Track Review: River Cities Speedway

River Cities Speedway

Friday Nights, 7pm

www.rivercitiesspeedway.com 

Classes: NOSA 410 Sprints, NLRA Late Models, WISSOTA Midwest Mods, WISSOTA Street Stocks

Admission: $18 at the gate, $15 in advance. Worth every penny to see late models and sprints. Tickets for World of Outlaw shows are $35-$40, which is ridiculous if you ask me, especially if you are bringing your family. But the Grand Forks community has a lot of disposable income.

Concessions: Prices weren't ridiculously high, but $3.50 for a 20oz pop might be for some. If it is too high, just stop at Gateway Cenex, buy a pop for $2 and advance ticket, and sneak it in your sweatshirt like everyone else does. Boom I saved you $4.50,*** which is about the price of a 16oz beer.  For 5.25 you can get a Reds, summer shandy, or my favorite: Mikes Harder Lemonade. They have 8% alcohol so its gets you drunk for less. They’re great on a hot day too. Concession lines move quickly. Plenty of options.

Nacho factor: The Nacho Factor is strong with RCS. Cost is $4.25, but the quirky (and attractive) looking concession worker loaded, and I mean loaded, my tray with nacho cheese. I made sure to tell her how grateful I was. I debated asking her to marry me, but it seemed a bit too much. Also for a little over $7, you can have super nachos. Two words: Worth it. Tons of nachos, cheese, taco meat, salsa, and whatever the hell you want stuffed into a bucket. Is it healthy? Well does anything healthy ever come served in a bucket?  Do you feel like a man ordering it? Damn straight.

The facility: Johnny Gibson says it’s his favorite track in the world and for good reason. Old school covered grandstand in the center with large open bleachers on the wings. Lots of cool views too from the far bleachers. Kinda neat to mix up the perspective a little. The facility itself is old, but kept up. Could use a modern touch down the road, but the old school-ness kinda adds to the flavor. Also the archway at the main entrance to the fairgrounds is sooo badass. The track is a 1/3 mile high banked “bullring.” Billboards surround the entire track, which makes it feel more like an arena then a race track.

The Racing: Each class has always has 2-3 heats. On this particular night, the track got really slick and all the heat racing was down on the bottom line. However, by the time the features came around it started to open up, which made for some exciting late model and sprint car racing. As NLRA Late Model Champion Brad Seng says: “The racing is tight and the crashes are big.” I know too from previous experiences that most of the racing is pretty good on weekly basis. Show can go a little late sometimes though.

Other Notes: As a fellow track announcer, I really enjoy listening Bob Hultgren. His voice is as smooth and charming as Pat Doar's mustache.

***I do not actually condone sneaking items into any racetrack. Often time local groups and organizations work those concession stands with tips going back their group. Please Support them.