Tag Archives: Dakota Cat

Kennedy Claims Sprint Car Win

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By Mike Spieker

WEST FARGO – The Buffalo Wild Wings NOSA Sprint Cars made their first and only appearance of the season to Red River Valley Speedway on Sunday evening during the Red River Valley Fair. A crowd of over 5,000 race fans packed the grandstand to watch twenty-two 900+ horsepower sprint cars take on the high-banked three-eighths mile clay oval.

Thomas Kennedy raced to his first career sprint car win at Red River Valley Speedway Sunday during the Red River Valley Fair.

Thomas Kennedy of Winnipeg, Manitoba claimed his first career sprint car win at Red River Valley Speedway. Kennedy, who finished second on Saturday night at Devils Lake Speedway after leading every lap but the last one, started the night by winning his heat race in convincing fashion. Kennedy’s fastest lap during his heat was just four-one-hundredths of a second off the Red River Valley Speedway track record, which was set by World of Outlaws driver Shane Stewart last August. Kennedy’s lap time of 11.996 seconds put him at an average speed of 112mph and was just the fourth sub-12 second lap ever turned on Red River Valley Speedway’s three-eighths mile configuration.

The 25-lap sprint car feature started with Jordan Graham taking the early lead over defending race winner, Wade Nygaard. Nygaard, a nine-time NOSA champion, took the lead on lap six as Kennedy followed him into second.

The NOSA Sprints give their traditional four-wide salute to the fans before their main event at Red River Valley Speedway Sunday.

On lap nine, Kennedy made a bold move to the inside of Nygaard to take the lead out of turn four in lapped traffic. Lurking in the third spot was the all-time NOSA wins leader, Mark Dobmeier. Dobmeier went after Nygaard for second, which allowed Kennedy to pull away.

Thomas Kennedy raced to his first career sprint car win at Red River Valley Speedway Sunday during the Red River Valley Fair.

Dobmeier took the spot and began reeling in Kennedy in the closing laps. With two laps to go, Kennedy and Dobmeier found themselves in heavy lapped traffic. Dobmeier drove to the inside of turn four, where he clipped an infield tire barrier, which sent his Buffalo Wild Wings No. 13 upside down. A lapped car was also collected and got upside down with Dobmeier, but both drivers were ok.

On the ensuing restart, Kennedy got a great start and drove away from Nygaard. Kennedy drove the final laps unchallenged as he cruised to the $1,200 win.

“I was racing on seven cylinders the whole race so this win feels even better,” said an elated Kennedy in victory lane.

Michael Johnson of Moorhead, Minn. picked up his first IMCA modified win of the season. Johnson led the majority of the 25-lap feature to pick up the win over Dylan Goplen, who ran a close second. The best racing on the track was back in the pack as several drivers came from deep in the field to move into the top five. Cale Arneson rounded out the podium, while Jason Strand, who started 15th, finished fourth. Casey Arneson started 13th to finish fifth, while Dale Kraling was the hard charger of the event coming from 19th to finish sixth.

Tim Estenson came from the 15th starting position to win the INEX Legends feature. Estenson held off pole sitter, Sean Johnson, for his 16th win of the season overall.

Next week at Red River Valley Speedway, Rusty Wallace will be in attendance as the grand marshall of the event.

RESULTS
NOSA Sprint Cars:
Feature: 1. 21K-Thomas Kennedy, Winnipeg, MB; 2. 9N-Wade Nygaard, Grand Forks, N.D.; 3. 8H-Jade Hastings, Grand Forks, N.D.; 4. 2A-Austin Pierce, Grand Forks, N.D.; 5. 4J-Lee Grosz, Harwood, N.D.

IMCA Modifieds:
Feature: 1. 84-Michael Johnson, Moorhead, Minn.; 2. 6D-Dylan Goplen, Fargo, N.D.; 3. 99-Cale Arneson, Fargo, N.D.; 4. E85-Jason Strand, Portland, N.D.; 5. 2-Casey Arneson, Fargo, N.D.

INEX Legends:
Feature: 1. 14T-Tim Estenson, Fargo, N.D.; 2. 58-Sean Johnson, Kindred, N.D.; 3. 5D8-Dylan Johnson, Durbin, N.D.; 4. 79-Scott Richardson, Pelican Rapids, Minn.; 5. 72-Tye Wilke, Detroit Lakes, Minn.

