The WoO Sprint Cars warming up on the Bull Ring

The quality of this video isn't real good because it was taken on my iPhone and it was starting to get dark. River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks North Dakota has been been named the Bull Ring by the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Drivers.

HERALD SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR: Mark Dobmeier

Dobmeier Closes Out Qualifying Nights with Win from World of Outlaws Sprint Cars on Vimeo.
Goon's North Dakota Red Neck would like to congratulate Mark Dobmeier on being name Sportsman of the Year. Mark is one of the best driver in the Upper Midwest and it's been fun watching him do well on the big stage when he has had the chance to show what he can do.

Wayne Nelson, Grand Forks Herald --- If a driver wants to make it on the national stage, the place to do that is at the Knoxville Nationals — the Super Bowl of sprint racing

Mark Dobmeier — the driver to beat weekly at River Cities Speedway — made it to the national stage at the 2011 Knoxville Nationals. The Grand Forks driver captured one of the two preliminary features at the Nationals, earning him a spot in the event’s 50-lap feature — one that pays $150,000 to win.

Dobmeier’s preliminary win came against the country’s best. And driver of the familiar blue-and-white No. 13 sprint car went on to finish sixth in the Knoxville Nationals feature — the highest finish by an RCS driver in the 51 years of the event.

“Best win yet,” Dobmeier said of his preliminary win.

And it was Dobmeier’s best year as a sprint driver as well.

For his accomplishments at Knoxville and for his continued domination of the local racing scene, Dobmeier is the Herald’s 2011 Sportsperson of the Year

Tim McCreadie take River Cities win.

Image via Wikipedia
Top-Side Timmy from World of Outlaws Late Models on Vimeo.
World of Outlaws Late Model racer Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., discusses his thrilling victory in the World of Outlaws Late Model Series event on July 15 at the famed River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D.

North Dakotan Donny Schatz Takes Doty Classic

Schatz Takes Doty Classic from World of Outlaws Sprint Cars on Vimeo.
Make that win number three on the season for Donny Schatz... The WoO are making a return to River Cities Speedway on August 19th, 2011, because the Minot show was cancelled due to flooding in Minot, ND.

LIMA, Ohio - July 13, 2011 - On a night where young guns seemed to rule the Ohio Logistics Brad Doty Classic at Limaland Motorsports Park, it was four-time World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series champion Donny Schatz who proved experience is crucial when it comes taking the checkered flag. Schatz charged through the field, battling Brad Sweet and Sam Hafertepe Jr., before finally securing the lead on Lap 32 to score his third win of the season, and move back atop the series standings.

River Cities Speedway On board with Thomas Kennedy

Check out this awesome race video; it's on board with NOSA driver Thomas Kennedy out of Winnipeg, Manitoba opening night at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, ND. Although the track was pretty rough and it was a good first night of the year at River Cities Speedway. Grand Forks, ND. Thomas Kennedy is a third generation sprint car driver.

The Wild Child likes River Cities Speedway.

It is nice to know that the Jac Haudenschild’s aka the Wild Child likes River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, ND. Actually, it's nice to know that at least a handful of the drivers on the World of Outlaws race circuit like the little bull ring known as River Cities Speedway.

I am fortunate to attend races a regular basis during the summer at River Cities Speedway and I believe it is one of the most exciting race tracks in the upper Midwest. Unlike the Wild Child; Jason Sides who ripped the River Cities Speedway after winning the Dash at Red River Valley Speedway on night two of the duel in the Dakotas. Like I had mentioned in a previous blog post last summer that the track seemed to work good for Joey Saldana who won the feature at River Cities Speedway but wasn't up to Jason Sides liking who finished 17th. Just for the record I believe that RCS is a 1/4 of mile track and not a 3/10 mile track.

Perfect Fit: River Cities Speedway Suits Haudenschild Just Fine
If ever there was a track that was perfectly suited for Jac Haudenschild’s always aggressive, no holds barred, take no prisoners driving style, it would River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The high-banked three-tenths-mile bullring lends itself to side-by-side racing with blazing fast speeds as the drivers run just inches off of the wall, with all of this happening in just about 10 seconds each lap.

