Rain foils big finish at Emo Speedway

Third time wasn’t a charm at the Emo Speedway on Saturday as the weather again was the big story, with the modified feature set to cap off the night being cancelled due to rain.
The rain—postponing the race until this Saturday—came after last week’s rain-out and a bitterly cold opening night back on May 19.

“My car was acting up, so I’m kinda glad the modified feature got rained out,” admitted John Hettinga, winner of the Midwest modified race earlier in the evening.
Hettinga developed a strong lead which grew on each lap—earning a decisive victory.
“I wasn’t aware of [having a big lead],” he said. “I thought I might’ve, but I know there’s some fast guys.”
It was shortly after that a quick flash of rain washed out the modified feature.
The cancellation quashed a race that had built some anticipation, with some strong finishes in the qualifying heats earlier in the night.
The most impressive was courtesy of Gavin Paull, who seemed absolutely driven in his qualifying effort.
Despite a tremendous half-lap lead, Paull pushed his car to the limit—with his #16 car’s wheels only occasionally visiting the ground on corners right until the finish of the third heat.
“I might’ve been a little possessed there,” Paull admitted. “Might’ve been going a little hard. I had fun, though.”
He explained much of his determination came from his fifth-place finish two weeks back, which forced him to go home “and do my homework.”
While he would have had some tough competition from the likes of Jason Anderson, who had a big lead of his own in his heat, Paull conceded he was “a little disappointed” the feature was postponed.
“We probably would’ve did it. I had a good spot. It’s my kind of track,” Paull said.
The biggest finish of the night took place earlier in the street stock feature when Richard Visser took advantage of a few mistakes on the dying stretch to pull his pink #25 from third to first in the final seconds.
“That was one of the best wins ever. That was neat,” Visser chuckled.
He said he had to be patient in the third slot “pretty well all the way, just waiting for something to happen up front. . . .
“Glad to see the opportunity unfold, though, that’s for sure,” he added.