[captionpix imgsrc=”https://www.netnewsledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Photo-12.jpg” captiontext=”Gavin Paull was all smiles as he held off a Hard Charging Glen Strachan for the Keith McNally win and claimed the Track Championship.
It was his ninth feature win of the year. ” width=”620″ height=”930″]
EMO – Sports – It could not have been any better of a day, than Saturday racing at the Emo Speedway. The Keith McNally was on tap for the evening as Amsoil Dirt Track Series Racing Action was underway once again. There were a good number of cars in the pits with two heats of WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds and two heats of WISSOTA Modifieds.
First up was the first heat of WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds. John Hettinga started on the pole but was challenged by veteran Dwayne Pihulak throughout much of the race. The two swapped positions a couple of times until Hettinga was able to gain enough ground to not have any more cars sneak up on him.
Brady Caul went from sixth to second and Pihulak had to settle for third. In the second heat, Don Scholler had the early lead, but Christopher Leek was on his back bumper with five laps to go. Unable to pass Scholler on the inside, Leek moved to the outside and gained the lead with two laps to go. Leek held on for another heat win ahead of Scholler and Lambert.
In the Street Stocks, a total of six cars entered their heat race. There was plenty of side by side racing from second to fifth as Chris Shine held the lead for the majority of the race while the rest fought beside each other. But with just a few laps to go, Libby Wilson had made her way from sixth to second and then made a move on the inside of Shine for the win, Garret Gamsby and Ron Westover rounded out the top three.
[captionpix imgsrc=”https://www.netnewsledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Photo-22.jpg” captiontext=”Brady Caul bested a field of twelve cars and took the lead from Christopher Leek with seven laps to go to claim the feature win, presented by Tasha McNally. ” width=”620″ height=”413″]
The WISSOTA Modifieds came out in their first heat where Glen Strachan, who started fifth, made his way through the first three cars to move into second. As the laps counted down, Strachan caught up to Denny Trimble and passed for the win on the second last lap. Tyler Brown finished third. In the second heat, Gavin Paull drove his car from third to first, while an accident saw Ron Korpi and Gary Wilson to retire early from the race. Dwayne Pelepetz topped off third place.
The WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds feature was exciting as ever as twelve cars started out for the green flag. On the front row was Terry Martin and Leek. As the first lap was completed, Leek took the lead. But a series of cautions continued to narrow his lead. By the third and final caution, Caul had made his way up from eighth to second and was quickly gaining on the leader. Moving to the inside, Caul made the pass. Leek later spun and fell back to the rear of the field and had to move up again. Cody Ossachuk moved into second spot over Chuck Lambert, but no one could gain anything on Caul. Another feature win for Caul during the Keith McNally Memorial, who said during his interview that he did not think he was going to win it. Leek and Pihulak rounded out the top five.
[captionpix imgsrc=”https://www.netnewsledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Photo-32.jpg” captiontext=”Ron Westover claimed the McNally Memorial feature win in the Street Stocks with sponsor Bob Dimit, and presenter Tasha McNally ” width=”620″ height=”413″]
In the Street Stocks, Kyle Godin and Ron Westover started on the front row. The two of them battled for many laps, with the two of them getting contact damage due to the tightness of the racing. It looked as though the two of them were the only ones to battle it out as the rest of the field had a hard time keeping up to their blistering pace. Godin on the inside and Westover on the outside showed that both grooves had a good chance. However, once Westover started to gather momentum on the outside line, Godin could not maintain the speed. Once cleared of Godin, Westover continued to cruise to the finish line for back to back McNally Memorial wins. Gamsby, Wilson, and Morriseau completed the top five.
The WISSOTA Modifieds were up last and the points battle difference between Trimble and Paull was one point. On the front row was rookie Lindsay Bourre and Tyler Brown. Off the start, there was some tight racing in the corner as it went three wide with Trimble and Paull both trying to get up front as quickly as possible. Coming into turn three, it almost went four wide with many people holding their breath to see if they would make it through without incident. Luckily, the race continued as Brown was challenged for the lead.
[captionpix imgsrc=”https://www.netnewsledger.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Photo-4.jpg” captiontext=”Christoper Leek won the heat for the evening and finished fourth in the feature to claim his second track championship in a row. ” width=”620″ height=”413″]
A caution came out which reset the field with Greg Ferris on the pole. The restart had Trimble and Paull on the outside gunning for the lead. On the backstretch, Paull was able to scoop both Ferris and Trimble on the very outside of the track and took the lead.
Further back, Strachan was working his way from the seventh position. As Paull continued to lead, Strachan was picking off cars and slowly gaining on the leader. All was needed was a caution, but the race stayed green and Strachan ran out of laps to mount any challenge. Paull claimed his ninth victory of the year and took home his second championship in two years and his fourth track championship at the Emo Speedway.
Racing resumes on Saturday, September 8th at 6pm for Fan Appreciation Night.
Congratulations to #16 Gavin Paull in the WISSOTA Modifieds, #17 Christopher Leek in the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds, and #500 Libby Wilson in the Street Stocks for their 2012 Season Track Championships! Check out www.borderlandracing.com for more information on the 2012 season.
SUMMARY
WISSOTA Modifieds
Feature – Gavin Paull, Glen Strachan, Greg Ferris, Denny Trimble, Dustin Wahl, Dwayne Pelepetz, Ron Korpi, Tyler Brown, Lindsay Bourre
Heat 1 – Strachan, Trimble, Brown, Bourre, Wahl
Heat 2 – Paull, Ferris, Pelepetz, Korpi, Wilson
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
Feature – Brady Caul, Cody Ossachuk, Chuck Lambert, Christopher Leek, Dwayne Pihulak, John Hettinga, Ken Perry, Terry Martin, Chad Bogacki, Brody Strachan, Don Scholler, Kenny Perry
Heat 1 – Hettinga, Caul, Pihulak, Ossachuk, Ken Perry, Kenny Perry
Heat 2 – Leek, Scholler, Lambert, Martin, Strachan, Bogacki
Street Stocks
Feature – Ron Westover, Kyle Godin, Garret Gamsby, Libby Wilson, Wes Morriseau, Chris Shine
Heat – Wilson, Gamsby, Westover, Godin, Shine, Morriseau