Haudenschild will visit River Cities Speedway for the second consecutive season with the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series on Friday, June 27 in the opener of the Gerdau Ameristeel Northern Tour which will encompass a total of four events in the state of North Dakota this weekend, along with the final two races in August. This weekend’s race will be part of the Duel in the Dakotas which will wrap up at Red River Valley Speedway on Saturday, June 28. Haudenschild won the overall title for the Duel in the Dakotas last season, after finishing second at River Cities Speedway and winning at Red River Valley Speedway.

“Short tracks are always fun to race on,” said the veteran driver in regards to his return to River Cities Speedway. “They have always put a good show on there in the past and I imagine it will be the same way this year. We can’t wait to get up there.”

River Cities Speedway is one of just three tracks on the 2008 Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series schedule at which the drivers turn sub-10 second laps. Last season, the quickest lap in time trials at the high-banked track was 9.952 seconds, while the track record is 9.66 seconds. Haudenschild would like nothing more than to break the track record on Friday night, as the best sprint car drivers in the world invade the track for a full night of racing, capped off by a 40-lap main event.

“It does feel quick pretty behind the wheel,” noted the native of Wooster, Ohio. “At the short tracks you get around them pretty fast. The track over there is usually pretty tacky and very racy. We look to get the (No.) R19 up front there.”

The event at River Cities Speedway will be one of three events this season for the World of Outlaws on three-tenths-mile tracks, which is the same number of races the series had on that size track last season. The series has competed a couple of times on 1/3-mile tracks this year, with Haudenschild finishing sixth or better in both of those events. Behind the wheel, things happen a lot quicker on bullrings and a few subtle changes are made when the teams are preparing to run a smaller track.

River Cities Speedway = the no racing track

This is becoming a reoccuring theme at RCS.

Races ~ May 9, 2008 have been CANCELLED

Next race - May 16, 2008

2008 River Cities Speedway Schedule posted

APRIL
25th - Premier Racing Series - Season Opener
MAY
2nd - Premier Racing Series -
9th - Premier Racing Series -
16th - Premier Racing Series -
23rd - Premier Racing Series - Family Fun Night - Bike Giveaway
30th - Premier Racing Series -
JUNE
6th - Premier Racing Series -
13th - Premier Racing Series -
20th - Premier Racing Series - Family Fun Night - Bike Giveaway
27th - World of Outlaw Sprints
JULY
4th - Premier Racing Series -
11th - World of Outlaw Late Models
18th - Premier Racing Series - Hall of Fame Night
25th - Premier Racing Series - Family Fun Night - Bike Giveaway
AUGUST
1st - Premier Racing Series -
8th - Premier Racing Series - Family Fun Night - Bike Giveaway
15th - Premier Racing Series - Gold Cup
22nd - Premier Racing Series - Season Track Championship
29th - Premier Racing Series - Family Fun Night - Bike Giveaway
SEPTEMBER
5th - 6th - John Seitz Memorial Super Late Model Invitational
12th - Premier Racing Series - Season Finale

Don't Miss the John Seitz the 6th and 7th of September

This is an event that I have been waiting for all summer long. This past winter River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, ND lost one of the areas top Late Model drivers in John Seitz, as he passed away on February 4th 2007 in his sleep while on a snowmobile trip out west. One could say that there is a void at the speedway not seeing the 92s on the race track winning races.

On the 6th and 7th of September River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, ND will be host to one of the biggest Super Late Models races in the History of the Upper Midwest. The two day race ends with a feature paying 9200.00 to the winner. That purse of $9200.00 is second only to the 10,000 grand that Joey Saldana won in the a main of the World of Outlaws sprint car feature they had the track earlier this summer at River Cities Speedway. The speedway is expecting probably in the neighborhood of 45-60 cars on the weekend. This ladies and gentlemen is a must see event. I am not going to miss this event unless its raining pitch forks and hammer handles.

Although I am not a person know for using cheesy clichés this really does puts things into perspective. You never really know how much time you have left in this world, and what a better way to honor a great racer than to have an awesome weekend of late model racing like this. I believe we are very lucky in Grand Forks, ND to have a racing facility such as this. There is going to be a lot of action at River Cities Speedway this weekend, I can just about guarantee that. In looking at the World of Outlaws Late Models series schedule and I happened to noticed that the big boys are not racing this weekend, so you kind of wonder who is going to show up at the track to compete for the $9200.00 purse. I am crossing my fingers and hoping that mother Natures is very nice to us this weekend.

