The Night of Wheels at Oakshade Raceway made a lot of kids happy with free new bikes and Late Model driver John Henry happy because he picked up his second Oakshade Raceway UMP Late Model Feature win.
Henry started on the outside of the front row, but was pushed up high in first set of corners on the first lap. He ended up getting shuffled back to about fourth.
Pole starter Ronnie Perrine Jr. opened up a good lead the first half of the the race. By lap 16, Jon Henry had worked his way back up to second and started to reel in Perrine for the lead. Three laps later, Henry took command as Perrine slipped back to second.
The Ada, Ohio driver went on to pick up his second feature win of the year in the caution-free race. Rusty Schlenk started 21st and did an incredible job finishing second, just a few car lengths behind Jon Henry. Ronnie Perrine Jr. ended up third followed by Tyler Boggs and Casey Noonan.
Oakshade UMP Sportsman point leader Matt Lindsey led the entire distance of the UMP Sportsman Feature event after starting on the outside of the front row.
Brian Fisher was running in the top five and then slowed on the track bringing out one of the numerous caution periods. Lindsey managed to open up a large lead after each restart, but a yellow with just two laps to go set up an exciting finish.
Mike Jessen and Brett Miller pressured Lindsey for the lead in the final two laps, but Lindsey held off the challenge to pick up his fourth feature win of the year. Jessen finished second with Miller taking third. Jerry Urbanowski and Brice Luttrell were the rest of the top five finishers.
The UMP Bomber A Main produced one of the most exciting finished of the night with some great racing throughout the race. Steve Morris started on the pole and fought very hard to hang on to the lead the first couple laps. Ron Tolles took the lead away on lap three and then Danny Hogrefe, Steve Morris and Jake Gamber battled hard for second.
Hogrefe eventually got up alongside Ron Tolles and the two drives battled side by side for the lead for at least four laps. They exchanged the lead from lap nine to lap 13 until Hogrefe finally cleared Tolles.
Last week’s A Main winner Craig Dippman was trying to work his way forward until he spun on lap 14.
Billy Brown became a factor late in the race as he took the lead from Hogrefe going into the final turns. Brown slid up in turn four and Hogrefe came back to the inside for a drag race to the finish line. Hogrefe took the checkered flag by just a couple inches over Brown.
Jake Gamber finished third and Steve Morris held on for a respectable fourth place finish. Joe Overmyer was fifth.
Oakshade UMP Hornet point leader Drew Smith won his heat race earlier in the night and was hoping to find the checkers for his first feature win, but things started off poorly for the youngster when he spun on the first lap of the feature, forcing him to the rear of the pack for a restart.
Adam Noonan started inside of row two and wasted no time taking the lead on the first lap with Dylan Herman pursuing him in second. Sixteen-year-old Noonan held off both Herman and Derek Morris to win his sixth feature of the year. Morris got by Herman for second with Drew Smith recovering to finish fourth. Tyler Line finished fifth.
Bob Mayer grabbed the lead at the start of the UMP Bomber B Main and led the first nine laps of the race.
Fred Burtch was running second, but brought out the yellow on lap 8 forcing him to the rear.
Dan Dippman quickly closed on Mayer and took the lead on lap 10. Mayer tried hard to fight back and lost what could have been a second place finish as he spun in the final corner coming to the checkered flag. Jeff Geis finished second followed by Josh Overmyer, Marty Bloomer and Karl Spoores.
George Laney Jr. led from flag to flag in the UMP Bomber C Main for his first win of the year.
Willie Stites got crossed up trying to complete lap one on the front stretch and collected Devin Goodman in a hard crash that took both drivers out.
Joe Heffner closed in on Laney late in the race to challenge for the lead, but Laney held him off and Heffner had to settle for second. Greg Detray started last and finished third followed by Nathan Goodman and Shaun Sharp.
The American Late Model Series returns to Oakshade Raceway on Saturday, August 1 for a $2,000 to win show along with UMP Sportsmen, UMP Bombers and UMP Hornets. Gates open at 4pm and racing starts at 7pm sharp.