McNally Memorial win emotional for Westover

Lucas Punkari

It was easy to see just how much capturing the checkered flag during the annual Keith McNally Memorial at the Emo Speedway meant for Street Stock competitor Ron Westover on Saturday night.
The long-time runner at the track was visibly emotional once he arrived in victory lane following the 15-lap main event, which was named in honour of McNally, who died tragically in an on-track incident in 1993.
“This really means a lot to me because I was really good friends with Keith when he used to race,” Westover explained.
“I looked up to him not only on the track, but off of the track with his strong family values, and I just loved the guy,” Westover added.
After a runner-up showing in the feature race on the second night of the Rainy River fall fair a weekend prior, Westover was even better on Saturday evening as he dominated his heat race and the feature.
“There was somebody watching me upstairs and helping me along, because this car was the fastest car I have ever raced in anything,” Westover enthused.
Having started the feature in the eighth position, Westover was able to work his way through the field in short order and passed Darien Trimble after only a couple of laps to take the lead, and also benefited from a late caution to capture the victory.
“The car was really running hot when the caution came out (as a result of an engine failure for Wes Morriseau), so I don’t know if I could ran the whole race if it stayed green,” Westover reasoned.
Meanwhile in the WISSOTA Modifieds, Gavin Paull returned to the winner’s circle after a three race absence as he took home his tenth feature win of the season.
“It feels good to get that tenth victory,” Paull, who also won his third division championship this season, smiled.
Early on, Paull found himself in a battle for the lead with Matt Mutz for a couple of laps, before the Fort Frances driver moved out in front and never looked back.
“Once I got into second place, he (Mutz) had about five or six car lengths on me, but I was slowly gaining on him,” Paull recalled.
“I found that if I moved up the track a little bit, I was able to get a little bit faster, and eventually I was able to catch up to him and then pass him,” Paull reasoned.
Finally in the always competitive WISSOTA Midwest Modified class, Brady Caul made his way by Chuck Lambert with only a few laps remaining to capture his class best third feature of the season.
“I had to pass a lot more cars this time than the other ones,” Caul joked.
“It took me forever to get to the front of the field, and I thought by the time we got into second spot somebody else would be way out in front,” Caul reasoned.
After Ken Perry jumped out into an early lead, Caul and Lambert were able to work their way by the early pace-setter and soon set about a battle between one another for the top spot.
“Chuck was holding his line pretty good when I got underneath him, so I just ran right with him until I could get by him late,” Caul explained.
While the point chases are now officially over, the track will hold one final show before the season comes to an end with their “Fan Appreciation” event on Saturday, Sept. 10, starting at 2 p.m.