Mother Nature decided to play nice this weekend after dumping a large amount of rain over the area the past few weeks. It was a welcome reprieve from the rain that allowed Oakshade Raceway to put on the $5,100-to-win, 26^th Annual Barney Oldfield Race and the Night of Wheels bike giveaways. It had been 10 years since Pinconning, Michigan’s Jeep Van Wormer had won the Barney Oldfield Race, and after a decade he was able to pick up his second Oldfield victory which put him among some pretty elite company.

The first race of the night was the rained out (on multiple occasions) Bomber A Main from May 9. Gregg DeTray from Swanton, Ohio started on the pole and led the entire distance. DeTray was able to open up a sizable lead on his way to his first Bomber A Main win of the year. Adam Noonan finished second ahead of Chris Sands. Chris Henry had peaked up to the second position but slipped back to end up finishing fourth. Tim Murphy charged to a fifth place finish after starting near the back of the field.

At intermission, over 60 donated bikes, trikes, wagons, etc. were were given away to a whole bunch of happy kids as part of the annual Night of Wheels.

Once the kids were happy, it was time to get down to business with the 40-Lap Barney Oldfield Race/American Late Model Series feature event. Bellevue, Ohio’s Ryan Missler jumped out to the early lead after starting on the pole, but six laps in, Jeep Van Wormer took command. The only caution came out on lap 12 for Rich Neiser’s spin on the front stretch. Chris Keller restarted second and tried to challenge Van Wormer on the restart, but later faded back and Van Wormer went on to pick up the win. Defending Track Champion Rusty Schlenk finished in the runner up spot followed by Steve Kester and Richard Bell from Sheffield, Illinois. Matt Westfall finished fifth.

Mathew Chapman is off to a great start as a rookie in the UMP Sportsman class after moving up from the Bombers this season. He snatched the lead at the start of the UMP Sportsman feature after starting on the outside of the front row. Chapman opened up a big lead, but Berkey, Ohio’s Mike Jessen moved into second and began chipping away at his advantage. Jessen caught Chapman with four laps to go and then played the spoiler by taking the lead at the white flag and then picked up his first victory of the season. Chapman settled for second with Drew Smith third. Joe Smith moved up from 10^th to finish fourth and Bob Gregory made up 11 positions to finish fifth after starting in 16^th.

Chris Sands slipped by Roscoe Stetten on lap four of the Bomber A Main to take the lead. From then on, it was smooth sailing for the Morenci, Michigan driver who went on to earn his third A Main win of the year. Skeet Reckner and Gregg DeTray had a great battle going on for second that ended with Reckner edging out DeTray for the position. Rick Dixon finished fourth and Chris Henry ended up fifth.

Cory Gumm came out on top of a lot of position swapping on the first lap of the Compact feature event, but a couple laps later slipped up high in turns three and four. That allowed Toledo, Ohio’s John Martis to take over the lead. Martis cruised to his second feature win of the year while the racing action was pretty intense for second on back with a lot of three-wide racing. Cory Gumm recovered to finish a distant second followed closely by Brogan Rehklau, Josh Floyd and Jeff Foks Sr.

More Bomber feature action followed with the Bomber B Main. Ethan Gehring held the lead for much of the race, but Adam Noonan was methodically working his way toward the front after starting on the tail, eventually catching Gehring and taking the lead away. Noonan went on to show the way the final half of the race and picked up the feature win. Terry Rump edged out Pete Herman at the checkered flag to finish second. Dan Shaffer was third and Cody Laney finished fifth after starting 16^th.

It was a father/son battle between in the final race of the night, the Bomber C Main. Both Rayce Price and his father, Rob Price, started at the rear after having to borrow rides from other drivers. It was Scott Boyd who led early until Rayce Price closed in about halfway through the race. With Rob Price in third and with a busted ball joint on the left front, Rayce challenged Boyd for the lead. Rob Price got by both Rayce and Boyd to take the lead with Rayce taking over second. The two drivers continued battling all the way to the checkered flag with Rob Price just hanging on to take the checkered flag. Rayce Price finished a close second followed by Garrett McClain, Tim Vanpelt and Scott Goodlock.

Saturday, June 27 is Super Heroes and Princesses Night at Oakshade Raceway. Kids are encouraged to come dressed up as their favorite super hero or princess. Prizes will be awarded. There will also be a full show of UMP Late Models, UMP Sportsman, Bombers and Compacts and a bonus Bomber B Main make up feature from May 9. Gates open at 4pm with racing at 7pm.

