A night of racing sponsored by Don William’s Excavating provided for some of the most spectacular feature finishes of the year with both Kevin Reeve and Rich Ruff earning their first ever Oakshade feature wins with some last lap heroics.
Casey Noonan was the pole sitter of the UMP Late Model Feature and proceeded to lead the majority of the race.
Tyler Boggs worked his way up to second by lap seven and began to slowly chip away at the substantial lead Noonan had opened up.
A spin by Dan Wallace brought out the caution flag with five laps remaining and totally changed the complexion of the race.
Boggs closed up to Noonan’s rear bumper for the restart with serious contender Dona Marcoullier lurking in third.
Kevin Reeve took the restart in fourth behind the heavy-hitters in front of him, but as soon as the green flag dropped, he went to work in the outside groove. Coming out of virtually nowhere, Reeve got by Marcoullier and Boggs and then set up Noonan to pass him on the outside as they took the white flag.
The crowd rose to their feet as Noonan tried to battle back, but Reeve hung on to pick up his first Oakshade Raceway UMP Late Model Feature win in a very exciting finish.
Dona Marcoullier snuck by Boggs to finish third and Curtis Diesenroth ended up fifth.
That finish has set up what is sure to be an exciting Oakshade Raceway UMP Late Model Season Championship Night with Boggs taking over the point lead by just two over Casey Noonan. Rusty Schlenk fell to third in the points, but is only 30 behind Boggs. Ronnie Perrine Jr. who is fourth in points also has an outside shot at the title as he sits 72 points out of the lead.
Mike Jessen started on the pole of the UMP Sportsman Feature and mirrored what Casey Noonan had done in the UMP Late Model Feature by opening up a big lead at the start of the race.
Again, a late caution would change the outlook of the race with Rich Ruff, Brett Miller and Tim Line closed up right behind Jessen for the restart with just two laps to go.
Ruff jumped to the outside of Jessen and didn’t hold anything back sending sparks flying as he scraped the front stretch wall while side by side with Jessen as the duo took the white flag. Ruff finally cleared Jessen as they entered turn three and led Jessen back to the finish line.
Ruff made it a clean sweep on the night, earning his first Oakshade UMP Sportsman Heat win and Feature win. Jessen finished a close second followed by point leader Brett Miller and Tim Line. Brian Fisher finished fifth.
Jim Scout managed to start on the pole and lead his entire feature race all the way to the checkered flag in the UMP Bomber A Main, but once again, Don Williams Excavating Night produced another exciting finish with three drivers battling for the win in the final lap.
Dean Taylor and Billy Brown got together exiting turn four turning Brown sideways to bring out a yellow flag with just three laps to go.
Craig Dippman has been extremely strong the past month and a half, winning four of the last five UMP Bomber A Mains at Oakshade and he, along with Garry Domoe both took a shot to the inside of Jim Scout on the final lap. Scout was able to hang on to come away with his third A Main win of the year and add a little cushion to his point lead in the UMP Bomber division.
Craig Dippman edged out Garry Domoe for second. Jake Gamber finished fourth and Tim Mullendore came home fifth after starting tenth.
Josh Froelich led the first three laps of the UMP Hornet Feature until a Derek Morris spin brought out the caution flag. Dylan Herman took advantage and snatched the lead away on the ensuing restart.
The fifteen-year-old driver went on to win his sixth feature of the year followed by Oakshade’s UMP Hornet point leader Drew Smith. Froelich slipped back to finish third followed by Derek Morris, who worked his way back up to fourth after his early caution, and Dylan Burt.
Wauseon, Ohio’s Matt Lane led from flag to flag in the UMP Bomber B Main en route to his second B Main win of the year. Dan Plath finished second with Kyle Light third. Joe Cordes and Bob Krumm rounded out the rest of the top five finishers.
Tim Fisher was challenging Nathan Goodman for the early lead in the UMP Bomber C Main before retiring to the pits after one lap. Goodman then created his own problems on lap four when he gave up the lead after spinning in turn two.
Brad Brehm inherited the lead and went on to post his first feature win over James Kepling, Michael Goodman, Mike Treece and Jesse Bergan.
See who will be crowned champion as four drivers are still in the hunt entering the final night of Oakshade Raceway UMP Late Model points racing which should make for an entertaining UMP Late Model Season Championship Night coming up on Saturday, August 29. UMP Sportsmen, UMP Bombers and UMP Hornets will also be back in action with gates opening at 4pm and racing at 7pm.