News & Notes - September 7th Edition

Things are beginning to wrap for most of the race tracks in Northwest Minnesota and Eastern North Dakota, unless you're Devils Lake Speedway who goes for another month yet. With that being said, many track championships have already been decided and plans are starting to be made for the 2017 season. Here's a quick look back and look ahead at a few of the tracks I have followed or try to follow on a regular basis.

Norman County Raceway Recap
Champions:
IMCA Modifieds - Michael Johnson (did so without a win at NCR)
IMCA Sport Mods - Jesse Skalicky
Wissota Midwest Modifieds - Aaron Blacklance
Wissota Street Stock - Ryan Satter (back to back NCR Champion)
Pure Stock - Kenny Crane (1st Championship in 11 years of racing, and it was his last season)
INEX Legends - Josh Julsrud (his dad, Dean, finished 2nd)

Worth Noting: Only 2 rain outs the entire season despite a fairly wet summer.

Look Ahead: Expect fairly similar things next year. Potential for only one NLRA Late Model show during the fair. Would expect same line of classes next year also.

Red River Valley Speedway Recap
Champions
IMCA Modifieds - Rob VanMil (1st Track Championship in a Mod)
IMCA Sport Mod - Jesse Skalicky (last won a championship at RRVS in 2012 in a pure stock)
INEX Legends - Josh Julsrud
Pure Stock - Billy Caruo (he won it by using P A T I E N C E)

Worth Noting: After a 4 year hiatus, RRVS returned with slightly lower than expected fan counts. However they averaged 33 Mods a night and about 16 cars a night in the other three, which is phenomenal. Track operated very smoothly under owners and management.

Look Ahead: Big things ahead by the sounds of it. I hear rumors of much bigger shows in 2017. Perhaps Donny Schatz returns, but this time in a winged car?

Red River Valley Speedway Modified Track Champion Rob VanMil

River Cities Speedway Recap
Champions
410 Sprint Cars - Casey Mack
NLRA Late Models - Dustin Strand (has 19 wins on the year!!)
Wissota Midwest Mods - Austin Hunter (picked up his 1st career MWM win too)
Wissota Street Stock - Travis Robertson (2nd in a row at RCS)

Worth Noting: Mark Dobmeier broke the track record with 8 straight win and the record for fastest completed 25 lap feature race. Donny Schatz won both Outlaw shows. Bucket of Nachos is still the best concession item in the region. Car counts were superior in all classes.

Look Ahead: John Seitz Memorial race is this weekend. More on that later. I'm sure the same show next year with potentially more lightning sprint shows again.

Dustin Strand was dominant all season long his #71 NLRA Late Model at RCS

Buffalo River Race Park Recap
Champions:
IMCA Modifieds - Michael Johnson (2nd of the year, almost won 3)
IMCA Sport Mods - Jesse Skalicky (3rd of the year)
INEX Legends - Josh Julsrud (3rd of the year)
Mod 4s - Francis Hauber
Sport Compacts - Katie Ahrndt
Pure Stocks - Dylan Heger

Worth Noting: Average car counts, average fans, average season to be honest. Weather was kind to BRRP. Half price beer before the race is the greatest idea ever. New owners this year also, but same management.

Look Ahead: Corn Cob Nationals remain, which if you ask Darrell Waltrip, is kind of a big deal. Who doesn't love free corn? New "party deck" was recently completed overlooking turn 4 should be worth checking out.

The #3s crew celebrates their 3rd track championship of the year.

I-94 Speedway
Here's your recap from reporter Jacob Pommerer: http://www.fergusfallsjournal.com/2016/09/johnson-takes-final-checkers/


Boone Bound
The IMCA Supernationals are currently taking place at Boone Speedway in Iowa. I believe there were somewhere around 1000 cars registered to compete in various classes. Some locals taking part include Tim Church, Jesse Skalicky, Josh Beaulieu, Rob VanMil, Michael Griffin, and Rob Plath, Good luck to those and others I may have missed.

