News & Notes: June 28th Edition

Stormy SummerSota Shocker
It's not a major surprise to the world that Stormy Scott dominated the Summersota Nationals this past weekend at I-94 Speedway in Fergus Falls, but it's how he won the $15,000 main event that has everyone talking. Stormy won every aspect of the 3 night special in a car with probably 200 or more less horsepower than anyone else on the track. Scott, who's a regular on the USMTS series, ran Austin Arneson's Crate Powered GRT with a Wissota licence. Actually I believe it's the same IMCA car Austin's been dominating with lately, but converted to Wissota Specs. Under the rules of the event, Wissota car were allowed to run with USMTS under their own rules, which meant they could run their tires. That, I imagine, was the key behind his dominant performace because the Wissota Hoosier has more traction than the USMTS American Racing Tire. Scott is from New Mexico, to my knowledge, has never ran the Wissota series. As you can imagine, this caused an uproar among many of the USMTS drivers. Austin Arneson responded to the criticism on behalf of the U-Motors team:

 "Everyone knows that when the USMTS comes up north that a legal wissota car is legal to run with them unless told otherwise. All we did was read the rule book and did what we were allowed. Simply out foxed them with a legal wissota option"

Touche' Mr. Arneson. We'll see if USMTS changes their rules or if the rest of the drivers adapt after this weekend's upset.

By the way, Stormy's brother Johnny Scott, placed 2nd.

NLRA Highlights
During their recent four night swing through on three different tracks, the NLRA Late Model series saw four different winners. The races took place at Norman County Raceway (back to back nights). Red River Valley Speedway, and River Cities Speedway. Brad Seng took night #1 at NCR and Jeff Wildung won night #2 at NCR. Stop #3 at RRVS saw Cole Schill pick up his 2nd NLRA win of the year in front of his hometown crowd, and the final night went to Don Shaw. Brad Seng and Don Shaw were both fantastic the entire series. Seng never finished outside the top 3 during the 4 nights on the road.

Bonus Race
Although it's technically not a Bonus Race, Red River Valley Speedway has added an extra night to it's calendar to make up for a few of the early season rain outs during its already limited 2016 schedule. The added date is, get this, WEDNESDAY, July 27th. That's right...back to Wednesday night racing at Red River Valley Speedway! They do not race that following Friday, or the next for that matter actually.

Summer Vacation
Small summer vacation ahead for Norman County Raceway and Red River Valley Speedway. After Thursday night's race (June 30th), NCR takes a break until July 14th. They return with the King Pin Klash Street Stock special presented by the Bowler. Red River Valley Speedway is off until July 17th. They return in big fashion with NOSA Sprints, NLRA Late Models, and Pure Stocks,

Border Battle
FYE Promotions and Amsoil Speedway in Superior, WI are hosting the first ever Great Lakes Border Battle this Independence Day weekend. It's a $10,000 to win/$750 to start Wissota Modifed Special with Midwest Mods supporting. Racing will take place Friday and Saturday with testing on Thursday. It should pair some of the top Mod drivers from not just MN & WI, but the United States & Canada against each other for a friendly rivalry weekend. Some familiar pre-entries include Ward Imrie, Cody Skytland, Joey Jenson, Mike Stearns, Dan Ebert, Al Uotinen, Kevin Adams, and about 40-50 others.

Racing on the Radio Broadcast Schedule

Thursday, June 30th @ Norman County Raceway: Presented by West Central Ag Services. Featuring IMCA Mods, IMCA Sport Mods, Wissota Midwest Mods, Wissota Street Stocks, and INEX Legends. PreRace Show begins at 6:45pm. Green Flag at 7pm. Live Racing Coverage 106.5 KRJB and rjbroadcasting.com. Click here for the Streaming Link

News & Notes: June 21st Edition

Here's your latest story lines, racing tidbits, and fun information from this last weekend of racing at Norman County Raceway, Red River Valley Speedway, River Cities Speedway, Buffalo River Race Park, and beyond. It's the June 21st Edition of Racing on the Radio: News and Notes.

Arneson on Top at Cedar Lake
After a month and a half of running weekly events at Norman County Raceway and Red River Valley Speedway, Fargo's Austin Arneson left his Crate Motor at home and brought out the big guy to run with the USMTS series at Cedar Lake Speedway. His first night of the Masters Event was disappointing to say the least, failing to make the show. Night #2 was the exact opposite as he beat out Cade Dillard, Rodney Sanders, Jesse Sobbing, and all the other top Modified drivers from across the country and took home a win.

