It was one of those days where the forecasts from every weather station said it was going to thunderstorm and rain all day and evening. But other than a light sprinkle for about 5 minutes early in the afternoon, track workers started to water and prep the track. Amsoil Dirt Track Racing Series action was about to start for the 2012 season.

The crowd was not the best for an opener, mainly due to the rapid drop in temperature, raining everywhere else but at the track, and it also being a long weekend, but the diehard spectators came out and enjoyed some great action.

The WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds started out the night with eight cars on hand. In the heat, Chuck Lambert and Cody Ossachuk started on the front row, but it was Christopher Leek from the third position that took the lead for his first heat win of the year. In the Street Stocks, Carlee Bosma started out front and did not look back as she won the first heat of the year while Tylar Wilson subbing for his daughter Libby took second. In the WISSOTA Modifieds, Gavin Paull moved back to his winning ways as he started fourth and beat Denny Trimble to the line for his heat win. Trimble and Matt Mutz rounded out the top three.

After a short intermission, the WISSOTA Midwest Modified returned to the track. Ken Perry and Matt DePiero started out on the front row. The early leader was DePiero but he was unable to pull away from the rest of the cars. Perry fought with Ossachuk for second spot while Leek, Lambert, and Caul fought towards the back. A few laps in, Caul lost control in turn one and spun out, leaving Anthony Visser nowhere to go. The hit, forced each of them to head on the monorail for a tire change. Caul came back out, but the damage was bigger than anticipated and he was forced to retire early. On the restart, DePiero continued to lead, but after another caution involving Lambert had the field set up again. The outside line was starting to come in and Lambert found the sweet spot, allowing him to move to the lead around Perry and DePiero. Leek soon followed but had a lot of ground to make up. After clearing traffic Leek started to focus on the leader, but after a couple laps coming out of turn two, his car dropped the high gear, forcing him out of the race early. After that point, it was all Lambert and he cruised to his first feature win of the season. DePiero finished second and Ossachuk finished out the top three.

The Street Stocks had their own share of action as Bosma and Wilson started out on the front row. Wilson pulled to the lead early and never looked back. Meanwhile, Bosma and Richard Visser fought for second position while Chris Shine, Ron Westover, and Alex Gamie battled for third. There was even some three wide racing during the race. It seemed that Bosma’s car was getting looser and looser and later on she got too sideways and as she went around, gathered Visser in the accident. Visser continued to race, but something broke on her car, forcing a tow to the pits. On the final restart, Wilson continued to lead while Westover, Shine, Visser and Gamie continued to fight. On the backstretch on the last lap, Gamie and Visser were tangled up, leaving Visser nowhere to go but over the embankment. Wilson raced to victory taking the win for his daughter.

The WISSOTA Modifieds put on a really good show for the evening. Trimble and Steve Nordin started on the front row with Trimble taking the early lead. But it wasn’t long until Paull started to make it to the front. A quick battle ensued between the two drivers and they were side by side for a lap until Trimble spun in turn one and two.  On the restart, Paull took the point with Nordin and Gary Wilson on the first row. Wilson pulled up beside Paull and took the lead on the backstretch, but Paull regained the spot and Wilson had to slow up to not run into the back of him. A caution came out, but after the restart, Paull checked out for the night clean sweeping the WISSOTA Modifieds.  Wilson ran second most of the race but fell off the track towards the end of the race leaving him with a finish not reflective of the majority of the race.

Racing returns to the Emo Speedway this weekend with the Emo Walleye Classic, Fans Favorite Driver vote, and Driver Introductions in front of the grandstand before the heats start out. Hot laps at 7pm and racing at 7:30 p.m.

Emo Speedway

Season opener

WISSOTA Midwest

Modifieds

Feature – Chuck Lambert, Matt DePiero, Cody Ossachuk, Ken Perry, Brody Strachan, Christopher Leek, Anthony Visser, Brady Caul.

Heat – Leek, Lambert, Ossachuk, DePiero, Perry, Caul, Strachan, Visser.

WISSOTA Modifieds

Feature – Gavin Paull, Denny Trimble, Steve Nordin, Tyler Brown, Ron Korpi, Gary Wilson, Lindsay Bourre, Matt Mutz.

Heat – Paull, Trimble, Mutz, Nordin, Korpi, Brown, Bourre, Wilson.

Street Stocks

Feature – Tylar Wilson, Ron Westover, Chris Shine, Richard Visser, Carlee Bosma, Alex Gamie.

Heat – Bosma, Wilson, Visser, Shine, Westover, Gamie.