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Tim Estenson in victory lane at Missouri's Double X Speedway. (Carol Wirts photo)

North Dakota Invader Rules Double X

CALIFORNIA, Mo. — The 35th opening of Sunday Night Thunder at Double X Speedway is in the books and the night brought some excitement to the race fans in attendance.

In the winged sprint cars, a stranger rode into town and walked away with the loot. North Dakota driver Tim Estenson made his first visit to Double X Speedway a memorable one as he wins the feature and his qualifying heat race in decisive fashion.

Using a good pill draw enabled the young driver to win his heat race and capitalize on his front row starting position in the feature and lead from green to checkered.

An opening lap incident involving three cars caused the field to be reset for the restart. Estenson would not be challenged for the 25-lap duration.

Tyler Blank advanced from his fifth starting position to claim second at the finish. Samuel Wagner claimed a solid third place, Steven Russell would finish fourth and Gunner Ramey completed the top five.

In the POWRi Super Stocks, it was Ted Welschmeyer claiming the victory on opening night. Welschmeyer survived a challenge from second-place finisher Harlan Dowell at mid race and then drove to victory.

After several second-place finishes in recent weeks, Darin Porter was able to pick up the win in the POWRi Pure Stocks on opening night at Double X.