Lucas Punkari
After two race nights at the Emo Speedway, WISSOTA Modified driver Gavin Paull is making the task of muscling his car around the 3/8-mile oval look absolutely easy as he swept the show both times.
But for the 29-year-old from Fort Frances, while the wins are always nice to chalk up, it’s all about having a good time.
“I’m just having fun man,” he enthused after winning the feature race in his division Saturday night.
“The car’s been running good so far this year, we haven’t had any damage, and we’re finishing the races,” he noted.
“I’m happy.”
Having basically running unchallenged during the season-opener June 4, Paull had a bit of a tougher challenge on his hands during this past Saturday’s race night, beginning in the heat when he had a wheel-to-wheel battle with defending champ Glen Strachan before he took the lead for good near the halfway mark of the 10-lap affair.
“I started a little bit further back of Glen,” Paull recalled. “But once I caught him, we started to go at it.
“Glen and I have known each other for a long time, and he’s a really good competitor, so we like going at it when we’re racing,” he added.
Unlike the previous week, where he took the lead in the feature after just one lap, this time Paull had to work his way from fifth on the grid to take the way lead away from Dwayne Pihulak on Lap 4 before cruising to his second-consecutive feature win.
“I really wasn’t sure where I was going to go on the start,” Paull explained. “I just kind of felt everything out early on to see where everyone was going, and it looked as if the top side was the place to go.
“So I went up there.”
Part of the reason for Paull’s hot start this season has come from how his car, a Larry Shaw by Davis chassis with a 360 cubic inch Chevrolet motor, has been running.
“All in all, it’s been working good,” Paull said. “We have a new power plant in the car, and everything seems to be clicking so far this year.”
This year has been a totally different one for the 2002 and 2007 WISSOTA Modified track champ as it is the first full season Paull will not have his dad, Garnet, supporting him in the pits after he lost his battle with cancer last July.
“I have been racing 10 years with my father joining me every weekend,” Paull noted.
“I’m kind of on my own this year, and it’s a little bit harder without him here,” he admitted.
“[But] I’m going to try and carry on for a couple more years.”
With two young sons (Garrett and Jett) and two jobs (one at the local AbitibiBowater mill and the other involving him running
Selective Services following his father’s passing, taking up his time, it’s usually a wait-and-see scenario as to what Paull’s racing plans will be come the weekend.
“I just see how my week goes, and come Friday I usually talk to my pit crew and see what’s going on,” he explained.
“It’s very time-consuming with a couple of kids and a couple of jobs on the go, but my wife [Joelle] likes it [racing] so I can continue on.”
The support from his family also allows Paull to ply his trade away from home, with Greenbush and Brainerd—the latter being Paull’s favourite out-of-town track—among the venues he is looking at visiting during the summer.
“When you run against those guys in the States, they are always tough to beat, which is why I go down there,” Paull reasoned.
“Guys like Ryan Aho and Ricky Roche run three nights a week, and if you can beat them, you know that you’ll get at the end of the season,” he added.
As for Emo, Paull is looking to run every two or three weeks this season, with the Fall Fair and Amsoil Race of Champions qualifiers among the dates that already are circled on the calendar.
“It’s always nice to run in front of the home crowd,” Paull said. “People that know me come here and watch, the people here at the track are good, and they do an excellent job here of preparing the track.
“I really enjoy coming here.”