Brady Peter-Win
I figured it was just a matter of weeks before Brady Petermann picked up his first win in an IMCA Modified victory. He did just that Sunday night at Buffalo River Race Park, barely edging Justin Jones, Brady has a very wild, but clean driving style that haunted him his rookie season last year as he had trouble finishing out races. But this year's he's been much quieter, and much more consistent too. His raw, natural driving ability could put him in Victory Lane a few more times this season. Keep in mind he's still in high school too....

Brady Petterman poses with a young fan after his 1st IMCA Modified Feature win.

Balcaen is Back
Just a week after a very nasty tumble at River Cities Speedway, Mike Balcaen and his #10 NLRA Late Model picked up another win at the Bullring. Balcaen is looking like he's found some speed that he's been missing the last couple years. He was also plagued with mechanical issues and bad lack leading up to this year also.

3 W's for 3W
Aaron Wetterlin is on top of his game recently at Norman County Raceway. The #3W IMCA Sport Mod driver now has 3 wins in a row at NCR. His most recent win was a special win for Aaron, barely edging out Jesse Skalicky at the line on the last lap. The coolest part about this win was that it was the first time his kids had ever seen him win a race. Not only did Aaron's son Alex get to celebrate with his dad in Victory Lane for the first time, but he was also selected to be the honorary flagman for the Modified race later that night. Overall, a pretty awesome night for the Wetterlin family!


Fair Week
Huge week ahead for Norman County Raceway. Back to back nights of NLRA Late Models on Wednesday and Thursday and a night of family fun with Bus Racing and more on Saturday. Supporting the NLRA shows will be Sport Mods, Pure Stocks, and INEX Legends. Some big names have already confirmed to make appearances including the Ham Lake Hammer, Don Shaw. Other names likely to appear include Brad Seng, Mike Balcaen, Jeff Wildung, Shane Edginton, Free T-shirts to the first 100 kids on Wednesday night  courtesy of the Norman County Soybean and Corn Growers Association.

Jake Bitker does track prep while the Mighty Thomas Carnival sets up for the Norman County Fair.

Here's a fun fact:
No Late Model driver has EVER won more than twice at Norman County Raceway. Brad Seng, John Seitz (RIP), Cody Skytland, Ricky Weiss (who won both races last year), Zach Johnson, and Pat Doar are tied with two wins each. Kent Arment, Jeff Wildung, Don Shaw, Troy Olson, Mitch Johnson, and Dustin Strand each have one win a piece. (Stats courtesy of Mike Spieker)

More on Saturday night's fun...
Saturday night should be a blast as always. There will be school bus racing, Semi racing, and Power Wheels Baja and Demo Derby.  There will be 7 buses, each sponsored by a different business or organization. The bus racing will mix in several unique and usually hilarious challenges to come the drivers on their toes. The semi racing is done head-to head in a 1 lap drag race. Like drag racing, it is also done in bracket form. For more information and rules, got to www.ncraceway.com.

Ada Future Leaders bus is painted and ready to roll for Saturday night!

Meanwhile in Fergus Falls...
At the same time some of the best Late Model drivers are battling hard at NCR, RRVS, and RCS, some of the top mod drivers in the nation will go toe to toe at the Summersota Nationals USMTS Modified Race in Fergus Falls. Drivers will each run 2 heats Thursday and Friday to qualify for the Main event on Saturday. Top prize is nice $15,000. Just starting the main will get $1,500.

Going on break
Following this Friday's NLRA Late Model Event at Red River Valley Speedway, the racing action will come to a halt as the Red River Valley Fair prep begins. Racing will not resume until July 17th when the NOSA Sprints and NLRA Late Models return for the final night of the fair. We went 4 years without racing at RRVS, I suppose we can 3 1/2 weeks.

Racing on the Radio Upcoming Broadcast Schedule.

Wednesday, June 22nd:
NLRA Late Models @ Norman County Raceway plus IMCA Sport Mods, INEX Legends, and Pure Stocks. 7pm. Presented by the Norman County Soybean and Corn Growers Association & Norman County Ag Society. Live Racing Coverage can be heard on 106.5 KRJB and rjbroadcasting.com. Click here for the streaming link (6:45 PreRace)

Thursday, June 23rd
NLRA Late Models @ Norman County Raceway plus IMCA Sport Mods, INEX Legends, and Pure Stocks. 7pm. Presented by Norman County Implement and Visser Trencing. Live Racing Coverage can be heard on 106.5 KRJB and rjbroadcasting.com. Click here for the streaming link (6:45 PreRace)

Friday June 24th
NLRA Late Models @ Red River Valley Speedway plus IMCA Mods, Sport Mods, Pure Stocks, and Fargo Force Super Stock Series. Presented by Inland Truck Parks & Titan Machinery. Live Racing Coverage can be heard on 106.5 KRJB and rjbroadcasting.com Click here for the streaming link (6:45 PreRace)

News and Notes: June 14th Edition

Here's your latest story lines, racing tidbits, and fun information from this last weekend of racing at Norman County Raceway, Red River Valley Speedway, River Cities Speedway, Buffalo River Race Park, and beyond. It's the June 14th Edition of Racing on the Radio: News and Notes.

