It was a long, long time coming for Joren Boyce.
For the first time in seven years, the veteran modified driver took the checkered flag at Estevan Motor Speedway on Saturday night.
Boyce, of Minot, had an extended battle with Ed Turnbull during the mod feature and came out on top.
"The win is beyond words," said Boyce.
"The whole facility here, the town of Estevan, they're so warm welcoming and so well wishing. We've just had some really poor finishes. We're constantly trying something, we're doing a different car program than the majority of people. It feels like sometimes we're close and we get hot for two or three weeks. I've had a pretty coloured past and it's tough to be so far off the pace, but one night like this makes you feel like you're 25 again.
"Tonight the super moon is on my side," he laughed. "I'm just really excited. It's just been a magical week."
Travis Hagen, Steven Pfeifer and Eric Sinness rounded out the top five in the feature.
"We help each other in the pits. A lot of well wishing from the Jim Harrises and Ed Turnbulls. That means a lot. I'm excited when they do good. We do this 40 times a year, so any time one of us older guys - I'm 50 now - the 50-plus crowd gets in a good finish, we're proud of everybody that's involved," Boyce said, adding his thanks to his family and pit crew for their work.
As for the battle with Turnbull, there was some confusion for a while.
"The board showed a zero, so I thought Ed was Mason (Big Eagle). I could hear him working me low and then of course I got a couple of sightings. I went low that one time there, probably five laps from the end and I made a grave mistake.
"Knowing it was Ed now, I thought Ed would get me on the back straightaway and have the offence on me going into the corner, but he might have made a similar bobble or was setting me up a different way. I was able to hang on, and then I just kept the right rear on the cushion the rest of the run and literally didn't let up."
Riley Raynard earned his second career hobby stock win, less than a month after his first one on July 19.
Raynard is succeeding in his third year at the track despite battling muscular dystrophy.
"It's amazing. It's crazy. It's just cool to have two wins from my third year," he said.
"I think I started third row inside and got into second maybe a lap later. I had a nice battle with Kruz Wilson there for like four laps and I eventually got around him there."
Raynard then stayed ahead of second-place finisher Brad King.
"We just have the car set up really good. Our car has just been really good on the dry slick track," he said.
In the stock car feature, the last of the evening, Austin Daae picked up his seventh win of the year and second in Estevan.
Daae started in fifth position and eventually got past early leader Sterling LaBatte. In the later stages of the race, he had a protracted battle with Jordan Durward, with Daae running high and Durward at the bottom of the track.
"I thought once I got by Sterling I'd maybe pull away, but every lap Jordan held his line down there and made it stick," said Daae.
"Every time I saw him in the corner, getting into the corner, coming out, I could see him. I started to pull away a little bit, not much. I was lucky enough to just hold him off throughout the race. It's nice to be back up here (in victory lane), that's for sure."
Daae said running at the top worked out for him.
"There was some bite up there. Getting into one and two, there was some bite, and coming out of four there was some. My car seems to work up high and I know his car is always down low, he's working hard down there. How much the track faded away on me, I think would have made a difference, but luckily enough there was enough up there to keep my momentum going. It was fun. I haven't gotten to race like that in awhile."
It was a return to the winner's circle for Daae after having some problems with his car. He worked on it last week with his dad and fellow driver Kody Scholpp, which paid off.
"Up until right before the Dakota Classic tour, I was going for five features in a row, and then the night before it got wrecked on there bad. The car has not been the same since. The whole tour, six races, and two after that, it hasn't been the same at all. "Tonight it felt like it has before, it was just floating out there."
The next action at the Speedway is the championship doubleheader Aug. 22-23. The late model championship night runs Friday, followed by the regular championship night the next evening.
