After a forecast for rain and thunderstorms for Saturday afternoon, Oxford Plains Speedway postponed their regular divisions to Sunday afternoon, along with the Pro All-Star Series final tune-up 150 before the Oxford 250 in just under three weeks.
With a beautiful and warm afternoon on tap for Sunday, 24 Super Late Models made the attempt at the regular weekly 50-lap feature race. There were a few drivers though who regularly follow the Pro All-Star Series that made it an afternoon to get more track time and race in the weekly race.
Jimmy Renfrew Jr. was the car to beat in the weekly Super Late Model race, as he was working the outside line quickly from his 12th place starting spot. Renfrew was in the top 5 by lap 8 and was making quick work on the outside line.
Renfrew continued to march forward, eventually taking the lead away from Tom Abele Jr on lap 22, a weekly regular at Oxford Plains Speedway.
Another driver who invaded the regular 50-lap feature event, was the veteran and PASS Champion, DJ Shaw. Shaw was on the move from his sixth-place starting spot, but Renfrew was able to get around him quickly and lead the charge towards the front.
The lone caution of the 50-lap feature event flew on lap 25 for spin by Skip Stanley in turns 3 and 4.
This would bring the field back together, with Renfrew Jr. still out front and Abele Jr in 2nd. Shaw would get past Abele Jr on the restart and would fall in behind Renfrew Jr as the feature went on. Shaw would make charges on the outside throughout the end of the feature, but would ultimately settle for the second-place finish, as Jimmy Renfrew Jr. would go on to win the weekly feature event.
Renfrew Jr. had already planned to use this feature event to help his team get their Hamke Super Late Model dialed in for the final tune-up 150 ahead of the Oxford 250 in 3 weeks.
“We wanted to do the weekly race just for a test for the 150 this afternoon, and it just kind of worked out in our favor. The car’s been really good all day, and just thankful to be able to have some good speed today at Oxford,” Renfrew Jr. explains “going to get ready to go here again for the PASS 150 after this now. I think we can make the car a little bit better, so we’ll work on it a little bit here, and we’ll see what happens”
For second place finisher, DJ Shaw, he continues to build on his already deep notebook for Oxford Plains Speedway, especially ahead of the Oxford 250, a race that he continues to hunt down.
“Just not enough there at the end. I think we were a little better, just not enough better. He got us good. He fired off good, he had killer fire off speed and just got by us and then got a caution and then got away a little bit and just needed more laps there. But all in all, it was just kind of a test thing for us and a cheap way to have a little extra fun. So we did just that and came away with no damage and can put it back in the trailer,” a very content and happy DJ Shaw explained.
The highest-finishing weekly regular at Oxford was already multi-time winner this year, Brandon Barker, with a third place finish, and with Mike Rowe, who was the points leader heading into this weekend finishing 11th, Barker now takes the championship lead, but Barker is more hungry to be picking off wins.
“I try not to focus too much on the points. I just want to win, right? So, it is good. These two (Renfrew and Shaw) are gonna be pretty hard to beat. you know, anywhere. They’ll be contenders here in the next 150 laps. I will get to watch over there in turn one. But, yeah, just hopefully we can keep the momentum over the next 100 lapper race,” a happy Barker says.
Heading deeper into August and with the Oxford 250 looming, Barker knows him and the team need to keep their focus.
“That is my favorite race and I feel good. We just need things to go your way. Like a good draw, and all that. So hopefully we can do that. I know the car will be pretty good ,and hopefully we can finally get some good luck in that race,” a hopeful Barker says.
For another Oxford regular, Tom Abele Jr. it was a solid night after leading early on to start the feature, but eventually fell victim to the speed of Renfrew and Shaw charging through the field.
For Abele Jr., he will definitely take the top 5 finish with the names who showed up to race in the weekly feature event.
“We knew it was going to be hard to race against the guys with 4 new tires tonight like DJ and Jimmy. We just tried to get to the lead early against Lamb, which helped us in the long run and hang on for the best that we could. The only weekly car that got us on 2 tires was Barker. To finish behind him, on any night is not a bad night, so a lot of extra cars here today and a little more hectic than normal. So to come out of here in one piece with a top five, that’s a good points night for us,” a very content Abele Jr. explains.
With another top 5 finished for Tom Abele Jr and his team, they are fighting into the top 5 in the championship standings, and says this year has felt more difficult.
“This year, points wise is, the guys we are racing against are a little bit different than last year. Ijust think this year, it's a little tougher competition, and then we get sprinkled in with the PASS guys once in a while. We’ve been a lot more consistent and we know at least we have a car that can go the distance now,” a confident Abele Jr says.
Another weekly regular who had a strong run battling around the top 5 was Brodie Whorff,starting 7th, at times getting up to 4th, but would come home in 6th. Whorff felt like the day came to him and his team.
“All day we’ve been trying to find something and I think we’ve kind of found something that we like and the cars are going pretty good and yeah, but I couldn’t do it without all my guys. And so I got to thank them for all this. And Plant Seafood, Sidcoast. So thank you. Thank you to all of them that helped me,” a very grateful Whorff says.
For other weekly regulars, it was a more difficult afternoon for them and their teams. One being Evan Roy, where he was involved in a heat race incident, causing minor right front damage, but was able to complete the heat race. Roy who has been in the top 5 in the championship standings would roll off from 19th and would come home 13th.
As the feature got rolling, Evan Roy thought they were heading in the right direction, but handling then began to go away from his liking.
“We made a little ground and everything got really hot and seemed to lose a lot of grip there. It’s really hot today. A lot of guys really weren’t making much ground after the yellow, it seems like a few guys took off and I actually got worse, so I’m not sure what went wrong there, but yeah, just a kind of a crappy day all around there. But just gotta keep moving forward,” a disappointed Evan Roy explains.
Heading into the weekend, the winningest driver all-time at Oxford Plains Speedway, Mike Rowe was leading the championship standings. In his heat race, it appeared he was on the move, as he made his way to second, taking the high line, and even at times making it 3-wide. The feature would be a different story for the veteran, as he rolled off 17th, and would come home 11th.
Despite appearing he had things figured out in the heat race, Rowe was not happy with the handling.
“We were real, real loose in the heat race. Then in the feature we had a bleeder go bad on us, and then yeah, I was really loose off. We’re just lucky we got it in one piece. We got turned sideways once or twice there, but yeah, we’re just lucky to finish,” a grateful Mike Rowe says.
Results
Jimmy Renfrew Jr.
D.J. Shaw
Brandon Barker
Dave Farrington Jr.
Tom Abele Jr.
Brody Whorff
T.J. Brackett
Sylas Ripley
Ben Tinker
Steven Chicoine
Mike Rowe
Ryan Littlefield
Evan Roy
Brandon Varney
Scott McDaniel
Tim Brackett
Garrett Lamb
Dominic Curit
Kyle Salemi
Chad Dow
Skip Stanley
Troy Patterson
Max Rowe
Scott Robbins
