For 29-year-old Robby Rosselli, the No. 0 had long been more than just the digit on his race car. Rosselli had never won a stock car race at Nodak Speedway.
That changed Wednesday when the Minot driver held off Wyatt Olson to capture the 20-lap IMCA feature race.
"I'm glad to get it off my back," Rosselli said. "I've been waiting for this. That's the longest race I've been in. I don't know how many laps I led.
Article Photos
Tim Chapman/MDN
Minot driver Robby Rosselli holds onto a lead ahead of Des Lacs’ Wyatt Olson in the IMCA Stocks feature race on Wednesday at Nodak Speedway. Rosselli won the race for his first stock car win at the Minot track.
"It was long."
The win reversed what had been 10 days of mostly bad luck for Rosselli.
On June 23, he spun out to avoid a wayward driver at Williston Basin Speedway and ended up in a multi-car collision that damaged his front and rear clips. He led his feature Friday at Williston when his spark plug fell off.
Fact Box
Unofficial results
IMCA Hobby Stocks
Heat 1: 1. Brandon Beeter, Minot; 2. Kevin Eklund, Sawyer; 3. Eric Sinness, Williston.
Heat 2: 1. Michael Vennes, Minot; 2. Ben Zietz, Velva; 3. Dana Brandt, Minot.
Feature: 1. Sinness; 2. Vennes; 3. Jason Olsen, Minot; 4. Eklund; 5. Brandt.
IMCA Sport Modifieds
Heat 1: 1. Jordan Huettl, Minot; 2. Justin Medler, Minot; 3. Ryan Sebo, Minot.
Heat 2: 1. Robbie Conway, Westhope; 2. Wyatt Olson, Des Lacs; 3. Kelly Henderson, Minot.
Feature: 1. Olsen; 2. Henderson; 3. Jimmy Ness, Minot; 4. Medler; 5. Conway;
INEX Legends
Heat 1: 1. Paul Morman, Wishek; 2. John Huettl, Minot; 3. Andrew Sommerfeld, Bismarck.
Heat 2: 1. Donavin Wiest, Wishek; 2. Tom Wagner, Mercer; 3. Zac Lutz, Burlington.
Feature: 1. Wiest; 2. Morman; 3. Wagner; 4. Huettl; 5. Steven Kuntz, Bismarck.
IMCA Stock Cars
Heat 1: 1. Olson; 2. Nathan Burke, Minot; 3. Randy Fyllesvold, Minot.
Heat 2: 1. Brett Woznicki, Minot; 2. Robby Rosselli, Minot; 3. Sterling LaBatte, Weyburn, Sask.
Heat 3: 1. Henderson; 2. Scott Yale, Minot; 3. Justin Blom, Lignite.
Feature: 1. Rosselli; 2. Olson; 3. Burke; 4. Henderson; 5. Fyllesvold.
Rosselli won a race on Saturday. On Tuesday night, he was forced off the edge of Basin Speedway while trying to make a pass and settled for a fourth-place finish.
On Wednesday, he took the lead on the third lap, and despite five cautions, never looked back.
"He didn't make any mistakes," Olson said.
Wishek driver Donavin Wiest started in ninth for the INEX Legends feature race.
That didn't hinder his ability to make up ground. Wiest took the lead four laps in and quickly built up distance from his opponents.
By lap 10, he was flirting with a quarter-lap lead.
Wiest crossed the finish line nearly two seconds ahead of second-place finisher Paul Morman.
Olson wasn't able to catch Rosselli in the IMCA Stock Cars feature, but he was able to hold off Kelly Henderson to win the IMCA Sport Modifieds race.
Olson used a strong restart on lap five to take the lead. Despite a late surge from Henderson, Olson held on to win the 20-lap race.
Minot's Brandon Beeter was blowing the rest of the field away eight laps into the IMCA Hobby Stocks feature race. But on the restart following a cauton on lap 12, he missed a gear and his vehicle stopped.
Kadi Vondal ran into Beeter and wasn't able to finish the race. Beeter finished in sixth place, well behind Williston's Eric Sinness.