideways right in front of him.
Tucker restarted 28th when the green came back out but made up most of the ground he lost in the second half of the race, improving seven spots to finish 16th.
On Sunday night Kelsi and Tucker competed on the same night for the final time this season as the pair raced at the season finale at Buffalo River Speedway.
Tucker charged from sixth to third in his heat race while Kelsi won hers giving each driver starting spots on the inside of the second row in the respective features.
Tucker’s feature saw national title foe Justin Vogel start on the pole as all three drivers in the championship chase made the trip from Fergus Falls to Glyndon.
After winning the battle for second over Josh Barker and Trey Hess on the second lap, Tucker used a lap four restart to pull even with Vogel for the lead. All three national point leaders lined up in the top three on a lap five restart which saw Braden Brauer spin to the infield.
Tucker and Vogel traded sliders lap after lap on the following restart until another caution on lap eight. The battle for the lead continued when the green came back out as sliders continued to be served, though Vogel led all but lap five through the midway point.
Another yellow flag with nine laps to go saw Vogel go pit side giving Tucker the lead. Tucker was already ahead by a straightaway with five laps to go and continued on for his 25th win of the season.
Kelsi’s 20-lap feature was the first run following intermission and went green-to checkered, lasting just over six minutes. Kelsi fell back to sixth on the opening lap and remained just outside the top five for the rest of the race, scoring her 18th top ten in her 19th and final race of the 2023 campaign.
This week, Tucker will likely split the weekend between Granite City Motor Park in Sauk Rapids, MN and Thunder City Speedway in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. Tucker will enter the weekend around 12 points back of the national point lead.
Pederson Racing would like to thank all our sponsors:
Shawn Horn – Crary Real Estate
R&R Farms
Amy Dallum Photography
North Dakota Eye Clinic
Olson Underground, inc.
Ad Monkeys
Dahlstrom Motors Inc.
Markit County Grain LLC
Trilogy Ag Group
Pro Land/Snow
Bad Boy Mowers
Southline Farms
InVision Ag
Hilleshog
Northern Valley Fertilizer
Don & Darleen Votava
Phil Thompson & Associates
Turf Pros
Big Jim’s Tire
Channel Seed
B & E Meats
HOPE Church
Applied Hi-Performance Products
Eagles Dakotah Aerie 350
Energy Release Products
Dynamic Welding and Machine LLC.
Bruce Hart Repair & Fabrication
Roxbury Racing Transmissions
Zeuli Race Engines
SkyVu Drive-In
Mark Sinn “Sinner”
2023 Stats (Joey):
Races: 22
Wins: 2
Top 5’s: 11
Top 10’s: 16
2023 Stats (Kelsi):
Races: 19
Wins: 4
Top 5’s: 12
Top 10’s: 18
2023 Stats (Tucker):
Races: 71
Wins: 25
Top 5’s: 51
Top 10’s: 59
