As we entered the final weekend of racing both the Emo Street Stock and the Wissota Modified champions had been decided with Tylar Wilson and Jeff Davis holding a more than 112 point advantage over second place. Both classes still had a battle for second to be decided with Garett Gamsby, Darrin Rea, and Doug Derendorf within 31 points in the Street Stocks and only an eight point gap between Cameron Brown and Brody Strachan in the Modifieds. Meanwhile the Wissota Midwest Modified championship had a race for first with Brandon Rehill having a 21 point advantage over Garrett Paull.
As the Emo Street Stocks took the track there were two cars notably missing, the #55 of Tylar Wilson as during day two of the Rea Memorial there was a catastrophic engine failure as well as the #28 of Doug Derendorf with damaged steering components. But teammate Darren Derendorf changed car numbers from the #80 into the #28 for the night keeping Doug in the points battle. In the first heat race the #38 of Steve Buyere and the #54 of Dean Kellar quickly found themselves battling at the front of the field, but within a few laps the action was slowed for a spin in turn four. As the racing resumed Kellar and Bruyere continued their battle with Kellar passing high on the back stretch and holding on for the victory. In the second heat race the #24 of Andrew Piilo and the #54X of A.J. Kellar began to battle for the lead with Kellar pushing to get around Piilo. All of this pushing led to Kellar spinning on the exit of turn 2 nearly collecting the #33 of Garett Gamsby. All drivers were able to continue with Gamsby having a great restart and taking the lead from Piilo all the way to the finish. As the feature race started the drivers were hungry for the lead with Pillo, Bruyere and the #18 of Abe Germain raced through turns one and two, three cars wide, with Bruyere eventually taking the lead. But nipping at their heals was A.J. who methodically worked his way to first, using the low side of the track. The first caution fell on the field as Germain and Dean spun off turn three, avoiding a spinning Gamsby, with Gamsby restarting at the back of the pack. As the green flag returned A.J. was able to hold onto the lead but farther back a battle for points began with Gamsby, Derendorf and the #57 of Darrin Rea fought for ninth. With a second caution for Rea spinning into the infield, on the final restart it was evident that the drivers were ancy as they were all bumping and pushing each other toward the restart zone. As the action resumed the battle for first came down to Pillo and A.J. with A.J. holding on for the victory. To clinch second place in points Gamsby battled back through the field to bring the car home in fourth place.
Top 3
- #54X A.J. Kellar
- #24 Andrew Piilo
- #54 Dean Kellar
The Wissota Midwest Modified championship leaders would have to wait until the feature to square each other up as they were in two different heats. In the first heat the #4B of Brandon Rehill had his work cut out for him starting from last place, but with a clean start he was able to hang the car out on the high side of turns 1 & 2 and jump up to third place. Slowing Rehill’s charge the #86 of Kevin Desserre spun on the exit of turn two, causing two separate yellow flags. On the second restart, Rehill was able to get a good start and build a gap over eventual second place finsher #3H of Keelan Hall. The second heat race ran caution free as the #14 of Edward Bell and the #222 of Bob Hammond were able to get a clean start and lead the field all race long with Hammond claiming the victory. The rest of the field quickly got in line and made sure that they had the best equipment they could for the feature. The #99 of Glen Strachan pulled off within the first few laps and immediately parked the car on the trailer with mechanical issues. In the feature race Rehill and the #16 of Garrett Paull would have to do battle for the championship from the drop of the green flag lined up side by side in the fourth row for the start of the race. Within a couple of laps both drivers sliced their way through the field with Rehill using the highside to earn the first place position and Paull working his way to fifth. By the time the first caution flew for debris on track at the midway point Rehill had started to build a large lead over the field while Paull worked his way to the fourth position. Just after the restart, Paull snuck his way into third and while pressing for the second position spun in turn two, causing the second caution, meanwhile hard charger #14C Cody Ossachuk had worked his way up to the fourth spot after starting in tenth. Due to the spin Paull restarted last, meanwhile Rehill had one more chance and ran away from the field again. By the end of the race, Paull pulled from 11th to fifth, but it was too little too late as by winning Rehill secured the track championship.
Top 3
- #4B Brandon Rehill
- #222 Bob Hammond
- #3H Keelan Hall
As the Wissota Modifieds took to the track the dominant cars of the night showed themselves early as the #99 of Brody Strachan and #4JR of Cameron Brown quickly worked their way forward. With only a couple of laps remaining, Strachan was able to slingshot past the #21 of Matt DePiero on the exit of turn four, holding the field off for the heat race victory. In the second heat race the #85 of Jeff Davis raced straight to the lead which he was able to hold clear to the checkered flag. Farther back in the pack the field spread themselves out as the #12 of Tony Cassie nearly spun in turn four, casing the #15R of Raice Westover to break hard to avoid a wreck. In the feature race, despite being caution free, there were battles for position all the way through the field. Off the start of the race Westover was able to build a small lead on the highside, but Strachan who started four positions back was quickly making up ground. By the mid-point was trying, with little success, to find a way past on the low side. Meanwhile farther back, Davis slowly worked his way from eighth to fourth. The battle between Westover and Strachan intensified as they battled door to door until Strachan managed to get the advantage, by which point Davis had caught up and with only three laps to find his way past Westover for second place at the finish.
Top 3
- #99 Brody Strachan
- #85 Jeff Davis
- #15R Raice Westover
The Borderland Racing Association would like to say thank you to this week’s sponsor Bett-Will Towing as well as all of the other sponsors who help and support the racing community throughout the entire season. The Borderland Racing Association would like to also say thank you to the fans who have come to the races this season. If it wasn’t for you and your support there wouldn’t be a speedway for the drivers to do battle on each week. Finally thank you to all the volunteers for their hard work all season long to make sure the track was prepared for fans and drivers. Unfortunately this brings an end to the 2022 race season but with racing still at some neighbouring race tracks, there is still a chance to cheer on your favourite drivers before the snow flies. See you in 2023 at the Emo Speedway!
