In 2010, the Street Stocks had some of the highest turn outs in their class in the past five years. There were five different winners with Ron Westover taking the most at seven during the season. Dan Hettinga won his first ever race in 2010, during the Keith McNally Memorial, while Don Bowman and Scott Messner took home three feature wins each. Jeff Wickstrom also returned to victory lane twice. Let’s take a look at what we could expect in 2011:
10. #7 Darien Trimble – Best Finish 3rd, Average finish 8.73 (11 Starts). Trimble returned to racing for the first time in several years donning a black and green street claiming four top 5s and two top 10s. Unfortunately, he was unable to run a full season, but did run the majority of it. He also took one heat win. Hopefully he will return in 2011 and continue to move up the ranks.
9. #5 Wes Morriseau – Best finish 4th, Average finish 8.42 (12 Starts). Morriseau made a nice return in 2010 with an appearance of twelve races. While he did not fair too well overall, he did get one top 5 finish and nine top 10s. He is planned to return in to 2011 although on another limited schedule.
8. #38 Don Bowman – Best finish 1st (3 times), average finish 5.09 (11 starts). Bowman has been a strong runner throughout the past few years. Winning three times in 2010 plus four top 5s and three top 10s, gave him a competitive edge. An unfortunate incident during the season finale was the only real trouble he had. In 2011, he will be returning for a full season and is running to be a strong contender for the championship. Expect to see him win a few races again this season.
7. #69 Terry Martin – Best finish 2nd, average finish 6.69 (13 starts). Martin had a solid season in 2010 with seven top 5s and three top 10s. However, he is not returning in the Street Stock this season and is opting to run in the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds on a part time basis. But the car may still be making some appearances as his brother Dean will make the trip on a few occasions.
6. #44 Nick Leininger (Rookie) – Best finish 3rd, average finish 7.92 (13 starts). Perhaps the most surprising driver of last season is young Leininger who won two heats races during the season and gained one top 5 finish. He took Rookie of the Year honours and will be back at the track for a close to full season. Don’t be surprised to continue to see improvement in this driver as he may have a serious shot at winning a feature race.
5. #500 Libby Wilson (Rookie) – Best finish 6th, average finish 9.25 (16 Starts). Wilson continues to gain experience in the Street Stocks and 2010 was an excellent start. She was one of four drivers that ran a full season and because of that, it gained her a top five points finish. Even though her average finish was not very high, she finished many of the races she started, giving her valuable knowledge. Expect to see her out every week again in 2011 and perhaps get her first top 5 finish.
4. #20 Daniel Hettinga – Best finish 1st, average finish 5.87 (15 starts). There is plenty to mention about Dan Hettinga who took his first feature win in 2010. During the Emo Fall Fair, in dramatic fashion, Hettinga won the Friday night feature of the class, but forgot to scale, giving the win to Westover. But it seemed inevitable that he would win again as he took honours the following weekend at the Keith McNally Memorial. It was a bittersweet moment for a driver who had his share of ups and downs. He will not be returning for a full season and will run limited shows for 2011.
3. #4U Lindsay Bourre – Best finish 3rd, average finish 6.69 (16 Starts). Bourre has shown her share of improvement through the last year or so with seven top 5s in 2010. Finishing third in points is attributed by a solid attendance record and not giving up even when the going got tough. With a new looking race car rebuilt from the ground up, expect Bourre to continue to improve on her average finishes and possibly a runner up finish sometime in the year.
2. #25 Richard Visser – Best finish 2nd, average finish 4.56 (16 starts). The veteran driver of Visser had a drought in 2010, not winning a race for the first time in several years. But, even after twenty-five years of racing, he is still going strong having finished second in point again in the division. A full record in appearances made him the only matchup to the eventual champion of Westover. Visser will return to the track in his pink #25 once again, continuing his march towards a second championship with a win or two.
1. #15 Ron Westover – Best finish 1st (Seven times) average finish 2.44 (16 starts). Westover claimed his 6th ever championship in 2010 with seven wins and many top five finishes. The experienced driver has raced pretty much every class at the Emo Speedway at some point, and that knowledge has led him to many, many feature wins. If he is able to return to a full season again in 2011, expect several wins and a close battle for the championship between him and Bowman.
Notable Mentions for 2011:
#? Jake Rea – While not confirmed, Rea may be making the move from Go-karts to Street Stock in 2011. Coming from a family of racers at the Emo Speedway, expect some great improvement as the year progresses and potentially take Rookie of the Year when it is all said and done. He is one to watch over the summer months.
#88 Tyler Wickstrom – Tyler is planning to run a full season in 2011 and because of that, he has a great shot at finishing within the top ten in points. It will be a great achievement for the driver who hails from International Falls, Minnesota.
#21B Carlee Bosma – With only a 50% appearance at the track in 2010, Bosma was unable to truly show her improvement until towards the last half of the season. In her eight starts, she managed four top 5s and even took runner up on the last night of racing. It is expected she will run the majority of the season in 2011 and I will give the bold prediction of her taking a win. If not, she will get very, very close.
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