Wayne Chinn wins Oakshade Raceway feature

Saturday, May 2, 2009 – Where to race? That was the question posed to many dirt late model racers in the Buckeye State. The WoO Late Model show for KC Raceway was cancelled, the state had been pounded by rain in the days leading up to this racing weekend and many Saturday night shows had been called on Friday.

Bradford, OH racer and former Lucas Oil rookie of the year Wayne Chinn and crew settled on Oakshade Raceway. This UMP track in the Northwest corner of the state, is a late model heavy track. Drawing 40-50 cars a night is a weekly thing. Chinn had decided to drop off the Lucas Oil series in favor of running more local shows. Since making that decision three weeks ago, Wayne has four wins and a 2nd place finish in 5 races. Not bad stats for 2 weekends of racing. Whether you want to call this Cherry Pickin or not is your call. The dictionary definition states this “the activity of pursuing the most lucrative, advantageous, or profitable among various options and leaving the less attractive ones for others”. My thoughts are we may see more national level drivers do the same thing. This can be a bad thing if you are a local weekly racer who never leaves his home track. I also think running against a guy who has a lot of traveling experience like this week in and week out will help these local drivers. I do not think it guarantees that Wayne will win every show he enters. How many guys run a track weekly, who rarely have a chance of winning, or even making the show? There are no givens in racing, but a lot of work, and luck. Did Wayne ever win any Lucas races, or a dirt late model crown jewel? I have seen a lot of really good drivers/cars wreck in lapped traffic while leading a race. The ALMS regulars will give him some competition, when he races with them. If he keeps winning, I think it will win him have fans and also win him some boo’s. A rivalry is an excellent thing for racing, be it a regional series or something more national. People will want to see him get beat, drivers will want to beat him. No one wins forever, and no one wins every race. I feel it is a good thing, and hope they keep winning. Soon enough that will get boring, and he will move back to racing with a National series.