News and Notes from 8-6-14 NCR Test and Tune

Big race tonight with the Blaine Brothers WISSOTA Late Model Challenge. A few of the LM guys were on hand last night at the test and tune along with a ton of modified guys and even myself in a Crown Vic Trophy Car. Here's some interesting tidbits I picked up from the test and tune.

-Pat Doar will be driving Casey Arnenson's #2 Late Model tonight. Why? Because Arnenson runs a crate motor and Doar and his freakishly awesome mustache wanted to see what a crate motor was capable of doing. You'll notice the spoiler on that car is also about 2" larger than the non-crate cars. The track was very dry last night so Doar noted it was hard to notice power difference, but he said the larger spoiler did help a little.

-Many modified drivers are having a hard time on exit. So the mod guys had a very intense 3 hours constantly making changes to get that bite on exit. We haven't seen much lifting of the left front this year, but I have a feeling a couple of the guys will be going back to that set up to get that right rear to bite.

-A few of the Elite Chassis B-mod cars has been struggling with set ups so far this year. Looks like a couple poorly placed weights was the culprit. Because the chassis sits higher than most, the weight on the right rear would actually be over the tire in the corners, not allowing any weight transfer or load to the springs. The fix? Move the weights. Easy enough.

-Mike Balcaen does in fact use the word  "ayh" in his regular vocabulary.

-Travis Robertson put in a lot of laps in his street stock. He looked good and he should have a leg up on the competition tonight with a similar dry slick track.

-Corky Thomas's son took a few laps in his mod. I don't know how old he is, but I'm would imagine he won't even have a drivers license for a handful of years yet.

-And last but not least, I got to spend some track time in the Crown Vic Trophy Car. It was probably the most fun I've had in a long time. I made progress each session. I was pretty confident after my last session and hope to get to do it again sometime! Not gonna lie though, when Dave Shipley pulls up next to you in your first time ever on a track, you get a little nervous. Sorry Dave if I got in your way. I'm mostly glad I never spun out, but it was kind of enjoyable watching Robert Bladow spin out in front of me. Jake Bitker also tried to run me off the track in the 2-seater. Thanks Jake. I gave him a nice hand gesture to let him know how much I enjoyed it. ;) (There's me running the high side on the back straight in the photo below.)

Oh...and Bob Sagen was in the house ladies and gentleman. I love the "retro" bodies he always has on his car.

Also its School Night at NCR tonight as well. Bring in school supplies and save on admission! And area school Superintendents will be racing the school buses. Late Models, B-mods, Street Stocks, Mod-4s, Trophy Cars/Sport Compact, and School Buses all on the line up tonight.

Not only can you listen to the racing broadcast on 106.5 KRJB and krjbradio.com, but you can watch it in great quality on Speed Shift TV. You can order it here. They use our radio feed and I'm super glad to have Speed Shift on board once again. Racing begins at 7pm. Pre-Race show begins at 6:45.

2014 Fair Week at Norman County Raceway

Fair week is always something I look forward to every year at Norman County Raceway! This year it is bigger and badder then ever with 3 nights of dirt track racing that should fill the antique covered grandstands with excitement. 2014 feature's Back to Back NLRA Late Models, B-mod Blitz and IMCA Saturday night shootout with School Bus races. Here's the full run down

Wednesday June 25th:

Opening day of the fair and first night of racing action! Included in the racing lineup is NLRA Late Models, WISSOTA Midwest Mods, WISSOTA Mod 4's, IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Compacts, and Trophy Cars. Race will be broadcast on 106.5 KRJB and krjbradio.com. Coverage begins at 6:45pm. Green Flag drops at 7pm. 

Also check out at the fair: Midway Opens at 5pm, Free Watermelon at 6pm near coliseum, and karaoke in the beer garden following the races.

Thursday June 26th:

Youth day at the fair and 2nd night of racing. NLRA Late Models and WISSOTA Midwest mods both return. The WISSOTA Mods come back into the line up along with WISSOTA Street Stocks and NCR Pure Stocks. Race will be broadcast on 106.5 KRJB and krjbradio.com. Coverage begins at 6:45pm. Green Flag drops at 7pm. 

Also check out at the fair: Free Root Beer floats at 2pm, Pinewood Derby at 5pm in Coliseum, dollar rides from 1-5pm, and the sweet sexy music of Mobster Lobster in the beer garden starting at 9pm.

Friday June 27th:
No racing on this day but make sure to check out the talent contest on the free stage at 7pm, mutton busting, Ultimate Kick Boxing in the grandstand, and Brother Jukebox in the beer garden at 9pm.

