Jul. 18—GRAND FORKS — For Austin Hartmann, getting his hauler and sprint car from Plymouth, Wis., to the area for three nights of racing wasn’t easy.
“We blew three truck tires on the way up here,” said Hartmann. “It took us 14-and-a-half hours to get here. It’s normally a nine-hour trip. But it was worth it.”
Indeed it was as Hartmann won Friday night’s Buffalo Wild Wings King of the Wings 30-lap feature at River Cities Speedway, a win worth $3,000.
It was Hartmann’s first career win as he’s in his seventh season of racing.
Hartmann started on the front row and led much of the race as he had to hold off challenges from Jack Dover, Mark Dobmeier and Jack Croaker, who finished second, third and fourth, respectively.
Hartmann beat Dover to the flag stand by 0.630 seconds.
The RCS race was part of the six-race Buffalo Wild Wings King of the Wings series that stretched over two weekends at tracks in Aberdeen, S.D., Huron, S.D., Watertown, S.D., Ada, Minn., Grand Forks and the Buffalo River Speedway near Glyndon, Minn., which is scheduled to host the final race on Saturday night.
The series is comprised of drivers from the Northern Outlaw Sprint Association and the South Dakota-based Midwest Sprint Touring Series. There were 33 race teams at RCS on Friday.
For the 25-year-old Hartmann, it was his first career win. It wasn’t easy as a handful of caution flags, a red flag and heavy lapped traffic made for a long race.
“It was getting pretty hectic at times,” said Hartmann. “It was super difficult getting through lapped traffic on a one-lane race track. But we were able to keep our nose down and pick off cars.”
Dover, who is from Springfield, Neb., led the King of the Wings Series coming into Friday night. His second-place showing likely keeps him in the lead heading into the final night.
Dobmeier won Thursday’s King of the Wings race at the Norman County Raceway in Ada. He started 12th in the feature at RCS and made a hard charge to the front.
“We had a great car,” said Dobmeier. “We charged forward right away. We just couldn’t get the race to roll out the way we needed for us to come out on top. We started 12th and finished third so we had a good night.”
Croaker also had a great night, one of his best at RCS. He led the early laps and was on Hartmann’s bumper for a number of laps. Croaker also posted the fastest lap time of the feature at 10.470 seconds, that coming on Lap 10.
“We had a good night and we were good in lapped traffic,” said Croaker.
It was an all sprint night at The Bullring as wingless sprints, 305 sprints and lightning sprints rounded out the field.
Myles Tomlinson of Turtle Lake, N.D., won the wingless sprint 20-lap feature, holding off Jeremy Lizakowski by 0.251 seconds.
It was Tomlinson’s first win at RCS.
“Grand Forks is the sprint capital of North Dakota,” said Tomlinson. “I’m fortunate to win here. I’ve struggled here in the past so we’ll put this in the notebook for when we come back here.”
Matthew Taves of Detroit Lakes, Minn., won the 305 sprint feature. He started second and held off pole-sitter Ty Hanten by 0.211 seconds.
In the lightning sprint feature, Luke Hendrickson of Mekinock, N.D., came from the fourth starting spot to take the 20-lap race. He beat Dexter Dvergsten to the flag stand by 1.124 seconds.
River Cities Speedway
Friday’s results
Lightning sprints
Feature — 1. Luke Hendrickson, 2. Dexter Dvergsten, 3. Emmitt Isane, 4. Brady Heilman, 5. Arlen Rygg
Wingless sprints
Feature — 1. Myles Tomlinson, 2. Jeremy Lizakowski, 3. Ken Hron, 4. Nick Shirek, 5. Eric Guyot
305 sprints
Feature — 1. Matthew Taves, 2. Ty Hanten, 3. Marcus Rothenbacher, 4. Cole Venderheiden, 5.Jerzee Rosinski
410 sprints
Feature — 1. Austin Hartmann, 2. Jack Dover, 3. Mark Dobmeier, 4. Jack Croaker, 5. Brendan Mullen
