Grand Forks, ND–Track Championship night was this past Friday night sponsored by Rydell GM Auto Center and Evergreen Insurance. The Premier Racing Series ended the month of August with eighty-seven teams checking in the backgate with the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds the highest car count, just one short of thirty. Two drivers that led their respective divisions in points won their feature race, while two second place drivers won their feature races. All were great racing with a tricky smooth racing surface keeping the drivers guessing on setups.

In the WISSOTA Late Model division, Joey Pederson, Brad Seng, and Howie Schill won their heat races. All of them started on the pole, but Schill had to pass early race leader, Corcoran for the win in the last heat race in order to claim the win. The other two led flag to flag to capture their wins. During the Feature event, Seng took control of the race from the start and cruised to the win with Pederson chasing him across the line. Seng mentioned he made the wrong setup change, but proved to be the right change in the end. Weiss advanced from the tenth starting spot to finish third as Troy Schill and Tom Corcoran rounded out the top five spots.

In the Midwest Modified heat races, points leader, Aaron Olson captured the first heat race win from the pole. The second heat race wasn’t decided till the last lap when Gary Nelson Jr. passed Dustin Strand for the win after he had started dead last! Todd Johnson and Bryan LePier both started on the pole of the other two heat races and won their heat races. For the feature race, Olson looked to be the fastest car and Strand made his way to second with just a handful of laps to go and needed a caution to catch Olson. He got that caution and also a second one but could not find a way past Olson for the win. Olson claimed the win and still leads the track points exiting the night. Nelson and LePier both followed close in the race to finish third and fourth while Schroeder had to make his way finish fifth from the eighth starting spot. Naastad bettered the two seventeen cars as they both raced hard throughout the race against each other and finished just outside the top five.

WISSOTA Street Stock heat races were won by Rick Beier and Steffen Snare. Snare started on the pole of his race, but it was Beier who passed Tyson Anderson late in the race to claim the win from the sixth starting spot. Anderson didn’t win the feature easily either. Both heat winners gave him a run for his money in the closing laps of the feature, winning only by a half car length over Beier. Snare settled for third with John Halvorson advancing a spot to finish fourth. Canadian, Henry Peters rounded out the top five spots after starting ninth.

Mark Dobmeier had a stroke of bad luck in the heat race, but so did Nygaard. Nygaard was penalized for a jump start, then Dobmeier tangled with a lap car while leading and was sent to the back. This allowed Lee Grosz to lead the heat race, till Nygaard snuck past him and continued on for the heat win. Dobmeier finished third with Shane Roemeling between the two. Casey Mack started outside the pole of the second and final heat race and won with pole-sitter, Martin second. Dobmeier continues to dominate the division at RCS and padded his point lead by winning the feature race after starting fifth on the grid. Chris Shirek followed Dobmeier across the line and had the most impressive run of the night from the last starting spot! Lee Grosz finished third from the eleventh starting spot while Dave Glennon finished the night off with a consistent run, finishing in fourth with Shane Roemeling fifth.

River Cities Speedway will kick-off the month of September with one night of Premier Racing Series and then prepare for the 3^rd Annual John Seitz Memorial Late Model Invitational September eleventh and twelfth. More information can be found at rivercitiesspeedway.com and the event flyer is also posted for more information.

The last race of the year is planned for September 18^th with a full program including Legend Cars.

Grand Forks, ND–The Premier Racing Series at River Cities Speedway this past Friday seen two new faces in the rydellcars.com sponsored Victory Lane. But neither entered Victory Lane without some pressure from the current points leaders in each of their respective classes. This was also the Hall of Fame night in which members recognized and inducted two more members into the Hall of Fame. Jim Corcoran introduced the two inductees as Dennis Sather and Denny Roy, two long-time supporters of racing as well as drivers back in the day.

To get the night started off, there were two heat races for the Transystem sponsored Street Stocks. Dan McNamee used the outside pole spot to grab the lead first and went on to claim the win over Tyson Anderson who finished second and third place finisher Rodney Hulst. Current points leader, Steffen Snare won the second heat race from the third starting spot. Joe Potter passed Blacklance for the second spot with Blacklance finishing third.