Saturday June 28th:
It's Super Saturday and an IMCA Saturday Night Shootout at NCR. IMCA Mods, IMCA Sport Mods, INEX Legends are all scheduled to race. Also back by popular demand: School Bus Racing!!!Race will be broadcast on 106.5 KRJB and krjbradio.com. Coverage begins at 6:45pm. Green Flag drops at 7pm.

Also check out at the fair: Valley Cruiser's Car Show from 9 until 3, kickball tournament at 11, Mudslinger's ATV Mud Run at 2pm,  Lion's Pork Chop Feed at 5pm, Music by Border Patrol in the beer garden, and fireworks following the races around 10pm.

Plus there's many, many, many, many more activities going on throughout the fair. Go to the fair website for a full list. Hope to see all of you there!

Photo: Zach Johnson, driver of the #73 Late Model, has a history of success at NCR and will be the driver to beat.

2014 Norman County Raceway Broadcast schedule

Now that the final race schedule has been set, it was time to figure out this year's Norman County Raceway broadcast schedule. Once again a majority of the races will be broadcast on 106.5 KRJB, but with a few more off dates due to NCR adding 4 Saturday night races as well. Here's the events we will be covering.

Thur May 1st - Season Opener
Thur May 8th
Thur May 15th
Thur May 22nd
Friday May 29th
Sat May 31st - IMCA Sautrday Night shootout
Thur June 5th
Thur June 12th - Meet and Greet night/ Mod-4 Special
Thur June 19th
Wed June 25th - NC Fair/NLRA Late Models/B-mod Blitz
Thur June 26th - NC Fair/ NLRA Late Models/B-mod Blitz
Thur July 10th - NOSA Sprints
Thur July 17th
Thur August 7th - Wissota Late Model Challenge Series/School Bus Races
Thur August 14th - Sander's Modified Challenge
Sat August 16th - IMCA Saturday Night Shootout
Thur August 21st - NLRA Late Models

Unfortunately once again, at this point anyways, we will not be covering the Season Championship on August 28th. We may, however, be picking a few more nights in July or August if our other nights rain out. Also we will have a new voice on select nights. Due to time restraints, NCR track announcer Jim Birkemeyer will only be announcing about half of the total schedule, and I will be announcing the other half. On those nights, Jacob Anderson will be stepping in to help run Racing on the Radio. Also, throughout most of the year we will have Race Analyst Mike Spieker (All the Dirt) join us during the broadcasts.  So please tune for our racing coverage on 106.5 KRJB and online at krjbradio.com. You can also listen on your smart phone by downloading the "Tune In" app. Pre-Race show starts at 6:45, Green Flag drops at 7.

KKCQ 96.7 to broadcast Cameron Lake Ice Racing

For the 2nd year in a row, the Cameron Lake Ice Racing group in Erskine is allowing me to come in and broadcast one of their races live on the radio. We will be covering the February 8th race on 96.7 KKCQ FM with race coverage beginning at noon. As usual, they will have 2 full shows of both compact and full size cars. Last year I had a blast an am looking forward to doing it again. If you're not familiar with ice racing, it's worth checking out. The Cameron Lake Ice Racing group started in January and will go until early March believe. They race every Saturday at noon on Cameron Lake just off Hwy 2  in Erskine. Its free to watch also and concessions are available.

Drivers Head South; IMCA Saturdays at NCR

Many area drivers have headed south for the winter, or for the week as they take part in the Winter Extreme Tour in Arizona. Some of the drivers taking part that you may be familiar with include Tyler Peterson, Austin Arneson, Rusty Kollman, Cody Skytland, Mike Stearns, Don Shaw, Ricky Weiss, Blake Jetvig, Ward Imrie, Donny Schatz, Ryan Cousins, Mike Balcaen, and Scott Bintz.

I would love to update you on how everyone of them is doing, however, there doesn't appear to be any results posted online. Via Facebook and Twitter I did discover some of local guys having some luck. Tyler Peterson got 2nd his first night of racing and won the feature on his second night. That's a hell of an accomplishment considering these races feature drivers from all across the country. Also Austin Arneson and Cody Skytland managed top 10s on Saturday and Austin got a top 5 on Sunday. I have a feeling Austin will manage to get a victory before he heads back north. Those Arneson boys always shine in big races.

If anybody has results I would gladly post them for everyone to see. There is some videos and content available on Dirtondirt.com, but most of it you have to be premium (paid) subscriber for.

