The roar of revving engines, the smell of burning gasoline and the thrill of watching high-performance machines race around a dirt track officially welcomed spring and summer to Estevan this past weekend.
The Estevan Motor Speedway (EMS) held their season opener on Saturday afternoon before a modest crowd of hardened racing fans braving the cold blowing wind to cheer on their favourite drivers. The season opener began with a caution-heavy hobby stock feature followed by a come-from-behind win in the stock car meet before the modified racers took the track for 25 laps of high-speed action.
The 24-car hobby stock feature began with a caution flag being waved and Lampman driver Colin Hall heading back to the pits with a damaged car before the first lap was completed. Minot’s Dana Brandt started the race in the pole position with Carl Hanson and Leevi Runge following in second and third, but neither could catch the seasoned driver through the 20-lap contest.
I was “just getting into the corners easy and not letting it get loose coming out,” said Brandt, who won 10 out of 11 features at EMS in 2010 before focusing on tracks closer to home in the last few years. “Just keep it straight and try to stay out of the bumps.”
Brandt said he last raced at EMS two years ago, but the early start time of the season opener enabled him to make the trip up north. He said the race was his sixth of the season so far and his second win along with a trophy-finish at the Minot Nodak Speedway two weeks ago and the plan is to head back to Estevan sometime again this season to try and get another victory.
Gregg Mann led the field at the start of the stock car meet with Stefan Klym and Chris Hortness following close behind. Hortness made a push for second early jumping ahead of Klym by taking the inside lane on the first lap.
Mann and Hortness then raced neck-to-neck through the next five laps of the 17-car 20-lap race before the former modified driver took over the top position on an inside move on the second corner. Mann lost control of his car at the fourth corner on lap 10 knocking him out of the race and Hortness cruised to the win.
“It was a good race,” said Hortness, who competes out of Estevan. “The track was a little bit rough, but it usually is at the beginning of the season. It’s really nice to start the year off with a win like this.”
Torquay’s Riley Emmel started the modified race in the third spot behind Kody Scholpp and Ed Turnbull, but passed both to claim the lead before two laps of the 14-car 25-lap feature were run. This top three kept the lead until lap 13 when Turnbull lost a back left wheel on the fourth corner allowing Mike Hagen to jump into the third spot, where he would eventually finish behind Scholpp and Emmel.
“It’s good to get the first one off your back,” said Emmel, who finished tied for ninth place with Derrick Lisafled in the point’s standings last season. “It gives you a little more confidence going into the rest of the season.”
The only blemish on Emmel’s day was a brief loss of the lead on a restart 12 laps in where Hagen jumped from third to first off the caution before Emmel tracked him down and passed him on the second corner.
Race officials “told me going down the backstretch that it was next time by and I thought they meant like let’s go one more time and try it,” he said. “The (official then) went it’s going this time and I jumped, he took off from me and I just went and tried to get under him as quick as I could because it’s (hard) to pass with holes like that. You got to get out front right away.”
The EMS season opener was Hortness’ first race of the season and his fourth in the stock car class. He said not having much success in the modified class in the past few years as well as wanting to compete in a less expensive field helped him make the choice to switch over to stock cars and the early success he’s enjoying after the move is proving the decision was a right one.
“I finished last year off in this car,” said Hortness. “The first time I raced it was three times last year. I got a win and a second and a did not finish, but I was in second at the time I got took out. Finished off good and starting off really well, so hopefully we have a good summer and have some fun.”
