ChopRacing

Great Racing By Local Riders At OOM / Lakeville Flat Track

OOM Media Relations / Sunday, July 26th, 2009
All photos courtesy of Diane Bemiller

Heavy rains and thunderstorms the day before put a damper on track preparation, delaying the start of the inaugural Ohio Outlaw Motorsports event at Lakeville Speedway, but conditions improved as the day progressed, making for some tight battles on the Holmes County dirt track. Competitors of all ages on motorcycles, quads and UTVs from throughout Ohio and neighboring states turned out for the flat track race, the eighth of fourteen scheduled OOM events.



As always, the Exodus Cycles Pro Quad division was hotly contested, with riders chasing the $500 purse, $200 to win, twelve lap feature race. Gambier’s Andrew Hart, no stranger to the OOM victory circle with multiple victories under his belt, was first off the starting line to lead the pack into turn one. In tow were Warsaw’s Derrick Buxton and Derek Davis of Dresden, as Hart was able to open a scant three bike length lead, and no more.

Buxton and Davis ran single file, keeping Hart in sight for the first five laps, but Davis starting working different lines on his SC Racing sponsored Yamaha, and began to challenge the RB Drilling sponsored Yamaha of Buxton for second. The battle for second continued for the rest of the feature, as further back in the pack Millersburg’s Craig Shoup and Mike Sheldon of Danville began to make their way through the field.


Close racing between Millersburg’s Craig Shoup and Derek Hastings of Forest.

Shoup edged his Exodus Cycles sponsored Suzuki around Sheldon on lap five, but on lap eight, Sheldon passed both Shoup and Travis Raber of Millersburg. Hart led every single lap, making no errors in his first experience with Lakeville Speedway, but the second spot was a non-stop battle between Buxton and Davis for the entire race. Davis had the strong drive out of two, going side-by-side with Buxton into three but was unable to capture the position.

Hart took the checkers and the dominant feature win, with Buxton and Davis second and third respectively. Millersburg’s Marvin Troyer finished fourth and Mike Sheldon made a last lap pass into fifth, with Shoup finishing sixth.


Gambier’s Andrew Hart in OOM victory circle after winning Exodus Cycles Pro Quad feature at Lakeville Speedway

The Valley ATV sponsored Sport UTV division began with yet another twist. Competitors sat abreast on the starting line, facing backwards, and each had to chomp down an entire hot dog at the drop of the green flag, prior to firing up their machines taking off. With foil wrappers tossed aside, Mt. Vernon’s Doug Staats hit the ignition and left the starting area, followed by Fredericktown’s Ronny Flynn and Ron Dye of Centerburg. At the conclusion of one clockwise lap, the UTVs got on the binders, doing a 180 in turn four, and rocketed down the front stretch for twelve traditional laps. Staats led all twelve laps of the Valley ATV Sport UTV division, but a last lap move put Dye in position to finish second ahead of Flynn.


Doug Staats of Mt. Vernon wins Valley ATV Sport UTV feature

There was no shortage of drama in the Sportsman Quad division, which prohibits sway bars and requires all quads to have knobby tires. Just two laps into the second heat race, Shane Campbell of Frazeysburg swerved to avoid colliding with a looped-out quad, began sliding broadside, caught traction and went flipping through the air above turn four. Campbell was soon on his feet, to the applause and relief of spectators, and hauled his machine to the pits for frantic attempts at repair.


Shane Campbell of Frazeysburg running the low line at Lakeville

The SC Racing Apparel and Parts sponsored quad of Campbell was repaired enough to make the feature start, setting the stage for a thrilling ten laps. Wooster’s Brent Edington had the lead for the first two laps, but lost traction in turn two, coming to a stop that brought out the red flag. The single-file restart put Campbell into the lead, but Edington was on the move, coming from the tail, passing Taylor Gassor for second on lap five. Campbell had the low line, with Edington sailing around the high side through three and four, as both riders repeatedly drag raced down the back stretch. Despite his hair-raising tumble in the heat race, Campbell was smooth down low, until Edington finally made the top work, passing for the win the final time out of turn four.

Next for Ohio Outlaw Motorsports will be flat track racing at Lakeville Speedway on Sunday, August 9th. The August 9th event also serves to qualify Pro Quad Division riders for an exhibition feature on Friday night, August 14th, to be run in conjunction with the Lakeville Speedway stock car program. More information is available on the website www.ohiooutlawmotorsports.com

Class winners include: Sr. 50 Youth Bike: Will Nicholson; Jr. 50 Youth Bike: Jack Welsh; 70 Youth Quad: Tucker Kaufman, Millersburg; 110 Youth Quad: Nathaniel Hoffer; 110 Youth Bike: Brady Hood, Glenmont; Lt. Knobby Bike: Errick Flinner, Big Prairie; Senior Quad: Dan Swank, Bellville, Polaris; Stock 400 Quad: Todd Raber, Millersburg, Suzuki; BB Knobby Quad: Brent Edington, Wooster, Honda; BB Smooth Quad: Derrick Buxton, Coshocton, RB Drilling Yamaha; Sportsman Quad: Brent Edington, Wooster, Honda; Women’s Open Bike: Jeanne Flinner, Big Prairie; Open Bike: Tom Bruck, Granville, Honda; Valley ATV Sport UTV: Doug Staats, Mt. Vernon, Polaris; Exodus Cycles Pro Quad: Andrew Hart, Gambier, Yamaha.


Tom Bruck of Granville and Killbuck’s Scott Moore charge hard into turn one at Lakeville Speedway


Derek Davis of Dresden wins heat race on SC Racing sponsored Yamaha


Todd Raber of Millersburg rockets out of turn two in Stock 400 Quad Division