ESTEVAN — Hobby stock, sport modified and slingshot drivers were in the spotlight June 6 at the Estevan Motor Speedway, thanks to the annual visit from the Tougher than Dirt Tour.
Diezel Raynard was declared the winner in the hobby stock feature. Morgan Olmstead, who drove up from Nebraska for the program, initially won the feature, and Trever Haas was second despite being dropped to the back of the field for causing a caution early in the feature. After the race, they were docked two spots each for ride height rule infractions, and Raynard moved up to first from third, while Ty Saxon was bumped up to second from fourth.
Runge started from the pole position and led for most of the feature. But Olmstead passed him for the lead with a few laps to go, and Haas also found a way around Runge.
Raynard leads the Tougher than Dirt standings with 152 points after four of six races. Saxon is second with 146, Kyler Satran is third with 140 and Cash Saxon is fourth at 138.
Gabriel Deschamps from North Dakota won the sport modified feature – his sixth win in his last seven visits to Estevan, dating back to last year. He started second on the grid and took an early lead. He held on to the lead and withstood a challenge from Leevi Runge. Both drivers preferred the track's high line.
"I definitely love this track. Definitely a fast track, definitely a wide, technical track. It's been the last three years that we came here and it's a lot of fun to race," Deschamps said after the race.
Deschamps won the Tougher than Dirt series for sports mods the past two years, and it was noted he tied the record for most-ever tour wins with nine.
Chad Strachen was third and Landon Runge came in fourth in the feature.
Leevi Runge leads the standings with 149 points. Deschammps is second with 143, Taylor Stenvold was third with 140 and Cole Hanshew and Keenan Glassers are tied for fourth with 139.
Broden Wagner won the slingshot race. He took the lead off the start and then had a duel with Eli Turnbull for first throughout the 12 laps. Turnbull appeared to take the lead early, but the pass was negated by the lone caution flag of the race seconds later.
Turnbull used lapped traffic to attempt a pass coming out of the final turn, but Wagner held on to win.
Gunner Raynard was third and Dane Skjerdal was fourth.
Turnbull holds the lead with 158 points through four races, thanks to two feature wins and two seconds. Gunner Raynard is second with 150 and Kolby Fichter is third with 142. The top four drivers are from southeast Saskatchewan.
The Tougher than Dirt Tour has one stop in Estevan and five North Dakota tracks. It will wrap up June 8.
Stock cars and modifieds were also part of the program. Kayden Hjorteland picked up his first feature win in the division after moving up from the hobby stock division. Hjorteland started third on the grid and quickly moved into the lead. He avoided early cautions and built up a comfortable lead with several laps remaining, but a yellow flag bunched the field together. Kyle Scholpp worked his way up to second and narrowed the gap in the final laps, but a last-lap push for the lead came up just short.
Chris Hortness was third and Deschamps, pulling double duty, came in fourth.
Kody Scholpp won the modified feature in convincing fashion. He quickly worked his way up from fifth on the starting grid and pulled away over the course of the 25-lap, caution-free feature, finishing several seconds ahead of Steven Pfeifer. Aaron Turnbull was third and Marcus Tomlinson was fourth.
The next program at the speedway will be June 21, starting at 7 p.m. The track is also scheduled to have a spring endure race at 2 p.m. on June 15.
