Joren Boyce celebrated his 30th year of racing with a last-second come-from-behind win over Jeremy Swanson in the stock car feature at the Estevan Motor Speedway on Saturday.
“Neither one of us knew it was the last lap,” said Boyce. “He was closer to knowing than I was, but anyway the yellow had come out on three and they said the race was over. So, we both scuttled around the corner to see whose number was at the top of the board. We’re one number apart of course, so it was good to see 67 ahead of 68.”
Starting in the fourth spot, Boyce began the feature trailing leader Austin Daae and runner-up Gregg Mann who were engaged in a neck-and-neck battle for first place. Swanson, this season’s stock car points’ leader, presented Boyce’s early challenge for third place taking the coveted spot in the order from the longtime Minot, North Dakota, driver off the second corner a few laps in.
Running a low line, Mann passed Daae on the eighth lap with Swanson moving up to second and Boyce once again capturing third off a caution on the 11th lap. Boyce then managed to pass Mann for second place on the third corner of the 15th lap before using the final three circuits to catch up to Swanson. The two drivers raced nose-to-tail over the final two laps with Boyce streaking past Swanson low on the final corner of the race to take his first checkered flag in the stock car main by inches.
“I got to see from the transponder, it showed that it was a .016 second of a margin,” said Boyce. “To tell you the truth I didn’t know it was the last lap. We were starting to catch up to the back of the pack there. It was going to be time to start taking alternative lines to try and get through that and Jeremy had just missed a low-line mark going into three. He just skated a little bit above it. As wide as the track is, believe it or not, we really need to be within a foot to a two-foot area to hit our marks and with that speed that’s a pretty small target. So he missed it and was trying to regroup and get it back and I was able to trim the tires and get even with him coming off and I had him at that point.”
Shortly before the stock car feature, Leevi Runge solidified his hold on the High Energy Performance hobby stock points’ race. The reigning hobby stock champion opened the race in the sixth position, but quickly advanced to the second spot behind Carl Hanson where the two drivers battled back-and-forth before Runge gained the lead for good on the ninth lap.
“I was just waiting for (Hanson) to push up a little bit more and I just kept waiting and waiting and then eventually he pushed up enough and I was able to get in underneath him,” said Runge. “It’s a lot of fun when you can race with a guy like that.”
Unlike the stock car and hobby stock races where running a low line led to victory, Tyson Turnbull used the top of the track to capture a win in the Kendall’s Supply IMCA modifieds feature. Turnbull, who was using Justin Medler’s car in the race, began the 15-car main seated 12th, but used the top lane to advance past the low traffic to gain third place behind Tyler Wagner and modified points’ leader Kody Scholpp seven laps in. The strategy worked with Turnbull gaining the top spot with 10 laps to go forcing Scholpp into an unsuccessful attempt to head high himself to try and regain the lead.
“I knew from the drop of the green I couldn’t follow anybody, so I just found a line where they weren’t going,” said Turnbull, noting this was his first win in a modified feature since 2012. “I had a feeling that it was going to be good up there because of how much water they had up there in the heat races. In the heat races it was slimy up there. You couldn’t even get up there, so I knew it wasn’t dry and slick. I knew it might be slimy, but if I kept some wheels spinning in the car I could go up there and make it work.”
Boyce said every driver wants to win at all their favourite tracks and the Estevan Motor Speedway is certainly high on the list for him. He said the points’ race championship is out of his contention, but getting the checkered flag by besting a couple friends like Mann and Swanson adds a few feathers in his stock car cap.
“I’m usually third,” said Boyce. “I’m usually behind both of those two, so to get them both tonight was at least to get my membership intact with our little friendship.”
