Anthony Leek
Isolated showers were all over the region Saturday as the Emo Speedway prepared for another weekend of stock car racing in the three classes of WISSOTA Modifieds, WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds, and Street Stocks.
A light rain hit the track shortly after 6:30 p.m. and stuck around until 7:15.
But the sky cleared up enough for the sun to peek through and race officials decided a good old college try was in order.
With the help of volunteers and drivers, racing was able to start around 8 p.m.
The WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds kicked off the evening with two heats (each one received a couple of hot laps to make sure the track was safe enough for racing).
In the first heat, Christopher Leek was on another roll, coming from third place to win it over Mike Wilson and Anthony Visser.
In the second heat, John Hettinga showed his determination as he also came from third to win versus Tylar Wilson and Kendal Gamsby.
In the Street Stock heats, Daniel Hettinga started on the pole and finished in first as rookie Nick Leininger took second.
Tyler Wickstrom, meanwhile, had a great run—coming from seventh to finish third.
In the second heat, Ron Westover came from seventh to take the checkered flag, with Darien Trimble and Don Bowman rounding out the top three.
The WISSOTA Modifieds were reduced to one heat, and it was Glen Strachan who bolted from the gate in fifth spot to win over Brad Loveday and Gavin Paull.
The track was very fast, but proved tricky in some spots due to the rain.
With the skies threatening again, the features were started immediately after the WISSOTA Modifieds heat to ensure the program would finish at a decent time.
The WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds started out with Mike Wilson and Anthony Visser on the front row. But right off the start, Chuck Lambert grabbed the lead and started to pull away.
In the meantime, Tylar Wilson and Gamsby methodically moved their way through the field.
Mike Wilson got back to Lambert’s tail end but chose to go high to pass, discovered he couldn’t hold the line, and was freight-trained by the rest of the pack.
By the halfway point, Tyler Wilson had caught up to Lambert and passed for the lead.
Gamsby then tried to challenge for the lead, but ran out of laps to make the plan a success.
Tylar Wilson captured his second feature win of the year in great fashion, with Gamsby, Hettinga, Caul, and Leek rounding out the top five.
In the Street Stocks, Hettinga and Leininger started on the front row.
In the early going, it seemed no one would get close to Hettinga and that he would snag his first-ever feature win.
But it was not to be as coming from 12th position, the dark horse of Jeff Wickstrom patiently worked his way through the field of cars to get to the front.
After a skirmish with Hettinga, Wickstrom took the lead and never looked back.
Meanwhile, Bowman and Westover finally made their way through the field to finish in third and fourth place, respectively.
There was some great racing in the class and only two did not finish, with one having a flat tire and the other some front-end damage.
Finally, the WISSOTA Modifieds produced a fantastic feature race between hard-charging Paull and Loveday.
Paull started fifth, with Loveday starting third, but in no time at all they were battling for the point position.
Loveday grabbed the early lead, then Paull fought back and took the lead, then Loveday, then Paull, and so the story went!
It was some great racing at extremely high speeds on such a small track.
Paull ended up lapping most of the field to earn a well-deserved win.
A big thank you to all the volunteers, fans, drivers, etc. for helping out with the track packing and making sure we got another week of exciting racing in at the Emo Speedway!
This weekend features a doubleheader in conjunction with the Emo Fair, with hot laps at 6 p.m. and racing at 6:30 for both Friday and Saturday!
Visit www.borderlandracing.com for all the information you need concerning the Rea Memorial Weekend and the Emo Fair!
Summary
WISSOTA
Modifieds
•Feature–1. Gavin Paull 2. Brad Loveday 3. Glen Strachan 4. Ron Korpi 5. Dwayne Pelepetz 6. Tyler Brown 7. Rick Bourre 8. Denny Trimble
•Heat–1. Strachan 2. Loveday 3. Paull 4. Korpi 5. Pelepetz 6. Bourre 7. Brown 8. Trimble
WISSOTA
Midwest
Modifieds
•Feature–1. Tylar Wilson 2. Kendal Gamsby 3. John Hettinga 4. Brady Caul 5. Christopher Leek 6. Mike Wilson 7. Anthony Visser 8. Cody Ossachuk 9. Danny Rea 10. Chuck Lambert
•Heat #1–1. Leek 2. M. Wilson 3. Visser 4. Lambert 5. Caul 6. Nordin
•Heat #2–1. Hettinga 2. T. Wilson 3. Gamsby 4. Rea 5. Ossachuk
Street Stocks
•Feature–1. Jeff Wickstrom 2. Daniel Hettinga 3. Don Bowman 4. Ron Westover 5. Carlee Bosma 6. Richard Visser 7. Terry Martin 8. Tyler Wickstrom 9. Wes Morriseau 10. Nick Leininger 11. Charlene Nicolson 12. Lindsay Bourre 13. Darien Trimble 14. Libby Wilson
•Heat #1–1. Hettinga 2. Leininger 3. T. Wickstrom 4. Bourre 5. Morriseau 6. Wilson 7. Nicolson
•Heat #2–1. Westover 2. Trimble 3. Bowman 4. J. Wickstrom 5. Visser 6. Bosma 7. Martin
