Staff
The message has been sent loud and clear: Tylar Wilson is back.
The Fort Frances driver, who dominated the Street Stocks division two years ago, looked to be back on top of his game as the only driver to net two feature wins in the Borderland Racing Association’s season-opening doubleheader over the weekend at the Emo Speedway.
Wilson blistered the competition for eight-straight feature wins to start a 2015 campaign that ended with him taking 10-of-11 feature races overall in cruising to the division title.
Then last year, Devlin teen A.J. Kellar took advantage of an off year for Wilson to grab the championship.
But Wilson and his gold-coloured No. 55 racing machine won his heat, then beat Thunder Bay’s David Caruk and T.J. Wickstrom of International Falls in the feature race Friday night.
He was second in Saturday’s qualifying heat behind Jake Froemke of the Falls, but was presented the checkered flag after the feature as he topped Kevin Desserre (Dryden) and Froemke.
Wilson leads the Street Stocks division in points, although official totals were not available at press time.
Meanwhile, Muskie boys’ hockey assistant coach Jamie Davis had a productive weekend at the track, as well as a heart-stopping one.
Davis won the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds feature Friday over the Thunder Bay tandem of David Simpson and Kevin Monteith.
He also was in position to do the same in the WISSOTA Modifieds division, but lost control of his car in the latter stages of that feature and went off the track to get stuck in ninth with a DNF (did not finish).
Then on Saturday, Davis played the role of tightrope walker in the Modified heat–kicking up dirt on three-straight laps as he rode dangerously high along the backstretch.
He held himself in the race to come in second and then couldn’t be caught in the feature, taking first place ahead of Gavin Paull (Fort Frances) and defending division champ Brody Strachan (Emo).
Davis also took fourth place on Saturday in the Midwest Modifieds, putting him second overall in the standings in both divisions.
His 101 points has him six back of the Modifieds lead behind Paull, who was second in Friday night’s feature behind Ward Imrie (Winnipeg).
Imrie’s night ended prematurely on Saturday in the heats, when engine troubles left a thick cloud of smoke billowing behind him.
Jeff Davis (Devlin) was third in Friday’s Modifieds feature while Brady Caul (Fort Frances) is tied for third in the division standings with Strachan (100).
Jamie Davis, with 110 points, is sandwiched between division leader Simpson (111) and third-place Monteith (103).
With multiple early-season cancellations last year due to the weather, the association executive decided to try and get a jump on the season, which usually doesn’t get rolling until after the Victoria Day weekend.
By starting earlier, that offers the chance at some extra makeup dates if any are needed later on.
Racing resumes this Saturday, with hot laps at 7 p.m. and the first green flag dropping at 7:30.
