Breaking through at The Bullring

Until last Friday, 19-year-old Jade Hastings thought the best day of his life came July 1-the day he won his first sprint car feature. The win came at the Greenbush Race Park.

He's since changed his mind. His best day now is July 14-the day he won a 25-lap sprint feature at River Cities Speedway.

Winning at The Bullring is special for any driver, mainly because it's one of the hardest things for an Upper Midwest sprint racer to accomplish.

"Winning here, that was my dream as a little kid," said Hastings after last week's win. "To win here, brings tears to my eyes and I'm not an emotional person.

"Winning here is as tough as it gets. Now, I think we can win anywhere."

How tough is it to win at The Bullring?

Since 2013, only 10 drivers have won at RCS, mainly because of the dominance of Mark Dobmeier-one of the best drivers in the country.

Of the 11 drivers who have captured the checkered flag at RCS since 2013, only five have four or more wins, according to track official Steve Young, who has kept track of all winners in all classes since 1999-the first season for RCS.

Dobmeier leads the way since 2013 with 30 wins. Overall, however, Dobmeier has 129 wins in Grand Forks since he started racing.

Austin Pierce has nine wins in the past five years, while Wade Nygaard has eight. Nygaard, however, increased his career total to 261 after taking the NOSA feature win Sunday at the Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo.

For Hastings, last week's win was extra special since he held off Nygaard, who also is his boss during the week.

"He didn't cut me any slack," said Hastings. "I like racing against him but he'll do whatever it takes to win.That win is a big stepping stone for my career."

More racing is in store Friday night at RCS.

Also tonight, RCS will introduce its 2017 Hall of Fame class.

Those to be inducted tonight include Lou Kennedy Jr., who raced sprint cars for years in Grand Forks; Dan Motter, a local sprint car owner for years who later went on to own a World of Outlaws team; the late Don Partlow, who was one of the original NOSA officers; the late Palmer Berger II, who was a longtime track photographer; and Donnie Mutscher, a long-time track official.

RCS sprint winners

River Cities Speedway sprint drivers with feature wins since the start of the 2013 season:

Mark Dobmeier, 30

Austin Pierce 9

Wade Nygaard 8

Thomas Kennedy 5

Casey Mack 4

Mitch Mack 2

Chris Shirek 2

Chris Ranten 1

Jade Hastings 1

Nick Omdahl 1

Cory Mack 1