8/16/2024
IRA Lightning Sprints
Strane earns Lightning Sprint Nationals Title
The IRA lightning Sprints again were represented at the Minn-Kota Lightning Sprint Nationals this year 8/8/24 – 8/11/24 as Brian Strane Jr. made the trek to western Minnesota/Eastern North Dakota for the 4 day event. Attendance was down this year as the event drew 29 drivers vs. the 42 from last year, but there still were 7 states represented as drivers from Kansas, Missouri, Colorado, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan attended the event.
Opening night was at Norman County Raceway in Ada, Minnesota. This would be the largest track of the event with long straightaways and tight corners. Brian would draw the 3rd starting spot in his heat as a pill draw/passing points format was in play for the entire event. He would get some good fortune as the pole car was unable to make the call, moving Brian to the pole where he would go on to win the heat and set a good tone for the night and the event. The feature invert put Brian on outside of the front row for the 20 lap feature which he would hold until taking the lead on lap 8 but then getting over the banking in T1 in heavy lap traffic on lap 12 and falling back to 5th. He was able to work his way back up 2nd on lap 19 and finish a respectable 2nd for the evening, but it was possibly the one that got away. The local driver Dexter Dvergsten would pick up the win.
Friday night shifted to the legendary bull ring at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, North Dakota and Brian would start 4th and finish 3rd in his heat but it wouldn’t be enough points to make the feature invert so he would start the feature 11th and methodically work his way up to finish 4th – passing the 2nd most cars in the feature at +7 for the night but Dvergsten would go on and make it 2 wins in a row and solidify himself on top of the 4 day points championship.
Saturday shifted to Devils Lake Speedway in Crary, ND and Brian would again get off to a good start winning his heat from the pole position, but again, that would not be enough passing points to make the feature invert, but it wouldn’t matter. Starting 7th, Brian would survive the wreck-fest and take the lead at lap 13 of the 25 lap and go on to win the feature despite almost running out of fuel after running nearly 60 total green flag/caution laps during the multiple red/multiple yellow race that took 50 minutes to complete. The win would propel Brian to the top of the points for the 4 day even as Dvergsten would battle issues all night.
Sunday night was the finale at Buffalo River Speedway in Glyndon, Minnesota. Brian would take a 3 point lead over local Kate Taves and a 6 point lead over Dvergsten into the night. Both Kate and Brian would win their heats while Dexter would finish 2nd. That would keep the point gap to 3 points still to Taves, but increase the lead to Dvergsten by another point to 7 points. This means that if Brian would finish 3rd or better, he could shut both of them out and clinch the 4 day title. It would not be easy though as Dvergsten would start on the pole and Taves to his outside. Brian would start the 30 lap finale in 3rd, right on their tails. Taves would jump to the early lead with Dvergsten and Brian in tow until in lap traffic, Dvergsten would take the lead from Taves on lap 11 only to have Brian pass them both on lap 12 to rocket from 3rd to the lead. That would be short lived though as Dvergsten would reclaim the top spot on lap 16 powering by Brian on the exit of turn 2. Both Brian and Taves would start to fade as Taves would fall back to 6th and Brian would lose another spot and run 3rd. When the checkered flew, it was Dexter Dvergsten picking up win 3 for the 4 day event and Brian Strane Jr. finishing 3rd.
Brian would win the overall point championship by 4 points over Dexter Dvergsten and become the 2024 Minn-Kota Lightning Sprint Nationals champion! Brian would end the 4 day event with feature finishes of 4th, 3rd, 2nd, and a win as well as picking up 3 heat race wins. The IRA Lightning Sprints have been well represented the last 2 years at this event as last year, fellow driver Mike Neau finished the event in 2nd place just 3 points from the title and also picked up feature, heat, and dash victories on foreign soil.
Brian and the IRA lightning Sprints will be back in regular season competition this Saturday at Wilmot Raceway during the Kenosha County Fair with the Wisconsin wingLESS and IRA Bumper to Bumper Outlaw Sprints.
Congrats to Brian and team on a job well done!
Submitted By: Mike Neau
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