Emo Speedway Championships

Emo Speedway Championships
Category Stock car racing , Dirt track racing
Country Emo, Ontario Canada
Inaugural season 1954
Engine suppliers Chevrolet
Dodge
Ford
Chrysler
Drivers' champion Brody Strachan (WISSOTA Modifieds),
Cody Ossachuk (WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds),
A.J. Kellar (Street Stocks,
Official website Borderland Racing Association

The Emo Speedway is a racing facility, located in Emo, Ontario. It is operated by the Borderland Racing Association. As of 2015, it is the only track under WISSOTA sanction in Ontario.[1]

In 2009, the track celebrated its 55th Anniversary of the original opening.

The Borderland Racing Association currently hosts three different classes and range from Street Stocks (Entry level), the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds (Moderate Level), to WISSOTA Modifieds (Advanced Level).

Street Stocks are “Stock Cars” as they have a full body and frame from passenger type automobiles seen on the street (Such as a 1974 Monte Carlo). They are required to have a minimum weight of 3200 lbs (1,451 kg), a stock maximum 355c.i.d. (360 for Chryslers), as well as OEM parts.[2]

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds are similar to Street Stocks in that their engine is a maximum 355c.i.d., however, they are open wheeled (No fenders) and have a minimum weight of 2600 lbs (1,179 kg).[3] As well, suspension and rear-end are more adjustable.

The highest class at the Emo Speedway is the WISSOTA Modifieds. This class is similar in appearance as a WISSOTA Midwest Modified with the exception of some cosmetic differences. However, the WISSOTA Modified class has a minimum weight of 2450 lbs (1,111 kg) and can run a Manual Transmission, a Spec Engine (Turning out up to 600-650 hp), and an alcohol fuel option.[3]

The season consists of 16-18 race nights (Heat races and one feature per night, per class and consolations if necessary), although due to rainouts during the season, an average of 12-14 races are run for the championship.

Each class runs their own season points. Points are tallied every weekend based on the point system by the Sanctioning body of WISSOTA.[3] Points go to the driver in the WISSOTA classes and to the car number in the Street Stocks.

History

One Class of Cars (1950s & 1960s)

The first racing season started on July 30, 1954 and only one class competed. Cars with all types of engines raced including Mathieu's V12 Rocket. The season started out with thirteen competitors and the number fluctuated very little until the end of the season in September. According to the Daily Journal in International Falls, #411 "King Al" Gerald of International Falls, MN won the first "championship" called the "Cup". Races were also held whenever possible, but was usually on a Friday, and they occurred as many times as three a week.

In 1955, #37 Raoul "The Flying Frenchman" Cayer of Nestor Falls, Ontario won his first championship at the Emo Speedway and also took honours as the time trial champion in that year. Al McDowell took the championship in 1956. Currently, it is unknown who won the championships in 1957 to 1959.[4] The track was closed at the end of the 1959 season.

The track reopened in 1965, but it is uncertain whether a points season was tallied. Currently, there is no information of champions from 1965 and 1966. In 1967, #54 Larry Kennedy took the championship, his only title in his years of racing at the speedway. In 1968, the underdog of the Emo Speedway, #33 George Oltsher [5] would be triumphant in beating the much bigger competition to win his first championship of three he would earn.

George Oltsher's famous #33 Chevy Coupe would win one championship in the 1960s and two in the 1970s

1969 saw owner Ed Rea with his driver #38 Mike Andrusco[5] win the championship in the last season of the 1960s.

The Introduction of a Second Class (1970s)

1970 saw #33 George Oltsher return to the champions circle at the end of the season, the last year in which there was only one class of cars. 1971 saw the introduction of Hobby Stocks. Although the rules are currently not known to the full extent, Hobby Stocks provided a different and specific set of rules and guidelines that would make cars more even on the track.

