As I’ve mentioned previously there have been a lot of challenges to get the racing season rolling this spring – weather being the biggest. It’s been cold and wet, and last week severe weather hit some parts of RaceChaser land. Gas and diesel prices are sky high, and not to mention supply chain shortages for tires and parts (some drivers are waiting for engines to be finished). I will be honest, I’ve had a hard time getting into the racing mood this spring. Some is the weathe

The weather has sucked in April. Cold, rain, and this week some potential snow coming into our area. Not exactly getting us race fans on the edge of our seat. So, to get into the racing mood a bit, I compiled some pictures of 2022 cars with a comment on each driver. Here it goes: Portland, ND driver Jason Strand's sharp looking #E85 Wissota/NLRA Late Model. Expect to see him at NLRA events and River Cities Speedway this summer. Rosholt, SD driver Luke Lick's #5 Wissota Modifi

Viking Speedway wrapped up its 2021 racing season with Night 2 of its doubleheader on Sunday. Another great field of 116 cars was on hand. The weather was really nice both days of the doubleheader. Although car counts have been down most of the year at Viking, the 1/2-mile ended the year on a strong note that way. Both nights drew 116 cars, and there were good crowds both nights although Saturday was a bit larger. Sunday had a bit of everything — caution flags, post-race disa

The Advantage RV Mod Tour was at Viking Speedway on Saturday with 23 cars on hand. The street stocks had the night off. Dusty Bitzan of Brandon took the lead from the green flag over Ryan Gierke of Villard and was flying around the high side. The race went the first 20 laps caution free as Bitzan led Dan Ebert of Lake Shore. Gierke settled into third while Travis Saurer of Dalton was in fourth. With the high line dominant for the first portion, the cars absolutely flew around

I’ve had a lot of windshield time this month and also talked to several people, and some general racing questions pop into my head. So, here are some questions with my thoughts underneath. Why don’t feature winners go to the scale before getting their trophy? What if they get the trophy and are light? I’ve asked this before, and some tracks, like Viking, scale their cars before giving out the trophy. Many don’t. Seems odd to me to go and ask for the trophy back after it has b

RaceChaser was back at I-94 Sure Step Speedway for Fan Appreciation Night. There was a great crowd on hand as admission was only $5, plus a fireworks show was planned. IN fact I think it was the best crowd I’ve seen at I-94 this season. I-94 officials wisely did the fireworks show a little before 10 p.m., with three features remaining, allowing parents with young kids to see it before it got real late. We will start with the best race of the night, in the Wissota Modifieds.

RaceChaser was back at Viking Speedway for Wissota Race of Champions Night. Even though the radar looked bleak Viking didn't get a ton of rain and was able to get the show going at 6:30 p.m. Car counts were pretty thin, unfortunately; at least there were two heats in every class except the Wissota Midwest Modified division, which was hurting with just six. Several local cars were following the Rebel Midwest Modified Tour, which was rained out Friday at River Cities Speedway

RaceChaser was back at Viking Speedway for Night 2 of the Memorial Day weekend doubleheader. A busy night was ahead with two makeup B features and four makeup A features — plus a full show. The one thiing I will say about the weekend is Parker Anderson is on some kind of hot streak in his #27P Wissota Street Stock. A Steffes Street Stock Tour record 45 streets were on hand, a terrific field. The rain on Saturday kinda made a mess of the whole weekend for Viking. It rained eno

Let’s wrap up the John Seitz Memorial at River Cities Speedway with a few more observations. Car counts were good in all classes. The NOSA Sprints had several DNFs — again — and some of the lesser experienced drivers seem to have struggled this year. Part of the learning process. Friday’s show attracted 160 cars including an outstanding field of 49 late models. Which I never would have guessed, considering the non-essential travel ban between the US and Canada (which cost Riv

The John Seitz Memorial Late Model race at River Cities Speedway rarely disappoints. What an incredible finish on Saturday night. In a race that went down to the wire, Aaron Turnbull of Estevan, Saskatchewan held off a furious last challenge from two-time winner A.J. Diemel of Elk Mound, Wis., to repeat as champion in the late models. Turnbull is the third two-time champion of the event, joining Diemel and Brad Seng of Grand Forks. It was by no means an easy win for the Canad

For many years, Zach Johnson was a well known and accomplished stock-car racer in western Minnesota, driving the #73 modified and late model. But to hundreds of thousands of people across the nation, he’s known as the “Millennial Farmer.” Johnson, who farms soybeans and corn in the Lowry, Minn., area with his father Nate, is the person behind the Millennial Farmer YouTube channel. That channel has an incredible 575,000 subscribers (and counting), and several videos are in th