Oakshade Raceway lived up to its name on Saturday as 58 of the fastest UMP Late Model drivers met to race in the 11th Annual $10,000 to win Birthday Race. The event was also the finale of the grueling UMP Summer Nationals series which entered the final event with Randy Korte and Dennis Erb Jr. in a tight battle atop the Summer Nationals point standings.
Jackson Michigan’s Rusty Schlenk started alongside Dennis Erb on the front row of the 60-lap feature event and got the early jump for the lead. Schlenk stretched his advantage over the rest of the field early in the race while Tim McCreadie battled hard with Erb for second.
McCreadie eventually took over second position and began to chip away at Schlenk’s lead as both drivers worked through lapped traffic. On lap 33, McCreadie made the pass for the lead and then proceeded to open up a big lead of his own.
The only caution flag of the race flew with just two laps to go and tightened the field for a two-lap shootout. McCreadie led Erb, who had taken over second from Schlenk, back to the green flag.
No one in the top five was able to advance their position as McCreadie held on to take the checkered flag and the check for $10,000. Dennis Erb Jr.’s second place finish was enough to catapult him ahead of Korte in the UMP Summer Nationals point chase to win his third consecutive UMP Summer Nationals title. Schlenk held off Shannon Babb for a third place finish with Brian Shirley ending up fifth.
Craig Dippman’s luck has taken a turn for the better in recent weeks as he captured his second UMP Bomber A Main feature win of the year.
The top two drivers in UMP Bomber points, Jim Scout and Danny Hogrefe, battled for the lead early in the race, but Dippman quickly marched to the front in the caution-filled race.
Finishing second behind Dippman was Jim Scout followed by Danny Hogrefe, Tony Tolles and last week’s Bomber C Main winner Joe Cordes.
Next on the track were the youngsters of the UMP Hornet Feature event in which Dylan Herman would lead the most laps.
Fourteen-year-old Derek Morris picked up his first ever UMP Hornet Feature win with a late pass over Herman which moved him up to second in UMP Hornet points. Herman held on to finish second in the race over Adam Noonan, Tyler Line and Cody Stetton.
Jeff Geis was the first to lead an exciting UMP Bomber B Main. Josh Overmyer took command by lap two and held the lead for a few laps until Dan Dippman made the pass for the lead on lap nine.
Overmyer wasn’t done as he continued to pressure Dippman for the lead all the way to the checkered flag. Overmyer got back alongside for the lead and the two drivers crossed the finishline side by side with Dippman just edging out the victory. His third B Main win in the last four weeks.
Josh Montague finished third followed by Jim Guinn and Joe Overmyer.
Dean Taylor led the entire distance of the UMP Bomber C Main to cap off a great night of racing action at Oakshade Raceway. It was Taylor’s second UMP Bomber C Main win of the year. The rest of the top five finishers were Chane Stuckey, Dan Bleikamp, Brad Brehm and Justin Gamber.
Oakshade Raceway will feature the second UMP Late Model Push Truck Dual Features with two UMP Late Model Features each paying $1500 to win. UMP Sportsmen will be back in action after the week off along with the UMP Bombers and UMP Hornets. Gates open at 4pm with racing at 7pm.