John Seitz Preview
This week marks the 10th Anniversary of the John Seitz Memorial Race at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks. It will take place Thursday, September 8th through the 10th. Thursday is the "Prelude to the Johnny," Friday will include the heats and dash for cash for the late models, and Friday will have b-mains, LCQ, and main event for Late Models. All 3 nights will have a full show of support classes. Sprints will run Thursday and Friday, Midwest Mods will run all 3 nights, Street Stocks will run Thursday and Saturday, and Modifieds will run Friday and Saturday. There will be increased pay for pretty much everyone, but the big payout is for the Late Models, who will battle for $9,200 to win and will run 92 laps.

Previous winners: Chad Mahder (2015), AJ Diemel (2014),  Brad Seng (2013, 2011),  Brady Smith (2012), Cody Skytland (2010), Pat Doar (2009). Justin Fegers (2008), Mitch Johnson (2007).

Favorites to win: Dustin Strand really stands out this year as a tough candidate. He's become the toughest driver in the region, posting nearly 20 twins throughout 2016, which is no easy task. He had a strong finish last year and could again this year if his aggressiveness doesn't get the best of him. Don Shaw was John Seitz's brother in law, and this is a race he has badly wanted to win, but has seen it slip past him the last few years. He's been very consistent this season and recently picked up a few wins in Alexandria, so he's hot at the moment. Brad Seng has won it twice and AJ Diemel is capable of winning at any level.

Can't Make it to the Race? Watch it live on Speedshift TV.

News & Notes: August 10th 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 August 10th Edition of Racing on the Radio: News and Notes.

Sprint Car Tragedy
This weekend at the Belleville Midget Nationals, one of the most accomplished sprint car drivers in the history of the sport, Bryan Clauson was severely injured in a racing incident. He passed away about a day later from those injuries. At the young age of just 27, Clauson already had over 100 wins to his name, including several USAC championships and a Chili Bowl title in 2014. It's sad to see such a young and talented driver leave the industry in the peak of his career.

Money Month
It's a big month for sprint car drivers in the upper midwest and across the country. It was all kicked off with the 360 Nationals and Capitani Classic events this weekend at Knoxville Raceway in Iowa. That sets things up for the biggest Sprint Car race of the year this week: the Knoxville Nationals! Donny Schatz is of course the favorite having won the event nine times over his career. In fact, those 9 wins come over the course of the last 10 years. The only driver to have beat Schatz at the Nationals over that span was Tim Shaffer in 2010. I believe only Steve Kinser has more Knoxville National wins than Schatz.

Following the Knoxville Nationals will be the Rock N' Roll Gold Cup race at Badlands Motor Speedway on August 19th and 20th. $250,000 worth of gold is up for grabs overall. $50,000 goes to the winner of the winged and non winged main events. Many drivers will be crossing over to do both, including some names who typically do not. An extra $25,000 will go to the driver if they can successfully do both. Also it was just announced the World of Outlaws will not be sanctioning the event. The WoO sanction is very picky about how their shows are ran and apparently they didn't see eye to eye with BMS. Not sure if this will effect the entry list, however.

Then the World of Outlaws head back to River Cities Speedway for the 2nd time this year on August 26th. No surprise that Donny Schatz won the first stop, and is of course a favorite to win again. Oddly enough, Mark Dobmeier has never won an Outlaw show at his home track in Grand Forks. Dobmeier, who just had his record setting streak of 8 consecutive wins in row at RCS snapped this past weekend, said he wants this win more than the Knoxville Nationals or Gold Cup.

First Timers
This week was a good one for some drivers who picked up their first ever wins in their respective classes. I figured I'd take the time to recognize a few of them.

Tailin Tommerdahl; Also known as T-storm, IMCA Modified rookie Tailin Tommerdahl picked win #1 at Buffalo River Race Park on Sunday. She started on the pole, but impressively managed to hold off last year's IMCA National Modified Rookie of the Year Rob VanMil for about 15 laps. She hit her marks every lap, which is something her team emphasized at a test and tune last week at NCR. It was apparent on Thursday night also when drove her way up into the Top 10 on Thursday night from the last row and again on Sunday with the win.

Tailin Tommerdahl celebrates with family and friends (Stevenator Photo)

Tyler Peterson: Also known as TPO, Tyler Peterson picked up his first win in the Modified ranks on Thursday night at Norman County Raceway. Tyler is in his 3rd season in a Modified. This was only his 2nd race at NCR this year in a Mod, as he typically has run strictly WISSOTA for most of the past two seasons.

