Strand claims first Late Model win of 2020 at Devils Lake Speedway

Dustin & family in victory lane on Saturday at Devils Lake Speedway. Photo by Steven Young.

By Spieker Promotions

EAST GRAND FORKS, Minn. (June 17, 2020) – It took just three races for Dustin Strand to park his No. 71 Late Model in victory lane for the first time in 2020. Strand picked up the win at Devils Lake Speedway on Saturday night over a tough field of competitors on hand. 

“It always feels great to win. We enjoy racing at Devils Lake because we have a lot of family and friends over that way so that always makes it a little more special,” Strand said. “That first win is always nice to get out of the way.”

After putting on an impressive drive from seventh to second in his heat, Strand redrew the number three pill for the feature to put him on the inside of row two. 

Strand quickly jumped into the second spot as the green flag waved on the 25-lap WISSOTA Late Model feature. Strand rode in the second position behind Brandon Fuller, before making the pass for the lead on lap three. 

Once out front, Strand never looked back as he led the final 22 circuits around the high-banked one-third mile. 

“It was surprisingly a really good field of cars,” said Strand of the 20 cars in attendance. “There really hasn’t been much for racing, but they had a heck of a nice racing surface for us on Saturday.”

Strand picked up the win by 1.649 seconds over 18th-place starter, Kevin Robertson. 

On Friday night, Strand was at his home track, River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks. Again, Strand raced from seventh to second in his heat. He rolled off from the eighth starting position for the feature. 

Strand slowly worked his way up the running order throughout the 20-lap main event. At the halfway point, Strand cracked the top five, but wasn’t done there. He picked off two more positions in the closing laps to round out the podium with a third-place finish. 

“We’re still kind of trying to master how to race the track. It’s been the same for a lot of years, but we’ve had a little bit of change to the surface and the top lane really isn’t there like it used to be. It’s become more of a middle to bottom groove track,” Strand said. “We’ve been having to adapt to that. I think, mostly, it’s me having to change my driving style. I think we are making some gains and hopefully, we’ll find some more speed.”

This weekend, Strand will be back at River Cities with the WISSOTA Late Models on Friday night. The green flag drops at 7pm. 

Dustin and the entire Strand Racing team would like to thank all of their sponsors for their continued support!

Walhalla Building Center, Carr's Grain Service, Keewatin Truck Service, Bemidji Welders Supply, Generations Salon, Q&Z Plumbing, Millenium Chassis, Naastad Acres, Double Deuce Bar & Grill, Shocks by Hammer, Sam's Auto Body, Forest Flying Service, Bemidji Marine, Shocker Hitch

2020 Stats:
Late Model:
Races: 3
Wins: 1
Top Fives: 3
Top Tens: 3

Modified:
Races: 5
Wins: 1
Top Fives: 4
Top Tens: 5