The Emo Speedway wrapped up its final race of the season with the Keith McNally Memorial Fan Appreciation Night on Sunday afternoon to look back on the year and tweak the noses of the drivers with a few twists in the day’s feature races.
Even if the features played out a bit unorthodox, the top racers still gave their all and put on a show for those on hand, with the final race of the year—the WISSOTA modifieds feature—supplying the event with a rousing finish.
Gavin Paull, who won the points total on the season in the past race with a total of 630, was slated well back of the feature to start.
Then after claiming the lead, he was slotted back halfway through the pack when organizers inverted their order to bring cars from back in the pack to the front.
Paull fought his way to the top again, battling for first, but ultimately finished behind Greg Ferris.
“That was really exciting. Totally exciting. I think if Gavin would’ve pushed the issue, he would’ve got me,” Ferris admitted. “He showed me a lot of respect, and I appreciate that.”
“He thanked me there ’cause if it had been a points night, I might have pushed him a little harder,” agreed Paull. “A couple times I got on the inside of him there.
“We raced each other clean, there, me and him.”
Paull said he didn’t plan to get serious about the points race, but his wife’s affection for the track kept him coming back to Emo.
“It was nice to win the points ’cause I missed a full night. It was like giving everyone else 50 points,” he added.
Paull will be ready to defend his reign as the season’s best next year. He had a new car at the track he had hoped to get a crack at on Sunday that he’ll be sure to have in shape for next season’s opener.
In the street stocks feature, season point champion Ron Westover looked as solid in the feature as he did all year—gaining the lead and holding it with some ease even as racers were flipped around and took to the track backwards mid-race.
The feature served as the Keith McNally memorial race—dedicated to the driver who was killed some years ago at the Speedway.
Westover had photos taken with members of McNally’s family and carried his memorial flag for a victory lap.
Westover was just weeks removed from cementing his season leadership with 668 points in the street stocks—the highest of any racer in any class this year at Emo Speedway.
While the day’s races didn’t count towards point totals, he insisted the win was anything but meaningless.
“This race was probably one of my most important races I’ve ever won. Just to carry the flag means a lot,” Westover said. “Winning the race and having the family taking pictures, that means more than any championship.”
Ken Anderson won the Midwest Modifieds feature, which like the other two sported extra laps, and saw the field inverted midway.
Anderson was the closest to a surprise winner of the event, ranked 11th in the season’s point standings with 357, well behind point leader Kendal Gamsby, who had 655, and Don Smith, who was a very close second with a total of 652.
The final event of the season originally had been slated for 3 p.m. on Saturday, but was pushed back a day after a light but sustained rain fell, marring track conditions.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
