Josh Steinacker was the class of the field in the Fifth Annual Sportsman Twin 25’s at Oakshade Raceway, winning both segments of the event on Saturday night.

Evan Myers took off to the lead after starting on the outside of the front row alongside Tim Fisher in the first 25 lap race.

The first caution came out on lap three after Steve Mills, Dale Cole, Tim Bernard, Joe Derbeck and Dan Wallace all piled up.

After the restart, Steinacker and Greg Kimmons battled for second behind Evans who continued to lead the way. Steinacker then got up to the 7M car of Myers and took over the top position on lap 11.

Steinacker went on to pull away leaving Myers to battle with Kimmons for second. Myers was able to hold off that challenge from Kimmons to finish the first segment in second behind Steinacker.

Rob Liaeff finished fourth with Chris Smith fifth.

For the second segment, the top six, eight or ten finishers would be inverted, depending on what the winner drew. Steinacker drew a six putting him on the outside of the third row for the start of the final segment of the Twin 25’s.

Chris Smith snatched the lead from the outside front row starting position early on in the final 25 laps.

Just two laps into the race, Rob Liaeff smacked the backstretch wall while running in the top five putting an early end to his night.

On the ensuing restart, Joe Smith lost a wheel going in turn two and spun around collecting Dan Wallace and Terry Stratton.

Once things got going, Chris Smith had his hands full with Chris Keller as he put pressure on for the lead. Smith held off the challenge and Kimmons then began to hound Keller for second.

Steinacker eventually worked his way up to catch the leaders. Smith, Keller and Steinacker battled three-wide for the lead while approaching slower traffic. Steinacker found himself back out front and once again pulled away from the rest of the competition in the closing laps of the race.

After the back flip off the car on the front stretch, Steinacker was presented with two trophies for winning both segments of the Twin 25’s Sportsman Feature.

Keller finished second to Steinacker with Tim Fisher recovering to finish third. Chris Smith slipped back to fourth and Greg Kimmons was fifth.

Tom Ordway elected to take the Racer’s Connection Tail Start Challenge to have a shot at winning an extra $825 if he could pass the entire field and win the Bomber A Main.

Harold Rieger and Ron Tolles battled for the lead early on in the Bomber A Main.

Craig Dippman worked his way into second by lap six and began to pressure Tolles for the lead with Dippman eventually taking over the top spot.

After a slew of cautions around lap ten, Dippman pulled away with the lead leaving a good battle for second behind him between Rob Anderzack and Ron Tolles.

Dippman went on to pick up the easy victory with Anderzack beating Tolles for second. Jeff Foks finished fourth and Jim Scout was fifth.

Tom Ordway could only get as high as sixth at the finish after starting on the tail.

Garry Domoe led from flag to flag in the Bomber B Main after holding off Dean Thompson in a two lap dash to the finish that was set up by a late caution.

It was Domoe’s fourth B Main win of the year. Thompson finished second followed by Kyle Light, Dave Sibberson and Karl Spoores Jr.

Jacob Gamber was unbeatable in the Bomber C Main, pulling away from the rest of the field after taking the lead from Adam Lantz.

Gamber took the easy victory with Ted Hill claiming second ahead of Lantz at the checkered flag. Cody Tredway took fourth ahead of Billy Ruff who made a rare appearance back in a Bomber.

The Seventh Annual Bomber Spectacular paying $1000 to the winner of the A Main happens on Saturday, September 23 at Oakshade Raceway in addition to topless Outlaw Late Models. Gates open at 4pm and racing starts at 7pm.

Spectators at Oakshade Raceway were treated with almost two entire racing programs in one on Saturday night with make-up races from the August 26 rain out for the UMP Sportsman and Bomber divisions in addition to it being Season Championship Night.

The action picked up with a UMP Sportsman heat from two weeks ago and eventually led to the first set of feature races.

UMP Sportsman points leader, Rusty Schlenk, worked his way up to second behind Tim Bernard on the first lap of the make-up feature and went around on the high side the next lap to take the lead. Schlenk then went on to open up his advantage until Lance Mitchell had problems and brought out the yellow flag on lap eight.

Schlenk once again pulled away with the lead once racing resumed with a great battle going on for second through fifth just behind him. Tim Bernard, Ray Klawitter, Josh Steinacker and Chris Smith all ran in an tight bunch often three-wide as they kept trading positions. Steinacker finally disposed of that bunch and took over second and tried to close in on Schlenk.

