Estevan's Aaron Turnbull couldn't be beat at Estevan Motor Speedway on Saturday. Turnbull, driving car 21, won all of his races - his heat, the trophy dash and the feature race - in the IMCA modifieds division, to take home the Triple Crown.
With the win, Turnbull has 17 feature wins in his career - the most of any active racer on the circuit.
Track president James Gustafson thinks that with his history in racing, and technique, Turnbull will be the guy to beat all season.
"It's amazing how he can slip through the crowd of cars and get out in the lead and stay there," Gustafson said.
Coming off a fifth place finish overall in 2009, Turnbull made some changes to his car to get it ready for the 2010 season.
"Towards the end of last year and in January in Arizona I did some testing and tried some new things and got the car handling really well and it seems to be paying off now," Turnbull said.
Turnbull was mod track champion in 2007, and says he hopes he can use the momentum from Saturday's mod feature win to recapture his title.
The win earns Turnbull a $1,000 payout. In previous years, winners in the modified division only pursed $600.
Gustafson hopes the higher payout will get the attention of some new racers.
"Things have gotten very expensive; the equipment is very expensive. Sure, they're racing for the money, and I think when we increase the purse it should attract some more racers."
Turnbull, the first winner of the 2010 season, says the added payout will increase the level of competition, and is extra incentive to win.
"I always want to win whenever I'm in a race. So, definitely with the higher pay and because there's more competition, [I'll] want to try a lot harder."
Drivers and fans alike were treated to beautiful 22C degree weather on Saturday to make up for the rain that wiped out the May 1 race.
"People weren't rushing away afterwards to go find some place to get warm. They hung around to visit with the racers," Gustafson said. "We had a couple of little glitches, but other than that everything went well. We had a good turnout, we had a good evening and we had a good number of fans."
With the victory, Turnbull sits atop the point standings with 40, followed closely by some familiar names to Estevan Motor Speedway. Joren Boyce, who finished tied with Turnbull in 2009 sits one point back; 2009 mod champ Devin Raynard finished sixth on Saturday, gaining him 35 points; and Hank Berry, who won 2009's season opener, finished third, for 38 points.
Turnbull said he expects Raynard, Boyce and Berry to be the drivers to watch out for this season.
In the IMCA street stocks, Nathan Burke won the feature, completing the Triple Crown. Dana Brandt won the hobby stocks feature.