Norman County Raceway to feature monthly IMCA Saturday race

Norman County Raceway, who announced last month that they will be adding IMCA Sport Mods to their Thursday line up on occasion, will feature a monthly Saturday IMCA program. Those dates include May 31st, June 28th,  July 26th, and August 16th. All those dates will feature the IMCA Mods, IMCA Sport Mods, and IMCA Sport Compacts (except June 28th), and NCR Pure Stocks. School bus racing will also be a part of the June 28th program.

Street Stocks will be added to a few more shows this year. 13 Shows overall, including the first 5 races of the year. Last year they were on for 11 shows at NCR.

We are currently working on our broadcast schedule for the year on 106.5 KRJB, but once again we will more than likely be broadcasting most, if not all, of the Thursday night races, and possible a few Saturday night shows too.

Here's some more schedule highlights for 2014 at Norman County Raceway:
May 1st - Season Opener
June 12 - Meet and Greet Night/Mod 4 Special
June 25th - NLRA Late Models, IMCA Mods, B-mod Blitz
June 26th - NLRA Late Models, B-mod Blitz
July 3rd - IMCA Mods, IMCA Sport Mods + more /Fireworks
July 10th - NOSA Sprint Cars + full line up
July 31st - King Pin Klash (Street Stock Special)
August 7th - School Night/Late Models, School Buses
August 14th - Sanders Modified Challenge
August 28th - Season Championship

PHOTO OF THE DAY: Austin Arneson at Tuscon International Raceway in Arizona.

NC Raceway to add IMCA Sport Mods, 2014 Schedule Highlights

 

Norman County Raceway adds IMCA Northern Sport Mod

Buffalo River Race Park announced earlier this week that they would exchange their WISSOTA B-mod and Modified classes for the IMCA counterpart: IMCA Modifieds and Northern Sport Mods. Now Norman County Raceway has announced it will keep its WISSOTA Modified and B-mod classes, however it will ADD the IMCA Northern Sport mod class. Also, they will most likely bring back the Hornets and do so as an IMCA sanction.

Basically the IMCA Northern Sport Mod is a more affordable version of the B-mod according to NCR Track Owner/Promoter Jake Bitker.

"In a Northern Sport Mod, the rear spring have to be on top of the rear end housing, they have a limited shock, 9" rear end with mini-spools, no lightened gear, and must have solid axels. They may also have a GM602 crate motor or a 9:1 compression motor."

The appearance is very similar to B-mod, although it does allow for a 6" spoiler.

For more information on the rules go to the IMCA website. (www.imca.com)

2014 Schedule

Along with a new class, Bitker looks to have his schedule set for 2014. It will posted on the website soon, but for now here's a couple of highlights that should make this another blockbuster summer at Norman County Raceway.

*A few Saturday IMCA Modified Specials (including 1 during the Norman County Fair)

*NOSA Sprint Cars return on July 10th

*Back to back Late Models on Wednesday/Thursday during the Norman County Fair

*Possible FULL IMCA show on Saturday of NC Fair......plus School Buses!

...plus much more I'm sure, but that's all I got out of Jake so far.

The full schedule should be out within the next week or two.

Racing on the Radio Christmas Lists

With the holiday season approaching, local race car drivers are writing their letters to Santa, trying to convince ol' St Nick that they've been good boys and girls and sending him a list of things they would like for Christmas. Well truth be told, there is no Santa, and I have intercepted those letters. I thought maybe I could share a few of the items on their lists.


Mike Balcaen asked for some new arteries, since his have been clogged with racer nachos and hot dogs after 30 years of racing.

Travis Sauer wants nothing more in the world then to finally find someone who can actually beat him in a B-mod.

It doesn't matter what Dustin Strand wants, he's going to get a lump of coal for yelling at the officials.

Casey Arnenson would like a fancy new safe to store all the cash he won this year.

Oddly enough Austin Arnenson wants a book called "Safe Cracking for Dummies."

Bob Sagen would like a Performance Bodies catalog newer then 1998.

I don't know what Donny Schatz wants for Christmas because he never wrote a letter. He was too busy winning.

Rich Pavilcek wants Tyler Peterson delivered to his doorstep wearing a giant red bow....not sure what that's all about.

Jake Bitker really would really, really like a top 5 finish at his own race track this year.

Amber Balcaen wants to know why guys are always reading her shirt.

Billy Michaelsohn would like a video copy of the one time he actually won a heat race this year.

Ken Crane will not be getting anything for Christmas because last year he "accidentally" pulled a slide job and blocked Santa from getting to Dean Lundon's house.

Scott Sailer is wishing for a big corporate sponsor to fund a new racing TV show.

And I would like to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Oh, and I want nachos too...just saying.