Not surprisingly, Aaron Turnbull got hot at exactly the right time.
The red-hot local driver continued his recent streak on July 30, winning the modified feature at Estevan Motor Speedway.
Turnbull started seventh, grabbed the lead less than 10 laps in, and never gave it up. He has now won four of the last five events at the Speedway, including the track's stop on the Dakota Classic Modified Tour last month - not to mention winning the tour itself.
Tuesday's show also featured a visit from the WISSOTA late models class, always a fan favourite. A total of 13 drivers ran in that category, with Pat Doar of New Richmond, Wisc., winning the feature.
Turnbull said he knew he had the goods to win his third points feature of the year at EMS.
"I knew after the heat race my car was working so good. I just had to be patient and kinda let the race come to me. My car was working so good, I knew it was just a matter of time until I got to the front. Stay out of trouble and keep all the tires on it, and it worked out good."
The feature was punctuated by a significant crash about seven laps in, when then-leader Travis Peery lost control on the third turn, spinning around into the path of several drivers, including Les McLenehan and Ed Turnbull.
The eventual winner wasn't far from the collision, but managed to avoid it, and it was clear sailing from there, as there was nary a yellow flag for the rest of the race.
After taking the lead, Turnbull held off Lampman's Kody Scholpp and Williston's Jason Wolla late in the race.
"I didn't know how close (Scholpp) was. I knew Kody was running good. I saw him a couple of times there once I got in the lead. He got around Wolla there. I saw him get up beside me once, so I kinda tried to pick the best line and drove as hard as I could," said Turnbull.
In the stock car feature, Bienfait's Geoff Mann picked up his first win of the year. Mann started in sixth position and took the lead before the halfway point of the race.
Rocky Alexander challenged for top spot later in the race, but Mann kept his distance and won the race by a comfortable margin.
"We put a lot of work into the car, we've tried different setups," said Mann. "I really gotta give a thanks to my brother for helping me out with this one here. I really like it. The car was really good.
"We've been really close all year, top fours and stuff like that. A few mechanical issues have taken us out and bad wrecks on the track. Overall, it's been a pretty good year. It's a good feeling to get this one."
Mann said he "just waited for the openings" to get to the front, and once that happened, he more or less cruised to the end.
"Once I got into the groove that I wanted to be in, I didn't have any cars to hold me up or anything. The car just drove nice. I was waiting for somebody to peek underneath me, but it was nice to not have anybody peek their nose in there.
"Rocky, he's a hard guy to beat. He runs pretty good. I've been chasing him for a little while, and we've got a bit of a rivalry going on at times, but all in all, Rocky and I tend to race pretty clean together," Mann said.
In the hobby stock feature, Brandon Beeter returned to the top, winning his fourth race of the year at EMS.
Brad King led for the bulk of the race, with Brandon and Brock Beeter among the challengers behind him. With three laps left, Beeter snuck past him and there appeared to be some contact, taking King out of the race.
Track conditions were a factor for the second straight race program, due to all the rain the area has received lately. Still, Turnbull said he was happy with the way track officials prepared the surface.
"It was tough. The track was very physical. They did an awesome job with it, for as much rain as we had. It turned out better than I thought it was going to. The track was really good."
There are only two points nights left in the EMS season, with the next coming on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Championship night is on Aug. 23.