Their Feature Event for the night had McNamee and Brevik on the front row with Hulst and Blacklance in the second row.  Brevik would grab the lead first and continue with the lead through the first caution. By that time Snare had made his way up to challenge for the lead just before the second caution came out. The race was for the top five spots as Anderson, Brevik, McNamee and Potter all raced hard for one of those spots. A restart with just three laps to go reset the field but Snare was too fast for the rest to catch and captured another feature win while adding to his point lead. Tyson Anderson was second in front of Potter who started seventh on the grid. After spinning in front of the rest during the heat race, Rick Beier stormed through the field to finish fourth after starting eleventh and Brevik held on to the fifth finishing spot.

Hawk’s Hobby Heaven sponsored Midwest Modifieds continue to have the largest field of cars, as they were split into four heat races. Matt Schow started on the pole of the first heat race and won the race easily with the best race between the rest of the field. First time visitor Lon Vettleson finished second with Tyler Reimer advancing a spot for third. Aaron Olson grabbed the lead during the second heat race and didn’t look back till the checkered flag flew. Rod Peterson was second as Zach Naastad passed Schroeder for the third spot. Bryan Kakela won his first heat race of the season over racing buddy, Lance Schill. Schill was not able to pass him and settled for the second spot ahead of Ryan Schow. Pole-sitter, Chad Jensen outlasted the charge of Dustin Strand in the final heat race for the win. Approximately a third of a car length separated the two across the line. Adam Gajeski held on to third after starting second.

Four cars transferred out of the consolation race, which were, Zach Bruer, Bryan Lepier Dave Blasey and Todd Johnson. For the eighteen lap feature race, Matt Schow and Rod Peterson led the nineteen cars to take the green flag. The cautions started as early as the first lap and lasted throughout the race adding up to seven yellows total for various cars. Schow grabbed the early lead with pressure immediately for the lead. Peterson passed Schow for the lead just shortly into the feature wit Kakela also getting past Peterson for second. After a pileup on the restart with just a few laps into the race, Gajeski looked to get the worse of the damage and could not continue. Rod Peterson continued to lead the field the rest of the way to the checkered flag. This left the battle for second place to be decided. Schow slipped back under green flag runs and still finished a very respectable fourth place in the end. Strand and Olson were left to settle the second and third spot. Both raced hard for the spot and with one lap to go, Strand and Olson were side by side as contact was made between the two with Strand suffering a break of the left front but was still able to wheel it around for  a third place finish. Olson followed Peterson under the checkers for the second spot with Gary Nelson Jr. an Tim Berg gaining ten spots to finish fifth and sixth.

Chris Shirek grabbed the lead in the first NOSA race of two for a brief time until last week’s feature winner, Casey Mack passed him for the lead and win. Shirek held on to second with Nygaard third from the sixth starting spot. The only other driver to win a feature race at RCS this year is Bob Martin. Martin started sixth and grabbed the lead early to continue on for the win. Dobmeier started seventh but was not able to catch Martin. Tom Egeland started on the pole and held on for a top three finish.

The Feature Event for the NOSA Outlaw Sprints, sponsored by Nissan Honda of Grand Forks, seen all seventeen cars start. Through troubles with the lighting system, Mark Dobmeier was able to navigate through the field from the eighth starting spot to capture the win. Chris Shirek led early on, but would slip back in the field to finish outside the top five. Wade Nygaard was able to move forward and finish a strong second with Martin finishing third. Last week’s feature winner, Casey Mack, finished fourth with Minot native Greg Nikitenko fifth after starting twelfth.

There were sixteen WISSOTA Late Model drivers entered for the night split into two heat races. Rookie, Josh Maurstad started outside the pole in the first heat race and won over Troy Schill and Steve Anderson, who finished second and third. In the second heat race, Doyle Erickson started on the pole and led every lap enroute to the win. Brad Seng had the closest opportunity to pass Erickson, but had to settle for the second finishing spot. Fuller, who had not been out on the track till this race, finished third.

The WISSOTA Late Model Feature Event started with the two heat winners on the front row and Steve Anderson with Troy Schill in the second row. Erickson grabbed the lead first and continued on to earn his first feature win of 2009 at RCS. The fastest car was Brad Seng who started eighth and finished second. Troy Schill had to race hard to hold on to his spot throughout the race and finished just behind Seng in third after starting fourth. Anderson slipped back a few spots and was passed by Joey Pederson who finished fourth and Anderson finished with a top five finish.

