By ANTHONY LEEK, For The Journal
A hot day of racing was in store as fans piled into the grandstand last Saturday to check out the Amsoil Dirt Track Racing Series action for the fourth week in a row at the Emo Speedway. Plenty of rookies were on hand in the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds as Brody Strachan was tagged up with Chad Bogacki and Jake Rea for the start of the heat races.
The track was much drier than it had been in previous weeks due to the lack of rain all week and the winds and heat sucking up most of the moisture remaining in the area. But the track was smooth again and provided some intense action throughout the evening. The WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds had Brady Caul who returned from a one week hiatus to win the heat race, while Christopher Leek and Mike Wilson rounded out the top three. In the Street Stocks, Ron Westover returned and won the race after coming from fourth spot, while Richard Visser and Chris Shine finished up the top three. In the WISSOTA Modifieds, it looked as though Denny Trimble had the race locked up, but on the second lap, he moved up in turn two allowing Glen Strachan to take the win.
In the feature event, the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds had an exciting finish as Anthony Visser stole the lead from Leek on the last restart. He then ran the bottom of the track while Leek negotiated his way around the high side. The two swapped positions a couple of times with Leek leading on the backstretch but Visser taking the more important point on the frontstretch. They both worked around a couple of lapped cars and kept the battle going. On the last lap, it looked as though maybe Leek had the run he needed, but Visser beat him by just over a bumper in a very close and entertaining finish. There have now been four different winners in the class in the past four weeks of racing making it interesting to see who will win next week.
The Street Stocks showed just how quickly Westover can pulled into the lead as he made it looked easy with no one being able to catch up to his bumper. Visser, who looked like he could gain some momentum, could not take advantage of some of the mistakes Westover made throughout the race. But overall, a consistent run kept Visser out of overall contention. Meanwhile, Shine and Libby Wilson fought for most of the race with Shine taking third spot.
The WISSOTA Modifieds set out for their feature race soon after. Gary Wilson and Steve Nordin started on the front row. The lanes opened up quickly as the race went almost four wide on the first couple of laps and it was going two wide in behind the fight for the lead. When things shuffled out, Paull had taken the lead and was covering the bottom of the track as much as he could. Strachan decided to take a go at the high line where there was a bit of a berm for him to run on. But that line could not sustain his continued pressure and he lost the back of the car just over the bank, forcing him to fall back. However, he did gain second in the end with Trimble finishing third.
Paull took his fourth win in a row for feature events and continues to lead the points over Trimble, while in the Street Stocks, Libby Wilson has the points lead over Visser, and Leek is first in points in the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds, ahead of Cody Ossachuk.
Racing action resumes this Saturday night with hot laps at 7 p.m. and racing at 7:30 p.m. WISSOTA Super Stocks are coming to the Emo Speedway on July 14 for a special event. Regular gate admission with same start times will be in effect. See www.borderlandracing.com for more information.
Emo Speedway
June 9 summary
WISSOTA Modifieds
Feature — Gavin Paull, Glen Strachan, Denny Trimble, Gary Wilson, Steve Nordin, Tyler Brown, Lindsay Bourre.
Heat — Strachan, Trimble, Nordin, Wilson, Paull, Brown, Bourre.
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
Feature — Anthony Visser, Christopher Leek, Brady Caul. Cody Ossachuk, Mike Wilson, Jake Rea, Chad Bogacki, Brody Strachan.
Heat — Caul, Leek, Wilson, Ossachuk, Visser, Strachan, Rea, Bogacki.
Street Stocks
Feature — Ron Westover, Richard Visser, Chris Shine, Libby Wilson, Carlee Bosma.
Heat — Westover, Visser, Shine, Wilson, Bosma.
