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Dobmeier Wins Fourth Consecutive
as Erickson Wins first DTRA Feature of 2007
By Mike
Orness
Race
Summary for 6/8/07
With a rain
soaked week prior to the race on Friday, there was plenty of
moisture in the track and surrounding areas, but the River
Cities crew was out making sure they could get the race in.
The weather Friday night was comfortable, with sun and a
little wind. The track was rough, but given the
circumstances, the drivers knew that, and dealt with it. On
a race night sponsored by Lyons Auto Supply and Butler
Machinery the 3,000 plus fans were able to see Mark Dobmeier
win his fourth consecutive race at River Cities Speedway,
Doyle Erickson make a last corner pass to pick up his first
DTRA win for 2006, Bryan LePier and Steffen Snare win their
second consecutive race.
The Unicel
Street Stock heats were the first even on the program with
Aaron Olson passing Greg Neumann to win the first heat. Jim
Geringer held off Dave Wittner to pick up his third heat
race win. Steffen Snare won his second heat race of the year
by rocketing past Hulst and Mutcher on the second lap with
Henry Peters second.
The Dempsey
Truck Service Midwest Modifieds had three heat races
scheduled with Broden and Freeman on the front row of the
first heat race. Broden and Freeman raced for the lead, but
Freeman as able to get out front first and lead every lap to
the checkered flag. LePier was able to sneak past Broden to
finish second. Hultstrand and SanGrait led the second fight
of Midwest Mods to the green flag. They both raced side by
side for the first lap, but SanGrait was able to grab the
lead but not for long as Halverson and Dydahl were
challenging him in the closing laps. Dyrdahl who started
dead last, completed the pass for the lead when it counted
and picked up his first heat race win at River Cities.
Halverson also passed SanGrait for the second spot. Heat
race number three started with Dustin Strand using the
outside pole and high side of the track to his advantage. He
led every lap to win his fourth heat race of the year at
River Cities. Sobolik held on to the second spot with Dan
Ness and Jesse Olson putting on a show for the fans at the
finish line with Ness scored as the third place finisher and
Olson as fourth.
Nineteen
DTRA Late Models were split up into three heats. The first
Atek Parts heat race was won by Doyle Erickson who had
started outside front row. Pederson passed Cody Skytland
early in the race for the second spot. Brady Dyrdahl started
on the pole for the second heat race and rocketed out to the
lead on the start. By this time the track was getting rough
and the rest of the drivers basically held on to their spots
and finished accordingly. Sangrait was second with Corcoran
third. Heat three was about the same although Brad Seng was
able to grab the lead with Anderson racing hard to
grab the lead, but wasn’t successful. Mike Balcaen Also
tried his best but did advance two spots to finish third.
The first
heat race of Eide Motors NOSA Sprints was up next with
Nygaard starting outside pole and lapping almost everyone
except Fredrickson who finished second. Jason Linnell was
the fastest and bested the rest of the filed during the
second heat race after starting outside front row. Dave
Sobczak advanced three spots to trail Linnell across the
finish line. Casey Mack and Lou Kennedy brought the third
heat race of drivers around to take the green flag. Kennedy
grabbed the lead first but caught a couple rough spots in
the track which allowed Dobmeier to get past him about
halfway through the race. After a brief caution, Dobmeier
was able to lead the rest of the way to the checkered flag
for his third heat race win at River Cities.
There was a
brief intermission for the Nestle/Hugos candy toss for the
kids and also for the track crew to try and scrap down some
rough areas of the track. Drivers were also redrawing for
their starting spots to set up the nights feature races.
The fifteen
lap Unicel MDRA/DTRA Street Stocks were the first feature
race on the track after intermission with Swedin and
Austreng on the front row. At the drop of the green flag, it
looked as if Leake got a jump on the rest of the field but
officials let it go. Aaron Olson quickly made his way to the
front with Snare in tow. The first caution came out for
Neumann with 10 laps to go. The race went caution free after
that with some cars just pulling off with mechanical
problems or tire issues. Olson continued to lead, but Snare
was able to get under him out of turn four and complete the
pass with about eight laps remaining. Snare increased his
lead and took the checkered flag for his second straight
win. Olson, Wittner and Geringer finished respectively in
those positions without much challenge from any of them.
