They didn’t all take the same path, but a trio of North Dakota drivers each found the fastest way to the finish line in feature races during the opening night of the Dacotah Insurance Rumble at Brown County Speedway.

Some found the bottom to their liking, while another used the entire track to capture the checkered flag in his race, and all earned four-figure sums for their victories.

Tyler Peterson of Hickson, N.D., won $2,563 for topping the field in the Late Model feature. Peterson hooked up on the high side to start the race, eventually grabbed the lead, and then used multiple paths to secure the win.

“I could tell that the bottom was good, but you’re a sitting duck when you’re the leader so I was kind of all over the place, just feeling it out,” Peterson said. “I was in the bottom in one and two and on the top in three and four and I guess it worked out, but I didn’t really know what to do.”

To compound matters, Peterson had to contend with slower cars all over the oval, but he navigated through the obstacle course just fine.

“I love lap-traffic. You just have to look ahead and kind of plan your routes out and get around them,” Peterson said. “That’s kind of where I’ve strived my whole career is weaving through lap traffic.”

Peterson started in the third row of the 30-lap event, but took the lead in the first 10 laps and never relinquished it.

“I love long races and lap traffic,” Peterson said, “because I feel like I can separate myself, but you never know. That’s why racing’s great.”

Jonny Carter of Fairmont, N.D., and Jaden Christ of Jamestown, N.D., each won $1,000 for picking up feature victories in the Street Stock division.

Carter won the make-up feature that was rained out earlier this season by hugging the bottom of the track the entire 25 laps.

“I’m usually a high-side guy here,” Carter said, “but I knew they watered a lot on the bottom before the heats and thought maybe if there was something down there I’d just stay down there until we seen someone, and it worked out.”

While Carter never trailed in the race that went green to checkered, he felt far from comfortable in the loaded field.

“That’s a long antagonizing 25 laps, I can tell you that,” Carter said. “You’ve got a lot of, just so much talent in this class right now. You’re basically just running scared from lap one at that point.”

Carter was able to avoid lap traffic until the final laps and then hung on from there.

“I was kind of pacing them there,” Carter said. “Until I could feel someone behind me, I didn’t want to push the issue.”

Christ started on the pole position of the other Street Stock feature and led nearly the entire way except for one brief moment when Carter was able to edge in front. However, Carter ended up leaving the race with car trouble and Christ was able to hold off the field the rest of the way.

“The car wasn’t the best and I felt a couple of guys behind me and saw Jonny on the top,” Christ said. “He was making it work up there pretty good, but it was all luck tonight with the draw.”

Christ said his car wasn’t the best it’s been this season, but it proved to be good enough on this occasion.

“My car was just good enough where I was able to get back around Jonny,” Christ said.

As a result, the 21-year-old third-generation racer was able to collect $1,000 for his efforts.

“This is by far the biggest,” Christ said of his earnings for a single race.

While there will be another Street Stock feature this evening, Christ will not be among the field of drivers.

“I’m leading points in Jamestown,” he said, “so I’ve got to go back home.”

The Rumble will conclude this evening and also include two more features in the Late Model division, including the Dennis Moser Memorial Race which will pay $6,363 to the winning driver. The amount is based on Moser’s car number of 63.

Moser was a long-time driver who passed away last winter.

Mitch Johnson of Hickson, who is a past three-time Rumble champion, has not raced in Aberdeen since 2009, but wasn’t going to miss a chance to honor his friend.

“I seen it was a tribute for Dennis. I had to go for that,” Johnson said, “because Dennis always helped me out in the 90s.”

Johnson recalled how Moser set him up with a car and a motor that helped him win the WISSOTA National Championship in 1993.

“He was pretty generous,” Johnson said.

The two met at a race in Watertown in 1987 and developed a friendship that lasted decades.

“Dennis was always a nice guy,” Johnson said.

To see Friday’s complete results, click on the following link:

https://www.myracepass.com/events/472599/races