The first Hobby Stock Champion was #1 Borden Beeler[5] in 1971, while #36 Larry Long[5] of International Falls, MN would win the top class. Both classes would run championship point seasons until 1973. There were no points in 1974 due to a shortened season and 1975 had only a few events. The Emo Speedway would shut down until its second revival in 1983.

The Return of Season Championships (1980s)

After three years of exhibition racing, the Borderland Racing Association became the operating body of the Emo Speedway. The first full season started in 1986. Two classes were run (Modifieds, Street Stocks) and they had locally created rules. A son of Ed Rea, #38 Dan Rea[5] would win the Modified championship, while #35 Harold "Beaker" Duivenvoorden[5] would take the Street Stock championship.

In 1989, The Modifieds became sanctioned with WISSOTA, (A Promoters Association with a common set of rules and regulations), allowing the class to have to ability to travel to other "WISSOTA" tracks and also compete for a National Championship.

#19 John Hettinga celebrates his win at Emo Speedway in 1991. He would win his second championship in a row in 1992.

The Addition of a Third Class (1990s)

In 1992, with the concentrated effort of a group of volunteers, the Thunder Class was created. The "Thunders" ran a smaller engine than the Street Stocks with an engine no bigger than 305c.i.d. and an unlocked rear-end differential. The cars were slower but became an affordable entry level class for teenagers and young adults to get into racing. It was hard to distinguish them in appearance as the main differences were under the hood. Driving partners #7 Scott Gobeil and Donnie May would become the season champions of the new class at the Emo Speedway. However the class would be removed in 1995 due to low numbers.

In 1994, the Mini-Sprint class started full seasons at the Emo Speedway. The class was very different from what had been seen at the Speedway before. The appearance of the car had a short wheelbase, two wings (on top and in the front) and ran a snowmobile engine that turned out a maximum 600cc. In that year, the Borderland Racing Association ran four classes of cars. Currently, the season champion of the Mini-Sprints during their inaugural season is unknown.

End of Mini-Sprints and addition of WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds (2000s)

The WISSOTA Midwest Modified class was new to the Emo Speedway in 2004. At the end of 2004, after eleven seasons of Mini-Sprints, the class was canceled due to a severe shortage of cars. During the Annual Rea Memorial weekend (The biggest weekend of the year), only three Mini-Sprints entered which was the complete opposite usually experienced on the two-day weekend event. Mini-Sprint driver #2X4 Ken Perry[5] would win the last championship for the Mini-Sprints, while #11 Anthony Visser,[5] (Former Street Stock and Thunder Stock racer) won the inaugural WISSOTA Midwest Modified Championship. The WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds peaked its average of nineteen cars a week in 2009, with a decline to fourteen cars on average in 2010.

Championship Records

Ron Westover currently has the most amount of championships (7) for a driver at Emo Speedway.

#17 Christopher Leek (2011-2014) has won four championships in row.

#2R Ricky Roche (1996–1998), #33 Kendal Gamsby (2006–2008), and #16 Gavin Paull (2011-2013) have three championships in a row.

There are several drivers that have won a championship two years in a row. These include #91X Rudy Anderson in the Street Stocks (1989–1990), #23 Chuck Arpin in the WISSOTA Modifieds (1990–1991), #19 John Hettinga (1991–1992) in Street Stocks, #35 Colin Johnson (1993–1994) in Street Stocks, #15 Ron Westover (2002–2003) in the Street Stocks, #2X4 Ken Perry (2003–2004) in the Mini-Sprints, #91 Victor Larson (2003–2004) in the WISSOTA Modifieds, and #14F Greg Ferris in the WISSOTA Modifieds (2008–2009).

#15 Ron Westover has the most amount of total championships at the Emo Speedway with seven (7), (1995, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013). One championship, (1995) was in the Thunder Stocks while the others are in the Street Stocks. , #16 Gavin Paull has the next amount of championships at five, with #2X4 Ken Perry, #19 John Hettinga and #33 Kendal Gamsby with four. Three of John Hettinga's are in the Street Stocks (1991,1992, 2004) and one in the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds (2005), all of Ken Perry's is in the Mini-Sprints, all of Gavin Paull's is in the WISSOTA Modifieds and Kendal Gamsby has three in WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds and one in Street Stocks.

