Oakshade Raceway
Oakshade-ruling Miller wins Wildermuth Memorial
WAUSEON, Ohio (June 20) — Matt Miller of Waterville, Ohio, maintained his hot streak of Oakshade Raceway on Saturday in the Butch Wildermuth Memorial with a $2,000 Sunoco American Late Model Series victory. The fourth-starting Miller took the lead from polesitter Rick DeLong of Whitehouse, Ohio, an on early restart and never looked back.
Miller, who won the previous weekend's Barney Oldfield Memorial, has three victories and a second-place finish in four 2009 trips to Oakshade.
Outside front-row starter and reigning ALMS champion Rusty Schlenk of Jackson, Mich., finished second followed by Tyler Boggs of Warsaw, Ind., who advanced five spots to finish third. DeLong was fourth and 11th-starting Jon Henry of Ada, Ohio, rounded out the top five at the 3/8-mile oval. Henry maintained his series points lead. Rich Neiser of Fruitport, Mich., started third and ran among the leaders early before rolling to a stop on the fourth lap.
Notes: Miller's car is sponsored by MW Auto Body Shop, PRC and McCullough Industries. ... Miller has 17 career ALMS victories, fifth on the all-time list behind Kris Patterson (36), Jeep Van Wormer (24), Shane Yoder (18) and Brian Ruhlman (18). ... Ky Harper of Holland, Ohio, third in series points but without his regular No. 34 car, spun his borrowed No. 77 car on the first lap of the feature and was the first retiree. ... A flat tire knocked Shawn Negangard of Osgood, Ind, out of the race. ... Hillard Miller of Defiance, Ohio, came out of retirement and won a heat race, but he pulled out of the feature with mechanical problems while running in the top five.
Butch Wildermuth Memorial: (1) Matt Miller, (2) Rusty Schlenk, (3) Tyler Boggs, (4) Rick DeLong, (5) Jon Henry, (6) Ronnie Perrine Jr., (7) Casey Noonan, (8) Tom Sprague, (9) Brian Ruhlman, (10) Ryan Vanderveen, (11) Dusty Moore, (12) Ryan Missler, (13) Phil Ausra, (14) Rob Anderzack, (15) Mike Miller, (16) Brad Eitniear, (17) Kerry Mathew, (18) Eric Spangler, (19) Hillard Miller, (20) Shawn Negangard, (21) Rich Neiser, (22) Ky Harper. Heat race winners (among 41 cars): Ausra, M. Miller, Neiser, H. Miller. Consolation winners: Eitniear, Noonan.