By: Scott Hammer
WAUSEON, OH – The 2020 Oakshade Raceway DIRTcar UMP Late Model Champion Steve Kester earned his third feature win of the season on Saturday night, leading from flag to flag in the 25-lap main event.
Kester, from Holland, Ohio, started inside row two and got around Joel Morton and Rich Ruff on the first lap to take the lead.
A couple of yellow flags would tighten the field back up behind Kester for the restarts, but once the green flag dropped he was able to pull away from the rest of the field.
In the closing laps, Kester had to work through some heavy lapped traffic which allowed Oakshade point-leader Carter Murday and Colin Shipley to make up some ground on the race leader, but it wasn’t enough as Kester was able to take the checkered flag.
Murday and Shipley finished a close second and third respectively with last week’s winner, Rusty Smith, finishing fourth. Jake Rendel picked up 10 positions from the start to finish fifth.
Ryan Davis added to his DCR Graphics Sportsman point lead with his fourth feature win of the season and his second in two weeks. The Weston, Michigan, driver had to work for it after starting sixth. Kolin Schilt entered the night a distant second in points after motor issues sidelined him last week.
Schilt was able to finish second and minimize the points lost to Davis with only three nights left in the points championship. Matt Ringger, Shane Estes and Chris Williams were the rest of the top five finishers.
John Lonabarger and Adam Noonan fought for the early lead in the Dominator Super Stock A Main with Noonan gaining the early advantage.
Lonabarger regrouped and moved by on the inside of Noonan a few laps later. The driver from Pioneer, Ohio, went on to pull away from the rest of the field to pick up his first A Main win of the season and second of his career.
Jeff Foks Jr. got by Noonan and settled for second after he was unable to track down Lonabarger. Noonan finished third followed by Chane Stuckey and Jarrett Rendel.
The Compact A Main feature was stopped right after the initial green flag when Wesley Belkofer got upside down to bring out the red flag. After another first lap caution on the ensuing restart, Ryan Okuley found himself out front with the lead.
The New Bavaria, Ohio, driver went on to hold off Nathan Goodman for his third consecutive feature win. Ken Wells edged out Eric Carr to finish third with point-leader Jason Deshler coming home fifth.
Scott Barnhart from Waterville, Ohio, started on the pole of the Dominator Super Stock B Main and led the entire distance to earn his first feature win of the season.
Jeremiah Gilbert finished second with John Young beating Derek Zuver by a nose to finish third. Cody Stetten started deep in the field and finished fifth.
Nathan Spencer took the easy win in the final event of the night, the Compact B Main, after starting on the pole. Nathan Goodman was battling in the top five before a hard crash on lap two ended his night.
Warren Barrand finished second behind Spencer who is from Rudolph, Ohio. Megan Elliott, Ricky Riffe II and Peyton Hovis were the rest of the top five finishers.
This weekend Oakshade Raceway will once again host full racing program of DIRTcar UMP Late Models, DCR Graphics Sportsman, Dominator Super Stocks and Compacts.
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.