It was a beautiful night for a test session on Wednesday, May 2nd for the 3/8 mile dirt track in West Fargo, ND. Not only was it a great opportunity for many of the drivers to test out their new cars and put some laps on before the new season starts, but I also took the opportunity to run some tests on my broadcast equipment as I prepare for another season of racing coverage. I also used the opportunity to take some observations and mingle with drivers and gather as much information as I can. Here's some notes from what I learned.
-First off, there was a TON of cars. It was a fast past paced test session with at times long lines for drivers to get on the track. Late Models, Limited Late Models, Modifieds (USMTS, IMCA, WISSOTA), Sport Mods, Stock Cars, Hobby Stocks, and Legends were all represented. Might have even been a few Midwest Mods and Street Stocks too.
-With Corey VanMil officially hanging up the helmet, both Rob and Chris VanMill have changed their number to #40. Rob will also be racing Corey's Stock Car this season.
-Speaking of Stock Cars, there was handful in attendance, including Tim Church and Brandon Schmidt's brand new rides. I didn't get to see them run too many laps. And when I did it was early and I think they were taking it pretty easy. Poor John Sandvig didn't even get a lap in before he lost his drive shaft. He did make it back out but was struggling, and I mean struggling, with a very tight race car. Rick Schulz looked mighty comfortable.
-Does Rich Pavlicek have a new number? It would appear so. Rich looks to be sporting the #174 this season. His dad's original number was #4 and Rich has been #17...add them together. #174.
-There were 3 Arnesons taking part in practice. Austin was testing out his USMTS and IMCA car, Casey had his USMTS machine, and Cale had his IMCA car, which is GREEN this year. Well, white and green. Don't anticipate seeing all three on the track at once, however. Although Austin will be racing this Friday at RRVS, him and Casey will be running the USMTS schedule as it makes its way into the upper Midwest. Also I just want to point out that I saw Austin spin out twice. I wouldn't read too much into other than we now know he is human. Mike Spieker and I believe he may have did it on purpose for a sweet action shot. It worked. Mike's got a great photo to prove it.
-Bryce Borgen returns this year with a leaf car once again. Actually he was testing out a pair of Bob Sagen engineered leaf machines. One appeared to be the same car he drove last year and I'm not sure which pasture they drug the other one out of, but it looked like it was hooking up quite well from my perspective. Those cars don't look like much, but with Bryce's confidence and Bob's engineering those are top 5 cars most nights.
-Jesse Skalicky might embarrass a lot of good drivers this season. I think the transition from a sport mod to a modified won't be much of a transition at all. He looked fast and comfortable with the extra horsepower. He has also already shown his upside with the few races he has under his belt this season. Getting a W or two this year would not surprise me one bit for the 3s crew. That Fury digs as the cool kids would say.
-The Sailer siblings put on a ton of laps throughout the night. Reile developed a lot last year and has put some improvements underneath the car which should allow him to be more aggressive, which he appeared to be. The car was much free'er and he had good control. His time on the track was cut short, however, after a mud chunk busted up his visor. Gwen put on as many laps as she could to prepare for her rookie season in a sport mod. She got faster each his session. From what I know of Gwen she seems to be a fierce competitor, so I'm looking forward to seeing how she develops.
-Also a big shout out to Scott Sailer. Guy is just a rockstar dad. Not only does he bust his ass doing awesome things with Performance Auto, Norman County Raceway, and Red River Valley Speedway, but he now has two cars to look after. He spends a lot of late nights working on those machines in the backyard, not a fancy shop mind you, and teaching his kids how to fix/maintain their machines. He also has a task of getting of two cars to the track with a trailer that only holds one car. Plus Scott is just a stellar dude. Always positive, always willing to help. He gets my nomination for dad of the year. (Also I do want to note Tom Cummings has helped a lot in getting those two into the sport also.)
-I saw Nick Skalicky smile, but it was after he gave me the middle finger.
-Scotty Richardson would have rather been fishing. I agree Scott, but it's good to be racing again.
-Mike Greseth got really aggressive with his suspension set ups on Wednesday night. The car was rolling hard to the right. The left rear quarter panel was about two feet off the dirt. He looked pretty tight though. Whatever suspension set up his pit mate Dave Shipley was running looked to be on the mark, however. The Dakota Cat #72 looked like it was glued to the track in the first few sessions.
-Both the Veralrud brothers were in action. Ryan is back with a military theme. His number, #22 too many, and his car are geared at raising awareness for Veteran Suicide. I hope to get the opportunity to chat more about this issue with Ryan down the road on Racing on the Radio.
-Mike Johnson will be waiting a few weeks before he hits the track. His car could potentially be ready for the Norman County Raceway Season opener on May 24th.
-Along with a good car turnout, there was a really good fan turnout. Probably close to a 100 or so fans.
-There was a cool moment when Cody Skytland and Travis Robertson were both on the track together. Travis's Late Model was naturally a little bit faster, but Skytland didn't seem to give up the position and the two ran side by side for a few laps before the session ended. It just makes me want to see a Late Model vs Open Motor Mod Shootout in the future.
-Since I'm on the subject of Travis Robertson, I wanted to make mention of a neat offering the sophomore late model driver will have in the pits this year. He's got 1000 Thunder Road Buy 1 Get 1 Coupons that he's handing out to whoever wants them. The more that get turned in, the more he gets for sponsorship. I hereby challenge Travis to a go-kart race and a round of mini golf!
That's it for now. Chris VanMil will join me on Racing on the Radio Review this Saturday, May 5th. We'll also have live racing coverage from Red River Valley Speedway on 106.5 KRJB this Friday night with prerace show starting at 6:45pm, Green Flag at 7pm. Streaming link here: https://network1sports.com/station/krjb
