Rain plays havoc with Memorial races

Although he would have liked to have seen the grandstands filled to capacity for both nights at the fifth-annual “Rob Rea Memorial,” Emo Speedway promoter Sonny Ferris said he was “very pleased” with the crowd there for Saturday’s action.
The doubleheader of racing action was reduced to a single night after Friday’s action was cancelled due to rain, leaving Ferris to ponder the loss of much-needed revenue.
The “Memorial,” held in conjunction with the fall fair in Emo, attracted about 2,500 people for the weekend last year, including 800 the first night.
Despite the rainout, Ferris stressed he was pleased with the fans who crowded the grandstand Saturday.
“I just want to thank all the people who came out,” he enthused. “I was more than pleased with the attendance and I was impressed with the drivers, who put on some entertaining races.”
Ferris also said he was pleased with the number of cars that turned out. The track usually sees 16 modified cars race during regular action each Friday night but they had four heats of seven cars for a total of 28 cars this time around.
Mark Davis captured the feature race in the modified class, edging Peter Leek and Chuck Arpin Sr. Winners of the four heats were Greg Ferris, Rod Angus, Ernie Ukrainec, and Pat Woods.
The track also saw 18 cars compete in the street races (up from an average of only seven cars for regular weekly action). Mark Piilo won the feature, finishing ahead of Don Wilson and Joey Tougas.
Andrew Piilo, Wilson and Mark Piilo won the three heats.
The super stocks division, which saw only three cars compete Saturday night, was won by Steve Boyum, who earned 55 points on the night.
Rod Hafeman and Jim Borsboom both received 51 points.
There were no mini sprint races due to drivers’ commitments south of the border.