River Cities Records
A new record was set this Friday night and another one was almost set, both of them involving the NOSA Sprint Car series. The record that was beat was done so by Mark "Dynamite" Dobmeier, who set a track record for the fastest ever completed race in River Cities Speedway history. The 25 lap feature went green-white-checkered in just 4 minutes, 57 seconds, beating the old record by over a minute. For comparison, it took longer to introduce the field then it did to actually get the race in. On a related note, there were 33 NOSA Sprints on hand on Friday, which I'm told is just one sprint car shy of the record for the weekly NOSA series. (Thanks Mike Spieker for the info!) 

Red Hot Red Flag

Lot's of tough luck this weekend as the Red Flag was used quite frequently around the region. First on Friday night, Mike Balcaen took a nasty tumble on very fast race track in Turn 1 of River Cities Speedway. Also on Friday night, Jamestown's Billy Carou climbed the front straight fence at Red River Valley Speedway and barrel rolled on to his roof. On Saturday, Ryan Cousins took his IMCA Modified on a wild ride at Jamestown Speedway, flipping 2 1/2 times. Thankfully, everyone was ok.

Ryan Cousins take a tumble in his IMCA Modified at Jamestown Speedway

21 is number one

After several weeks of bad luck, Dev Malmlov finally got his first win of the 2016 season Friday night at RRVS. It wasn't easy, however. He got off to an early lead, but the closing laps would see the red-hot Mike Greseth take the lead away with a couple to go. Dev made a good power move out turns 3 & 4, getting underneath Greseth to the point where his front bumper may have caused a tire to go down on Greseth's car. Greseth would spin out, cause a caution, and Dev went on to win the feature.

Robertson on Rails

Travis Robertson had a tough beginning of the year, suffering a handful of DNF's from mechanical failure. Since then, however, he's had nothing short of Joe Mauer-like consistency. He went on to finish in the top 3 for 9 races in a row before the streak came to an end this weekend in Jamestown. He has 4 wins in a row at River Cities out of a total of 5 races this season, plus another 3 consecutive wins at Devils Lake Speedway. 

Shuffle. No Repeat.
Norman County Raceway has went six weeks in a row without a repeat winner in the Wissota Midwest Modified division. It honestly feels as if someone has hit the shuffle button on the I-pad, creating a unique and fresh list of winners this season. Gary Nelson of Blackduck picked up his first win at NCR this past week, joining the likes of Justin Froemming, Dylan Goplen, Aaron Blacklance, Brock Gronwold, and Reise Stenberg.

Gary Nelson in KRJB/KRJM Victory Lane at NCR on June 9th

Naastad comes up big
Major props this week to Zach Naastad, who picked up his first career Late Model win this past Saturday at Jamestown Speedway for the NLRA Series Opener. Naastad beat out Cole Schill, Shane Edginton, Dustin Strand, and others. The NLRA Series continues this week as the support class for the WoO Sprints in Grand Forks and Greenbush on Saturday. Speaking of the Outlaws....


Outlaws Take Over Grand Forks
The Craftsman World of Outlaw Sprint Car Series heads to Grand Forks, and actually is at Granite City Speedway near St. Cloud tonight (Tuesday). The man to beat, no surprise, is Donny Schatz. He leads the points standings and has 9 wins on the year. He also won both events last year at River Cities Speedway and typically dominates the northern leg of the WoO tour. He has won 4 out of the last 6 events at RCS with Cody Darrah and Daryn Pittman picking up wins in 2013 and 2014 respectively. Keep an eye out for Mark Dobmeier though, who enjoys stealing wins from the Outlaws from time to time.

The World of Outlaws give the 4-wide salute to fans at River Cities Speedway in 2015.

Coming up

Thursday, June 16th Norman County Raceway - Regular Weekly Series presented by Ag Country Farm Credit Service. Mods, Sport Mods, Midwest Mods, Street Stocks, Legends. Listen to live racing coverage on 106.5 KRJB and rjbroadcasting.com. Click here for live streaming link

Thursday, June 16th: KRA Speedway - USMTS Modified Series

Friday, June 17th: Red River Valley Speedway - Regular Weekly Series presented by Magnum Contracting & Integrity Steel Supply. Mods, Sport Mods, Hobby Stocks, Legends. Listen to live racing coverage on 106.5 KRJB and rjbroadcasting.com. Click here for live streaming link

Friday, June 17th: World of Outlaws at River Cities Speedway with NLRA Late Models.