Cody Fuller: Also known as Cody Fuller. In just his 2nd season in a IMCA Sport Mod, Cody Fuller picked up his first career win on Thursday night at NCR. The former Pure Stock driver had never won in any division, but had been having a strong season. He had led numerous laps this season at BRRP and NCR, so the win just seemed like it was coming. Congrats to Cody and all the other first timers!

School Night
No Modifieds this Thursday night at Norman County Raceway, but it is school night, which means School Buses!!!! Typically representatives from area school districts would be the drivers, but I don't believe that is the case this year. But I'm sure there will be plenty of surprises as always!

Fergus Report
Here's the latest report from I-94 Speedway courtesy of Jacob Pommer:
Click here to read

Broadcast Schedule
Thursday, August 11th @ Norman County Raceway - School Night Presented by Dr. Joys Dental Clinic. School Buses, IMCA Sport Mods, Wissota Midwest Mods, Wissota Street Stocks, Trophy Cars. Green Flag Drops at 7pm, PreRace at 6:45 on 106.5 KRJB. Click here to listen to the Stream

Friday, August 12th @ Red River Valley Speedway - Presented by Steffes Auctioneers & North Dakota Corn Growers Association. IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Mods, IMCA Hobby/Pure Stocks, INEX Legends. Green Flag Drops at 7pm. PreRace at 6:45 on 106.5 KRJB. Click here to listen to the stream

News & Notes: July 26th 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 July 26th Edition of Racing on the Radio: News and Notes.

Bonus Night
As an unintentional ode to the last regime of Red River Valley Speedway, there will be make up night this Wednesday at the West Fargo track. There isn't a specific night they are making up, but since the first month saw only a few races and that there is already a limited schedule the operations group felt it would be ideal to add a night of racing to RRVS. So why Wednesday and not Friday? There's a big auction at the Fairgrounds this weekend and set up begins on Thursday, which is why this Friday was not on the schedule in the first place. Same classes this week. Same start time, but on a Wednesday. Take note.

KingPin Klash take 2
Norman County Raceway will be making up their King Pin Klash Wissota Street Stock Special that was originally scheduled for July 14th. This is the 4th or 5th year of that special. Shawn Tuenis was last year's winner. The Bowler of Fargo proudly sponsors that event.

The Ultimate Street Stock Special
Speaking of Street Stock specials, the annual Street Stock Little Dream is just about a week away. This is probably one of the coolest specials in all of dirt track racing, in my opinion anyways, The event takes place on Tuesday, July 2nd at Rice Lake Speedway in Wisconsin. What makes it neat is that the fans are some of the biggest contributors to the purse. And they start throwing out money like crazy. Last year's winner (Jim Randall) took home more than $14,000! Plus money gets thrown around in all sorts of places too. For more information on the event, click here.

The Numbers Are In....
The fans showed up big this year for racing at the Red River Valley Fair. Roughly 4,800 fans hit the grandstands for a Sunday Night Special that featured NOSA Sprints, NLRA Late Models, and Pure Stocks. For comparison sake, Chris Janson and Tigerlily pulled only 1,800, Hairball brought in 3,000, and Scotty McCreery and Blind Joe had about 5,000.  3 Days Grace saw about 8,000 and Big N Rich packed in 12,000. Weather definitely was to blame for some of the poor numbers, but it was good to see racing had a big draw, especially on a Sunday night.

The NOSA Sprints race in front of a packed grand stand at Red River Valley Speedway on July 17th

Sprints Show Speed
Last Thursday night at Norman County Raceway, the NOSA 410 Sprints got to flex their muscles and show what they're capable of on a very fast and tacky race track. Average lap times were over 100mph, so it would be fair to say they were probably reach speeds of about 120 on the straights. Austin Pierce picked up his first win at NCR, but the real hero was Corey Mack with his outrageous slide job attempts he pulled in both his heat and feature race.


Johnson Wins (X 6)
(UPDATED: I made some corrections. Previous post had a number of errors. Sorry for the confusion)
According to fellow reporter Jacob Pommerer, Tim Johnson pulled a clean sweep in all three classes last Friday night at I-94 Speedway in Fergus Falls, with heat and feature wins in a Street Stock, Superstock, and Modified. From what I understand, he has at least 3 Trifecta's (winning in all three features in one night) this year at I94 and another at KRA in Wilmar.

