Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
Every Friday, Murray Wood takes a look back at the week's news and decides who's hot... and who's not. This week's list ...
Doug Mark and Dave Kindred have spent decades trying to beat each other on Regina’s Kings Park Speedway.
Now, the longtime rivals are also family.
Read more:
- Regina police chief concerned about photo radar interruption
- Sask. trade minister defends strategy amid U.S., China tariff threats
- Regina’s Globe Theatre seeks urgent city grant to keep operating
After years of racing against one another, the two families became connected when Mark’s granddaughter and Kindred’s son, Lucas, had a daughter together. What started as a rivalry has become one extended racing family, but neither side plans on giving up the checkered flag.
“It’s better to beat him on the track than it is in the pit,” Dave Kindred said with a laugh.
The two men have watched Kings Park Speedway evolve for decades.
Mark first raced at the Regina oval in 1980 after buying a car with friends. Kindred followed soon after, with the pair eventually competing against one another in the Pro Four division while also helping build the class into one of the speedway’s marquee attractions.
Fans watch as drivers prepare for racing during Race Day 6 at Kings Park Speedway in Regina on July 25, 2026. The speedway is one of only two paved oval tracks in Saskatchewan and regularly draws multigenerational racing families from across the province. (Jacob Bamhour/980 CJME)
Now, both are watching the next generations carry the rivalry forward.
“My kids grew up here, the grandkids grew up here, the great-grandkids are growing up here,” Mark said. “The racing is a family affair.”
Kindred said racing families don’t just share the track; they share everything that comes with it.
“It’s one big family,” he said. “When you get into the race community, it doesn’t matter where you go in Saskatchewan, somebody knows somebody.”
That community extends beyond the Mark and Kindred families.
“It’s all usually hands on deck helping each other out,” Kindred said. “Once you’re on the track and the green flag drops, yeah, it’s a different game.”
Lucas Kindred has never really known a summer without Kings Park Speedway.
“He started racing when I was two years old,” Lucas said of his father. “I’ve spent every summer out here since then.”
Dave Kindred, right, and his son, Lucas Kindred, stand beside their race truck at Kings Park Speedway. The Kindred family has spent decades racing against the Mark family, with the longtime rivalry eventually bringing the two families together. (Jacob Bamhour/980 CJME)
The same can be said for the Mark family.
Shane Mark raced against Dave Kindred years ago. Today, he races alongside Lucas while his nephew, Dallan Fendelet, represents another generation of the family tradition.
“It’s a big family,” Shane Mark said. “Dave’s son is my granddaughter’s dad, so it’s a big family.”
For Fendelet, growing up around race trucks made climbing behind the wheel feel inevitable.
“I’m almost at that point where I hang with the big boys,” he said. “It’s cool to see. It’s tight racing, and it’s fun.”
The atmosphere has also helped attract newcomers.
Riley Matsalla sits in his No. 00 truck at Kings Park Speedway. Matsalla said veteran racers, including members of the Mark and Kindred families, helped him build the truck and join the local racing community. (Jacob Bamhour/980 CJME)
Riley Matsalla first discovered the truck class after seeing race trucks at the Majestics Car Club show. Rather than simply encouraging him to join, members of both the Mark and Kindred families helped him build his truck from the ground up.
“Lucas and Shane actually came out multiple times and helped me and Travis build our trucks and show us the ins and outs,” Matsalla said.
“Everyone that’s in this pit group, we have all worked on each other’s vehicles.”
Even after becoming competitors, that support hasn’t changed.
“If you break in a heat race, everyone will jump in and help you to try and get it going,” Matsalla said.
For Mark and Kindred, that’s the part of Kings Park Speedway they hope never changes.
The rivalries may fill the grandstands on race days, but it’s the friendships and now the family ties that have kept both families coming back to the track for generations.
Read more:
