Rusty Schlenk, the “Jackson Assassin,” made his way back to victory lane for the first time this season at Oakshade Raceway in a close UMP Late Model feature over Casey Noonan while Jim Scout dominated the first ever Spring Bomber Clash sponsored by Extreme Chassis.
Schlenk started on the outside of the of the front row and darted out to the lead at the drop of the green flag. Casey Noonan got the jump on Schlenk on a double-file restart after a lap three debris caution. Noonan held the lead for a few laps until Schlenk made it by on lap six. The two drivers continued their heated battle for the lead racing side by side lap after lap and swapping the lead back and forth.
Schlenk eventually got control and began to pull away in the closing laps on his way to the feature win which put him in the early season point lead. The defending track champion, Casey Noonan finished second followed by Jeff Babcock, Devin Shiels and Kevin Reeve who started deep in the field.
Tim Fisher led the first seven laps of the UMP Sportsman feature while Brice Luttrell and Mike Jessen worked their way toward the front. Luttrell moved into second on lap six and got by Fisher for the lead on lap eight. Jessen followed Luttrell past Fisher for second. Jessen then began to pressure Luttrell for the top spot, but Luttrell held him off to earn his first UMP Sportsman feature win at Oakshade Raceway. Last week’s feature winner, Tim Line, finished third behind Mike Jessen. George Lindsey was fourth and Tim Fisher slipped back to end up fifth.
Jim Scout wasted no time in taking command of the Spring Bomber Clash UMP Bomber A Main feature event after starting on the outside of the front row. Scout started to open up a large lead on the rest of the field until a caution on lap seven slowed things down and allowed Danny Hogrefe to start alongside Scout in the double-file restart. Using a borrowed motor, Scout once again pulled away and was the class of the field. Scout’s first feature win of the year earned him $500 courtesy of Extreme Chassis. Hogrefe gave it everything he had and ended up second with Billy Brown working through heavy traffic to finish third. Dan Shaffer finished fourth with Jeff Foks ending up fifth.
The Oakshade Hornet feature was dominated by Dylan Herman who got a good run at the start to the inside of Derek Morris. Herman led every lap of the event while Derek Morris and Drew Smith had a good battle going for second with Morris coming out on top of that battle behind Herman. Josh Froelich came home fourth while Katie Frederick posted a fifth place finish.
Kevin Cole and Tim McNicol battled for the early lead in the UMP Bomber B Main, but Terry Rushlow, who started elevnth, took the lead on lap two. Rushlow went on to an easy victory over Kevin Cole. Third place went to Jeff Geis after starting 16th. Marty Bloomer was fourth while Joe Smith gained the most positions to finish fifth after starting 22nd.
An early three-wide battle for the lead in the UMP Bomber C Main was nullified when the caution flag flew for an incident involving Craig Strow and Rick Foreman after Dean Taylor and Joe Cordes split Jake Reckner while battling for the lead. Reckner couldn’t take advantage of the break to maintain the lead as Taylor took over on lap three. Cordes ended up second while Joe Overmyer finished third after starting deep in the field. Reckner slipped back to fourth and Gabe Mueller finished fifth after also starting deep in the field.
Nascar superstar Kenny Schrader will be joining the competition among the UMP Late Models at Oakshade Raceway this Saturday, May 22 sponsored by Leo’s Metal and Wood and L&M Enterprise Concrete. UMP Sportsmen, UMP Bombers and Hornets will also be in action with the gates opening at 4pm and racing at 7pm.