Tim Johnson, #1jr, wins a lot. 

Coming Up:

Wednesday, July 27th @ Red River Valley Speedway. Regular Weekly Series presented by Corwin, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, and Charleys Philly Steaks. IMCA Mods, Sport Mods, INEX Legends, and Pure/Hobby Stocks. Racing begins at 7pm. Click here to listen to live racing coverage from RRVS.

Thursday, July 28th @ Norman County Raceway. King Pin Klash Street Stock Special. Racing presented by the Bowler and Titan Machinery. IMCA Mods, Sport Mods, Wissota Midwest Mods, Street Stock, and Trophy Cars. Racing begins at 7pm. Click here to listen to live racing coverage from NCR.

News & Notes: July 7th Edition

Greeting race fans! I thought I'd give a quick update this week as I'm about to head on vacation. I've been taking full advantage of the little break from racing at Norman County Raceway and Red River Valley Speedway. Looking forward to getting back at the track next Thursday, however. With that being said, here's the July 7th edition of Racing on the Radio: News & Notes. Enjoy!

Dakota Classic Mod Tour
Some of the top IMCA Modified Drivers from ND, MN, SD, MT, and Canada will be mixing it up for 6 nights of racing in 6 days as part of the Dakota Classic Mod Tour, presented by Kupper Chevrolet. It's actually the largest IMCA Modified tour of its kind. The tour starts at Jamestown Speedway on Saturday, July 9th and ends in Mandan on July 14th. Other stops include Minot, Estevan (SK), Williston, and Dickinson. Payout is pretty respectable at $2,200 each night for the top spot, $300 to start. The Pre Entry list is LOOOONNG. View it here. IMCA Stock Cars support them each night. You can watch each race on IMCA.tv

Bowling for Street Stock
Racing action returns to Norman County Raceway next Thursday, July 14th with the 5th annual King Pin Klash Street Stock Special presented by the Bowler in Fargo. I cannot say enough how awesome of a show the Street Stocks put on every single night at NCR, so it's great to see them rewarded with a chance to run for some extra money. Shawn Tuenis was last year's winner and he plans on returning to capture the title.

Shawn Tuenis after winning the 2015 King Pin Klash

Sanders Mod Challenge Goes on Tour
This year's Sander's Modified Challenge has expanded from a one night race at NCR to a 4 night tour that also includes Red River Valley Speedway, Jamestown Speedway, and Buffalo River Race Park. It's $2,000 to win Thursday and Friday and $1,000 to win Saturday and Sunday. One of the coolest traditions of the Sanders Mod Challenge will continue this year also with the annual Pork Chop Feed in the pits. It used to be a secret, but then the internet happened. But a huge thanks to Sanders Metal Products of Fargo for sponsoring this tour. Todd and his family are large, but humble supporters of local racing. We'll have live racing coverage on 106.5 KRJB and rjbroadcasting.com for Thursday and Friday night's races. After that, feel free to turn over to our friends at IMCA.TV. The dates for the Sander's Mod Tour are August 18-21st. More info in the banner below.

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.

News and Notes: May 23rd, 2016 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 Speedway, and beyond. It's the May 23rd Edition of Racing on the Radio News and Notes.

33 is a Crowd
On Friday night at Red River Valley Speedway, 33 IMCA Modified drivers entered to compete, and all 33 were allowed to race in the main event. No B-Main or LCQ. This is pretty much unheard of, since the standard is typically to allow 24 or 25 to compete. But track owner Jake Bitker does have the philosophy that "if you came here to race, you're going to race." And for the most part it worked out. The start was a bit hectic but there was only a few cautions during the race. Although by the sounds of it the likely hood of RRVS attempting to do that again was slim. Some of the lap traffic was a concern for the drivers. (Note: A couple of drivers were scratched, so I believe only 31 actually started)

Shipley Sets Sail
Former Super Stock driver Dave Shipley picked up his first win in an IMCA Modified on Thursday night at NCR. This is just the start of Shipley's 2nd season in a Modified. He was very consistent and competitive as a rookie and has had several impressive runs this year, including his win. He always puts in solid lap times and works well in traffic.

