WAUSEON, OH – Devin Shiels appeared to be on his way to his second consecutive Oakshade Raceway UMP Late Model feature win but had something break in his rear end while leading with 10 laps to go in Saturday’s main event. Rusty Schlenk capitalized on his misfortune and earned his fourth feature win of the season.
Schlenk started the 25-lap main event on the outside of the second row and squeezed by Steve Kester and B.J. Gregory, three-wide, at the start. Schlenk would lead lap one, but Kester would battle back and reclaim the top spot by the completion of lap two. Schlenk and Kester would continue to battle side by side for the lead for the next few laps.
The Oakshade UMP Late Model point leader, Devin Shiels, took command of the race on lap seven after getting by both Schlenk and Kester.
The top three remained in a tight pack at the front as they started to work lapped traffic. Shiels began to put a little distance between himself and the battle for second and on lap 15, his car slowed on the backstretch and quickly ducked into the infield, retiring from the race.
Schlenk then inherited the lead and the McClure, Ohio driver went on to take the checkered flag. Kester finished second and Casey Noonan ended up third. Colin Shipley’s fourth-place finish moved him up to second in points heading in to next weekend’s season championship event. Mathew Chapman finished the race in fifth.
Josh Robertson leads Carter Schlenk in the Oakshade UMP Sportsman points and the two drivers got together on the first lap of the 20-lap feature event. Both drivers ended up having to restart at the tail.
Ryan Davis, from Weston, Michigan, started on the outside of the front row and drove to his second feature win of the season. Jake Gamber started on the pole and slipped back to finish second. The “Outlaw” Jesse Jones climbed seven positions from the start to finish third with Josh Robertson and Carter Schlenk, who was racing with a collar bone injury, recovering to round out the top five finishers. Robertson’s lead in the championship point standings is now 24 points over Schlenk.
After disappointment the week before with a DNF, William “Bubba” Cundick rebounded this week to lead from flag to flag in the 15-lap Dominator Super Stock A Main. The Wauseon, Ohio, driver started on the pole and stayed out front the entire race.
Scott Hammer worked his way up to third and then had the rear end come apart entering turn one on lap five which brought out the caution flag. Chane Stuckey got caught up in the incident as well and both drivers’ top five runs came to an end.
Cundick’s win tightens up the Dominator Super Stock point battle with Justin Gamber hanging on to a 12-point advantage over Cundick.
Last week’s A Main winner, John Lonabarger worked his way up to a second-place finish with Adam Noonan gaining four positions to finish third. Jarrett Rendel started on the outside of the front row and fell back to a fourth-place finish ahead of Justin Gamber.
The lead position was not kind in the Compact A Main. Cory Gumm led the first part of the race and then fell off the pace, eventually retiring to the pits. Compact point-leader and defending track champion Eric Carr took over the race lead and he would eventually slow with just three laps remaining.
Pioneer, Ohio’s Josh Bailey took over the race lead and managed to keep it together to checkered flag to earn his second A Main win of the season. Trinity Towery, James Stamper, Geoff Wasnick and Austin Gray were the rest of the top five finishers.
Despite Carr’s misfortune, he ended up finishing in sixth and still maintains a healthy 60-point lead over Jeff Goodman
Jayden Bleikamp from Wauseon, Ohio, started on the pole of the Dominator Super Stock B Main and led from flag to flag to earn his first B Main win of the season. Derek Zuver put the pressure on the first couple of laps as the two raced side by side for the top spot. Zuver would slip back to finish third behind Jason Drummond. Charles Stuckey and John Young finished fourth and fifth respectively.
Adrian, Michigan’s Jason Deshler got out to a big lead at the start of the Compact B Main, but multiple caution periods would keep the field somewhat tight. Deshler ended up being the class of the field and went on to earn his first B Main win of the season. Brett Ireland narrowly held off Josh Beaver for second. Gage Rushlow ended up fourth and Richard Froelich was fifth.
It is Season Championship Night for all classes this Saturday at Oakshade Raceway as well as the finale of the Oakshade/Attica Late Model Challenge Series. The night will feature a full racing program of UMP Late Models, UMP Sportsman, Dominator Super Stocks and Compacts. Gates open at 4pm with hot laps/qualifying at 6pm and racing at 7pm. Adult general admission is just $14, ages 6-11 are $5 and kids 5 and under are FREE! Pit passes are $25.