Big turn out expected for next weekend.

In less than a week, Brad Seng will race in one of the biggest races of his career.

The John Seitz Memorial Late Model Invitational is on tap at River Cities Speedway next week, a two-day event that pays the winner $9,200.

Seng and Seitz, the Bemidji driver who died last winter, were good friends.

And Seng couldn't have asked for a better tune-up for the Seitz Memorial after the Grand Forks driver pulled off a thrilling win Friday night in the 20-lap late model feature race at RCS before an estimated 3,000 fans.

Seng utilized heavy lapped traffic to overtake Brent Larson of Lake Elmo, Minn., and Pat Doar of New Richmond, Wis., with five laps to go. Seng then held off Doar in the final laps for one of his biggest wins at RCS.

The RCS late model field totaled 28 cars, including a handful from eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin that race regularly at the Cedar Lake Speedway. The non-RCS regulars were on hand to get a feel for the RCS track in anticipation of the Seitz race, which is expected to attract close to 60 drivers.

NAVYDAVY06

John Seitz's web page

Move River Cities Speedway? I doubt it...

Grand Forks Life Blog Talks about the recent fair that took place in Grand Forks Last weekend. He does bring up some issues, unfortunately on the speedway he is dead wrong. Speedway isn't going anywhere, the county can talk about it till they are blue in the face but it's a mute point. Your right the Grand Forks County Fair Grounds suck because basically its just a dirty muddy parking lot to the River Cities Speedway, as a parking lot it works great. I would suggest that one way to eleveate the problems of dirt and dust is to pave the parking lot at the county fair grounds, but not many of us want our taxes rasied to pay for the black top. Taxes are high enough already in this town.

If we can't have the fair at the Alerus Center, I think it is high time to build a large, modern county fairgrounds somewhere new. I would recommend building west of town and building in conjunction with a new River Cities Speedway. The county could then sell off the old fairgrounds. Except for the historic gates leading to the grounds, all I can say about the Grand Forks fairgrounds is "what a dump!" This is no place to hold a fair.

I said:
"If you went to the WoO event that was held a couple weeks ago, it was a huge success. Moving the speedway may have been talked about but the idea will get a lot of push back..."


Grand Forks Guy said:

Goon, why couldn't a new speedway hold the same level of action and the same exciting events? I would think one of the reasons the speedway would be moved would be to add more stands and accommodate more people. A new speedway could be bigger and better all around. There's no reason why a new speedway still couldn't be "the action track." Then again, I'm not exactly into racing so perhaps I'm missing something.

I want to go on the record and say I like Grand Forks Guy's blog and this blog article isn't meant to be a slam on his blog or his character. First off Grand Forks Guy does a great job covering the various rumors and happenings around Grand Forks starting with the discussions on the rumors about various restaurants and up and coming business.

I admit that Grand Forks Guy's blog is fun to read, I like it, however, he is dead wrong on this issue and couldn't be further from the point. In fact he is not even in the same area code. The Rivers Cities Speedway isn't going anywhere and there is a reason its called the action track because its a great race track that provided edge of your seat action. Start this discussion and your going to get some push back. Trust me. If you think I am wrong; all you had to do was go to River Cities Speedway to see Friday's World of Outlaw's sprint car race then travel down to Fargo's Red River Valley Speedway the next night. It was a world of difference in the racing action and show presentation.

It's not about a new speedway nor have I heard a lot of the racers or fans asking for one. There were complaints about the track surface but the issue seems to have worked it's way out this year. If some want to have a new fair ground go out on your own and start a grass roots effort to get one but leave the River Cities Speedway alone. We don't need a new race way just so we can have a new fair ground it's about history of the race track and dirt track racing in the Grand Cities.

May 12th River Cities Speedway.

 
There have been times when the track at River Cities speedway was either: (a) too dry, (b) too rough, (c) too wet. This past week the track at River Cities speedway was perfect and lightning fast. It wouldn't be an understatement to say that this past weeks races were some of the best ones we have seen in some time if not years. The track was smooth and fast and the car were flying. One could almost say that Friday's track wasn't for the faint of heart, it was scarey fast. Every class was flying around the track, even the street stocks were fast. The sprints were so fast it was like they were on rail, with as fast as the track was you would have thought there would have been a lot of wreck, but there wasn't

The Sprint Cars on the restart 
As a result of the track being in such good condition there weren't a lot of restarts or stoppages during Friday night's races. The track conditions were helped by last week's rain Grand Forks got about 2 1/2 to 3 inches of rain and that moisture helped give the track a lot of grip. Lets hope that the track maintenance crew can get the River Cities track looking like it was Friday night during the World of Outlaw's sh owes that are coming to River Cities speedway in June.