Arneson Finds Victory Lane Friday Night at Red River Valley Speedway

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By Mike Spieker

WEST FARGO – Many race fans left Red River Valley Speedway after Thursday night’s ‘Dakota Cat 100’ event thinking Austin Arneson won the night’s 42-lap IMCA Modified feature. However, Arneson came up 25 pounds light at the scales, forcing an automatic disqualification. That handed the win over to Austin’s brother, Cale, who followed Austin to the checkered flag.

That only fueled Austin’s drive to win even more on Friday night.

The Fargo native led the final 27 laps in a dominating performance to win the second and final night of the inaugural ‘Dakota Cat 100.’

With 12 laps in the books, it quickly became another battle between the Arneson brothers for the win as Cale led Austin.

On lap 15, Austin got a run on Cale and stole the point before opening a sizable lead.

With 23 laps to go, a caution reset the field, which allowed last Friday’s winner, Michael Greseth, to move into the runner-up spot. Greseth set his sights on the No. 10 of Arneson, but Arneson was too strong as he pulled away by four seconds in the closing laps.

Arneson was unchallenged on the final lap as he took his second RRVS win of the season.

“The track was [in the best condition] we’ve seen in a long time. Hats off to Jake and Sharnel [Bitker] and Nick [Skalicky],” said Arneson in victory lane. “The track was really technical tonight. It was slow and you had to hit your marks. We are still fine tuning on some things to make [the car] better.”

Luke Johnson edged out Dan Dowling in the final laps of the IMCA Sport Mod feature. However, Johnson and Dowling were both disqualified following post-race inspection. That gave Jesse Skalicky his fourth RRVS win of 2017.

Duffy Froemke held off Rick Schulz in a thrilling green-white-checkered finish during the IMCA stock car feature. The win was Froemke’s second of the year at the West Fargo three-eighths mile dirt oval.

Scotty Richardson picked up a popular win in the INEX Legends, while Tim Shiek was victorious in IMCA Hobby Stock action.

Racing continues next Friday night at Red River Valley Speedway, starting at 7pm.

DQ Hands Cale Arneson first RRVS Modified Win

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By Mike Spieker

WEST FARGO – Many race fans left Red River Valley Speedway Thursday night thinking Austin Arneson won the night’s 42 lap IMCA Modified feature. However, Arnesen came up 25 pounds light at the scales. That handed the win over to Austin’s brother, Cale, who followed Austin to the checkered flag.

Last Friday’s winner, Michael Greseth of Harwood, jumped out to the early lead as the green flag waved on the Modified feature. Greseth looked to have the car to beat in the first handful of laps before he was forced to retire from the event prematurely with mechanical issues.

That gave the lead to Johnny Scott. Once assuming the lead, the New Mexico driver checked out from the field and seemed to have the race in hand.

With six laps remaining and a full straightaway lead over Austin Arneson, Scott also suffered a catastrophic failure as a broken j-bar forced him pitside.

“We didn’t have the fastest car tonight,” said Austin Arneson after the race in victory lane. “We’ve been testing on the setup here as of late and we were just too tight tonight. Johnny [Scott] is a good friend of ours and that’s a heck of a tough way to lose a race.”

The night was dedicated to injured Fargo driver Mike Bruns, Sr., who traveled with Arneson as a crew member for several years.

“This is Mike Bruns’ race and he’s a great family friend,” Arneson said. “He was on the road with us for the last five seasons and every big race I’ve won he has been side by side with me.”

A benefit was held for Bruns during the intermission and Austin Arneson offered to add to that total by donating all of his winnings before knowing he would later be DQ’d.

For Cale, the win was his first in IMCA Modified action at RRVS

Chris VanMil backed up his win at Buffalo River Race Park’s season opener and claimed the IMCA Sport Mod feature race. .

Brandon Schmidt went back-to-back in the IMCA hobby stock as he visited KRJB Victory Lane in his No. 219 machine. Fifteen-year-old Tim Estenson, who flipped his INEX legend last Friday night, rebounded to score his fourth win of the season.

Kelly Jacobson grabbed his first career IMCA stock car win by holding off Minot’s Scott Yale on the final lap.

Racing continues Friday night at Red River Valley Speedway for the final night of the Dakota Cat 100.

