Anthony Leek
The Emo Speedway saw another weekend of exciting racing as the AMSOIL Dirt Track Series action in three divisions got underway.
First off were the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds in two heats.
In the first heat, seven cars were planned to start but only six were able to make it on the track. Ken Anderson would spin out and be hit by Christopher Leek, ending his heat early, while Terry Martin and Jeff Davis also had issues and pulled off early.
Dwayne Pihulak was able to hold off three-time defending champ Kendal Gamsby for the win.
In the second heat, in a runaway, Chuck Lambert outpaced the field to beat runner-up Tridell Champlin, who had moved up from fifth before running out of laps.
The WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature was an exciting one. With Anthony Visser and Pihulak on the front row, the race started out fairly clean as the cars completed many laps before a caution.
After some confusion on lineups, the cars ran most of the remaining feature accident-free, with all of them finishing.
Brady Caul moved up the field from fifth to challenge for the lead. He soon had the head spot, but Pihulak wasn’t going to give up.
With one lap to go entering into turn one, Caul went a bit high into some dryslick surface and lost speed. In dramatic fashion, Pihulak stuck to the bottom to pass Caul going into turn three.
Holding Caul off to the finish, Pihulak would win his first feature of the season.
The WISSOTA Modifieds also had some excitement Saturday night as returning driver Jamie Davis made his debut at the Emo Speedway this summer.
Flashing a sporty new car, Davis ran very well in his heat, challenging Greg Ferris for the checkered flag. However, it seemed Ferris turned it on with some laps to go and pulled away to win it.
Dwayne Pelepetz took the win in the other heat.
In the feature, birthday boy Gary Wilson, who turned sixty-five on Saturday, started on the front row with Dwayne Pihulak.
The action was fierce, with plenty of three-wide racing as Wilson took an early lead. But it wouldn’t be long until Ferris, who was flying in the previous qualifying heat, cleared most of the cars to take the lead.
Davis, meanwhile, had a difficult time getting through traffic.
It was exciting to watch Davis move through the cars, but by the time he got clear, Ferris already had lapped most of the field.
For the second-consecutive week, Ferris would win the WISSOTA Modifed feature.
The Street Stocks had a smaller car count than last week, mostly due to family gatherings, soccer meets, and prom night. A total of five cars entered, compared to the nine from the previous week, but it wasn’t short of action.
In the heat, Scott Messner and Tylar Wilson broke out in front, but Messner would spin out, giving it to Wilson. Then in turn two, Richard Visser spun out in front of Wilson, but with some impressive steering, Wilson avoided the pink car of Visser.
Then, with a couple of laps to go while trying to go past rookie Linz Bourre, Wilson fell off the track, giving the lead and the win to Messner.
In the feature, the action was surprising. Messner and Wilson were side by side lap after lap, but suddenly Messner had smoke billowing out of his car.
Fluid landed on the front stretch, indicting a serious engine problem.
The caution came out due to a spin by Bourre and Messner went to the pits. On the restart, Visser then had second spot behind Wilson.
As green flag racing resumed, Wilson had an excellent head start but Visser had other plans. Within the last few laps, Visser drew up beside Wilson.
On the second last lap, Visser dove below and scooped Wilson for the win.
Driver introductions in front of the grandstand, where fans were able to match the faces with the cars as well as make their choices for best appearing car in each division, began the night.
Racing action resumes this Saturday (weather permitting), along with bicycle races and dash for cash during intermission. Make sure to bring your bicycle and a helmet.
Hot laps begin at 7 p.m., with the first race at 7:30.
Here is a recap of Saturday’s results:
WISSOTA Modifieds
•Feature—1. Greg Ferris 2. Jamie Davis 3. Glen Strachan 4. Gary Wilson 5. Dwayne Pihulak 6. Ron Korpi 7. Brady Caul 8. Ken Anderson 9. Bill Witherspoon 10. Dwayne Pelepetz
•Heat #1—1. Pelepetz 2. Pihulak 3. Caul 4. Strachan 5. Korpi
•Heat #2—1. Ferris 2. Davis 3. Wilson 4. Witherspoon 5. Anderson
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
•Feature—1. Dwayne Pihulak 2. Brady Caul 3. Kendal Gamsby 4. Tridell Champlin 5. Anthony Visser 6. Christopher Leek 7. Ken Anderson 8. Jeff Davis 9. Rick Bourre 10. Chuck Lambert 11. Terry Martin 12. Bill Reimer 13. Mike Wilson 14. Steve Nordin 15. Andrew Trimble
•Heat #1—1. Pihulak 2. Gamsby 3. Leek 4. Martin 5. Davis 6. Anderson 7. Trimble
•Heat #2—1. Lambert 2. Champlin 3. Caul 4. Visser 5. Wilson 6. Bourre 7. Reimer 8.Nordin
Street Stocks
•Feature—1. Richard Visser 2. Tylar Wilson 3. Charlene Nicolson 4. Linz Bourre 5. Scott Messner
•Heat—1. Messner 2. Visser 3. Wilson 4. Nicolson 5. Bourre