The number 33 has the most amount of championships (8) for a car number. Three of them are by George Oltsher (1968,1970, 1972), one by Scott Gobeil (1993), and four by Kendal Gamsby (2006,2007,2008, 2014). All #15 Championships have been won by Ron Westover

Champions List

***Note: Seasons that had Championships are the only ones included in the list of champions. There were years in which the races occurred at some point in the season but did not run a points championship. Championship records are declared based on information that has been provided so far, as more information is discovered, records may change.

WISSOTA Super Stocks were run in 1996 and 1997, #5 Steve Boyum of International Falls was the 1996 Champion. The 1997 Champion is currently unknown.

Year WISSOTA Modifieds WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds Street Stocks Mini-Sprints Thunder Stocks Modified/Late Model Class Hobby Stocks
2016 Canada #99 Brody Strachan (Emo, ON) Canada #14C Cody Ossachuk (Pinewood, ON) Canada #54X A.J. Kellar (Fort Frances, ON)
2015 Canada #85D Jeff Davis (Devlin, ON) Canada #14C Cody Ossachuk (Pinewood, ON) Canada #55 Tylar Wilson (Fort Frances, ON)
2014 Canada #4 Steve Nordin (Stratton, ON) Canada #17 Christopher Leek (Emo, ON) Canada #33 Kendal Gamsby (Stratton, ON)
2013 Canada #16 Gavin Paull (Fort Frances, ON) Canada #17 Christopher Leek (Emo, ON) Canada #15 Ron Westover (Fort Frances, ON)
2012 Canada #16 Gavin Paull (Fort Frances, ON) Canada #17 Christopher Leek (Emo, ON) Canada #500 Libby Wilson (Fort Frances, ON)
2011 Canada #16 Gavin Paull (Fort Frances, ON) Canada #17 Christopher Leek (Emo, ON) United States #38 Don Bowman (Bemidji, MN)
2010 Canada #99 Glen Strachan (Emo, ON) Canada #50 Brady Caul (Fort Frances, ON) Canada #15 Ron Westover (Devlin, ON)
2009 Canada #14 Greg Ferris (Finland, ON) United States #99C Tridell Champlin (Deer River, MN) United States #18M Scott Messner (Bemidji, MN)
2008 Canada #14 Greg Ferris (Finland, ON) Canada #33 Kendal Gamsby (Atikokan, ON) Canada #500 Tylar Wilson (Fort Frances, ON)
2007 Canada #16 Gavin Paull (Fort Frances, ON) Canada #33 Kendal Gamsby (Atikokan, ON) Canada #15 Ron Westover (Devlin, ON)
2006 Canada #8 Curtis Kamm (Dryden, ON) Canada #33 Kendal Gamsby (Atikokan, ON) Canada #25 Richard Visser/Trudy Engels (Emo, ON)
2005 Canada #85 Jamie Davis (Devlin, ON) Canada #19 John Hettinga (Emo, ON) Canada #04 Gary Grimes (Balmertown, ON)
2004 Canada #91 Victor Larson (Dryden, ON) Canada #11 Anthony Visser (Emo, ON) Canada #19 John Hettinga (Emo, ON) Canada #2X4 Ken Perry (Fort Frances, ON)
2003 Canada #91 Victor Larson (Dryden, ON) Canada #15 Ron Westover (Devlin, ON) Canada #2X4 Ken Perry (Fort Frances, ON)
2002 Canada #16 Gavin Paull (Fort Frances, ON) Canada #15 Ron Westover (Devlin, ON) United States #15 Kyle Ridlon (Aurora, MN)
2001 Canada #00 Steve Arpin (Fort Frances, ON) Canada #14 Jake Hasbargen (ON) Canada #77 Ken Perry Jr. (Fort Frances, ON)