All information about the rest of the 2009 season including the upcoming World of Outlaws Sprint Car race in August can be found at rivercitiesspeedway.com. The speedway will finish out the month of July with the Premier Racing Series on July 31st, sponsored by StaMart and the Broken Drum. There will be two regular race nights in August before the Outlaws arrive on August 21st.

Prepared by: Orness Creations

Grand Forks, ND–The Premier Racing Series was back after a week off with the World of Outlaw Late Models in town last week. This week’s races were sponsored by Gateway Cenex and Interstate Power which seen two new faces in the Rydellcars.com Victory Lane. A first River Cities Speedway win and a First Career win in that division. But first the speedway owners presented the 2008 Points Champions and the top five drivers their awards to the fans just after the hotlap session.

There were fifteen WISSOTA Street Stocks entered for the night, split into two heat races. Tyson Anderson picked up his third heat race win of the season by beating Jose and Reimer across the line. Dan McNamee won his first heat race of the year from the third starting spot with Snare close behind him. Potter raced from the seventh starting spot to finish third. Half of the cars that started the feature race finished in what was a scary finish with just a few laps to go. Jose led the majority of the race and was challenged by Snare and Anderson for the lead at various times. The three were running hard when contact put Jose upside down at the track exit to the pits. Anderson was not able to continue. This left Snare in first and he continued on to win his fourth feature of the season. Reimer was second with Neumann, Wall and Potter rounding out the top five.

The WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds ran four heat races and had a total of twenty-six teams. Bryan LePier won the first heat race from the pole and was the best race for the lead out of all the heats. Gajeski raced hard for the second spot from the sixth starting spot. Schroeder finished just behind Gajeski to give him a top three finish. Chad Jensen won the second heat race also from the pole with fourth starter, Bintz, in the runner up spot. Vasichek started third and finished third. The third heat race was won by outside pole-sitter, Dustin Ness. Sonstelie started on the pole and held off Aaron Olson for the second spot. Point leader going into the night was Todd Johnson. Johnson won the last heat race from the pole with sixth starter Strand finishing second. Rod Peterson advanced a spot to finish third. Sobolik, Thompson, Schill, and Matt Schow all raced their way into the feature finishing in that order of the consi.

Dustin Ness and Gary Sonstelie made up the front row for the Midwest Mod feature event. Troubles on the start sent Sonstelie to the back which moved up the outside row one spot. Ness led a handful of laps through a couple cautions but couldn’t hold off Strand as he took the lead with about thirteen laps to go. Strand continued on to claim the checkered flag with Ness racing hard to keep that second spot. Jensen started fourth and finished third ahead of Olson and Vasichek who both advanced from midpack. Sobolik had a strong run advancing from the consi and finishing seventh in the feature.

There was one team short of twenty WISSOTA Late Models. They were split into three heat races with Joey Pederson winning the first heat race followed by Seng and Anderson. Mike Bruns started on the pole for the second heat and won that race by holding off Jarvis and Balcaen. Tom Corcoran used the pole spot to his advantage and winning the last heat race over Troy Schill and John Halvorson.

The WISSOTA Late Model feature event started all nineteen teams with Jarvis and Balcaen leading the field around to the green. Balcaen grabbed the lead and led the race over the halfway point. Seng and Pederson moved into the picture challenging for the lead in lap traffic. Seng actually passed Balcaen for the lead, but was voided because of a yellow flag. The field reset and was back under green. Seng could not get past the leader and spun in the closing laps and still finished eighth. Tonight it was John Halvorson that grabbed the lead and the spotlight for his first feature win in the late model division. Halvorson passed the leader on the low side out of the corner. Pederson also got past Balcaen for the second spot with Howie Schill racing from the twelfth starting spot, finishing third. Rounding out the top five spot from way back in the field were Todd Johnson and James SanGrait.

Seventeen NOSA Outlaw Sprints checked in the back gate with them being split into two heat races. Ryan Wilson of Superior, WI won the first heat race from outside the pole with Dave Glennon second and pole-sitter, Tom Egeland third. Chris Burke grabbed the lead in the second heat race and led every lap. Casey Mack passed for the lead & win, out of turn four coming to the checkered flag. Burke finished second with Dobmeier third after starting at the back of the eight-car field.