Billy Two in a Row
Jamestown's Billy Carou now has two wins in a row at Red River Valley Speedway. I like this guy. He's the true definition of a Pure Stock driver. He's a little overweight, rocks a mullet that would make Jaromir Jagr proud, and probably races the entire main event with a big pinch of Grizzly chew in his cheek. He gives you simple and honest answers, and probably doesn't have a Facebook Fan Page. But he's a hell of a wheel man and loves to race.

Billy Carou and a very intimidated trophy presenter.

Silver Lining
Many of the top 410 Sprint Car drivers went for Silver on Saturday night at Badlands Motor Speedway, and in this scenario Silver is a good thing. Badlands paid out over $100,000 in silver bars for their opening night. The big winner was Mark "Dynamite" Dobmeier. Dobmeier started 7th in the main and found himself in victory lane at the track where is he holds the 3rd most wins of any driver in the history of the Speedway. He received 166 silver bars, which is equal to more than $27,000 dollars.

On Tourville
For the last 3 weeks, Keith Tourville from Dairyland, Wisconsin has made the trip to Norman County Raceway. Google Maps says that is a 5 hour and 2 minute trip. He must enjoy the track I assume, and he should because he's won 2 out of the 3 and finished 2nd the race he didn't win. Not sure why he chooses to come to NCR, but I'm glad he does. He races the #111 Wissota Street Stock.

Moving Up

-Brandom Schmidt of Hillsboro has his #219 Pure Stock on rails lately. It's really fun to watch that big machine get thrown around and sliding sideways in a style that is more similar to a Super Stock than a Pure Stock.

-Cody Fuller has made great strides so far in his #07 Sport Mod. He's battling hard, keeping his nose clean, and just all around looking like a top competitor compared to last year, which I believe was his rookie season.

DirtCast'ing
Here's something in the works Racing on the Radio will be teaming up with IMCA TV/Dirt Cast to bring our racing coverage to you in a new way. Along with providing our stream on Network1 Sports like we are currently, it will also be available on the DIRT CAST app. The app is free, the streaming is free. It's a pretty sweet deal if you ask me. It will be a much simpler way to access our stream too. I believe we'll be firing a trial of it this week. Stay tuned!

Up Next

-Norman County Raceway  has a regular night of racing ahead. We'll have coverage on 106.5 KRJB.

-Super Stocks are back at Red River Valley Speedway as part of the Fargo Force Cup. $800 to win. I have two Fargo Force cups, but they're not trophies, they're for drinking. Anyways its a 7pm Green Flag drop. Coverage on 106.5 KRJB.

-Pretty big race down in Alexandria this weekend. It's the 12th annual Minnesota Modified Nationals at Viking Speedway. $12,000 to win, $700 to start. It will take place this Saturday and Sunday. Promoter Chris Stepan is the man behind the magic. He's the same guy behind the John Seitz Memorial Race, Viking Fall Classic, Sunshine State, Mod Tour, the Street Stick Little Dream, and more. Expect all the top names from Wissota to take part.

How to Listen/Stream Racing on the Radio

Many of have been asking how to stream/listen to the radio broadcast of the races from Norman County Raceway and Red River Valley Speedway. since we are no longer on Tune In, so I thought I'd tell everyone how it's done. It's pretty simple really.

There are a couple of different routes for streaming you can take that will ultimately lead you to the same place.

1. Go to www.rjbroadcasting.com, click on the "Listen Live," and then click "106.5 KRJB" on the drop down menu. That will bring you to Network 1 sports, who hosts our streaming service. You should see the "Racing on the Radio" event, click on "Listen Live" and then play on the media player. Keep in mind the stream will NOT start until 6:44pm. The play button should turn green when we are active.

2. Go to www.network1sports.com, click on "Stations," click on the state of Minnesota, and then find and click on the KRJB station. Again, you should see the "Racing on the Radio" event from there.

OR....

Here's the link you can bookmark for later....

https://network1sports.com/station/krjb

UPDATE
Want to listen back to the race after it aired? We have that capability also. You will have buy a subscription, however. The cost is $10.95 for a whole year. Click on the archives link on the Network 1 sports website to sign up. All our races, along with all our high school games are archived and are usually available within an hour or so to listen to.

Also....

KRJB is a full powered, 100,000 watt station, which means our signal goes a long way. Below is a map of our coverage map. Note that our signal goes beyond what the map actually shows. To the west our signal can usually be heard all the way in Jamestown. So to get the clearest and best signal, I recommend you listen on your radio dial.

