There is one piece of equipment on Wade Nygaard's sprint car that most fans don't see.
It's a small camera, mounted in the cockpit of his No. 9 sprint. The camera is recording every Nygaard race. It has been for the past two seasons.
"We watch it that night or the next day," Nygaard said. "We have a Facebook page and we download it on there. It's fun.
"And, hopefully, it gets fans charged up a little."
The in-car camera has become popular on all levels of racing. It's just another part of social media that is helping promote racing from NASCAR down to dirt tracks across the country.
River Cities Speedway, which has another show scheduled tonight, is no exception.
The track significantly has upgraded its website this season. It has a number of video clips of RCS races, including an in-car video during a heat race Nygaard won on opening night.
RCS recently launched a promo for its track, one that highlights all four classes. It was developed by Rick Rea, who has worked with RCS to help bring the track up to date with social media.
"He's really done a great job with the website," said Darren Evavold, one of the RCS managing partners.
After the RCS promo was launched Sunday, there were approximately 2,000 hits in the first 24 hours, Evavold said.
"We're getting a lot of good feedback on our website," Evavold said.
And racing at the track during the first three weeks of the season has been competitive to say the least.
Last week's features in the late models and sprints were two of the best in recent seasons.
Dustin Strand's daring pass of Brad Seng on the high side of Turn 4 as the white flag was waving gave the Grand Forks driver his second straight win.
And Nygaard and Mark Dobmeier went back-and-forth for the lead during the 25-lap sprint feature, won by Dobmeier.
Victory Lane interviews of both drivers were posted on the track's website after the features -- another way social media is promoting local racing. The track also uses Facebook and Twitter.
The RCS website is www.rivercitiesspeedway.com
Tonight's races
Where: River Cities Speedway.
When: 7:30 p.m., 6:30 hot laps.
TV/radio: Adults $18 ($15 in advance); children (7-12) $5; 6-and-under free.
Classes: Streets, Midwest modifieds, late models, sprints.
Of note: School bus races at RCS are scheduled for June 8.
