The Northern Late Model Racing Association (NLRA) late models made their return to the Estevan Motor Speedway on August 16.

Wisconsin’s Pat Doar was the dominant driver throughout the program. He won his qualifying heat by several seconds, which allowed him to start on the front row for the feature.

Doar immediately seized the lead and he was never caught. He was lapping slower cars as early as the seventh lap, he deftly maneuvered around slower traffic, and at one point, he had a seven-second lead on Winnipeg’s Mike Balcean.

A pair of cautions with five laps remaining bunched the field together, but when green flag racing resumed, Doar slowly pulled away from Balcean, and won the feature by about a second.

“The track was awesome,” said Doar. “We’ve been kind of on a roll the last three or four weeks. It looks kind of easy, but we struggled for a year.”

Doar’s appearance was his first in Estevan. He said Estevan’s track reminded him of his home track in Wisconsin.

“I like a little banking, and a round track, and it’s kind of like what I grew up on, so it kind of fit my style,” said Doar.

Doar said he knew his car was performing well, but he didn’t know that he had such a sizeable lead for most of the race.

Zach Johnson was third and Jeremy Keller – who was a regular in Estevan’s modified series a few years ago – finished fourth. Estevan’s Ed Turnbull came in 11th.

The wide-bodied, high-horsepower NLRA late models were a popular attraction at the speedway from 2003 to 2008. They didn’t race in Estevan last year, but they returned in 2010 as part of a six-day, six-city tour.

Three other classes of racing were at the track on August 16. Dana Brandt won his ninth hobby stock feature in 10 attempts this year. Dallas Rice was second. Chris Dukart finished third.

Brandt has a 389-360 lead over Rice in the overall standings.

Joe Flory won the stock car feature. Kelly Henderson was second and Greg Mann was third.

Rocky Alexander finished seventh, but he now leads the overall standings with 294 points. Flory is second with 286 points.

Hank Berry, who also competed in the late model race, won the modified feature. Devin Raynard was second and Tyson Turnbull was third.

Turnbull has 276 points, which is two more than Joren Boyce. Jim Harris is third with 267 points.

The next racing at the EMS won’t take place until mid-September. The season championships will be decided during a program on September 18. And the year-end Enduro race is slated for September 19.