Anthony Leek
It was a beautiful night at the Emo Speedway for the heated action at the banked oval on Saturday for flag-to-flag action in the Amsoil Dirt Track Racing Series.
A total of 36 cars in six heats (two for each class) kicked off the evening, with the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds first on the grid.
In the first heat, local driver Christopher Leek and Paul Veert of Winnipeg started on the front row.
There was some great side-by-side action between Tylar Wilson and Veert, but Leek pulled enough to grab the checkered flag ahead of Wilson, who tried a last-lap charge.
In the second heat, Brady Caul started on the outside front row and ran a perfect race while his pole partner, Ken Perry, had difficulties and finished fifth.
Chuck Lambert took second, with John Hettinga finishing third.
In the Street Stocks heats, Jeff Wickstrom came from last place to nab the win over his son, Tyler.
In the second heat, Scott Messner dominated the field, beating Ron Westover and Richard Visser.
And in the WISSOTA Modifieds, Greg Ferris returned to take up the driving duties in the #14 car normally driven by Tyler Brown.
Glen Strachan started in second and won the race, followed by Greg Ferris in second and Bill Witherspoon third.
The feature race for the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds was a fairly smooth adventure except for the second lap, where Caul spun sideways, gathering Mike Wilson and Chuck Lambert.
Caul tried to move, but had a terrible vibration which finished his night early. Wilson was done for the night, as well—a stark contrast from his feature win the previous weekend.
Lambert, for his part, had rear tin damage but continued the race.
Leek and Matthew Mutz started on the front row, with Mutz pulling away from the field and gaining a sizable lead.
But lap after lap, Matt DePiero, a driver who has been running off and on this season at the track, quickly was gaining spots.
By the halfway mark of the race, DePiero had caught up to Leek and passed him for second. At the same time, Mutz was slowing up—the result of a tire going flat.
By Lap 10, they were fighting side by side for a couple of laps until Mutz finally had to admit defeat.
On a restart, DePiero held his prized lead while Leek started fighting a tight race car. T. Wilson and Veert fought for third place behind Leek, with Wilson being victorious once again by taking second.
Veert claimed third by a nose while Anthony Visser moved from 12th to finish fifth.
With his win, DePiero became the eighth different driver in nine weeks to capture a WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature.
Caul continues to lead the points standings, holding a slim four-point margin over Kendal Gamsby.
Not to be outdone, the Street Stocks had their share of wild racing, as well.
On the front row, Libby Wilson and Wes Morriseau led the largest field to date with a healthy number of 12 cars.
The racing was almost four-wide, with everyone jousting for position. Messner, Westover, and Bowman, the faster cars, started at the back but were on the move.
Messner had moved through the field, and was into the top five when the cars were four abreast. As such, he ended being the odd man out and slipped off the track.
He stayed there to bring out the caution flag just a few laps in.
Starting at the back on the restart, Messner had to try and make his way back up through the pack.
Meanwhile, J. Wickstrom was leading the race, with Daniel Hettinga looking to battle for first. Trouble arose when Lindsay Bourre went sideways in Turn #4, leaving Messner and Visser with nowhere to go.
Visser had bumper damage, but Messner slammed into the side of Bourre, giving him an early exit to the pits.
Nick Leininger then was signalled to go to the pits when his car turned into a mosquito fogger when the engine started to expire.
Ron Westover, meanwhile, battled with Wickstrom for several laps, both demanding the lead. The two have had some good racing together in 2010, and it has been very exciting for fans to see such close side-by-side action with little to no contact.
Wickstrom seemed to be fighting his car later in the race, however, and spun around at one point, giving him a result that was not reflective of the better night he actually had.
Bowman was the most incredible as he started from last place to finish in second spot.
Westover was extremely excited as he finally claimed his 100th feature win in the Street Stocks. He continues to lead the points standings by a large margin.
Finally in the WISSOTA Modifieds, nine of the 10 cars that ran in the heats started the feature, with Witherspoon and Ron Korpi on the front row.
But the caution was waved pretty quickly as a minor accident brought them to a restart.
On the restart, trouble was brewing as the cars cluttered up in Turns #1 and #2. One car slowed up, leaving one sideways, and damage far traveller Rick Delaine of Winnipeg.
Both Gary Wilson and Delaine had to retire early due to damage.
On the next restart, Loveday spun coming to the green flag but managed to keep going. He was forced to leave the track not long after, however.
The remaining cars slowly spread out and other than Strachan, who returned to the field after changing a tire, moved up two spots from fifth to third.
Greg Ferris, who started seventh, pulled away from Dustin Wahl and Bill Witherspoon to win the feature.
Strachan continues to lead the point standings over Gary Wilson.
Action resumes at the Emo Speedway this Saturday (weather permitting), with the “Candy Man” scheduled to appear at intermission and “Powder Puff” races at the end of the night!
Visiti www.borderlandracing.com for all the news, results, schedule, and standings.
SUMMARY
WISSOTA
Modifieds
•Feature–1. Greg Ferris 2. Dustin Wahl 3. Glen Strachan 4. Ron Korpi 5. Bill Witherspoon 6. Rick Delaine 7. Brad Loveday 8. Gary Wilson 9. Rick Bourre
•Heat #1–1. Strachan 2. Ferris 3. Witherspoon 4. Wahl 5. Loveday
•Heat #2–1. Delaine 2. Wilson 3. Korpi 4. Sether 5. Bourre
WISSOTA
Midwest
Modifieds
•Feature–1. Matt DePiero 2. Tylar Wilson 3. Paul Veert 4. Christopher Leek 5. Anthony Visser 6. Kendal Gamsby 7. John Hettinga 8. Chuck Lambert 9. Steve Nordin 10. Ken Perry 11. Matt Mutz 12. Cody Drennan 13. Mike Wilson 14. Brady Caul
•Heat #1–1. Leek 2. T. Wilson 3. Veert 4. Mutz 5. Wilson 6. Gamsby 7. Drennan
•Heat #2–1. Caul 2. Lambert 3. Hettinga 4. DePiero 5. Perry 6. Visser 7. Nordin
Street Stocks
•Feature–1. Ron Westover 2. Don Bowman 3. Darien Trimble 4. Wes Morriseau 5. Tyler Wickstrom 6. Jeff Wickstrom 7. Libby Wilson 8. Richard Visser 9. Scott Messner 10. Lindsay Bourre 11. Nick Leininger 12. Daniel Hettinga
•Heat #1–1. J. Wickstrom 2. T. Wickstrom 3. Leininger 4. Wilson 5. Morriseau 6. Hettinga
•Heat #2–1. Messner 2. Westover 3. Visser 4. Trimble 5. Bowman 6. Bourre
