Oakshade Raceway capped off the 2013 racing season with a huge weekend that included the 14th Annual Bomber Spectacular, Butch Hobling Memorial and a 250-lap Enduro.
Tony Tolles started on the pole of the 25-lap Bomber Spectacular feature event and led the first few laps with last year’s winner, Jeff Foks, pressuring. A fire that was quickly extinguished under the hood of Steve Reeves car brought the red flag on lap four. A few laps later the race was slowed under yellow for a spin. Tolles finally gave up the lead on the lap seven restart to Foks who shot by on the inside. Unofficial 2013 Track Champion Terry Rushlow was charging toward the front and got as high as third place when he spun on lap 14. Gregg Detray was running fifth and also got caught up in the incident which brought out another caution flag. Tolles remained running second until he retired to the pits on lap 17. Chris Sands was the next top five competitors to experience bad luck on lap 18. He was involved in a wreck with Roscoe Stetten and Gregg Detray.
Foks managed to stay ahead of trouble in the caution-filled race to win his second consecutive Bomber Spectacular and his 10th A Main of the year. Jake Rendel drove Perry Cox’s 81 car to a second place finish. Rick Dixon and Derek Morris had a late race charge to finish third and fourth after starting way in the back of the field. Rushlow climbed back through the ranks after his spin to finish fifth.
Mike Jessen dominated the Butch Hobling Memorial Sportsman feature event. He started on the outside of the front row and led from start to finish. Tim Line battled with Rich Ruff for second early on with Line taking the position on lap five. By this time, Jessen had opened up a sizable lead. Line managed to close up on Jessen in some lapped traffic, but was unable to get close enough to challenge. Line seemed to catch a break on lap 22 when the caution flag flew for debris on the track. That tightened up the field for a restart with three laps remaining. Jessen was too strong and won his seventh feature of the year. Birthday boy Rusty Smith edged out Line for a second place finish. Joe Derbeck and Rich Ruff were the rest of the top five finishers.
The final feature event on Saturday night produced the most exciting finish in the Sport Compacts. “Junior” Jerry Hoot came from the rear of the field to take the lead on the first lap. Terry Rushlow Sr. got into Matt Brazeau causing him to spin and brought out the yellow flag. Brazeau restarted at the tail and moved into second one lap after the restart. Brazeau dove to the inside of Hoot and challenged for the lead the final two laps, but Hoot carried his momentum off the final corner to pick up a narrow victory over Brazeau. Cory Gumm finished third followed by Regan Ford and Tyler Shaver.
Racers and race fans endured a damp afternoon for Sunday’s 250-lap Enduro which made for some slick conditions throughout the entire race. Ronnie Bloomfield Jr., the winner of the last Enduro a couple weeks ago, led the pack onto the track at the drop of the green flag. Jeremy Grover took the lead within the first 25 laps of the race and never gave it up. Despite an incident with one of the infield tires early and one slip up in turn one in the latter stages of the race, Grover drove to his second Enduro win of the year and unofficially capture the Enduro Championship. Mark Henderson finished second, five laps behind Grover after running in the top five most of the day. Ronnie Bloomfield Jr. finished third with heavy damage to the right front of his car after contact with Chris Williams earlier in the race. That contact caused the right front wheel to be tilted in at nearly a 45 degree angle. Brad Gilbert had a consistent run and managed a fourth place finish even with a couple of visits to the pits. John Brooks had been running third from lap 175 through lap 225, but got caught up in an accident with Chris Williams and then sat in the infield for the remainder of the race. He did complete 226 laps which was enough to earn him a fifth place finish.
The racing may have concluded for the year, but the fun continues at Oakshade Raceway during the month of October with Spooktacular Hay Rides every Friday and Saturday starting October 11th. The annual swap meet will take place on October 19th starting at 9am. There is no spot fee, just $5 admission.
