Street stock car racer/Saskatchewan Roughriders offensive lineman Brendon LaBatte will likely only race one race at the Estevan Motor Speedway this season but it was a doozy.
Weyburn’s LaBatte won the first IMCA Street stock car race of the Estevan Motor Speedway season on Saturday taking what may be his only 40 points of the season, overtaking Kenmare, North Dakota’s Cody Nelson with only a few laps to go.
“This is a new car to me so it’s been a big learning curve,” said LaBatte. “We took it down to Texas and Nebraska earlier in the winter. (Saturday) is the best it’s worked by far. Good competition up here. The guys race you clean and there’s no hitting here. It’s a great class to be in because it’s got great racers in it.”
LaBatte was overtaken a couple of times, one by his sister, Lindsay Wagner, and the other time by Nelson before LaBatte took the lead for good with five laps to go.
LaBatte’s other summer job is going to be keeping him away from the track for much of this year, but we may be able to hit a race here or there.
“This will probably be the last one in Estevan here,” LaBatte said. “We’ve got a few Thursday night games so you never know on Saturday I might make it out here, but as it is right now that’ll be my last planned one. Anything else will be a last minute decision.”
The hobby stocks race was a bit of a mess. With the wind picking up a bit at the intermission and one of the watering trucks rendering the vehicle and track in less than ideal conditions, the track became a dusty mess near the third and fourth turns and there were several collisions. By the time only a few laps had elapsed, the final collision saw Pete Honrud’s car flip upside down near the road to the pits, bringing out the red flag and the stop of the race.
“Usually Estevan has a good low lane and the last few years it’s been away,” said Lampman’s Leevi Runge who was awarded the race for leading at the end. “I went to my trusty low side and I guess you could say it worked out for the laps that we ran, anyways. My car wasn’t even fully warmed up to be honest.”
Minot’s Robby Rosselli returned to the track with a win in the feature race of the IMCA sport mods division, a place he’s known since his 2005 season win in the hobby stocks when he was the first American to win the class.
“You come up here and the people are friendly,” he said. “You can have a bad night and you’re leaving in a good, decent mood. You’re always welcome around here.”
The track was good for the sport mods as the water was added between the hobby stock feature face and the sport mods.
“It helps control dust and I understand that,” he said. “The water on the track kind of played into my field. You’ve got to kind of see where the track’s coming in and pay attention to where they’re watering. I wanted to go to the tip but I kind of had to wait until it got worked in and the wind dried it up enough…
“I was just trying to keep my momentum up on the top and just not bog the car down and keep it nice and straight.”
Rosselli took the lead with only 12 laps to go in the race, overtaking pole sitter Kyle Keller of Sidney, Montana.
Williston’s Travis Hagen is no stranger to the winner’s circle in Estevan. He finished ninth in the points last year but won four races in the 2017 season.
This one was close as the lead switched a few times in the final few laps.
“When you’ve got guys behind you like Aaron (Turnbull) and Jason (Wolla) and some of those guys, you know you can’t ever get relaxed,” said Hagen. “You’ve got to keep hitting your marks and keep trying to push the limit a little bit and try to extend the lead.”
Hagen said he wasn’t trying to push and get off the bottom and the other drivers closed in. With five laps to go, Wolla passed Hagen and only a lap later Hagen retook the lead for good as Wolla’s motor blew.
“I hate that for him. Those things aren’t cheap,” Hagen said. “But it was fun, Good competitive racing all the time.”
The junior slingshots race was won by Ryder Raynard.
The next event at the track will be May 18 at 7 p.m. with all five classes scheduled to go.