Casey Mack joined Bob Martin as the only other driver to beat Mark Dobmeier at RCS this year, not including the WOO event. Mack was fast but also had some luck fall his way. Ryan Wilson actually led the event till a yellow, and he had to restart at the tail which gave the lead to Hall. Hall led the field to the next green, but spun on the first corner giving the lead to Mack. Mack led every lap to the checkered flag claiming his first win this season at River Cities Speedway. Dave Glennon had a strong run finishing second to Mack with Nygaard and Dobmeier chasing him down throughout the end of the race. Minot native, Greg Nikitenko rounded out the top five.

The Premier Racing Series will finish out the month of July with two more regular season Friday Nights, with July 31^st being Hall of Fame night. August 21^st will be the second visit of the World Of Outlaw Sprint Cars. Tickets are on sale now. Visit rivercitiesspeedway.com for ordering info or the latest race reports, news and results

Prepared by Orness Creations

Grand Forks, ND–After a week of the races being cancelled due to funnel clouds and tornado sirens, the Premier Racing Series was back underway last Friday with Midseason Championship Night. The night was sponsored by Pepsi and Aaron’s Sales & Lease both of Grand Forks, ND.

Steffen Snare started out the night by winning the first of two heat races for the WISSOTA Street Stocks. Tyson Anderson won the second heat race over Henry Peters and James Wall, who both raced side by side through the race for a handful of laps. Steffen Snare continued his dominance in the Street Stock division by winning the Transystems Feature Event. This would be Snare’s third continuous clean sweep of the year in as many as five events. Potter Anderson, Peters, and Wall rounded out the top five spots.

The dominant driver as of late in the Midwest Modified division is Dustin Strand, who continues to win at area tracks and sits in the top five in national points. Todd Johnson got the heat races started off, by winning the first of three heats. Johnson bettered LePier and Kakela for the win, and is currently the Track Points leader. Aaron Olson who is currently second in track points won the second heat race over Lance Schill and Adam Gajeski. Dustin Strand won the last heat race over teammate, Zach Naastad and Scott Vasichek. During the feature event there was a caution on the first lap which reset the field and it was Aaron Olson that would get the lead first from Polesitter, Johnson. Strand, who started third was able to get by Johnson for the second spot and continued on to look under Olson for the lead. The two both tried the top and bottom groove, but Strand got by and led the rest of the way to the ND Eye Clinic Finish Line, less a left rear spring. LePier finished second after starting fourth, and Olson, Johnson and Bintz finished out the top five spots. This would be Strand’s second straight clean sweep and third win in a row for the season at RCS.

Harold Schill Jr. picked up his third heat race win, to get the Late Model action started. Schill was chased across the line by Troy Schill, and Tom Corcoran. All of which are in the top five in track points. Seng, who sits just outside the top spot in points won the second heat race of the night. Seng was followed by Joey Pederson and Steve Anderson. Harold Schill and Brad Seng made up the front row of the Late Model feature event and it would be Seng that would grab the top spot and lead the way to the checkers with plenty of racing just behind him. Troy Schill, Corcoran, Harold Schill and Pederson all exchanged spots throughout the race. Anderon even entered the mix at times and at the end it was Pederson and Troy Schill that would claim the two spots behind Seng with Corcoran hanging on to the fourth spot just ahead of Steve Anderson who passed Harold Schill for a top five finish.

A makeup feature event was scheduled in the NOSA Outlaw Sprint division this night, but first it was the three heat races. Mark Dobmeier started on the pole for the first heat race and won with Casey Mack passing Linnell for the second spot after starting third. Polesitter, Wade Nygaard won the second heat race with Lee Grosz finishing second after starting fifth. Ryan Flaten bested the rest of the field, finishing in the third spot. A scary moment in the third and final heat race as Chris Shirek was leading the race, and lost a right rear tire into the west grandstands. The tire bounced high enough, which allowed fans to clear the seating area and Bounced once again into the main grandstand. No spectators were hurt, but have a great story to tell. With Shirek off on the hook, Bob Martin cruised to win his third heat race of the year. Lou Kennedy Jr. was second after starting fifth with Nick Shirek finishing in the third spot. Bob Martin also won the makeup feature. Dave Glennon held the lead for the first part of the race but slowed with just a handful of laps complete to bring out a yellow. The race resumed with Martin leading. By this time Dobmeier had made his way up to challenge Martin, and in fact passed him, but was voided by a yellow. After the restart, Dobmeier did get past Martin for the lead, but was confronted with some lap traffic and spun off turn one and was not able to continue. Martin led the field the rest of the way to capture his first win at River Cities in 2009.