News & Notes - May 18th Edition

Here's your latest New, Notes, and Racing Tidbits from happenings at Norman County Raceway, Red River Valley Speedway, Buffalo River Race Park, and beyond.

Hot Pink

Tyler Hall of Fertile, MN picked up his first win of his IMCA Modified career on Sunday night at Buffalo River Race Park. I believe this is his 3rd full year in a Mod and came close several times last season.

Cold Open

Red River Valley Speedway opened it's doors for the first time since 2012 on Friday. The weather was not on its side, however. Temps were in the 40s and the wind was gusting 20-30 mph, making the center grandstands a popular option. Credit goes to the drivers and fans for braving it out and being a part of history. Some fans even showed up when the gates opened right at 5:30. 67 cars showed up and the track was in phenomenal shape. Overall, it seemed as if the show went off without a hitch.

Red River Valley Speedway Under the Lights during May 6th Test and Tune

Pretty B.A. Week

Aaron Blacklance, driver of the #5BA Wissota Midwest Modified, picked up two wins this past week. Aaron took home the checkers at Norman County Raceway and Devils Lake Speedway. This is only his 2nd year of racing a B-mod after a successful campaign in a Street Stock. Aaron will by the featured guest on this week's Racing on the Radio Review

No Love for Malmlov

There's been a lot of discussion in the announcer booth as to whether or not Dev Malmlov cursed himself by switching to #21. There's no question that he's had one of the fastest cars on the track in the last few races, but late race spin outs have cost him a chance at the win. Personally, I'm not one to believe in curses, but it's hard not to wonder if the bad luck continues, will Dev go back to #91?

Middle School Modifieds

The Wissota Midwest Modifieds have a very young class of drivers that are now competing and competing well. Bryton Foss is just 15 and is becoming much more competitive this summer, He currently sits in 5th place for points at NCR. Noah Metzger is just a junior in high school and a couple of top 5's already. And let's not forget about Joseph Thomas, son of the iconic Corky Thomas, who is barely a teenager. In just his first few races, he's stayed with the pack and has been consistent. Anyone who can do that will be a threat in no time. And there's others too, like Mike Nichols, who is either 15 or 16, Nichols put on a clinic at last year's stacked John Seitz Memorial race. He already has a handful of wins and a top 5 at the Wissota 100 in short career in the Midwest Modifeds. Fun Fact: With the exception of Metzger, all of those drivers started out racing Go-Karts.

Coming up:

Regular weekly series this week at Norman County Raceway and Red River Valley Speedway. Both races can be heard on 106.5 KRJB and rjbroadcasting.com. PreRace Show starts at 6:45pm.

The NOSA Sprints invade Buffalo River Race Park this Sunday night. It'll be the 2nd "tour" race for the NOSA series of the year. Wade Nygaard picked up a win at Devils Lake Speedway this past weekend, his 2nd win so far in 2016. Many local Sprint Car Drivers, Nygaard included, will also be competed in the NOSA supported Badlands Motor Speedway $100,000 Silver Shoot Out this Saturday in South Dakota.

As mentioned prior, this weekend's Racing on the Radio Review will feature Aaron Blacklance. Catch that Saturday at 8:45am on KRJB/KRJM/KKCQ.

News and Notes - May 9th, 2016 Edition

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.

Rob VanMil's Sharp looking 2016 Victory

News & Notes from April 28th Test & Tune at Norman County Raceway

It has been several months since I had last attended a dirt track, so it was nice to see some friendly faces, take in a big breath of exhaust fumes, and watch about 30 or so cars take some laps around Norman County Raceway, just one week before the Season Opener. I tried to take in as much as possible with so many drivers moving up and things changing this year. So here are a few news and notes that should get you by until race season starts.

Moving Up

-Paul Colvin and Vince Jegtvig are two pure stock drivers that will be making the plunge into a Sport Mod or B-mod car. Both are former NCR track champions by the way. By the sounds of it, Vince is choosing the WISSOTA Midwest Modified route, while Colvin is choosing an IMCA Northern Sport Modified. In his first few laps, Colvin looked solid and didn't appear to be afraid of the bigger car in any way.

