Rusty Smith Tightens Oakshade Points Battle With 3rd Win
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WAUSEON, OH – Rusty Smith from Sylvania, Ohio, drove to his third feature win of the season at Oakshade Raceway Saturday night. His win tightened up the championship point battle heading into the final two weeks.
Smith started on the outside of the front row of the 25-lap DIRTcar UMP Late Model feature race and took the lead with point leader Carter Murday following in second on the first lap.
Last week’s feature winner, Steve Kester, moved his way up from his seventh-place starting position to challenge for the lead by lap seven. Kester got to the inside of Smith and the two drivers raced side by side for a couple laps before Smith turned up the wick and pulled back away from the field.
Smith caught the back end of the field by lap 13 and had issues trying to put a back marker a lap down. That allowed Kester and Murday to close back in, but then the yellow came out on lap 14 after Scott Boyd Jr. spun just in front of the leaders. That gave Smith clear race track in front of him for the restart.
Kester was able to close back in on Smith in the closing laps, but Smith held on to pick up his third feature win in four weeks. Smith enters the final two point weekends just 18 points behind Carter Murday in the track championship points. Murday finished the race in third behind Kester. Blake Creech finished fourth with Rusty Schlenk rebounding to finish fifth after having to restart at the tail of the field from an early caution.
The DCR Graphics Sportsman feature event showcased multiple lead changes in the final four laps. Early in the race, Adrian, Michigan’s Roman Brown established himself as the race leader. On a restart after a lap four caution, Kolin Schilt charged around the outside, passing two cars to take over the race lead. Schilt had his car hooked up on the outside groove and drove out to a decent lead and appeared to be on his way fourth feature win of the season.
Unfortunately, Schilt slipped up too high in turn four on lap 16 which allowed Brown to get by and reclaim the lead. Schilt fought back to retake the lead and once again slipped up high coming off turn four with the white flag in sight. Brown drove back by and took the lead a third time. Schilt lost too much ground to catch him in the final lap.
The former Palmyra Speedway Kids JR division go kart champion went on to pick up his first career DCR Graphics Sportsman feature win. Schilt settled for a second-place finish with Ian Palmer close behind. Mike Jessen finished fourth with point-leader and last week’s feature winner Ryan Davis fifth.
Mason Luttrell started on the pole of a caution-filled Dominator Super Stock A Main and took off to the early lead. Jeff Foks Jr. from Holland, Ohio, would challenge Luttrell for the lead until a caution on lap three. Luttrell’s good run would come to an end a lap later when he spun. Foks would go on to pick up his second feature win of the year with John Lonabarger getting by Jarrett Rendell late to finish second. Jake Rendel and Brad Eitnear were the rest of the top five finishers.
The Compact A Main produced another exciting finish. Nathan Goodman led much of the race which was also slowed multiple times for caution flags. The 12-minute time limit would expire during the last caution period setting up a one-lap race to the finish. Goodman’s car didn’t come up to speed on the restart which allowed Jason Deshler from Adrian, Michigan, to capture his third A Main win of the season. Eric Carr finished second followed by James Stamper and last week’s feature winner Nathen Spencer. Goodman limped across the finish in sixth.
The final event of the night was the Dominator Super Stock A Main. Sylvania, Ohio’s Scott Hammer started on the pole and drove away from the field. It was the first feature win for the Hammer Down Racing Report, TireHardware.com, Dippman Motorsports, Ron Miller Race Cars, Freeze Frame Photos, Cox Farms, Dominator Race Products sponsored driver. Levi Fisher finished second followed by Andy Lopresto and 13-year-old rookie Landon Bleikamp. Despite motor issues, John Young finished fifth.
This weekend Oakshade Raceway will host a full racing program featuring the final Oakshade/Attica Late Model Series event of the season. Along with the DIRTcar UMP Late Models, the DCR Graphics Sportsman, Dominator Super Stocks and Compacts will also be in action. Gates open at 4pm with hot laps/qualifying at 6pm and racing at 7:30pm. Adult general admission is just $15, ages 6-11 are $5 and kids 5 and under are FREE! Pit passes are $25.
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