Emo Speedway kicks off season

With gusting breezes better suited to support wind power generation than stock car racing, the Borderland Racing Association got its 2008 season underway at the Emo Speedway on Saturday night.
About 250 hard-core racing fans braved the cold to watch their usual favourites, as well as some newcomers, battle for early-season bragging rights.
“It was a great crowd, great race track, and a great program considering the weather leading up to race time,” newly-appointed association president Anthony Leek said.
“Attendance usually goes up when school is out, but seeing that kind of crowd on the long weekend, when a lot of people go to their cabin or go fishing, was quite surprising,” he added.
In the Midwest Modifieds division, Matt DePiero picked up his first career win after finishing sixth in the point standings last season.
Last year’s points leader, Kendal Gamsby, finished a somewhat surprising fourth, but both developments may have been overshadowed by Ken Anderson’s crash in the first qualifying race after the intermission, where his vehicle briefly went up in flames before alert track and crew members arrived on the scene.
“He’s doing fine, got the rear end ripped up pretty bad, and he could be out next week,” Leek noted afterwards. “We aren’t too sure yet, but he’s been around a while and has been through it before.
“Racing is a dangerous sport and sometimes you see those wild crashes,” Leek added. “[Anderson has] been around since the ’70s and has had his share of rollovers and wrecks, but the older you get, the harder they hurt, I guess.”
In the Street Stocks division, Scott Messner took top spot, followed closely by Tylar Wilson and Don Bowman.
A notable absence on the track was that of defending Street champion and co-fan favourite of 2007, Ron Westover, who took in the races from the grandstand with his family.
“House chores,” Westover said with a laugh when explaining his reasoning for not being out there. “I didn’t want to come today because I knew it would make me want to put off the house chores again to focus on racing.”
Actually, Leek said Westover’s cars weren’t quite ready for racing competition, but that he expects Westover to be out there in the coming weeks—albeit with different goals than past seasons.
“I’m going to focus more on the Midwest Mods this year,” Westover said. “I’m hoping to aim for the top five and be towards the front of the race challenging for first place every week.
“But running two cars with a one-man team with two kids running around doesn’t give me a whole lot of time for racing anymore,” he conceded.
In the Modified division, defending points champion Gavin Paull picked up where he left off last year, finishing first in the field, followed by Dwayne Pelepetz and Glen Strachan.
DePiero showed his versatility by competing among the Modifieds, as well, finishing in seventh spot in that feature.
Racing resumes this Saturday (weather permitting).
For more information on the 2008 season at the Emo Speedway, visit www.borderlandracing.com or call Leek at 482-2806.