WoO show cancelled at Red River Vally Speedway

The World of Outlaw races for
Saturday June 28th
have been

CANCELLED

These races have been rescheduled for Tuesday August 12, 2008

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.

There Here... The WoO invades River Cities Speedway

For a second year in a row the World of Outlaw Sprint cars invade River Cities Speedway. Last season the WoO show was nothing short of fantastic and drew an estimated 7,000 spectators, I have been told the Grand Forks show outdrew the Satruday night WoO race in Fargo, ND at Red River Valley Speedway. Look for local favorites Mark Dobmeier, Lou Kennedy and Wade Nygaard to also give the travelers a run for their money.

Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Preview: River Cities Speedway

Ever since the 2008 Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series schedule was announced most of the drivers had Friday, June 27 circled on their calendars. That’s because the series will make their second consecutive visit to the blazing fast, high-banked, River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The track is one of just three tracks on the schedule where the drivers flirt with sub-10-second laps. The race will serve as the opener of the 2008 Gerdau Ameristeel Northern Tour, which will encompass four tracks in the state of North Dakota beginning this weekend and wrapping up in August.

Donny Schatz, the two-time defending Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws champion who hails from North Dakota, has one career win at River Cities Speedway, with that coming in 1995. He finished third in the World of Outlaws debut at the track last season. He currently leads the series with seven A-Feature wins, including in the series most recent event at Dodge City Raceway Park in Kansas. Schatz leads the championship standings by 55 markers over Jason Meyers, and is the only driver that has finished in the Top-10 in all 22 events this season.

Jason Meyers has three career Top-10 finishes at River Cities Speedway, including a runner-up performance in 2000 in a World of Outlaws Gumout Series event at the track. The native of Clovis, California leads the series with 18 Top-Five finishes in 2008, as he continues to chase his first World of Outlaws title. He has won five A-Feature wins this season.

Craig Dollansky is a former winner at River Cities Speedway, taking the checkered flag in 2000 holding off Meyers in that World of Outlaws Gumout Series event. In three starts at the high-banked three-tenths mile, he has three finishes of eighth or better. The Minnesota native has four A-Feature wins this season, to go along with 21 Top-10 finishes in 22 starts. He is currently third in the championship point standings.

Joey Saldana turned in an impressive performance in his debut at River Cities Speedway last season. Having never seen the track until the afternoon of the race, he proceeded to set fast time in time trials, win a heat race, win the Crane Cams Dash and then win the A-Feature, leading all 40 laps. The second generation driver recently won his first event of the season at Dodge City Raceway Park in Kansas. He is fourth in points on the strength of 19 Top-10 finishes.

Jac Haudenschild won in his debut at River Cities Speedway in 1999, holding off fellow World of Outlaws driver Craig Dollansky for the triumph in weekly competition. In four career starts at the three-tenths mile track, he has four finishes of seventh or better, with three of those being in the Top-Three. He made a late charge on Saldana last season to make a bid for the win, coming up just inches short at the line in a photo finish that had the capacity crowd on their feet.
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The Dude returns to the Midwest.

Here is a nice story on Danny Lasoski and him scaling his racing with the World of Outlaws back because of money and him not having a big time sponser so the dude is running at Knoxville and Husets. I can't imagine he won't get a bigger sponser as the season goes on. I am also hopeful that Danny will make an appearance in Grand Forks and Fargo, ND during the June when of the WoO circuit comes to North Dakota.

Schatz wins the race and Kinser sets the record.

Check this out; While Donny Schatz won the race in Knoxville on May 3rd Steve Kinser hit a track record of 136 miles an hour. That is cooking.

Kinser made history by reaching a track record speed of 136 miles per hour in the six-lap dash, which secured the pole.

Sprint Car Racing 2008; May 3rd 2008 Historic Night for Schatz at Knoxville Historic Night for Schatz at Knoxville

Now for the news that really matters.

Sounds like Donny Schatz is FINALLY getting it together as he won his first race of the season at Knoxville.

Donny Schatz knows the history of Knoxville Raceway very well and he added his name to that history in couple of different ways on Saturday night. First he put himself in elite company of drivers that have won on opening night at the famed half-mile in Iowa. On top of that, the two-time defending Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series champion and two-time defending Knoxville Nationals winner, picked up his first A-Feature triumph with the series, driving for Tony Stewart Racing.

Schatz took the lead on the 18th lap, powering his way past Steve Kinser on the high-side of the track exiting the fourth turn. One lap earlier he nearly took the lead at the same spot on the track with a similar move. He quickly opened an advantage aboard the Armor All J&J en route to his 71st career Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature win, which moved him into the fifth spot on the all-time win list ahead of 1995 series champion Dave Blaney. He pocketed $10,000 for the win, which was the eighth of his career at Knoxville Raceway.

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