Steinacker, second in points entering the night, made up the ground on the leader and dove to the inside making it a side by side battle for the lead, but a caution on lap 17 put a damper on the exciting race for the lead.

Steinacker could not mount another charge on Schlenk who switched up his racing lines in the turns and was able to hold off the challenge from behind to win his seventh UMP Sportsman Feature of the year, essentially wrapping the points championship unofficially.

The 2005 Sportsman Track Champion Ray Klawitter finished third behind Steinacker with Tim Bernard fourth and Brian Fisher fifth.

Tom Ordway came into the night with the Bomber points lead in a tight battle over Jake Rendel and Jim Scout. Ordway started inside row two in the first Bomber A Main of the night and immediately grabbed the lead as pole sitter Andy Borton had trouble getting up to speed at the drop of the green flag.

Kevin Hanford applied some early pressure for the lead, but Ordway held him off and began to pull away. Then, while running second, Hanford suffered mechanical issues and came to a stop bringing out the yellow flag with two laps to go.

Craig Dippman took advantage of the situation by driving to the outside of Ordway after the restart to take the lead away. Dippman went on to win his first A Main of the year with Ordway settling for second. Brian Przepiora was third followed by Roger Davenport and Jake Rendel. Jim Scout finished ninth after starting at the rear of the field increasing the points spread among the top three in points.

Jerry Signor led most of the Bomber B Main until Chris Henry closed in after starting tenth and took the lead away with two laps remaining.

Henry went on to pick up the victory with Signor holding off Rob Anderzack, who started dead last, for second. Jody Burton and Ron Leonard rounded out the rest of the top five.

Chris Breckel opened up a big lead in the opening laps of the first Bomber C Main after starting on the outside of the front row.

Dustin Sautter had started on the pole and closed back in on Breckel. Sautter made a move to the inside on lap six to take the lead for good. Kyle Light finished second sending Breckel back to a third place finish. Joe Hefner was fourth and Mark Pollack was fifth.

Then after another round of preliminary events, it was time for the Season Championship Features.

Rusty Schlenk, the unofficial UMP Sportsman champ, packed it up for the night after the first feature and did not run in the second round of events.

Brian Fisher started on the pole of the final points awarding feature of the year and led the entire distance with a lot of racing going on just behind him, especially in the closing laps. It was Fisher’s second UMP Sportsman Feature win of the year.

Joe Derbeck ran second most of the race just behind Fisher, but Josh Steinacker, who started eleventh, got alongside Derbeck and just edged him out for a second place finish.

Chris Smith and Ray Klawitter were the rest of the top five finishers.

Tom Ordway didn’t fair as well in the second Bomber A Main of the night, having problems on the very first lap and spinning in turn two sending him to the tail for a complete restart.

Jake Rendel led Jim Scout and Brian Przepiora for much of the race.

Przepiora’s night ended after losing a tire on the backstretch on lap seven which brought out the yellow flag.

Scout began to slip back through the field in the final laps of the race ending up finishing seventh.

Rendel went on to win his sixth Bomber A main of the year. Dan Bleikamp recovered after being penalized for jumping a restart earlier in the race to finish second. Craig Dippman settled for third with Tom Ordway coming all the way back up through the field after his early problems to finish fourth, unofficially making him the 2006 Bomber Track Champion.

Rob Anderzack was running as high as second, but slipped back to finish fifth.

The Bomber B Main was marred by a slew of caution periods. Brad Brehm brought out the first after slamming into the front stretch wall.

With Hugh Snell leading, the car usually driven by Jim Guinn slammed the front stretch wall even harder, almost rolling over. The red flag was thrown to make sure Guinn was not injured, only it was not Guinn behind the wheel of the car. George Laney was the driver so Guinn not only had a heavily damaged car, but he was also disqualified for an unauthorized driver change.

A final caution set up a two lap shoot out to the finish with Hugh Snell still leading and Jody Burton in second. Burton got a little too anxious and jumped the restart setting up a crazy finish.

Snell and Roger Davenport were battling side by side for the lead behind Burton on the final lap and Davenport drove it in a little too hard in the final set of corners and slid way up the track allowing Snell to pick up the victory.

Dave Sibberson finished second behind Snell and Burton was credited with finishing third after being penalized two positions for passing too early on the restart. Ron Leonard was fourth and Davenport slipped back to finish fifth.

Finally the Bomber C Main, the 26th race of the night, took to the track with Dustin Sautter once again quickly assuming the lead.
Sautter pulled away and went to pick up his second Bomber C Main win of the night. Chris Howard finished second followed by Corrina Belcher, Rich Noonan and Joe Hefner.

