Jim Scout padded what was a narrow Oakshade Raceway UMP Bomber point lead by picking up his third A Main win of the year in the M&K Metals $500 to win Bomber Bash while Brian Ruhlman had a dominating performance in the UMP Late Model feature for his first win of the year.
The UMP Bomber A Main kicked off the night’s feature events. Jim Plotts darted to the lead after starting on the outside of the front row, but Scout quickly closed in and took command on lap two.
In only his second time behind the wheel of his son’s Bomber, Tim Line flew out to the lead on lap three and appeared to have the car to beat early in the race. Line picked up a feature win the first time driving that car a few weeks back.
Scout came back and started to pressure Line for the lead with Jeff Foks running a close third. Scout and Line ran many laps side by side for the lead, but Scout eventually reclaimed the top spot by getting by on the inside on lap 14. Scout held on to lead the remaining six laps of the M&K Metals Bomber Bash and picked up the check for $500 for winning. Craig Dippman got by Line to finish second. Jeff Foks finished fourth and Todd Silvey gained the most positions after starting 14th to finish fifth.
Next to take to the track was the 25-lap UMP Late Model feature that had Zach Olger and Josh Scott starting on the front row. Neither driver had anything for Brian Ruhlman who started on the outside of the second row and wasted no time getting the lead by the completion of lap one. Rusty Schlenk moved up to second by lap four, but Ruhlman had already opened up a commanding lead. Schlenk caught a break after Mike Miller slammed the front stretch wall to bring out the only caution in the race on lap six. That put Schlenk right to the inside of Ruhlman who elected to start on the outside for the double-file restart. Schlenk couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity as Ruhlman once again rocketed out front and opened up his advantage to capture his first Oakshade feature win of the year. Schlenk held on to finish second with Casey Noonan taking third. Dona Marcoullier was on a late race charge moving up to finish fourth after starting 12th. Curtis Roberts ended up fifth.
B.J. Gregory has had several strong runs in the past few weeks and finally was able to earn his very first UMP Sportsman feature win on Saturday night. He started on the pole and never looked back. Brice Luttrell was running in the top five and brought out a caution on lap three sending him to the tail. Luttrell then brought out another caution on lap 12 that ended the night for the driver that already has two UMP Sportsman feature wins this season.
No one was able to catch Gregory who was the first to the checkered flag with Rusty Smith moving up nicely to finish second ahead of Tim Line, Mike Jessen and Rich Ruff.
In Oakshade Hornet action, sixteen-year-old Dylan Herman picked up an impressive sixth feature win of the year. Despite some early pressure from Drew Smith, Herman was able to take a relatively easy victory. Smith finished second while Derek Morris was able to fend off William Cundick for third after the two drivers battled for much of the race. Ben Finch III was fifth.
Gabe Mueller made a good run in the UMP Bomber B Main sponsored by M&K Metals to try to win his very first Bomber feature. He started on the pole and led the first few laps, but Joe Cordes from Napoleon, Ohio, had other plans and took over the lead on lap five. Things went from bad to worse for Mueller when he was involved in an accident with Ron Bloomfield Jr. on lap eight that ended his night.
Cordes went on to pick up his second B Main win of the year. Steve Morris was second followed by Joe Overmyer, Gregg Detray and Josh Montague.
The early leaders of the UMP Bomber C Main took each other out of contention just after completing the first lap. It happened with Tim McNicol leading and Donovan Paskin challenging. The two drivers had contact entering turn one. Both drivers spun which brought out the caution flag. That allowed Nathan Goodman to inherit the lead. A lead he would not relinquish on his way to his first feature win. Dave “Gumby” Golembiewski finished a close second with Shaun Sharp in third. Tim McNicol recovered after the early caution to finish fourth with Dean Taylor rounding out the top five.
The biggest event of the season takes place on Saturday, July 17 with the 12th Annual Birthday Race/UMP Summer Nationals Finale paying $10,000 to win. Gates will open at 10am on Saturday and fans will be allowed in the pits without a pit pass until 4pm to meet drivers and get autographs. Racing will begin at 7:45pm with UMP Late Models, UMP Bombers and Hornets in action. For more information, visit www.oakshaderaceway.com.
