Staff
It looked for much of the day as though it would be a repeat of last year.
As it turned out, it was–but for two division winners, not the weather gods.
The Borderland Racing Association managed to avoid losing its regular-season finale at the Emo Speedway for the second-straight year due to a rain-out.
That meant those wanting to win the points race in their respective divisions had to earn their way across the finish line.
Pinewood’s Cody Ossachuk and Emo’s Brody Strachan did exactly that to hold onto their crowns from a year ago.
Ossachuk made it three-straight season championships in the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds class in unorthodox style, not winning a single feature race the entire season.
He did claim his heat Saturday night, then clinched the crown with a seventh-place finish in the feature to wind up with 779 points.
That was enough to hold off Jason Williamson of Fort Frances (753), who was third in the feature behind the brother combination of Jeff Davis (Devlin) and runner-up Jamie Davis (Fort Frances).
Jeff wound up third overall in the division overall (719) while Jamie settled for fifth (664) despite a division-leading eight feature victories (because he missed three separate weeks of racing action).
That same 1-2 combination almost took place in the WISSOTA Modifieds division, except this time the siblings had to bow before their Emo conqueror.
Strachan piloted the #99 car to victory in the feature over Jeff and Jamie, respectively, for his third feature win this year and repeat as division champion.
The feature race order also ended up being the division’s final standings, with Strachan and his 784 points topping all drivers in all divisions this year.
That put him ahead of Jeff (759) and Jamie (728), the latter of which closed out a historic season that saw him win the Modifieds and Midwest Modifieds features on the same night four times in five weeks.
The feat of winning two separate features the same night only had been accomplished once before in the track’s existence–by none other than Jamie.
The Street Stocks division, meanwhile, boasted the only new division champ this year.
Kevin Desserre of Dryden mirrored Ossachuk’s sleight of hand by capturing the title without winning a feature all season.
His 10 top-five finishes, though, were consistent enough to give him 605 points.
That was just eight points more than 2015 champ Tylar Wilson of Fort Frances (597), who was second in his heat and won the feature Saturday but Desserre’s fifth-place showings in both races kept the title out of his grasp.
Jesse Thompson of Emo was second in the feature, with Devlin’s Dean Kellar taking third.
Thompson also landed in third in the points race (516).
The Speedway will hold its season-ending Fan Appreciation Day on Sept. 9 (weather permitting).