Jacobson Victorious On Meet & Greet Night

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By Mike Spieker

WEST FARGO, ND (June 10) – Night number four of the 2016 season at Red River Valley Speedway brought in a total of 69 cars and the largest crowd of the year.

The A Transmission City IMCA Hobby Stocks commenced feature action with 14 cars on the starting grid. The race began with three different leaders in three laps as Brad Orvedal took the point on the opening lap, but was quickly overtaken by the #5X of Dan Dowling. Brandon Schmidt then drove to the inside of Dowling exiting turn four and took the lead on lap three. Schmidt showed the way until the race was red flagged when two-time RRVS winner, Billy Carou, got up and into the front stretch catch fence and tore down approximately 25 feet of fencing.

The RRVS Track Crew was quick to the scene did a stellar job making an efficient repair so racing could be continued. Carou was unharmed in the incident.

The race resumed with Schmidt leading Dowling, but Tim Shiek and Kasey Ussatis quickly made their presence known up front. Ussatis snuck by Dowling with eight to go while the West Fargo, ND driver was chasing Schmidt for the lead. Dowling then went to battle with Shiek for the third spot as Ussatis began to reel in Schmidt.

With two laps remaining, Ussatis made his move and cleared Schmidt for the point and went on to take the win by four car lengths in front of Schmidt. Shiek got by Dowling to take third as Brennan Urbach rounded out the top five.

Scott Jacobson picked up a wild Eide Bailly IMCA Sport Mod feature win, coming from the fifth starting position. Jacobson took the lead on lap seven of the 16-lap race with a pass on Cody Fuller. Once out front, Jacobson didn’t have time to relax as he had his hands full with eighth place starter, Robby Rosselli. A caution with three to go put the Minot, ND driver right on the back bumper of Jacobson’s Northwest Auto Body #5.

As the green flew, Rosselli went to the high side and pulled even with Jacobson in turn three. They crossed the line and Rosselli was scored the leader, but on the following lap the two made contact which resulted in Jacobson spinning out. Rosselli was charged for the caution, however, and sent to the tail of the field.

From there Jacobson held off Luke Johnson and his son, Kelly, to take the win.

Tim Brockhouse was mired deep in the field to start the NDSCS INEX Legends feature, but it only took the veteran driver two laps to come from ninth to the lead. Reile Sailer led the field to the green and paced the pack around on the opening lap, but Brockhouse stole the spot while running the high side of turns three and four. Once out front, Brockhouse established a lead he would not relinquish and picked up his second RRVS win of the season by 1.268 seconds over Dean Julsrud. Dylan Johnson, Tim Estenson, and Sean Johnson rounded out the top five.

The Fredrikson & Byron IMCA Modifieds were 28 cars strong for their 25-lap main event. Dev Malmlov started outside the front row and took the lead over Michael Griffin as the green flag flew. Over the course of the first half of the race, Malmlov opened up a somewhat comfortable lead, but that diminished as he entered lapped traffic.

Michael Greseth was all over the rear bumper of Malmlov’s Performance Auto #21 ride with 10 laps to go and made the pass for the lead while battling in lapped traffic. Greseth then showed the way as Malmlov looked for a way to regain the lead, but was forced to deal with 12th-starting Austin Arneson and Dave Shipley.

With five to go, Arneson’s charge came to an end as he and John Nord, who was running fourth, both spun in turn three to bring out the caution. On the restart, Malmlov followed Greseth to the low side of the speedway in turn one. They came around to click off another lap when Greseth lost control of his Innovative Air #17 and spun to a stop. As a result, Greseth had to go to the tail of the field as Malmlov once again found himself at the point.

Malmlov got off to a great restart as he pulled out to a solid seven car length lead and took the win over Rob VanMil, who started 11th, Jeff Odden, Rusty Kollman, who started 15th, and Michael Johnson.

Racing continues next Friday night, presented by Magnum Contracting and Integrity Steel Supply. For complete event information, visit RedRiverValleySpeedway.com.

