Buxton Speedway
Notes: Oakes masters South Buxton in debut
Greg Oakes won in his first trip to South Buxton Raceway.
MERLIN, Ontario (July 30) — Even though Greg Oakes led every lap of Saturday night’s Ontario Dirt Late Model main event at South Buxton Raceway, the 30-lap, $2,000-to-win race was far from a walk in the park for the two-time series champion.
Oakes of Franklinville, N.Y., had to fend off numerous challenges from Andrew Reaume of Blenheim, and Lee Gill of Lafargeville, N.Y., while also navigating heavy traffic on his way to winning the race, which marked the tour’s first visit to the 3/8-mile racetrack that celebrated its 40th anniversary on the same night. | Oakes wins at South Buxton
"It definitely was hair-raising," Oakes said of the race, which included an opening green-flag run of 18 laps that forced leaders to deal with slower traffic for more than a dozen consecutive circuits. "We got into some heavy lapped traffic but fortunately we were able to roll on the bottom, keep the car straight and stay out of trouble."
Oakes anticipated that things might get dicey in the main event, so he had a crew member in place who could use hand signals to indicate how close his competitors were and what lines they were running. That didn’t matter much, however, as Oakes didn’t have very many opportunities to glance away from the racetrack.
"I had a guy keeping an eye on things for me but I didn't dare look at him with so much going on the racetrack," said Oakes, who was finally able to put some breathing room between himself and his pursuers following the lap-18 restart. "He was trying to tell me that they were closing in … so I was kind of happy to see that first caution so we could get out of that mess.”
Making his first appearance at South Buxton, Oakes showed his ability to adapt quickly by mastering the unique D-shaped track. After the race, he admitted that his acclimation process was easier thanks to his familiarity with another track similar to South Buxton.
"Mercer (Raceway Park) is somewhat like this, it's the same shape but it's quite a bit bigger," Oakes said of the 3/8-mile racetrack in Pennsylvania. "This place is definitely racy. You can run all over the track. That's all you can ask for … give me a race track that you can race side-by-side."
Mastering the track’s unique configuration wasn’t all that propelled Oakes to the victory. The track racing surface was also in ideal shape for the veteran driver.
"I like the dry-slick. We've been really working on our slick set up and it seems we really shine," Oakes said. "I heard some guys complaining about how slippery it was, but the bottom line, we only had about three cautions and the racing was pretty good. I had no problems.”
Sprint car convert happy with third
While Oakes succeeded in his South Buxton debut, the third-place finish was nearly just as rewarding as winning for Ridgetown, Ontario’s Adam West, a sprint car driver who was making his first start in a Late Model at the track he’s very familiar with.
"It was great," West, a two-time winner in sprint cars at South Buxton, said of his Late Model debut at the track. "I drove the track kind of like I do the sprint car … just kept it straight on the bottom and it worked out well.”
While driving the track like he does in his sprint car paid off with a third-place finish, West thought he may have finished even better if he’d braved the track’s high groove.
"The car might have worked better if I would have went up high but I kind of chickened out and just kept it in line,” West said. “If guys wanted to pass me, they were going to earn it around the top."
The strong run is a positive note in a season that hasn’t been quite up to West’s expectations. He’s struggled considerably this year in his sprint car, including suffering a broken nose when a large piece of clay hit him in his race car.
"The way the year has gone between the (Late Model) and sprint car, I was happy to see the checkered flag at the end of the night," West said. "It's just been a brutal year. We're fast everywhere we've been. We're still encouraged or else we would have pulled the plug a long time ago. ... but this is our potential, running third and hopefully we can keep it the rest of the year."
Odds and ends
West wasn't surprised to see a driver like Oakes win in his first trip to South Buxton. "It's a unique track, but Greg is good wherever he goes," he said. "We're up against these guys from New York who are almost professional racers who are used to seeing a lot of different tracks. They adapt and they're fast right out of the box.” ... When asked if he planned to return to South Buxton for the track’s season-ending Shootout event on Sept. 24, Oakes said he would love to, but "we have a race close to home that pays $12,000, so that makes it tough. I wish it wasn't on the same weekend but if something happens, I'd be interested in coming back.” ... Dale Glassford's last-place finish came on the heels of a 23rd-place finish at Brighton a week earlier after getting involved in a first-lap pileup. He exited midway through the long green-flag run at the start of Saturday's main event. ... The four-race Ontario Dirt Late Models tour concludes with back-to-back dates at Brockville Speedway on Aug. 20 and Cornwall Motor Speedway on Aug. 21.
