WAUSEON, OH – After last week’s originally scheduled season finale was rained out, Oakshade Raceway decided to extend the racing season one more week by adding an additional night of racing this past Saturday. It was a topless Ryan Missler that prevailed over a large field of late models for his second feature win of the season.
Dusty Moore led the first part of the 25-lap late model feature event after starting from the pole. Missler, out of Bellevue, Ohio, started fifth in his topless late model and worked his way passed Brad Wade to take over the second position by lap 10. Soon after, Wade would spin and bring out the yellow flag. Moore and Missler raced side by side after the restart with Missler having the edge on lap 11. Moore would fight back to regain the lead the following lap. Another caution on lap 16 would give Missler another shot at Moore for the lead. Missler was able to take the lead on lap 17 and this time maintain the top spot all the way to the checkered flag. Chad Finley posted a second-place finish with unofficial 2019 track champion Devin Shiels ending up third. Dusty Moore faded to a fourth-place finish with Rusty Schlenk rounding out the top five.
The Sportsman feature event got off to an exciting start as the field spread out four-wide for the lead. Swanton, Ohio’s B.J. Gregory was able to get out in front and lead from flag to flag. Unofficial 2019 track champion Jerry Signor was able to close in on Gregory while working lapped traffic until a debris caution came out with three laps remaining. Signor’s hopes of winning would end abruptly after spinning coming off turn four to take the white flag. Gregory went on to pick up the victory. Joel Morton ended up finishing second followed by Drew Smith, Karl Spoores and Chester Fitch.
Jamie Grochowski hadn’t raced in over a year but hopped in Amy Clair’s 711 and was the class of the Hot Rod Welding & Engineering Bomber A Main field. The Toledo, Ohio driver got the lead at the start and was able to fend off another driver who had been out of a race car for most of the year, Craig Dippman. Dippman, in only his second start of the season, moved up to second by lap four. Grochowski held on to pick up the feature win with Dippman settling for a second place finsh. Rich Riffe, who also has been out of a race car most of the season, ended up third with Adam Noonan fourth. Justin Gamber was caught up in a bit of a scuffle earlier in the race but was able to drive his battered machine to a fifth-place finish.
Cameron Tusing has had success late this season in the Napa of Swanton Sport Compact class and started on the pole of the feature. Tusing didn’t get a great start and fell back at the drop of the green flag. Waldron, Michigan’s Brogan Rehklau grabbed the lead and went on to win easily. Nathan Goodman finished second and Tusing was able to recover for a third-place finish. Eric Carr and Joe Elliott were the rest of the top five finishers. Megan Elliott experienced a little post-race excitement as her car burst into flames on the backstretch just after the checkered flag. She was able to quickly extricate herself from the burning vehicle.
The final race of the season was the Hot Rod Welding & Engineering Bomber B Main. Curt Dickie from Lyons, Ohio, was able to pass Bobby Swagger for the lead on the second lap. Dickie proceeded to open up a big lead for the eventual victory. Haley Dippman took home a second-place finish followed by Josh Corkwell, Dave McMannamy. Swagger slipped back to end up fifth. With the 2019 racing season in the books, the only two events that remain on the Oakshade Raceway calendar are the Swap Meet on Saturday, October 19 and the awards banquet on Saturday, December 7.