SUMMARY

IMCA Modifieds:

Feature

  1. Dev Malmlov
  2. Rob VanMil
  3. Jeff Odden
  4. Rusty Kollman
  5. Michael Johnson
  6. Michael Griffin
  7. Cale Arneson
  8. Billy Vogel
  9. Jarrett Carter
  10. Brennan Borg
  11. Bob Banish Jr.
  12. Lance Schilling
  13. Mike Anderson
  14. Rich Pavlicek
  15. Tyler Hall
  16. Tailin Tommerdahl
  17. Nick Curtis
  18. Karmith Christensen
  19. Tom Cummings
  20. Austin Arneson
  21. Dave Shipley
  22. Rob Plath
  23. John Nord
  24. Todd Carter
  25. Michael Greseth
  26. Cody Peterson
  27. Greg Friestad
  28. Owen Siebert

 

IMCA Sport Mods:

Feature

  1. Scott Jacobson
  2. Luke Johnson
  3. Kelly Jacobson
  4. Aaron Wetterlin
  5. Jesse Skalicky
  6. Robby Rosselli
  7. Chris VanMil
  8. Cody Fuller
  9. Taylor Grove
  10. Kraig Kasin
  11. Matt Talley
  12. Dustin Hartwig
  13. Tyler McDougall

 

INEX Legends:

Feature

  1. Tim Brockhouse
  2. Dean Julsrud
  3. Dylan Johnson
  4. Tim Estenson
  5. Sean Johnson
  6. Josh Julsrud
  7. Kaitlyn Skalicky
  8. Tony Brockhouse
  9. Reile Sailer
  10. Brandon Erickson
  11. Jarret Julsrud
  12. Shaun Erickson
  13. Tye Wilke
  14. Grady Shearer

 

IMCA Hobby Stocks/Pure Stocks:

Feature

  1. Kasey Ussatis
  2. Brandon Schmidt
  3. Tim Shiek
  4. Dan Dowling
  5. Brennan Urbach
  6. Brad Orvedal
  7. Tim Church
  8. Maranda Borg
  9. Kristen Nelson
  10. Wade Moerke
  11. Dylan Heger
  12. Taylor Saari
  13. Billy Carou
  14. Shawn Orvedal

Meet & Greet Night

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RRVS-06092016

Friday, June 10th Meet & Greet Night is Presented by:
Dakota Cat, Ironhorse Crane & Hotshot Service

Plus we’ll have:
– 50/50 tickets
– The Hotspring Spas & Pool Tables Duck Toss
– And the Nugget Vending Candy Toss!
 
Red River Valley Fairgrounds – West Fargo, ND
 
Pit Gates Open: 4:30pm
Grandstands Open: 5:30pm
Draw Cutoff: 6:30pm
Racing Starts: 7:00pm
 
Grandstand Admission:
Adults – $13
Ages 6-12 $5
5 & Under – Free
Buy Your Tickets Online:
buy-tickets-now
 
Racing Divisions:
Fredrikson & Byron, P.A. IMCA Modifieds
Eide Bailly IMCA Sport Mods
A Transmission City IMCA Hobby Stocks/Pure Stocks
North Dakota State College of Science INEX Legends

RRVS-Rainout

This is our Rainout Policy for the race on Friday June 3rd. A similar policy will apply to the remainder of the season if a similar situation happens.

1. NO REFUNDS

2. Grandstand Tickets
If you purchased a ticket for Friday, June 3, that ticket will be honored on Friday, June 10. Your ticket will not be honored at any race after that. When you arrive, don’t go to the box office. Go to the door and get your ticket scanned and you are in. You must have your ticket to get in. No ticket, no entrance.

3. Pit Wristbands
If you purchased a pit wristband for Friday, June 3, that wristband will be honored on Friday, June 10. Your wristband will not be honored at any race after that. When you arrive, go to the sign-in shed and you’ll be issued a new wristband for the night. You must have your wristband to get in. No wristband, no entrance.

4. 50/50 Tickets
If you purchased a 50/50 ticket on Friday, June 3, bring that ticket to the races on Friday, June 10. We will continue the 50/50 ticket sales on June 10 and the prize drawing will include the tickets bought on June 3 and June 10. You must have the ticket in your possession in order to win.

5. Duck Toss
If you purchased a duck for the Duck Toss on Friday, June 3, bring that duck to the races on Friday, June 10. We will continue the Duck Toss sales on June 10 and you will be able to use that duck in the toss that night.

6. Complimentary Tickets
If you have complimentary tickets dated Friday, May 27 or Friday, June 3, that ticket will be honored on Friday, June 10. Your ticket will not be honored at any race after that. When you arrive, don’t go to the box office. Go to the door and show your ticket and you are in. You must have your ticket to get in. No ticket, no entrance.