Fallen members of Oakshade Raceway’s extended racing family were remembered Saturday night on a special 4th of July Memorial Night which was highlighted by John Henry’s first UMP Late Model Feature win on the 3/8 mile oval.
Things got crazy on the very first lap of the UMP Late Model Feature with Chris Ross of Wallaceburg, Ontario slamming the backstretch wall coming off turn two bringing out the yellow flag. A few seconds later Dean Anderson and Dusty Moore got hooked together in turn four as they were slowing for the yellow. That would end Dusty’s night marking two consecutive week’s of bad luck as he struggles to remain in the top five in Oakshade UMP Late Model points.
After the initial caution period which resulted in a complete restart, the rest of the race ran caution-free with John Henry leading the entire distance to pick up the victory and the Howard Miller Memorial Fuel Jug Trophy. An extra $500 in memory of John Yoder also went to Henry for the win and the second through sixth place finishers also received a little extra Yoder bonus of $100 each.
Rusty Schlenk worked his way up to second, but was too far back to mount a challenge on Henry. Schlenk’s second place finish was enough for him to overtake Ronnie Perrine Jr. for the Oakshade UMP Late Model point lead.
Brian Ruhlman, Chris Keller and Andrew Reaume were the rest of the top five finishers.
Joe Smith tried to hold off a hard-charging Brian Fisher early in the UMP Sportsman Feature event, but Fisher powered by for the lead on lap two and proceeded to open up a large lead.
The winner of the last two UMP Sportsman Features, Matt Lindsey, began to reel in Fisher in the closing stages of the race, but Fisher was able to hold on and win his third feature of the year and move up to second in the point standings. Lindsey maintained his point lead with a second place finish. Joe Smith slipped back to finish third ahead of Mike Jessen and Brett Miller.
In need of sponsorship money to race full time again, Chris Henry did his best to attract attention as the defending UMP Bomber track champion led from flag to flag in the UMP Bomber A Main, picking up his first feature win of the year.
Last week’s feature winner, Craig Dippman got by Curt Lancaster late in the race to finish second. Lancaster ended up third followed by Danny Hogrefe and Billy Brown.
An extra $100 was up for grabs to the winner of the UMP Hornet Feature again in memory of the late John Yoder who did a lot to help grow this brand new division at Oakshade Raceway.
Derek Morris led the first four laps of the race, but sixteen-year-old Adam Noonan got by for the lead on lap five. Noonan went on to pick up his fifth win of the year, but still sits third in Hornet points behind Derek Morris and point leader Drew Smith.
Smith, Morris and Dylan Herman had a mad scramble going for the second finishing position at the end of the race with Morris beating out Herman and Smith for the spot. Morris finished third with Smith fourth. Tyler Line was fifth.
Dan Dippman led an action-filled UMP Bomber B Main from start to finish on his way to his second B Main win of the year.
Multiple cautions slowed the event numerous times. The first came out on lap two after Chris Sands spun in turn three and a couple other cars spun exiting turn four at the same time. Justin Gamber and Tim Mullendore had contact that cut down the left rear tire on Mullendore’s car sending him spinning down the front stretch into turn one on lap nine.
Rick Dixon held off Jamie Grochowski to finish second. Fourth was Gamber and Chris Sands recovered to finish fifth.
Bob Krumm and Willie Stites got together at the start of the UMP Bomber C Main causing a melee in turn one one the first lap that resulted in a complete restart.
Once things got going, Krumm found himself trying to hold off Jim Guinn for the lead. Krumm led the first lap, but Guinn was the leader on lap two.
Former enduro driver, Joe Cordes, took command on lap three and went on to pick up his first Oakshade feature victory ever. Jim Guinn and Bob Krumm held on to finish second and third respectively followed by Josh Montague and Satch Crispen.
The biggest event of the year is happening this weekend with the $10,000 to win Birthday Race/UMP Summer Nationals Finale. Gates will be open on Friday from 11am to 12am for camping or reserving seats for Saturday’s event. Gates will open at 10am on Saturday morning and the pits will be open for all spectators until 4pm to meet drivers and get autographs. Check out www.oakshaderaceway.com for complete details.
