Matt Miller earned his second UMP Late Model feature win of the year at Oakshade Raceway over some very stout American Late Model Series (ALMS) competition.
Last week’s feature winner, Rusty Schlenk, took the early lead in the caution-free 30-lap ALMS feature event with Miller pressuring to the inside in the first few laps. Miller eventually got the lead and pulled away from the rest of the field. Despite a close call while lapping Curtis Deisenroth, Miller held on to a sizable lead over Brian Ruhlman on his way to the $2,000 victory.
Mike Spatola from Manatten, Illinois finished third followed by Jon Henry who gained nine positions during the race to finish fourth. Schlenk slipped back to finish fifth.
Bob Gregory picked up his second UMP Sportsman feature win of the year by holding off a late charge from Matt Lindsey. Gregory led from the drop of the green flag and fended off Bruce Stuart early. Multiple cautions kept things tight as Lindsey worked his way up to second and challenged Gregory all the way to the checkered flag. Lindsey came up a little short even after one last shot at trying to get to the inside of the leader on the final lap.
Stuart finished third with Tim Line, winner of the last week’s feature, ending up fourth. Rich Ruff slipped back to finish fifth after starting on the outside of the front row.
Jeff Foks snatched the lead from Terry Rushlow on the second lap of the UMP Bomber A Main and held the lead for the remainder of the race. A late caution brought out by a Satch Crispen spin set up a two-lap race to the finish and gave Rushlow one last chance at Foks, but Foks had him covered and picked up his third A Main win of the year. Doing double duty was Tim Line who started 12th and finished third behind Rushlow. Jeff Geis finished fourth with Adam Noonan ending up fifth.
The craziest feature of the night had to be the in the Hornet division. “Sparky Marky” Gillingham led the first half of the race with last week’s feature winner Drew Smith right on his rear bumper. Smith got into the rear of Gillingham in turn four and sent him spinning. A couple other cars were collected in the incident including third place William Cundick. Smith received the black flag for rough/over aggressive driving which turned the lead and eventual win over to Brandon Myers. Josh Froelich finished second followed by Maverick Wright, Breanna Franks and Cody Laney.
Spinning leaders were a common sight in the UMP Bomber B Main. Mike Grames had a great run come to an end after leading the first half of the race only to end up spinning in turn four turning the lead over to Josh Sisty. Three laps later, Sisty spun in turn two and turned the lead over to Tony Sylvestri who had been putting the pressure on. Sylvestri went on to hold off Kevin Cole in the final lap after a late caution set up a one-lap race to the finish. John Gamber finished third followed by Randy Murday and Rick Dixon.
An interesting finish in the UMP Sport Compact feature capped off a great night of racing at Oakshade Raceway. Derek Morris and Steve Morris were once again the class of the field and took to the top two positions right after the drop of the green flag. Derek Morris led until he lost a tire coming off turn two with just two laps to go. Steve Morris took over the lead with Logan Hough in tow. Morris held on to pick up the victory with Hough having to settle for second. Rich Fowler started on the pole and ended up third with Regan Ford and Stephanie Miller rounding out the rest of the top five finishers.
Exciting racing action continues next Saturday, June 2 with another full show of UMP Late Models, UMP Sportsmen, UMP Bombers, Hornets and Sport Compacts. Gates open at 4pm with racing at 7pm.