The NOSA Main Event was the last feature of the evening. Heat winners, Nygaard and Dobmeier made up the front row, and it was Dobmeier that would get the lead with Nygaard and Martin in tow. Just a few laps into the race, the leaders encountered lap traffic. Dobmeier continued to lead, and with about seventeen laps to go, Nygaard looked past Dobmeier for the lead, but then a caution would come out. Dobmeier led the rest of the race through seventeen green flag laps. Like the late model feature the action was behind the leader as Nygaard, Kennedy, Martin and Mack all mixed it up back and forth. As Dobmeier secured his fourth win in 2009 at RCS, Nygaard was able to get back the second spot with Bob Martin third. Casey Mack was able to get past Kennedy and finish fourth with Kennedy settling for fifth.

This week is the WOO Late Models at River Cities Speedway! Venue information can be found at rivercitiesspeedway.com or on their Facebook Fan Page. Then to finish out the month of July will be three straight Friday’s of the Premier Racing Series at the Action Track. THE ONLY track in the upper Midwest to run Late Models and Outlaw Sprints WEEKLY.

Prepared by Orness Creations

Prepared by: Orness Creations

Grand Forks, ND 5/23/09

River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, ND finally completed one night of racing for 2009 after the four previous weeks were cancelled due to mother natures unwillingness to cooperate. Even this night was bleak when the skies opened up and dumped a small amount of rain on the speedway. But that was not enough to cancel the races that were sponsored by Tesoro and Canad Inns. It also didn’t stop Brad Seng from sweeping the competition in the Late Model division.

Seng started outside pole in both the heat race and the feature and led the rest of the competitors around to the checkered flag. 2008 track champion, Joey Pederson finished second to Seng in the heat race with Corcoran and Halvorson crossing the finish line behind them. In the second and last heat race for the late models, Troy Schill picked up the win with Erickson and brother Howie Schill behind him. During the feature race, Troy Schill was running with Seng, but exited the track early in the race when his motor let go. Through three cautions, Seng led the race with some pressure from a eager Pederson that would prove to bite him late in the race when trying to find his way past Seng for the win. Pederson slipped up a little in the corner which allowed Howie Schill to get past him for the second finishing spot. Pederson held on for the third spot with Doyle Erickson advancing three spots to finish fourth. John Halvorson and Tom Corcoran raced hard for a top five finish throughout the race, but it was Halvorson that finished fifth when the checkers were in the air.

There were three heat races in the Midwest Modified division sponsored by Hawk’s Hobby Heaven. Rookie, Lance Schill won the first heat race after passing Adam Thompson for the lead. Thompson was later passed by Scott Vasicheck and finished in the third spot. Dustin Strand led the second heat race until Ryan Schroeder passed him on the last lap to pick up the win. Aaron Olson finished in the third spot coming from the back row. Todd Johnson looks to be fast this year, and won the third and final heat race by besting Adam Gajeski who finished second and pole-sitter Naastad finished third.

Aaron Olson started on the pole of the feature race and lead the field across the ND Eye Clinic finish line with Todd Johnson advancing from the seventh spot to finish second. Heat winner Ryan Schroeder started third and finished third with Gajeski fourth after starting ninth. Adam Thompson had a great run by staying in the top five throughout the race and finished fifth holding off Scott Vasichek.

There were two Transystems Street Stock heat races, which were won by Steffen Snare and Rick Beier. Tyson Anderson followed Snare across the line for the second spot in the first heat, with Bryce Reimer third. James Wall chased Beier in the second heat race to finish second, with Greg Neumann third. The main event started all twelve cars, with Tyson Anderson taking control of the race and cruising to his first feature win of 2009 and second career win. Snare started midpack and was held off by Joe Potter, who finished second. Bryce Reimer had a great run staying in the top five most of the race and finished fourth ahead of Rick Beier.

