With rain popping up all around the district Saturday, no one could have found a more hopeful group than the weekend warriors of the Emo Speedway. With rain still in the forecast the pits slowly began to fill with drivers ready to take action, but as the track was almost ready, the heavens opened up. Before long, it was obvious there was no saving the race surface. Although a water truck adds water to the racing surface throughout race day, it’s a delicate balance to make sure that there is a smooth and even racing surface. If you wet a track too much or too fast, it will be a muddy mess; not enough water and it becomes a dust bowl, impossible for the fans and drivers to see. Despite the best efforts of the track prep crew, racing just wasn’t in the cards Saturday night, so we’ll take a mid-season pause and have a look at how the championship battles are coming out.
In the Emo Street Stocks, with no drivers having completed every race this season, the #15R of Raice Westover is able to hold a small points lead over the field by winning five of the six features he has entered this season, however he only has a race and a quarter lead (126 pts) over the 5th place car of Darrin Rea in the #57. Jammed between them is the #55 of Tylar Wilson (-38 pts), the #45 of Sierra Happy (-115 pts) and the #28 of Doug Derendorf (-118 pts). As we prepare for the final weeks of racing there are so many questions up in the air: will Westover be able to finish repairs in time for the next night of racing? Should Westover make his return? Can Wilson finally prevail in a head-to-head battle? Will the model of consistency in Derendorf be able to maintain his lead over Rea and make up the three points to claim 3rd position? Can any of the drivers who have missed multiple nights of racing make up the more than 200 point deficit to first, or the 87 point deficit to 5th place, and be able to work their way into the top five in the championship battle? There is only one way to find out, take to the track and let the driving speak for itself!
The Wissota Midwest Modified championship battle is led by 1 of 4 drivers who have attended every week of racing this year, the #4B of Brandon Rehill who has had a stellar season finishing in the top 2 nearly every week this season. Nipping at Rehill’s heels is the #16 of Garrett Paull (-24 pts) and the #3H of Keelan Hall (-49 pts) with last year’s champion the #59X of James Lambert (-161 pts) in 4th and rookie #24, Cory Randle (-162 pts) in 5th place. With 5 feature wins between the top 2, a slip up in one night of racing will open the door wide for Hall to charge for 1st, but should Hall have any slip ups himself, he could find himself mired back in 6th place quickly. In my opinion the standout of the season has been Randle as he has proven that just keeping the car on the track and starting every feature will earn you a great finishing position by the end of the season. As racing winds up towards the Emo Fall Fair it looks like Paull and Rehill will be battling for every point and position available on track.
The Wissota Modifieds have a very different championship picture with only the top two in points, the #85 of Jeff Davis and the #44 of Tyler Brown (-84 pts) having started every feature this season. Following up in 3rd is the #99 of Brody Strachan (-102 pts), who also holds two feature wins this season, the #4JR of Cameron Brown (-127 pts) in 4th and the #4A of Dawson Allen (-155pts) in 5th. Despite winning three of the seven nights of racing this year the #88 of Tanner Williamson can’t overcome the consistency of racing each and every week like the top two in points. Will being the most consistent front runner like Davis having finished in the top five every week, carry him to back to back championships or will running flat out for the victory each and every week like Williamson and Strachan be the recipe for success at the end of the year?
The Borderland Racing Association would like to say thank you to this week’s sponsor Leon’s and all of the other sponsors who help keep all of the facilities around the track open. The Borderland Racing Association would like to also say thank you to all of the fans who were able to join in on the action Saturday night and to any other fans out there, if it wasn’t for you, there would be no show for the drivers to put on! Finally thank you to all the volunteers for their hard work all week long to make sure the track is ready for the fans and drivers. We will be back next Saturday night July 23rd with hot laps at 7pm and racing at 7:30pm.