-Luke Lick is moving up from a Sport/B-mod to an A-mod. Sharp car too. Definitely in my top 5 for coolest looking cars this season. By the sounds of it, he'll be running mostly WISSOTA shows, but will likely run some IMCA as well. I believe he has a goal of 50 shows this summer. Looked very comfortable in the new car.

Luke Lick's ride for 2016

-The "One Armed Bandit" Taylor Grove will be making the jump from the trophy class to an IMCA Sport Mod. By the end of test and tune, he really started to look comfortable and was turning some consistent and smooth laps. No easy task with only one hand on the wheel.  I'm excited to see what he can do once he gets confident.

Shaking things up

Say what!!!???

-It's no surprise to see Austin Arneson, the King of the Dirt and former USMTS Gulf Coast Region Champion, turning a ton of laps during an NCR Test & Tune, but it was a huge surprise to see him turning those laps in an IMCA Modified...and a Crate motor nonetheless. It makes sense though when really think about it. Arneson has a booming business (Dakota Grinding) and it doesn't allow him to run the USMTS schedule that he would like. With an IMCA Mod, he can run 4 shows a week all within an hour. Sounds like his plan is to run Thursday and Fridays at NCR and RRVS on a consistent basis and also still run some of the bigger shows and USMTS appearances in the region. Cale Arneson, Austin's brother, may also make a return to racing after four (or five?) year hiatus. He put some laps in Thursday night at the end of practice in Austin's car and looked really good from where I was watching in the infield..

-Cody Skytland is back in a Modified again for the 2016 season. He has a brand new Masterbilt to compete with thanks to car owner Bryan Kakela. Cody said he still plans on running the Late Model on occasion, but his main focus is the Modifed. Sounds like the goal is to hit up as many of the nearby USMTS and bigger Mod shows as he can while he is still able to. His kids are getting older and he said wanted to take one more big crack at competing against some of the top guys in the nation.

Cody Sktyland's 2016 Modified

Legendary

-There was about a half dozen or more INEX Legend cars putting some laps in at NCR before the regular season starts. The Legends will make roughly 10 appearances this year on the high banked 3/8th mile track. It's a little bit bigger than what most are probably used to so the practice was likely a big help. They looked like they were flying last night and I'm really excited to see what they can bring for racing action at NCR.  It's a tight group of racers and they travel well. My hope is to see at least two heats each week.

Other

- Matt Schow, who's targeting back to back track championships at River Cities Speedway, was turning laps in Lynn Lucken's Super Truck last night.

- Danny Netland will be the new flagman this year at Norman County Raceway. Danny has been with NCR for many years and I'm excited to have him on board making the calls and waving the flag. Even he, along with assistant flagman Matt Greseth, was at test and tune getting used to his new home in the flag stand.

-Robert Bladow had the fastest time of the night in his Late Model. Bladow had an up and down rookie season last year and is looking to rebound. Honestly he surprised many of us, including myself, by how fast he was out of the shoot in 2015. Robert looked very smooth last night and could really start being a contender this summer.

-Cody Erickson's Modified was present, but Cody was not. "Retired" driver Bryce Borgen was turning laps in it last night while Cody was busy in the field. UPDATE: Turns out Bryce will be racing the 1x for the first month or so of racing while Cody focuses on field work.

Mark Dobmeier will Race Both Sprint Car & Late Model This Summer at River Cities Speedway!

Breaking news out of the Team 13 Racing Shop this morning. In an interview recorded for an upcoming Racing on the Radio Review Episode, Mark "Dynamite" Dobmeier announced that in addition to running a 410 NOSA Sprint, he will also be racing a NLRA Late Model on a weekly basis on Friday nights at River Cities Speedway.

"It's an opportunity to branch out and get my feet wet in a different type of car. Late Model car counts were a bit low last year at River Cities, so this will add at least one more car to the field. Plus if Donny Schatz can do it, so can I!"

Dobmeier has only raced a Late Model once in his racing career. He admits it did not go very well, but he wants to try it again. The plan is to only to run it in Grand Forks, and at occasional shows throughout the region.

"The competition is pretty tough in Grand Forks," said Mark. "Brad Seng and Dustin Strand will be tough to beat, but I think I have enough skills in my back pocket and good enough team to hopefully win a couple of races in 2016.