2000 Canada #85 Mark Davis (Devlin, ON) United States #77 Mark Kangas (Mountain Iron, MN) Canada #2X4 Ken Perry (Fort Frances, ON)
1999 Canada #00 Steve Arpin (Fort Frances, ON) United States #71 Gary Mintinen Jr. (Bemidji, MN) Unknown
1998 United States #2R Ricky Roche (International Falls, MN) Canada #15 Ron Westover (Devlin, ON) Canada #2X4 Ken Perry (Fort Frances, ON)
1997 United States #2R Ricky Roche (International Falls, MN) Canada #2 Don Wilson (Emo, ON) Unknown
1996 United States #2R Ricky Roche (International Falls, MN) Canada #35 Colin Johnson (Barwick, ON) Canada #14 Robin Woolsey (Barwick, ON)
1995 Canada #14 Greg Ferris (Finland, ON) United States #45 Wade Kennedy (International Falls, MN) Unknown Canada #15 Ron Westover (Devlin, ON)
1994 Canada #39 Mark Rea (Devlin, ON) Canada #35 Colin Johnson (Barwick, ON) Unknown Canada #3 Dale Faragher (Devlin, ON)
1993 United States #69 Kelly Steele (International Falls, MN) Canada #35 Colin Johnson (Barwick, ON) Canada #33 Scott Gobeil (Fort Frances, ON)
1992 Canada #39 Mark Rea (Devlin, ON) Canada #19 John Hettinga (Emo, ON) Canada #7 Don May/Scott Gobeil (Emo, ON)
1991 Canada #23 Chuck Arpin (Fort Frances, ON) Canada #19 John Hettinga (Emo, ON)
1990 Canada #23 Chuck Arpin (Fort Frances, ON) Canada #91X Rudy Anderson (Devlin, ON)
1989 Canada #21P Dwayne Pihulak (Crozier, ON) Canada #91X Rudy Anderson (Devlin, ON)
1988 Canada #39 Mark Rea (Devlin, ON)(1) Canada #850 Dwayne “Stubby” DeGagne (Emo, ON)
1987 Canada #6 Gary Wilson (Devlin, ON)(1) Canada #500 Tylar Wilson (Fort Frances, ON)
1986 Canada #38 Dan Rea (Devlin, ON)(1) Canada #035 Harold "Beaker" Duivenvoorden (Devlin, ON)
1973 United States #13 Al Weir (International Falls, MN) Canada #41 Roy Korpi (Fort Frances, ON)
1972 Canada #33 George Oltsher (Barwick, ON) United States #10 Don Potter (International Falls, MN)
1971 United States #36 Larry Long (International Falls, MN) Canada #1 Borden Beeler (Emo, ON)
1970 Canada #33 George Oltsher (Barwick, ON)
1969 Canada #38 Mike Andrusco (Fort Frances, ON)
1968 Canada #33 George Oltsher (Barwick, ON)
1967 United States #54 Larry Kennedy (International Falls, MN)
1956 Canada Al McDowell (Fort Frances, ON)
1955 Canada #37 Raoul Cayer (Nestor Falls, ON)
1954 United States #411 Al Gerald (International Falls, MN)

(1) Modifieds were not sanctioned by WISSOTA in these years.

References

  1. "Tracks". WISSOTA. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  2. Borderland Racing Association '2008 Street Stock Rules' Retrieved February 16, 2009
  3. 1 2 3 WISSOTA Promoters Association '2009 Rulebook' Retrieved February 16, 2009
  4. "Accident Jinx at Emo Speedway hits Ernie Pretula", Fort Frances Times, September 22, 1955
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Canadian Racer 'Emo Speedway Champions List' Retrieved February 16, 2009

Coordinates: 48°38′04″N 93°50′08″W / 48.634447°N 93.8355°W / 48.634447; -93.8355

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