It has to be an odd feeling for a race car driver – to ensure you finish first overall, sometimes you have to take the foot off the gas and not pass traffic in front of you in order to stay alive.
Drivers at the Estevan Motor Speedway Friday night who were gunning for first in the points race in the 2017 season undoubtedly played it safe for the most part and did just enough to win the races, although some took longer than others to even get to the track.
Zach Lutz is from Burlington, North Dakota and entered the night leading in the High Energy Performance Hobby Stocks point standings But he had a long drive from his first week at North Dakota State University in Fargo just to make it to Championship night.
“On the drive back here I sat and thought about it the whole six hour drive here,” said Lutz. “I was pretty nervous once i got here. But once I got in the car, I was calmed down and ready to go.”
This was Lutz' rookie year at the EMS and his first year in his new car.
“When we won the first feature here, I knew it was going to be a good year but I didn't know it was going to be this good.”
Lutz received a stroke of good luck that he didn't have to battle local driver and fellow rookie Devon Gonas when Gonas' car suffered a mechanical breakdown a lap into the race and couldn't continue. Still, Lutz needed the confidence to get to the top, something he credits his grandfather George Lutz for.
“He's the one who got me started in racing when I was 12 years old,” he said. “And we won a national title when I was 15. It's in our blood, I guess.”
Lutz ended up winning the season's point standings with 337 points, behind Friday's winner Landon Runge from Lampman who stepped into second place with 326 points. Gonas finished third with 318 and Riley Raynard of Lampman was fourth at 315.
Lampman's Leevi Runge, two time defending champion, finished in sixth place.
It was Estevan drivers at the top of the other points standings, as Gregg Mann won the Energy Electric Street Stocks while Joey Galloway was the cream of the crop for the Kenndal's Supply Modifieds.
“We had a good year,” said Mann, who completed all the races this year despite having some minor mechanical issues and having Austin Daae on his tail the whole year. “Tonight, we wanted to win, but I don't know if we threw the right set tonight. It was pretty tight. Just try and maintain and keep it clean.”
Jeremy Swanson, 2016 champion from Estevan, won the race over Chris Hortness and Daae. These four drivers dominated much of the season and the points race, with Mann (382) edging out Daae (375), Swanson and Hortness (361 each). Minot's Joren Boyce finished fifth with 350 points.
“These guys seem to find something a little extra,” Mann said. “The track's been unreal and I give credit to the guys that have been working on the track. It really throws some grip to it...
“When you get a good track, it gets harder to race against these guys.”
The last couple of years, Mann said he was always shooting for a runner's up position in the standings.
“Those years, I always had at least two bad nights in a year,” he said. “Those nights really hurt you in the points... you've really got to keep it consistent and try to keep it clean.”
Galloway, from Manor, was the fourth place finisher of a wild modifieds race Friday that saw him and about half the field involved in a spin-out and series of collisions about a lap into the race. He came back to the field after a small repair and
“I knew with all the rain (Friday), I knew it was going to be pretty tacky,” he said of the consistency of the track. “It's pretty tough with the points, having to start so far behind to make up ground. I did expect this track to be like this (Friday). Some guys were driving over their head and trying to get points. I was just trying to be really calculated and hit my marks and get points.”
Galloway (372 points) took the win in the series over Friday's champion Estevan's Riley Emmel (363 points). The 2016 champion, Kody Scholpp, (359) was in third in the standings while Weyburn's Tyler Wagner was fourth (315).
Galloway didn't win a race all year in Estevan but won the points with consistently high standings.
“Everyone that puts everything into the team and all the sponsorships, I'm really thankful,” he said. “We never got a win here, but we were never out of the top five. We were leading here with three laps to go and got a flat tire. We just always seemed to be second. I just can't thank our sponsors enough for putting this together for me.”
The last two events of the season at the Estevan Motor Speedway are the demolition derby Sept. 9 and the Enduro Race Sept. 17.
