Todd and Susan LaHaise, franchise owners of several Buffalo Wild Wings Bar and Grills in the Upper Midwest, and team owners of the Buffalo Wild Wings #82 sprint car, are pleased to announce the hiring of driver Dusty Zomer for the 2015 racing season. The team plans on running the entire National Sprint League schedule in the Midwest as well as competing at the Knoxville Raceway on Saturday nights. Other events in both 410 and 360 sprint car action will also be included in the team’s schedule. They are planning on an 80+ race schedule.
Dusty is excited about the opportunity to expand his race schedule. “I’m definitely looking forward to putting our schedule together,” he says. “I’m getting the opportunity to race a lot more than I have in the last several years where I’ve raced thirty times or so a year. Next year, I’ll be able to race twice that.”
In addition to the NSL and Knoxville, the team figures to race with several other sanctioning bodies including the World of Outlaws. “I’m looking forward to getting to a lot of different tracks, and some new ones for me,” says Dusty. “I’m also looking forward to racing against the stiff competition that we’ll be up against across the country.”
The NSL debuts in 2015 as a new 410 sprint car series in the Midwest with around thirty shows scheduled. “I’m excited for the National Sprint League,” says Dusty. “I think it’s going to be great for all the fans, sponsors and team owners involved. I just want to thank Todd and Susan LaHaise for the opportunity to do this. Also, I think we all owe Tod Quiring a big thanks for creating this series.”
The team plans on beginning in January with the five-night Winter Heat Sprint Car Showdown at the Cocopah Speedway near Yuma, Arizona. “It sounds like we’ll be starting down in Yuma in January, which is a lot earlier than I’m used to!” says Dusty, who first raced for the team at the July All Star Circuit of Champions show at Huset’s Speedway in South Dakota. “It was nice to race with the team the last two months. You go into the year knowing what you’re looking at, and you have a comfort level as far as working with the team.”
Dusty picked up two wins with the team in September. One came at the River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The other was in IRA competition at the Superior Speedway in Superior, Wisconsin. The team registered second quick with the World of Outlaws at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, North Dakota. They also registered two second place finishes at the Devil’s Bowl Winternationals in Texas and finished up 2014 by charging from 19th to seventh at the Short Track Nationals in Little Rock, Arkansas.
The Buffalo Wild Wings #82 team would like to thank partners Maxim Chassis, DMI, Parker Racing Engines and HRP Wings for all their help!