[Show slideshow]

Casey Noonan’s UMP Late Model feature win at Oakshade Raceway on Saturday night was enough to move him up two spots up to third in the Oakshade point standings. It was the Sylvania, Ohio driver’s first win of the season.

A couple of make up features from the May 9^th rain out, beginning with the UMP Sportsman, started off the Wallace Racing Products night of racing. Mathew Chapman from Tecumseh, Michigan took off to the early lead after suffering from a hard crash a few weeks ago. A couple huge crashes marred the first half of the race. Bruce Stuart closed up on Chapman after the mid way point of the race and began pressuring. Stuart managed to take the lead, but Chapman battled back a couple laps later. A late caution set up a green-white-checkered finish in which Chapman was able to hold off Stuart for his first ever UMP Sportsman feature win, early in his Sportsman rookie season. Stuart settled for second followed by Graeme Short, Drew Smith and Jamie Grochowski.

Next out was the May 9^th make up feature for the Compacts. Cody Stetten led the entire distance of the race with John Martis and Brogran Rehklau battling for second. Suddenly, Stetten slowed on the backstretch just before the the white flag lap. Martis out of Toledo, Ohio took over the race lead and captured his first feature win of the year. Rehklau took second with Cory Gumm in third. Nathan Goodman and Josh Floyd rounded out the rest of the top five finishers.

A little later in the evening the Wallace Racing Products UMP Late Model feature event took to the track. Steve Kester from Holland, Ohio started on the pole and battled side by side with outside pole sitter Chris Keller during the first part of the race. Finally Kester took command until a lap 10 caution tightened up the field for a double-wide restart. Kester elected to restart on the inside which left Noonan on the high side. Noonan pounced to the lead after the restart and never looked back on the way to the feature win. Point leader Brian Ruhlman was able to get by Kester for a second place finish. Devin Shiels was fourth with Keller slipping back to fifth. Scott Fisk had a nice run to finish sixth after starting back in 18^th.

Graeme Short from Archbold, Ohio jumped out to a big early lead in the second UMP Sportsman feature of the night with Bruce Stuart and Jamie Grochowski battling side by side for second. Stuart finally cleared Grochowski and began to reel in Short as they worked lapped traffic. Short slipped up trying to get by a lapped car allowing Stuart to get by and pick up his second feature win of the season. Grochowski finished second with Mike Jessen taking third. Dan Wallace moved up from his tenth place starting position to end up fourth. Short fell back to finish fifth.

Wauseon, Ohio’s Skeet Reckner made it a clean sweep on the night after winning both his heat event and the Wallace Racing Products Bomber A Main. Reckner started on the outside of the front row and led the entire distance. Multiple cautions kept the field from getting too strung out, but no one could get up and mount a sustained challenge on the leader. Gregg DeTray and Chris Henry tried to put the pressure on, but Reckner maintained his line an took the checkered flag. DeTray made a last corner bid for the lead, but had to settle for second. Henry was third followed by Chris Sands and Adam Noonan.

Brogan Rehklau out of Waldron, Michigan made a huge move on the first lap of the Wallace Racing Products Compact feature race to take the lead after starting on the inside of the fourth row. Rehklau proceeded to check out on the rest of the field until a caution halfway though wiped out his lead. Richard Riffe took advantage and tried to challenge Rehklau for lead, but came up short as Rehklau wrapped up his second feature win of the year. Riffe was second with Nathan Goodman third. Cody Stetten moved up after starting at the very tail of the field to finish fourth. Aaron Barrick was fifth.

Dan Shaffer led flag to flag in the Wallace Racing Products Bomber B Main. He took the lead after pole sitter Cody Laney fell off the pace on the very first first lap. The race was slowed multiple times for caution periods, not allowing the drivers to establish a rhythm. Shaffer, from Morenci, Michigan, managed to get good restarts to earn the victory. Duane Fletcher was able to nurse his car with a failing clutch to a second place finish, holding off both Rick Dixon and Dan Plath. Steve Morris came home fifth.

Finally, the Wallace Racing Products Bomber C Main took center stage with another driver leading the entire distance. Scott Barnhart started on the pole and despite a late caution with only one lap to go, held on to pick up the feature win. Chuck Stuckey from Sylvania, Ohio had a spin on lap six, but was able to recover for a second place finish. Taylor Dippman capped off a nice run in third followed by Dave McMannamy and Derek Zuver.

Saturday, June 13 is the Night of Wheels at Oakshade Raceway with free bike giveaways for the kids in addition to a complete racing program of UMP Late Models, UMP Sportsman, Bombers and Compacts. There will also be the make up Bomber features from May 9 to start the evening off. Gates open at 4pm and the racing action starts at 7pm!

[Show slideshow]