GRAND FORKS — Chad Becker has raced a few times at River Cities Speedway. He’s done well during his trips to The Bullring.

His latest trip, however, could prove to be his best.

Becker won Friday night’s 15-lap pole dash at the 18th annual John Seitz Memorial Late Model Invitational, a win that places him on the pole for the event’s 92-lap feature that pays $9,200 to win.

The Saturday night feature will cap another season of late model racing in Grand Forks. And Becker, who races regularly in Aberdeen, S.D., could score one of his biggest wins during his 25-year career.

Becker started sixth in his heat race and finished second. He drew the No. 2 position among the top eight drivers after the heat races and quickly grabbed the lead from pole-sitter Mike Greseth to earn the top starting spot for the 92-lap feature.

“The car has been good,” said Becker. “We rolled around there and tried stuff we knew we needed to do. Hopefully, we’ll be in business.”

Becker has raced the Seitz a handful of times. Last season, he started 20th and finished second.

Does he have RCS figured out?

“I hope but you can never say that too loud,” he said.

He likes the track. “It’s fun,” he said, “It’s elbows-up, which I enjoy.”

Greseth finished second in the dash, followed by Aaron Turnbull, Dustin Strand, Cole Searing, Scott Ward and A.J. Diemel and Lee Grosz.

Turnbull and Diemel are past Seitz champions. Strand, the dominant late mode driver at RCS this season, is looking for his first title.

There is always more pressure starting on the pole.

“There is always pressure starting on the pole,” said Becker. “We just have to maintain. We’ll have to have eyes in the back of our head for a little while. But we’ve done this long enough. It’ll be what it will be.”

There were 196 cars in the pits Friday night, up 13 from Thursday night’s program, which was the unofficial start to the Seitz weekend.

Two other features were held. Tyler Peterson won his second-straight modified feature, which was called the Big Al Delaine Memorial.

Peterson started ninth in the 35-lap event but took the lead by passing Dale Ames down the back straightaway with 29 laps to go. He won by 3.638 seconds over Jason Strand. Ames was third, followed by Blake Jegtvig and Kevin Adams.

WISSOTA super stocks also raced at RCS. Sauk Rapids, Minn., driver Jordan Henkemeyer took the 25-lap feature. Dave Mass was second, followed by Trevor Nelson, Terran Spacek and Jeremy North.

A newly released, state-produced video intended to help doctors comply with South Dakota’s strict abortion law isn’t specific enough to ensure health care professionals don’t violate the regulations and open themselves up for prosecution, a group of abortion rights supporters said Friday.

But supporters of the video, which was mandated by the Legislature and funded by taxpayers, said the roughly six-minute video posted Wednesday to YouTube is exactly what lawmakers demanded and gives clear guidance to physicians.

South Dakota outlaws abortion as a felony crime except to save the life of the mother. But a ballot measure seeks to add abortion rights to the state constitution — one of nine states that will vote on similar measures in November. The abortion rights side has prevailed in all seven states with abortion-related ballot measures since the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022.

“I think it would be foolhardy for a doctor to use this video as a guide to navigating the waters of our medical landscape after the abortion ban,” said Dr. Marvin Buehner, a recently retired, longtime OB/GYN. He said the video offers no guidelines or clarity and doesn’t help physicians practice medicine in South Dakota.

In the video, Department of Health Secretary Melissa Magstadt talks about the law and a “non-exhaustive list of conditions that could necessitate ending a pregnancy pre-viability.”

“The key for a physician to ensure they are practicing within the bounds of the law is to document their decision-making process and how that led to their recommended course of treatment,” she said.

The video includes a disclaimer saying the video is not legal advice, any legal questions should be referred to an attorney, and the video and its content are not legally binding.

Supporters of the South Dakota measure say the video is political cover for anti-abortion opponents to the ballot measure. They also said the video lists exceptions and words not in the law. The secretary’s video statements are meaningless, they said, because she has no legal authority, and due to the disclaimer.

“How can doctors rely on this if they’re prosecuted for doing something that the video suggests they can do, and they can’t use the video in their defense? It’s absolutely a joke,” said Nancy Turbak Berry, a lawyer and Democratic former lawmaker supporting the measure. She and Buehner held a news conference Friday about the video.

She said she senses the state is embarrassed or concerned about the abortion law’s effects because the secretary’s statements, “apparently trying to smooth off some of the rough edges of our extreme abortion ban,” suggest things no prosecutor would agree are legal.

The video notes that its collaborators included the health department, the state attorney general’s office, the American Association of Pro-Life OB/GYNs and several OB/GYNs practicing in South Dakota.

Republican state Rep. Taylor Rehfeldt, the bill’s prime sponsor, said she believes the video provides clear guidance for health care providers. She called the legal disclaimer “a standard component.”

“The purpose of the video is not to serve as legal advice but to ensure that providers have a clear, step-by-step process for making medical decisions in these critical situations,” she said via text message.

The South Dakota ACLU opposed her bill. The video is from a “do-nothing law” that won’t help anyone or even require anyone to view it, South Dakota ACLU Advocacy Manager Samantha Chapman said.

“It just exists on a website, and that’s the end of the story. Unfortunately, that’s not the end of the story for people who are trying to survive through South Dakota’s draconian abortion ban,” she said.

Abortion laws in other states have been criticized as being unclear. Earlier this year, the Texas Supreme Court upheld the state’s abortion law and ruled against opponents who said the law is too vague about its medical exceptions.

In North Dakota, the former sole abortion clinic in the state and several doctors who are challenging the state’s abortion ban say the law is unconstitutionally vague as to its exceptions.

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Dura reported from Bismarck, North Dakota.