Oakshade Raceway kicked off the 2005 racing season Sunday afternoon with a 200 lap enduro race.
Brad Baklund from Albion, MI took control early on after starting on the inside of the second row.
Last fall’s enduro race winner, Jeremy Grover, closed in on Baklund for the lead. Grover managed to get right up to the 07 driven by Baklund, but drove his car too hard into the fourth corner and slid way up the track losing a lot of track position. That would be the closest Grover would get to the front for the remainder of the race.
Bomber division regular at Oakshade Raceway, Adam Bokor, was next to close in on Baklund. The two drivers put on a good battle for the lead while working through heavy traffic around the 25 lap mark.
Lenard Ganey from Battle Creek, MI came out of nowhere and drove his orange colored 25 car to the front, making quick work of both Bokor and Baklund before reaching 50 laps.
Ganey went on to lap the field at least once and seemed to be cruising on to an easy victory until near disaster with under 10 laps remaining. Dave Sibberson lost a wheel off his car right in front of the leader. Ganey launched up into the air after running over the stray wheel. Ganey’s car almost rolled over onto its right side when it came back down.
Ganey gathered his composure and got the 25 car moving again, giving up some ground to his pursuers. More trouble for Ganey occurred one lap later after contact with another car caused him to spin out in turn two. Still not giving up, Ganey righted his car and finished off the final few laps.
Even with those miscues near the end of the race, Lenard Ganey’s lead proved to be insurmountable and he went on to pick up the victory. Delta Ohio’s Brian Przepiora finished in second, one lap down.
Jeremy Grover came back after some bad luck on the track to claim the third finishing position followed by Ryan Desgrange, Jeff Geis and Dave Sibberson.
Oakshade Raceway will be back in action on Saturday, April 30 with the first Saturday night racing program of the year featuring the Bill Reckner Memorial with Sportsman/Trucks and Bombers.