STOCKS UPDATE: Victory Lane Speedway

By Greg Cybulski

WINNIPEG, MB – With the New Year past and the anticipation of a new racing season on the horizon, so too is the anticipation building in Manitoba for the return of Sprint Car racing to Victory Lane Speedway just south of Winnipeg.

The inaugural "Mid Canada Sprint Car Challenge" featuring the Northern Outlaw Sprint Tour, set for Thursday, July 14th has race fans buzzing. What sets this race event apart from other NOSA Sprint Tour dates is the bonus money incentive package offered to 360 Sprint teams who participate, including the "Prairie Dirt Challenge" which will make for a $1500 payday to the feature winner.

Winnipeg Sprint Car racer Richard Rogers shared his excitement about racing in front of his home town fans. "I've been waiting four years to finally race here. I've been working at the speedway for eight years and have seen the track grow to what it is today. I am very proud to have all the racers come back now and see that we have one of the finest tracks anywhere. I think after this race that Victory Lane Speedway will realize they need to run Sprints again. Winnipeg is the best track around."

The 2004 NOSA racing schedule produced multiple 360 Sprint Car victories over the bigger 410 Sprints in short track competition. Brad Pake of Felton, MN, Jason Linnell of Warren, MN, Greg Nikitenko of Minot, ND, Wade Nygaard of Fargo, ND and Lou Kennedy Jr of Winnipeg, MB all scored wins in NOSA-sanctioned competition using 360 engines. Lou Kennedy Jr's victory came at the $1500-to-win "Inaugural TM&S NOSA vs Wissota/ASCS 360 Sprint Car Challenge" at Estevan Motor Speedway, SK. on August 14th.

An early entrant's list has been established with 13 Sprint Car teams who have verbally agreed to participate in the "Mid Canada Sprint car Challenge" thus far. The teams confirmed are:

#13 Mark Dobmeier, Grand Forks, ND.
#8 Bridgeford (Driver yet to be named)
#X Richard Rogers, Winnipeg, MB.
#1 Chris Shirek, Thompson, ND.
#11 Nick Shirek, Thompson, ND.
#41 Jade Fredrickson, Drayton, ND.
#35 Brendon Wilde, Thief River Falls, MN.
#10tr Bob Martin, East Grand Forks, MN.
#14 Tom Egeland, Climax, MN.
#81 Chris Burke, Grand Forks, ND.
#17 Dave Sobczak, Winnipeg, MB.
#21k Lou Kennedy Jr., Winnipeg, MB.
#K9 Donovan Peterson, Bruce, SD.


NOSA President Dan Shirek issued the following statement on the return of Sprint Car racing to Victory Lane Speedway. "We are very excited and pleased to have reached an agreement to once again bring NOSA back to Victory Lane Speedway.

There has been a lot of continuing efforts on behalf of the Speedway and NOSA, to restore and maintain Sprint Car racing in our north country. We fully intend to build this up to bring NOSA back to Victory Lane Speedway in the future.

With the efforts of everyone involved and the tremendous support from the fans, this will certainly succeed! Come join in the excitement, Thursday, July 14th, 2005 and cheer on your favorite drivers as they battle it out on the track. We look forward to seeing you there!"

For more information about Victory Lane Speedway and the "Mid Canada Sprint Car Challenge" be sure the check out the speedway website at http://www.victorylane.mb.ca and the "Prairie Dirt" website at http://www.racercity.com/members/fanpage/gecwpg