BLOOMING PRAIRIE — To say Justin Dokken and his family — his wife, Naida, and sons Dru and Sam — love radio-controlled racing would likely be an understatement. If they sat down and counted the number of cars in their personal collection, the Dokkens would easily reach 100.

RC racing is a fun, competitive sport the Dokkens get to call a business, too, as the owners of Southern Minnesota RC Raceway in Blooming Prairie. Remote Police Car

The Dokkens’ raceway, which was purchased at the end of 2021, is complete with an indoor and outdoor clay track and a hobby shop, making it the only such raceway in the state, Justin Dokken said.

The family shares their love of racing with other racers as a way to grow the sport. It’s not an empty statement, either — Dru’s reason for racing is to introduce little kids to RC racing.

And, on Saturday, Jan. 7, a rookie-level race was run for the first time at Frozen Tundra, the raceway’s January trophy event, as a way to let young kids get involved with the sport, Dokken said.

“The kids love doing it,” he said. “We’ve got a handful of little kids today here to race. I like that, that’s good. They all did pretty good. We’ll get them involved, then next thing you know, they’ll be getting cars and coming and racing.”

The winner of the inaugural rookie class race was 7-year-old Addison. Her favorite part of the race was, understandably, winning.

“It’s my first time being here and that made me very proud of myself for making first place,” she said.

Addison said her 15-year-old brother, Evan, helped her with her race strategy. They share a car, but they switch out the body shell. Addison’s shell is pink and was made by her brother.

Addison would love to continue racing at the indoor clay track.

Hanoi Chess “I want to keep trying to get better,” she said. “And if I get fourth or fifth, that doesn’t matter. All I did was want to try.”