The twenty
one DTRA/MDRA Midwest Modifieds ran their feature next
sponsored by Dempsey Truck Service. Schroeder and Broden led
the rest to the start with the caution flag waving before a
lap was complete when Sobolik had nowhere to go as cars got
bottled up and Sobolik tried to avoid the melee. On the next
start, Broden grabbed the lead with LePier, Schroeder, and
Halverson racing for the second spot. Dan Ness and Dyrdahl
were also in the mix all racing for a top five spot. With
fourteen laps to go, LePier completed the pass for the lead
in turns two and three. Dyrdahl’s left front suffered some
with the wheel sitting off kilter, but kept racing hard for
the third spot. With only seven laps remaining the caution
flag flew again for Olson and Dyrdahl was assisted to the
pits. LePier continued to lead as now Strand had made his way up from the seventh starting spot
to challenge for the third spot after that last restart.
Another lap later, Strand drove around Broden to secure the second spot.
Broden seemed to be falling back as SanGrait and Schreoder
also passed him. The last caution came out for Sparby who
got sideways coming out of turn four. LePier continued to
lead after the restart and held off a couple challenges by Strand for his second straight win at River Cities.
Schroeder had his best finish of the year so far by holding
off SanGrait for the third spot.
The Atek
Parts DTRA Late Models started nineteen Late Models for
their feature with Dyrdahl and Pederson on the front row. On
the start some bad luck struck Dyrdahl as he slowed to bring
out the first caution after one lap was complete and had to
exit pitside. Pederson had grabbed the lead with
Anderson
second and Erickson third as the green flag dropped for the
restart. Anderson started sixth and
was giving his all to challenge Pederson for the lead
throughout the race. With sixteen laps remaining, the second
caution flag flew and officials realigned the field. Another
caution flew one lap later with only ten late models
remaining. Under green flag racing Pederson and Anderson
were entering lap traffic.
Anderson
almost completed the pass but got caught up with a lap car
and basically ripped off the right side tin of the car. With
only six laps left, Pederson led the field with Erickson and
Balcaen racing hard to get past him. In the closing laps
Pederson suffered some suspension damage but continued to
lead. On the last corner of the last lap, Erickson saw an
opening and was able to use the high groove and pass
Pederson coming to the checkered flag. Pederson held on to
second in front of Balcaen with Cody Skytland and Amundson
fifth.
The final
event of the night was the NOSA Outlaw Sprints for their
twenty-five lap feature sponsored by Eide Motors. Scott Butz
and Lou Kennedy were the front row starters with Martin and
Fredrickson in the second row. Lou Kennedy rocketed to the
lead on the start with Martin chasing him. Dobmeier who had
started eighth was up to third in a matter of two laps. In
the next couple of laps while the leaders entered lap
traffic, Linnnell Sobczak and Mack were all racing for a top
five finish.
Dobmeier found his way past Martin for the second spot as
Kennedy continued to lead. Just before the first caution of
this feature, Dobmeier had secured the lead over Kennedy.
Graham and Fredrickson got together coming out of turn four
to bring that caution over the field. On the restart,
Dobmeier started the racing with ten laps remaining. At this
time of the feature, Chris Shirek, Sobczak, Mack and Nygaard
where racing for a top five spot while they all completed
one lap, the caution came out one last time. The field was
basically the same with Dobmeier in control. Soon after the
green dropped and racing continued, Kennedy had pulled of
the track under green. The race went caution free for the
last nine laps as Dobmeier earned his fourth straight
victory at River Cities with Martin a strong second. Linnell
finished third just ahead of Chris Shirek who had started
the race in the twenty second spot. Dave Sobczak rounded out
the top five ahead of Mack.
Tuesday
June 12th, the WOO Late Models will be racing the
action track we commonly know at River Cities Speedway with
the NOSA Sprints also running a complete show, sponsored by
the Seven Clans Casino in Thief River Falls. Visit
rivercitiesspeedway.com for info and tickets. Friday June 15th
we will be back on track with the Premier racing Series at
River Cities with all classes running on a night sponsored
by Hugos and Custom Aire both of Grand Forks.
DTRA –
www.dtraracing.com
NOSA –
www.nosasprints.com
RCS –
www.rivercitiesspeedway.com
MDRA –
www.midwestdirtracing.com
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