Only about 20 cars out of the 55 that started remained on the track by the end of the 90-minute 2015 Enduro Race at the Estevan Motor Speedway on Sunday.
That didn't have to do with the wrecked appearance of the cars that could be seen motoring around the muddy track on a warm and sunny afternoon to the delight of the large crowd that packed the speedway grandstands. It was the fact they kept slamming into each other in their drivers' bid to finish the endurance race with the most laps completed.
“It was a fun race as always,” said Jay Cairns, whose rear-wheel drive 1980 Chevrolet Malibu helped him claim first place in the Enduro. “This was my 10th one, so it was pretty good. It was fast. The track was dry.”
Cairns said he ran on the inside lane most of the race to try and remain both on the track and in the lead. He said the many crashes that forced regular stoppage flags every few minutes, so the track crew could tow away a car and pick up wreckage strewn across the track, actually helped him complete the race.
“My car was heating pretty bad, so it was good there were as many cautions as there were,” he said. “It allowed it to cool down."
Shawn DeBruyne, the 2014 Estevan Motor Speedway Enduro Race champion, said his fall to 10th place this year was due to the five tires he blew during the race. He said there was no consistent line he tried to follow on the track and it seemed no matter where he went a tire went flat.
“I did all right for how many times I came off the track,” said DeBruyne. “It was pretty consistent the whole way, just bad luck with tires. That was about it. If I would have had tires on it the whole time it would have been a lot better.”
DeBruyne said he ran a front-wheel drive Malibu in the race as opposed to the usual Grand Prix he races across the border. He said the car is one of five in the 2015 Enduro Race that were provided by Greg Schiestel, who owns Alameda scrap metal company Tip Top Metals.
Schiestel said the company has been providing cars to his crew of drivers for about the past six years. He said all have done very well in the cars, which are built with the intent of protecting the drivers, enabling them to have a good race and be easy maintenance wise.
“We've got front-wheel drives on everything,” said Schiestel. “We have for years. The components are all easier to look after up front. There are no drive shafts, so you don't have to worry about stuff laying on the track. They're just an all around easier car to keep on the track. The front-wheel drives are good. They pull themselves around. The rear-wheel drives force themselves around.”
Schiestel said his team looks forward to the Enduro Race every year, but not necessarily to win it. He said they're here first and foremost to have fun.
“We have days and days where we all work together building stuff, so there is lot of fun prior to our race day,” he said. “It's an all around good event.”
Cairns said the 2015 Estevan Enduro will probably be the last one for his Malibu after the beating it took in the 90-minute trek. However, he noted the race likely won't be his last.
“It's fun,” he said. “Out there, it's a gong show.”
The top-ten finishers at the 2015 Estevan Motor Speedway Enduro Race are, in order of placement from tenth down: Shawn DeBruyne; Byron Fichter; Brad Scharnata; Cameron Sharp; Angel Boxell; Jared Story; Donny James; Garitt Millions; Doug Curtis and Jay Cairns. Keith Hubbard took home the first car out award. Brad Pierson received the best looking car award.
