Hibbing Raceway recognizes long-time track supporters

HIBBING—Mike “Sootie” Damjanovich and Richard “Roby” Robnik gave a lot to Hibbing Raceway for a lot of years.

To honor Damjanovich’s and Robnik’s long-time contributions to Hibbing Raceway, the two late men will be honored Saturday night at a special Hibbing Raceway Remembrance and Recognition Night.

“We will have Mark Trenberth go down and say a few words and give credit to these guys who helpethe race track,” Mike Olson, Iron Range Racing Association president said. “It’s the first year we’ve done this. We just thought it would be something that our fans and board members would like to do.”

Plaques honoring Damjanovich and Robnik will be placed in a special grandstand seating area where three other plaques have already been mounted.

Those plaques honor the late Kevin Davey, Kathy Davey and Joni Dahl.

Trenberth is a former dirt track driver and car builder.

He’s also a Hibbing Raceway historian and maintains a vintage racing page.

Damjanovich was a car owner and former Iron Range Racing Association vice president, Trenberth said.

“I knew Sootie since I was in high school,” Trenberth said. “He was a hockey coach for Midgets, which became Junior Gold. My brother and I played hockey for him.”

Damjanovich was a fixture at Hibbing Raceway for decades.

“He used to help Carl Frand and Carl Lindquist and he built cars for them,” Trenberth said. “I believe he also used to help Donnie Aas.”

Damjanovich was also a motorcycle rider who was president of the “Warlocks Hibbing Chapter,” motorcycle club, Trenberth said.

“You’d think he was some bad-ass motorcycle guy,” Trenberth said. “But he was pretty straight laced. He didn’t even drink.”

Damjanovich also teamed up with his son Marcus, who drove the father-son #4 car.

“Marcus’s best years of racing were in the late 1990s and early 2000s,” Trenberth said. “He was just hammering out wins in those years.”

Trenberth said he built several cars for “Sootie” Damjanovich.

“Sootie” would often visit Trenberth’s garage to assess progress on the build and talk racing, Trenberth said.

“The more I thought about it, Sootie was like a father to me,” Trenberth said. “While I was building his cars, he would come over and talk while we built his car.”

Robnik was a dedicated fan and directly involved in supporting the track, Trenberth said.

“He owned a diesel shop in town and did repair on diesel equipment,” Trenberth said. “He sponsored a few cars, and I know he was a race fan.”

Robnik each year would buy four or five season passes for reserved seating, primarily to support the race track, Olson said.

However, Robnik usually never used more than one seat for himself, Olson said.

“He was a long-time supporter for many years,” Olson said.

Hibbing Raceway gates open at 5 p.m. Saturday.

Racing starts at 7 p.m.