But the real motive behind all of this, as I later found out in an off air discussion, is actually more of a marketing decision.

"This a great opportunity for me to sell more T-shirts!," Dobmeier confessed.

Mark plans on selling separate apparel for both his late model and sprint car. He also plans on separate lines of hats, I-phone covers, Dog and Cat water dishes, fish tanks, and paper towel dispensers.

Actually, this is the only car Mark Dobmeier will be racing this summer! 

April Fools! 

Thanks for reading and thanks to Mark Dobmeier for being a part of it!
The real interview with Mark can be heard April 9th on at 8:45am on 106.5 KRJB, Gold 101.5 KRJM, and 96.7 and 1480 KKCQ.

Ice Racing on the Radio Returns February 13th!

Matt Schow celebrates a heat win on January 23rd.

It's back again for 2016! Ice Racing on the Radio coverage returns for the 4th year in a row from Cameron Lake in Erskine, Mn. While my #RacingontheRadio Colleagues (Mike and Corey) are sweating their butts off in the Florida heat helping out Racefeed X, I look forward to getting back in to the racing action with the great group from the the Cameron Lake Ice Racing Association. Coverage will begin at about 11:45am on KKCQ 1480AM with the green flag dropping at noon. There will be two full shows (Heats, B-main, Feature).

Some of the names of the drivers might be recognizable as well to dirt track fans. All three Schow brothers (Matt, Ryan, Tyler) are driving this year along with the often dominant Doyle Erickson, Bill Beckman, Ryan Osowski, Thomas Arndt, and more.

The Cameron Lake Ice Racing Association had their first race of the season on January 16th and continues each Saturday typically until March. Spectating the races is free and concessions are usually available.

Speaking from experience the races are always a blast, the drivers are super nice, and the Cameron Lake Ice Racing Association is a pleasure to work with! And on February 13th, you'll be able to watch the races from the comfort of your vehicle and listen to the play by play on KKCQ 1480-AM.

If you are interested in sponsoring the race broadcast, please feel free to contact Don Brinkman at 218-435-1919 or Jim or Mark (myself) at 218-784-2844.

KRJB to be the Radio Home for Red River Valley Speedway!

Exciting news coming for Racing on the Radio fans this summer. Not only will you continue to hear live racing coverage from Norman County Raceway on Thursday nights, but now Racing on the Radio will be broadcasting live on Friday nights as well from Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo, ND.

Dirt track action from RRVS will be heard exclusively on 106.5 KRJB and online at rjbroadcasting.com.

"We've formed a great partnership with  NCR (and now RRVS) owner Jake Bitker over the years with our involvement at Norman County Raceway. This is an exciting new adventure and great chance to reach out to new fans and continue to provide more racing coverage for our already very loyal following," says Jim Birkemeyer, Owner of R & J Broadcasting Inc.

Racing on the Radio began in 2010 with broadcasting just a few races throughout the season and has since expanded to include full season coverage. pre and post race driver interviews, color commentary and analysis, and audio streaming to an audience all across the world.

Expect the same great quality coverage from announcers Mark Askelson, Corey Litton, and Mike Spieker when available. Racing is set to begin on May 5th at Norman County Raceway and May 6th at Red River Valley Speedway. A broadcast schedule is still pending, but coverage should be expected for a minimum of 10 races at RRVS and a minimum of 15 at NCR.

"We are extremely grateful for our great following and many loyal sponsors who support Racing on the Radio, and I'm thrilled to be able to provide another night of quality, local dirt track racing. No where else in this region can you turn on your radio and hear great racing action like we have on Racing on the Radio," says Racing on the Radio host and producer Mark Askelson. Mark will serve as NCR track announcer and provide play-by-play on Thursday nights with Corey Litton running the show. Friday nights they will swap positions at RRVS.

106.5 KRJB is 100,000 watt radio station in Ada, Mn, and is part of the R & J Broadcasting Inc, group of stations that also includes Gold 101.5 KRJM in Mahnomen and 96.7/1480 KKCQ in Fosston. KRJB's signal can be heard as far west as Jamestown, as far east as Bemidji, past Grand Forks to the north, and near the Whapeton area to the south.

If you are interested in becoming a sponsor of Racing on the Radio or would like more information, contact Jim or Mark with R & J Broadcasting Inc. at 1-800-569-4171.