 
One of the strangest things happened this week at the races, when the checkered flag fell it appeared the number 18 Midwest modified car had won the feature. Usually they give the win to the guy that finishes the race in first place. The 18 car drove to victory lane only to be told that he didn't win the race.

 
There was one pretty big crash; during the feature Chris Shriek's sprint car crashed in turn one and got tangled up with Lou Kennedy and Chris Burke, all three cars were finished for the night, Shriek's car suffered the worst damage. Being the Fiery competitor that Lou Kennedy is he came out of his car a little excited and was intercepted by track officials.

Mark Dobmeier Wins His first Feature race of the season.
Mark Dobmeier returned to the winners circle as he won his first feature of the season at River Cities speedway.

 

Nosa Sprint Feature

1. 13-Mark Dobmeier

2. 10-Bob Martin

3. 22-Jason Linnell

4. 14M-Austin Monson

5. 33-Scott McDonald

6. 17-Dave Sobczak

7. 92-Mike Sitzman Jr.

8. 8-Casey Mack

9. 5-Dave Glennon

10. 81-Chris Burke

11. 4-Lee Grosz

12. 50-Ryan Flaten

13. 99-Jordan Graham

14. 11-Nick Shirek

15. 12-Jeff Vonasek

16. 91K-Kyle Fedyk

17. 14-Tom Egeland

18. 1-Chris Shirek

19. RX-Richard Rogers

20. 21K-Lou Kennedy Jr.

21. 41-Jade Fredrickson

22. 31-Shane Roemeling

Opening Night River Cities Speedway

Opening Night @ River Cities Speedway
 
April 27, 2007 started a new season of racing River Cities Speedway. The first night of racing also brought out a new class of cars that will be racing as River Cities Speedways this season the Midwest Modified. These new cars are exciting and will be running at Devils Lake Speedway as well and be sanctioned by DTRA. It was fitting that the first feature in the Midwest Modified was won by former super stocks track champion Dustin Strand. Same color and paint scheme.

 
Midwest Mods on the parade lap.
 
The First Race without John Seitz
The season opener brought an emotional minute or two. This past winter local Late Models driver John Seitz passed away while on a snowmobile trip out west and was honored by the missing driver formation on the front straight away. There just seems to be something missing by John's passing maybe we will call it a void. The man could drive and once won a feature race starting on the last row. Not an easy thing to do the River Cities speedway.

 

Dobmeier wins his first the WoO.

  Photo by Chris Dolack
Local Boy Makes River Cities Fan’s Proud

Its no mystery to the loyal race fans who religiously attend the weekly race program at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, ND: Local boy Mark Dobmeier is something special, I told a buddy of mine that it was just a matter of time before Mark Dobmeier made a big splash on the national scene. That splash was finally heard last weekend in Wilmot, Wisconsin as Mark Dobmeier won his first World of Outlaws Race. Mover over Donny Schatz there is another North Dakotan ready to make a move to the big time.

The past summer Mark has been dominating and its exciting to watch him race his number 13 sprint car. This past July Mark gave the local fans hope that the big boys would go down in defeat, Mark wooed the fans with a taste of things to come when, he finished 4th in the A feature against the NST boys, beating the likes of Shane Stewart, Jason Meyers, Steve “the King” Kinser, Dean Jacobs, Paul McMahan, Jason Sides, Brian Paulus and Kerry Madsen. NST Results From July. Earlier in the evening Mark had finished a strong second in the dash losing only to Danny ”the Dude Lasoski.

Mark has been nothing short of spectacular this summer picking up 20 wins (by no means a small feat on any racing circuit) between Grand Forks, ND and Huset’s Speedway in Brandon South Dakota, add win number 20 at Wlimot, Speedway in Wisconsin. No short order comparing some of the competition he has ran against. Link to Dirt Motor Sports It seems Dobmeier’s time has come.