In NOSA Outlaw Sprint race action, there were three heats and a total of twenty-two drivers entered to compete in the Nissan Honda of Grand Forks sponsored division. Mark Dobmeier started on the pole and won the first heat race. Jason Linnell held off Lou Kennedy Jr. to win the second heat race. Thomas Kennedy looked to have a handle on his ride, cruising to the win in the last heat race of the night with Bobby Martin chasing him across the line. At the start of the feature event, Dobmeier would sit on the pole, but during warmup laps, pulled in with transponder issues. He later joined the field in the starting spot to take the first green flag. He then took control of the race with Nygaard and Lou Kennedy Jr, applying pressure throughout the race. Linnell hung in there also and raced Thomas Kennedy for a top five spot. Bob Martin and Lou Kennedy Jr. both pulled in late in the race with mechanical issues, ending their run to chase down Dobmeier who took the checkered flag and started off the season where he left off last year. Nygaard was running second with Linnell and him exchanging spots, but lap cars would prove to bite Nygaard as he ended up making contact with Wilde in turn four on the last lap. Linnell was scored second with Thomas Kennedy finishing strong in the third spot. Tom Egeland was fourth and Ryan Wilson finished fifth after starting eleventh.

Whitey’s and Miller Lite will be the sponsors this coming Friday at the Action Track. The Premier Racing Series will start with hotlaps at 6:30 and racing at 7 PM. Tickets for the upcoming World of Outlaws races are on sale now, and those dates are June 19^th for the WOO Sprints, and July 10^th for the WOO Late Models. For more information visit the tracks website at rivercitiesspeedway.com

Summary

NOSA Sprints

Heat 1 – Mark Dobmeier, Wade Nygaard, Tom Egeland, Austin Pierce, Shane Roemeling, Jordan Graham, Chris Ranten, Casey Mack

Heat 2 – Jason Linnell, Lou Kennedy Jr, Chris Shirek, Ryan Wilson, Chris Burke, Nick Shirek, Zach Wilde

Heat 3 – Thomas Kennedy, Bob Martin, Ryan Flaten, Todd Mickelson, Brenden Wilde, Justin Berg, Dan Wiskow

Feature – Dobmeier, Linnell, T. Kennedy, Egeland, Wilson, Roemeling, Nygaard, C. Shirek, Flaten, N. Shirek, Pierce, Graham, Ranten, Wiskow, Berg, B. Wilde, Kennedy Jr., Mickelson, Martin, Z. Wilde, Mack, Burke

WISSOTA Late Models

Heat 1 – Brad Seng, Joey Pederson, Tom Corcoran, John Halvorson, Mike McCaughan, Steve Anderson, Matthew Jarvis

Heat 2 – Troy Schill, Doyle Erickson, Harold Schill Jr., Brandon Burke, Mike Bruns, Tom Balcaen, Randy Baker

Feature – Seng, H. Schill, Pederson, Erickson, Halvorson, Corcoran, Anderson, Jarvis, McCaughan, Balcaen, Baker, Bruns, Burke, T. Schill, Buchner.

(Unofficial, I scored the two 42 cars (Bruns and Jarvis) opposite, But will have to double check)

WISSOTA Street Stocks

Heat 1 – Steffen Snare, Tyson Anderson, Bryce Reimer, Kelsey Leake, Henry Peters, Steve Jose

Heat 2 – Rick Beier, James Wall, Greg Neumann, Joe Potter, Adam Rassier, Dallas Brevik

Feature – Anderson, Potter, Snare, Reimer, Beier, Wall, Neumann, Leake, Jose, Peters, Brevik, Rassier

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds

Heat 1 – Lance Schill, Scott Vasichek, Adam Thompson, Zach Bruer, Tony Byzewski

Heat 2 – Ryan Schroeder, Dustin Strand, Aaron Olson, Bryan Lepier, Paul Veert, Rod Peterson

Heat 3 – Todd Johnson, Adam Gajeski, Zach Naastad, Dave Riopelle, Tyler Reimer, Chad Jensen

Feature – Olson, Johnson, Schroeder, Gajeski, Thompson, Vasichek, Strand, Riopelle, Naastad, Lepier, Peterson, Schill, Bruer, Jenson, T. Reimer, W. Reimer, Byzewski, Veert