The Fifth Annual Twin 25’s for the UMP Sportsmen will highlight a night of racing with the Bombers on Saturday, September 16. Gates will still open at 4pm with racing at 7pm throughout the month of September at Oakshade Raceway.

Oakshade Raceway hosted double features for the UMP Late Model Division with Kris Patterson and Jeep Van Wormer taking top honors.

First up was the Season Championship UMP Late Model make-up feature from last week’s rain out that had Devin Shiels and Kris Patterson battling early for the lead.

Once Patterson disposed of Shiels, it was easy sailing for the St. Johns, Michigan driver. Patterson pulled away from the rest of the field to win his first UMP Late Model Feature of the year at Oakshade Raceway after a rather off season for the veteran.

Rody Schroyer moved up from his ninth starting position to eclipse Justin Paxton for second. Dusty Moore slipped back after starting on the outside of the front row, but rebounded to finish fourth with Rick Delong fifth. Rusty Schlenk, the unofficial points champion, finished sixth.

Later on in the evening, the 30-lap American Late Model Series Feature took to the track after a field of 50 cars was narrowed down to the 23-car starting line up.

Zack Olger, Rusty Schlenk and Kevin Reeve raced three-wide for the lead on the first lap with Olger having a slight advantage. Eventually Reeve slipped back leaving Olger and Schlenk to battle with the 55 car of Jeep Van Wormer closing in.

By lap seven, Schlenk took over the lead and then tried to fend off Van Wormer. After a restart after a caution for Ky Harper on lap 11, Van Wormer got to the inside of Schlenk and took the lead for good.

Van Wormer opened up a huge advantage and carried it all the way to the checkered flag, earning himself the big check for $2,000 and the ALMS win. Schlenk settled for second with Kevin Reeve recovering to finish a respectable third. Rick Delong posted his second top five of the night, finishing in fourth ahead of Ronnie Perrine, Jr.

Mike Jessen took command of the UMP Sportsman Feature at the drop of the green flag after starting on the pole.

Chris Smith started on the outside of the front row and had a top five run going until his car slowed on lap nine and he parked it in the infield.

Jessen meanwhile had opened up a big lead over the second place battle between Josh Steinacker and Rusty Schlenk. The two drivers swapped the second position several times as they tried to close the gap on the race leader.

Jessen’s lead turned out to be insurmountable as he won his first Sportsman Feature of the year, putting an end to Steinacker’s winning streak at seven wins.

Steinacker got into the back of Schlenk going into turn three, just before taking the white flag. The contact turned Schlenk sideways and allowed Steinacker to get by on the hide side and finish second. Schlenk held on and did not spin and settled for a third place finish.

Brian Fisher ended up fourth and Joe Smith was fifth.

Rob Anderzack was leading the Bomber A Main until he spun coming off turn four on the very first lap bringing out the yellow flag and forcing Anderzack to the tail for the restart.

That turned the lead over to Jake Rendel who never looked back and went on to win the caution plagued Bomber A Main. Craig Dippman held off Tom Ordway to finish second. Brett Miller and Ron Tolles rounded out the rest of the top five finishers.

Jim Scout took the early lead in the Bomber B Main after starting on the outside of the front row.

Brice Luttrell made some contact getting into turn one and slammed into Jerry Signor ending both drivers’ nights.

Garry Domoe began to put the pressure on Scout for the lead and each time it looked like Domoe was going to take over, his efforts were thwarted by the caution flag.

Scout and Domoe were racing side by side for the lead in the closing stages of the race when Scout got held up behind a lapped car and had to check up allowing Domoe to take the lead and the win. Toxic Moe finished third behind Scout with Bob Rendel fourth and Dean Thompson fifth.

Rich Ruff made it look easy in the Bomber C Main after pulling away once he took the lead early. Ruff picked up the easy win over Ted Hill who had contact with Eric Potridge just before the finish sending Potridge spinning as the two battled for second. Potridge held on to finish third followed by Billy Garland and Ron Leonard.

David Goben took the lead from Joe Heffner on the second lap of the Bomber D Main. A short time later Heffner spun while running in the second position.

Jeff Foks made the pass to the inside on Goben get to the front and went on to win the D Main with Fred Burtch finishing second after restarting at the tail earlier in the race. Goben fell back to finish third and Joe Heffner came back to take fourth. Bill Vorce was fifth.

It will be Season Championship Night for the Sportsman and Bomber Divisions on Saturday, September 9 with double features for both classes to make up for the rain out on August 26.