The regular race event at the Estevan Motor Speedway last Saturday showcased rough driving, daring moves and a new Weatherford hobby stock feature champion.
Lampman’s Landon Runge, 16, took the first checkered flag of his young racing career in the Weatherford hobby stock main. The second-year driver earned the win by surviving a rough and frequently stopped feature as well as beating a familiar foe.
“It feels awesome,” said Landon. “My brother (Leevi) has won the past three races, so I thought it was my turn.”
Landon started in fourth position of the 19 drivers in the main, but dropped back to 10th almost immediately. Stuck behind another driver, Landon remained far back of the lead until deciding to try his luck at the bottom of the track.
“People were flying around the bottom, so I dropped down there (and) made it up to third,” he said. “Then, off the caution, I started on the top and found some grip up there and just went around there.”
Landon would take the lead by passing Riley Raynard on the fourth-lap straightaway using a high line on the track. Raynard had led the race since the eighth lap and held on to second spot after being passed by Landon, until he spun out on a straightaway during the 18th lap and subsequently got hit by Beth-Ann Goudy that took both drivers out of the race. Leevi ended up in second place.
The stock car feature followed the Weatherford hobby stock main and proved to be just as crash filled as the previous race. Like Raynard before him, stock car driver Gregg Mann fell victim to a late lap crash that would smash the front end of his car and take him out of contention.
Despite holding a big lead since the second lap, Mann found himself in a pile-up on the bottom of the second corner on the 17th lap, which sent him to the back. Shortly after the race restarted Mann was hit, knocking him out of the race. Chris Hotness jumped out front after the caution and finished in top spot.
The Big Eagle brothers provided the showcase for the 25-lap modified feature. Jett Big Eagle began the race in the fourth position with his brother Mason one spot back.
Two laps in, Jett took the lead on a straightaway and held onto the top spot for the next 16 laps, with Mason holding down second position. Mason jumped ahead for good on the seventh lap by running the bottom after a caution stopped the race and moved the pack closer together.
“I almost wish there wasn’t a caution because it would have been a really intense race between me and Jett and a couple lap cars,” said Mason. “I was a little worried at what was going to happen, but I’m kind of happy the caution did come out. It gave me the jump on him at the start and he lost the momentum.”
Mason said it’s difficult to describe what it’s like to battle it out on the track with Jett. He said they’ve only had a few races where it went down to the wire between the two, but it is “cool” to know they have the two fastest cars on the track.
“I actually think he’s better than me, but I got the upper hand tonight,” he said.
Aaron Turnbull took the checkered flag in the late model feature that closed the regular race night. Turnbull started the 20-lap main in fourth spot, but jumped to second on the first lap where he battled Devin Raynard for the lead.
Turnbull passed Raynard on the ninth lap by riding the outside of the track. He would hold onto the lead with Raynard following behind throughout the rest of the race.
Landon said winning the Saturday night Weatherford hobby stock main wasn’t an expectation for him coming in. He said the racing results haven’t been in his favour this season, so getting a win feels good.
“That helped me with points a lot,” he said. “I’m back up there.”
