After being out of racing for several years, Marvin Priem decided to hop back behind the wheel in 2019.
“Just for fun we bought a hobby stock,” Priem said.
The Moorhead resident hasn’t regretted coming back. He’s been in his IMCA Hobby Stock the past four seasons, racing at Buffalo River Speedway and Red River Valley Speedway.
The 55-year-old, who is a truck driver for Pit Road Trucking out of Hawley, simply enjoys being at the track. He has more than three decades of racing experience.
“Just fun,” Priem said. “I don’t point race, I don’t feel like I have to be here all the time. I want to be with friends and have fun on a nightly basis…it’s the racing family and the nightly camaraderie is what I’m here for.”
Priem started when he was 16 years old in the Bomber class. He had been driving by the Buffalo River Speedway as a kid growing up near Dilworth.
“My dad and I didn’t know the first thing about it,” Priem said. “We went out and put together a 1966 Ford Fairlane and went out and tried.”
He’s raced in the street stocks, outlaw street stocks and for most of his racing career, in the Wissota Modified class. But he decided to take a break from racing in 2011 that lasted eight years.
The bug bit again in 2019 — and he capped off his first season in the IMCA Hobby Stock class with a big win at the Corn Cob Nationals at Buffalo River Speedway which is one of the most memorable of his racing career.
“I always wanted to win the Corn Club Nationals,” Priem said. “That was pretty special. We were racing in honor of Bob Blue’s boy who had passed away. We really wanted that race and we got that one.”
While he’s won his share of feature races in his career, he’s never been a point chaser.
“That’s one thing I’ve never, ever done,” Priem said. “I actually will miss a night on purpose so I’m out of the points. It turns into a job then and it’s no longer fun.”
This season, Priem has two top five finishes, and is third in the points at Buffalo River Speedway, his home track.
“We’re struggling a little bit,” Priem said. “We’re trying a bunch of different stuff with the car. We missed our setup a few times. We’ll get there; we’ll get a win or two before the year is over. I’m confident.”
Driver Profile
Marvin Priem
IMCA Hobby Stock #4
Age: 55
Residence: Moorhead, Minn.
Sponsors: Pit Road Trucking (Hawley), Sletmoen Properties, Implementation Experts
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