Good day everyone. We're now a couple weeks into the racing season and there's a bunch more tidbits and news, so here's your latest update and observations from #RacingontheRadio.
First Timers
-A couple of drivers picked up their first ever wins on the first race of the season at Norman County Raceway including Reise Stenberg in the Midwest Mods and Luke Johnson in the Sport Mods. For Luke it was his first ever race in a sport mod after moving up from a Mod 4. He was sitting in 2nd all night until Wagner's misfortune put the 8j in the lead on the last lap. Stenberg has at least a couple years experience in a B-mod. He hit his spots perfectly on Thursday night to secure a win.
Not So Hot Potato
Andy "Spud" Wagner wasn't far away from having two impressive races this weekend, but mechanical problems turned it into a pretty rotten weekend. Thursday night he lead 11.5 of 12 laps at NCR before electrical problems shut down his engine. On Sunday, his problems continued in his heat, but he rebounded in his feature going from last to second with half the race remaining. However, the problem he had in his heat reared it's ugly and he began losing power. Wagner would pull off a few laps later.
A numbers game
-Dev Malmov is back again this year, but this time in preferred number #21. He ran the number #91b for the last several seasons, which is the inverse of car owner Jake Bitker's preferred number of #19b. Fun Fact: Dev is a HUGE Dominique Wilkins fan, who wore the #21 for the Atlanta Hawks. Ironically both are often referred to as "the human highlight reel" in their respective sports.
-Dan Dowling is racing an IMCA Hobby Stock with a number #5x, to match the number of NDSU Football National Championships. If he was a UND Hockey fan, his number would now be #8x...just throwing that out there. ;)
Thrice the Bryce
-As if reading the line ups in a poorly lit announcer booth wasn't already hard enough, Bryce Bjerken informed me while conversing with Bryce Borgen that Bryce Bjeke would be returning to race an IMCA Modified this year at Red River Valley Speedway. At least Bjerke will likely choose #9. (Borgen and Bjerken are both #7). But if all three find themselves in a 3-way, 3 wide battle of the Bryce's...the universe as we know might implode.
-Speaking of Bryce (Bjerken), Felton's Finest is off to a hot start in his rookie campaign in an IMCA Modified. In his first night of competition, Bryce finished 4th in his T&E Mod at Norman County Raceway and followed it up with a strong 8th at BRRP.
The track formerly known as the "Fastest Track in the Upper Midwest"
Red River Valley Speedway held a test and tune on Friday, May 6th and it appears to be in good shape. Sounds like there are still a few facility kinks that are being worked out, but many of the drivers had good things to say about the racing surface. 58 cars showed up for the session, which is a pretty solid indicator that the car count should be in the 60s or 70s on an average basis. The season opens at RRVS this Friday and we'll have live racing coverage all season long on 106.5 KRJB!
This is why we can't have nice things, Rob!
For whatever reason, Rob VanMil can't keep his tin straight for more than 6 minutes. His #4d IMCA Mod is one of my favorite cars this season, and I specifically told Rob not to wreck his tin, which didn't make it out of either one of his heat races this weekend at NCR and BRRP without being yanked off and beat up. On a side note: His 2016 Victory is mad fast and is well on its way to a dozen or so victories this season. He got his first win of the season on Sunday.
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| Rob VanMil's Sharp looking 2016 Victory |
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