By Tom Gianinni

As the ASRS Super Late Model Series rolled into Oxford Plains, no two stories were bigger than the dominance of Justin Blackdeer and the suspension of Ty Hester. Hester, fourth in points, was suspended for two weeks following multiple incidents including one last week at the Bullring. The other story, Blackdeer, came into the event riding a huge wave of momentum as the driver led the points standings by 29 over second place Jim Foose. An interesting afternoon would be ahead for all of the drivers vying for the championship.

Jared Mogard would start the afternoon on the pole followed by Stephen Pearce, Jordan Harnish, Allan Young and points leader Justin Blackdeer. Second in points Jim Foose would start the night in 10th. Third in points Rex Hoyle’s team did not make the trip to Oxford Plains. Overall the night was clean and green with close and tough racing throughout the field. Track position would be key in this race as passing on the tiny track with no straightaways was very hard to come by. Another key to the night would be starting on the inside lane on restarts. If drivers found themselves on the outside lane, it may be ten positions back before they were able to find a place in line. Jared Mogard would lead the most laps on the night. Interestingly enough, his laps led came despite of early contact that relegated him to the back of the field. He charged up through the field to bring himself back into contention.

Other lap leaders included Justin Blackdeer, Matt Vaade and eventual winner Jacob Cochran. The afternoon would certainly take an interesting turn at the end of the night when there were multiple wrecks and incidents while racing for the lead. Justin Cochran would assume the lead under caution when the leaders at the time tangled. He would ride that caution to victory, a huge win for the him. Scott Smith finished second, Jared Mogard finished his bumpy night with an impressive podium finish. Jordan Harnish finished 4th and Tim Knott finished 5th. Justin Blackdeer would be a victim of late race contact for the lead and he would go on to finish 16th.

With the other points leaders struggling, his lead only shrank to 23 over second place Jim Foose. Jonathan Holstein climbed three spots into 3rd. Allan Young improved to 4th and Jared Mogard rounded out the top 5. Suspended Ty Hester fell to 9th. The series rolls into Richmond next Wednesday for the 9th race out of 16. Can Blackdeer get his train back on rails? Can Foose close in? Tune in next week!