Saturday, June 18h: NLRA Late Models at Greenbush Race Park plus Wissota Modifieds, B-mods, Lightning Sprints, and Pure Stocks.

Sunday, June 19th: Buffalo River Race Park - Regular Weekly Series

News & Notes: June 1st Edition

Here's your latest story lines, racing tidbits, and fun information from this last weekend of racing at Norman County Raceway, Red River Valley Speedway, River Cities Speedway, Buffalo River Race Park, and beyond. It's the June 1st Edition of Racing on the Radio News and Notes.

Minnesota Mud Nationals

This year's Performance Auto Minnesota Mod Nationals race got the ax this past weekend. Too much rain made the track and pits an a mess. I believe this is the first time in event history that it has been cancelled completely. Don't worry though, the Fall Nationals at Viking Speedway will be here before you know it.


Big Day in Bemidji

Meanwhile up north in the land of Paul Bunyan, Bemidji Speedway had a stellar turnout for their two complete nights of racing on Sunday and Monday. Car count for Sunday was an outstanding 141 cars! There is a silver lining here, however. Bemidji Speedway runs nine different classes! That's right....NINE classes. And I thought Buffalo River Race Park was pushing it with six. Those nine classes include Modifieds, Midwest Mods, Super Stocks, Mod 4, Pure Stock, Outlaw MiniMod, Mini Stock, Vintage, and occasionally Street Stocks. It's like going to a motocross race. Good to see the numbers staying strong and that track doing well.


Dylan for the Win! 

Hat's off this week to Dylan Goplen, who picked his first career win on Thursday in his #6d Wissota Midwest Mod at Norman County Raceway. Honestly, I don't much about Dylan other than he is in his mid 20's and is from the Fargo area.

Take me to Church

Tim Church,  the 50 year old rookie, picked up his first career win this weekend at Buffalo River Race Park. Church drives the #21 IMCA Hobby Stock. Fun Fact: Tim actually showed up at the season opener at Norman County Raceway, but unfortunately he didn't realize they weren't racing Hobby Stocks that night, or even the Trophy Class. Sooo his first race was actually alongside the Wissota Street Stocks, which went as well as you could imagine. But obviously he's made great strides each race since and it's no surprise he picked up his first ever win (at age 50 mind you) in just his first month of racing.

Tim Church battles alongside Dan Dowling. Photo by Stevenator Olson

Dry Spell

Pretty impressive streak going for I-94 Speedway in Fergus Falls. They have not rained out since June 27th of 2014. That 34 straight races without cancelling! (Thanks Ben Krutchen of Dirt Race Central for the stat!) I-94 Speedway hosted the RV Advantage Mod Tour last Friday. Cody Skytland picked up the big win for that event.

Schow's Streak

Matt Schow has a very unimpressive streak going. Matt has never won a race at Norman County Raceway. This past week, he was pulling away from the field early before a distributor problem forced him to watch the rest of the race from the infield. His luck didn't get better the next night when he detonated his motor on the last lap at River Cities Speedway. They found an old Sturdy engine in the back of a barn somewhere and managed to secure a win Sunday night in Bemidji. I think the trophy made out of Miller Lite cans probably made up for his weekend of bad luck, but regardless I know he really wants to get that win out of the way at NCR. Rumor is he may be busting out a new blue oval very soon also.

One of these things is not like the other. Matt Schow's engine after Friday night at RCS. Photo by Ashley Schow.

Battle of the Buses

Norman County Raceway is bringing back the school bus racing once again this year on June 25th, during the Norman County Fair. And new this year is that your business or organization can become a sponsor of on the six buses. For just $300, the bus will be painted to match your business/organization and it will stay that way for the remainder of the season. The best part is you get to pick the bus driver! It could be you, your employee, or Jeff Gordon if you have the right connections. The bus races PACK the grandstands each year for the annual event, which also includes Power Wheel and Semi racing! Contact NCR for more information.

Coming Up

Regular Weekly Series at Norman County Raceway plus Street Stocks and Pure Stocks. Live racing coverage on 106.5 KRJB.

Regular Weekly Series at Red River Valley Speedway. Live racing coverage on 106.5 KRJB.

NOSA Sprints return to Devils Lake Speedway. Wade Nygaard is the all time leading winner in that series at Devils Lake.