Undefeated records and first time winners alike got their moment in the spotlight Saturday Night as Championship weekend finally came to Estevan. The final night racers were able to put some numbers on the standings and try to climb up the ladder or solidify their spot brought an electric atmosphere for both fans and racers. 

The Hobby Stocks feature was much surprisingly clean race compared to many of the final races were this year, but that's thanks in part to how the heat races went. In the first two heats, 6 people didn't finish their race with another disqualification, leaving 19 cars on the track for the final feature race of the year. With Lampman's Leevi Runge sitting comfortably at the top of the standings with a 19 point lead, there was little to no hope for second place Blake Penna out of Estevan to make up the distance and take this year's championship title. 

After the feature had wrapped up, Penna was able to only gain a single point on Runge as the two would finish in second and third place respectively. 

"I just can't thank the guys enough for having a steady car every race," said Runge after being crowned champion of the Hobby Stocks for 2018. "It's pretty awesome to know that going into the next race the boys already got it all handled."

Runge finished every race this year in the top five of the pack which led to his impressive 19 point lead on the rest of the field coming into the final night, but this is not the only time Runge has been this dominant on the track. This would be Runge's third championship in the last four years, made only more impressive by the fact that he started his driving career in 2012.

"I know lots of guys have lots more experience than me but I guess sometimes it just works out in your favour and this time it did."

Gaining his first victory of the year on the track here in Estevan was Manor's own Kruz Wilson. 

Changing classes, the Modifieds division had just as large split at the top of the standings, with the leader not winning a single feature race all year long. In the 99R car, Estevan's Chris Hortness sat with a full 19 point lead as well over Weyburn's Tyler Wagner, and neither would finish in a place significant enough to make a change in the standings, Hortness in 8th where he started the feature, and Wagner two places back. Tyson Turnbull would take the checkered flag on the night, giving him a tie for the most feature wins of the year at two, and leaving him in 9th.

The Street Stocks Race turned into an interesting one, as it was slowed down a few times thanks to caution flags and a few racers having to leave the race early because of them. Austin Daae worked his way up from the 8th spot in the feature to make his way up into the pole position and he refused to let it go until the race was over. Austin Daae would collect three feature wins all year long, but the championship would go to another racer from Estevan in Jeremy Swanson. Swanson had a two point lead going into the night over Cody Nelson, and Swanson's 5th place finish was enough to add another two points to his lead atop the Street Stocks division and the title for the year.

The main event came at the end of the night, the Sport Modifieds race. Lampman's hero and one of the youngest racers in the standings Ryled Raynard mathematically could not pull ahead of the dominant Robby Rosselli, who has not finished worse than the top spot once at the Estevan Motor Speedway this year, and put his undefeated record on the line.

An intense race filled with a few caution flags near the start of the race and many lead changes through the first half saw the Minot product Rosselli chasing the first place spot and Kyle Keller. The final restart gave Rosselli the window he needed to slip around and hold on to that first place for the rest of the race.

"You need to be on the top and on that restart I was trying to protect the bottom there cause when you're on the top it just takes you so long to get your momentum built back up, and I thought he was going to be poking his nose down there but he got around me on that and hats off to him, he did a good job."

A small mistake was all it took for Rosselli to sneak past and regain his lead and defend his undefeated record. Still humble in his victory, Rosselli not only spoke praises of the Keller that he fought for the lead with all race long, but also of the young Raynard who, while only finishing back in the fourth place spot on the night, would finish second place in the standings.

"I told that kid today, he's improved every race week and don't ever give up. Just keep driving hard."

The final note that Rosselli wanted to get out was his appreciation for the track, the crew that maintains it, and the fans that come out to the Estevan Motor Speedway every time the engines fire up.

"This is my favourite track to be on, it's the honest to God truth, it's the track... you can come up here and have a bad night and the fans will just... you'll leave in a good mood whether you have a good night or a bad night just cause of the fans and the atmosphere here is just phenomenal."

Finally, with the Slingshots, Ryder Raynard added another victory to the impressive list he's added up in the heat races, and the youngster continued that trend into his feature race as well.

For a full video from the final night of races at the Estevan Motor Speedway, check back on Discover Estevan on Monday.