Wednesday night, August 23rd found me at the Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo North Dakota for a rare midweek race for this track that now pretty much is a Friday night track only. The NLRA(Northern Late Model Racing Association) had been scheduled to race here a few weeks ago on a Wednesday as the first night of a four night swing through eastern North Dakota and western Minnesota but that show got rained out.
Promoter Jake Bitker however, clearly wanted to get this show in so it was rescheduled to this Wednesday, even though it now became a stand alone event. Also racing on this night were three of his regular divisions, the IMCA Modifieds, Sport Mods and Hobby Stocks. The Legend Cars were also racing as they do on many occasions here but I have never recognized them as a true racing class and there fore have never included them in any of my reports or kept track of their driver rosters, finishes etc just a I also don't for dwarf cars, figure eights, buses and the list goes on and on.
This was my first visit to RRVS in a couple of years and certainly the first time since Bitker took over the operations last year and got the track started again on a schedule that led to a full season of racing in 2017.
RRVS looks much different that it did many years ago when I first laid eye balls on the track. Back then it was an intimidating high banked half mile oval that would provide some spectacular speeds and only the bravest of the brave were willing to take on its challenge. However, it was also a motor eater and a track that would often see the field get pretty spread out and provide not necessarily to best of weekly racing.
There were problems between the group that ran the track and the Fair Board and there was a real possibility that racing would not continue. Danny Schatz agreed to take over promotion of the track and he really changed things, cutting the track down to a third mile oval and changing the race night to Wednesdays. He only lasted a couple of years though as more problems between the Fair Board Manager and him led to Schatz terminating his contract and with no one in the wings to take over, the track sat vacant. Bitker, who was running the show at Norman County Speedway in Ada, about forty miles northeast of Fargo, was contacted by the Fair Board but due to some issues, he declined at that point. So the track sat, a shame since the overall facility is one of the nicest around.
However, after a period of time, Bitker again reappeared in the picture. This time he was able to negotiate a few changes and a different Fair Board Manager made things much smoother too. So last year Jake restarted the track, with a little reshaping of the corners and a move back to the original race night of Friday.
IMCA Modifieds became the top class with Late Models and Sprints brought in on occasion. Things have progressively gotten better and they returned to a full schedule of races this year. The World of Outlaw Sprints got back on the schedule and while no big Late Model series has yet visited the track, most assume that is just a matter of time. The third mile is generally prepared so as to be black and slick and the smaller track and slower speeds are much easier on the race cars.
The NLRA is one of the great success stories of the upper Midwest. This is a club where the Late Model drivers actually join and have their say in how things are operated. Brad Seng from Grand Forks has long been one of the driving forces within the club and they have found a way for Late Models to not only survive but to prosper. In an area that has very few Late Model tracks running weekly, they take their traveling show on the road to a number of tracks in the Minnesota, North Dakota and Manitoba area as a special event. This way, they can guarantee a promoter a minimum number of cars so the promoter knows what he is getting and the Late Models in return are guaranteed many more shows than they would get otherwise and for a guaranteed purse, that while not huge, is far better than they would get for a weekly show and enough to keep them racing from week to week. In an area that has only one weekly Late Model track, that being River Cities Raceway in Grand Forks, there are well over forty Late Models in the area because the interest has always been there and the NLRA provides them the opportunity.
For this Wednesday night, stand alone race, there were twenty three Late Models in attendance. Donny Schatz has really taken a liking to Late Model racing and he often flies back to the Fargo area just to sneak in a night or two of Late Model racing, even at some smaller venues that you wouldn't expect a driver of such high magnitude to be interesting in competing at. But Late Model racing has developed into his "stress reliever" as he can run the Late Models with no pressure and no big expectations and return to the old days of just having fun. The Late Model drivers treat him as an equal and he can just roam the pits and be just another driver unlike the Outlaw shows where a camera or microphone is being thrust into his face every second.
However, this Late Model "gig" might turn into something more than just a relaxing sideline. I have been told by some people close to the "know" that are saying that within a couple of years Tony Stewart will be starting a Late Model team and that Schatz will be their driver and that he will at that time step away from Sprint Cars. Who knows for sure if there is anything to this but there are certainly some parts of it that make sense.
But back to Wednesday. Schatz has been lightning fast with his spec engine Late Model, having won two feature races with it last week and he showed that those weren't flukes on Wednesday. The NLRA had some top notch drivers on hand on Wednesday including Ricky Weiss, Seng, Pat Doar, Dustin Strand, Mike Balcaen and others but he put them all to shame.
After Weiss got the jump and led the first few laps, Schatz worked the track and found a passing lane and dove under Ricky in turn one to take the top spot and once he took the lead, he was gone. The feature race went nonstop with twenty three cars taking the green and all twenty three still around at the finish. However, only seven were still on the lead lap as Schatz lapped all the others and had both sixth place Adam Fischer and fifth place Cole Schill in his sites when he pulled up on the final tour and didn't push the issue. He was incredibly fast on the icy slick track and was able to put his XR1 Rocket anywhere he wanted on the track, lapping cars both high and low. It was a dominating performance to say the least. While the Late Model drivers seem to welcome his appearance, they'll probably also be happy to see him hit the road with the Outlaws anytime! Myself, I feel his presence gives the other drivers and the tracks some very good publicity and is a good thing for the sport. Plus, I just enjoy watching him race and "mix it up" with the other drivers in the pits.
Weiss finished second but had six lapped cars between himself and Schatz with Balcaen, Seng and Strand completing the top five.
The Modified feature saw point leader Dave Shipley on the outside pole and he seemed to be the logical favorite, that is until they dropped the green flag and he nearly went off turn one, losing a number of spots because of that. Mike Greseth, one of the few non crate cars in the class, then took the lead and led the rest of the way for the win. Shipley did some nifty driving as he fought his way back up to second, with late race passes of Dale Kraling and Tyler Peterson to get second.
Jesse Skalicky, who shocked the troops in central Iowa earlier this year when he rolled into town and took the big money back to North Dakota, started on the outside pole and led all the way for an easy win in the Sport Mods. Jeff Talley and Kelly Jacobson trailed.
The Hobby Stock class is a new one this year for this area, transitioning over from a former Bomber class. Therefore, they don't have very many of them at any of the tracks running them as of yet, but like the Stock Cars who are also new to this area but weren't on the card Wednesday, patience is needed to see if the class will take off or not. Eight were on hand Wednesday with veteran Tim Church the winner.
The crowd was not particularly good on Wednesday but to be fair, they are in the midst of a four race in two week period, having raced regular shows last Friday and a Season Championship race upcoming in two days. On top of that they raced the Late Models tonight and last Saturday held a rain dated event for the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars and I'm told that six thousand people were on hand for that. On top of all that, Bitker held his regular Thursday night show at Ada last Thursday and has his Season Championships at that track scheduled tomorrow.
Fargo has always been a stronghold place for dirt track racing with plenty of fans and many race cars in all classes coming from the Fargo area. That's why the shutting down of the fairgrounds was such a shocking thing when it happened but hopefully they are back on "high ground" and gaining. The RRVS is one of the finest facilities around with seating for many thousands of people, excellent lighting and parking and now, with the pits moved behind the back straightaway, there truly isn't a bad seat in the house. If you're ever traveling out West on I-94, when you get to West Fargo just look off to the North and you can see the track right from the freeway.
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