Gavel off to fast start

The Borderland Racing Association got its season off to a good—if not chilly—start on Saturday night at the Emo Speedway.
And the big winner was Kyle Gavel, picking up where he left off last year by easily taking the WISSOTA modified feature.
“Last year at the last race here, I got the lead in the heat,” he noted. “I didn’t touch the car all winter so I kind of had a good idea [how I would do].”
Gavel’s performance was a standout. He took one of the biggest leads of the night in the second modified heat, then replicated that showing with a clear victory in the feature.
“I wasn’t even supposed to show up,” he laughed, admitting his presence largely was due to a rain-out at a conflicting event.
While rain wasn’t a factor Saturday night, the cold was. The evening was uncharacteristically cold for May, and the hundred or so spectators brave enough to stay on hand were draped in blankets and heavy clothing.
Even if the fans weren’t out in full force, the drivers were—with the Street Stock feature up to five drivers from three for last year’s opener and the Midwest modifieds up to 11 from six.
The Street Stock feature was won by Ron Westover, who had finished second in the final standings last season.
He said the win “feels good, seeing as how we pieced the car together in a couple of weeks.”
Despite the fan favourite’s strong start to 2007, coupled with his impressive numbers and awards last year, Westover is humble on his outlook for the as-yet young season.
“Just keep doing what I’m doing I guess,” he remarked. “Just have some good, competitive races with the other guys.”
He also predicted those other guys would show up “in a couple of weeks, which’ll be nice.”
“Takes a while to shake out the cobwebs,” he reasoned.
The closest finish Saturday night went to Don Smith of Grand Rapids, Mn. in the Midwest modified feature.
He was in a tough battle with Jeff Marshall for first place for most of the race until Marshall was impeded by Chuck Lambert’s car on a bad break in the final quarter-lap.
Lambert was well out of contention at that point in the race, having caught some bad luck of his own on a couple of corners following a strong second-place finish in his opening heat.