Williamson earns third feature win of the season in Wissota Modifieds

After the long weekend of racing action, and an important weekend of racing coming up, all the driver’s were looking to keep their noses clean and prepare for the Afco Race of Champions in one week. Despite trying to save equipment it didn’t meant that the drivers weren’t still going to race hard. During hot laps you could hear multiple cars hitting the engine rev limiters meaning there was plenty of traction to be had. As well during hot laps you could see all the drivers trying different lanes to see where the most moisture was going to be in the track, and as the night progressed the track proved to be a multi-lane and very racy which means only one thing, a night of good side by side racing.

The Emo Street Stocks took to the track first and set the tone for the night, clean hard racing. At the front of the field the #54X of A.J. Kellar was able to make his front row starting spot count as he was able to race to 1st place right off the start and steadily build a large lead to earn the heat race win. Farther back in the back there was a hard fought battle for 4th place between the #45 of Dean Kellar, filling in for Sierra Happy, the #28 of Doug Derendorf and the #80 of Darren Derendorf with Kellar finding his way past both Derendorfs as the #80 spun in turn two on the last lap. Due to a mechanical issue that appeared during hot laps the #15R of Raice Westover was not able to start either race Saturday evening. In the feature race the second caution in the whole race program came out as the #45 misjudged the exit of turn four and as the banking fell away he nudged the tires on the outside retaining wall. What looked like a bad accident turned out to be nothing more than bumping into a couple tires as #45 was able to restart the car and rejoin the race. As the green flag flew again the #55 of Tylar Wilson was able to race his way to the front of the field with the #54X close in toe. As the laps began to wind down the leaders found themselves having to contend with lap traffic, but despite one of the lanes of the track being taken up Wilson was able to hold on for the victory.

Top 3

  1. #55 Tylar Wilson
  2. #54X A.J. Kellar
  3. #3X Jesse Thompson

In the first heat race of the Wissota Midwest Modifieds the #14C of Cody Ossachuk was able to work his way into 1st position within the first couple of laps and like A.J. Kellar was able to build a fairly large lead over eventual 2nd place the #24 of Cory Randle. In the second heat race it looked to be a 2 car battle between the #16 of Garrett Paull and the #3H of Keelan Hall as they battled door to door, however with only a few laps left the #4B of Brandon Rehill caught up and was able to work his way past Hall but didn’t have enough time to find his way past Paull. In the feature race the outside line seemed to become the fast way around the track as right from the start the #59X of James Lambert and Ossachuk were able to use their 2nd and 4th place starts and find their way to 1st and 2nd quickly. Quickly working his way from a 7th place start to 3rd place Rehill was just how stout his car was Saturday night. Just before the first caution of the heat race flew Rehill and Ossachuk began swapping positions and managed to get past Lambert, with Ossachuk holding first place as the caution flew. As green flag action resumed, the battle at the front raged on with the three leaders swapping positions all the way to the final couple of laps, were Rehill was able to reign supreme.

Top 3

  1. #4B Brandon Rehill
  2. #14C Cody Ossachuk
  3. #59X James Lambert

The Wissota Modifieds took advantage of what was becoming a fast race track and displayed an amazing battle for the as the #50 of Brady Caul and the #88 of Tanner Williamson raced door to door for multiple laps, with Caul becoming the eventual leader. With only a handful of laps remaining the quick track bit Williamson as he spun on the exit of turn two bringing out the first caution of the night. As the green flag flew again the battled heated up at the back of the pack as Williamson fought to get to the front of the field, but with so few laps remaining he was only able to work his way to 5th place. In the second heat race the #85 of Jeff Davis got a great jump on the start and was able to build a steady lead throughout the entire race. Towards the back of the pack the #99 of Brody Strachan was fighting through the field after starting dead last. Strachan was able to work his way up into the 2nd position but it was a case of too little too late as Davis had built up a near straightaway lead to win the heat race. In the feature race there were some new faces battling at the front of the field as the #06 of Mike Wilson and the #12P of Brandon Pelepetz spent the first third of the race side by side battling for the top spot. As we reached the midsection of the race Caul and Williamson had worked their way to 1st and 5th respectively and were racing hard to try and gain an advantage over the other racers. As the caution flag flew for two separate spins on track it gave all the drivers a second to catch their breath and on the start Caul got the break he needed and was able to build a lead over the entire pack, however Williamson was still working his way forward and as the final caution flew, with only three laps left, found he was in the cat-bird seat. On the final restart Williamson was able to use the high side to his advantage and work his way past Caul and steal his 3rd feature win this season.

Top 3

  1. #88 Tanner Williamson
  2. #50 Brady Caul
  3. #06 Mike Wilson

As a special treat for the month of July any race fan 10 and under who wants to celebrate their birthday at the race track can contact the track through Facebook and receive a tour of the pits as well as a getting to meet their favourite driver! This week the Borderland Racing Association will be bringing back a tradition that has had to take a brake over the last couple years, they will be hosting bike races during intermission for kids aged 4-12, there will be details on how to register later this week on the Emo Speedway Facebook page. As for something exciting on the race track this week, the Emo Speedway is hosting their Afco Race of Champions. The winners of the Wissota Midwest Modified and Wissota Modified feature races will earn an automatic entry to the Wissota 100 at I-94 Speedway in Fergus Falls, MN this September 13-17.

The Borderland Racing Association would like to say thank you to this week’s sponsor Mel’s Well Drilling 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 16th with hot laps at 7 p.m. and racing at 7:30 p.m.