PIECE OF CAKE: Moran Wins 24th Annual Birthday Race at Oakshade
Teenage polesitter Shipley leads opening laps, finishes sixth, car builder Schlenk runner-up
WAUSEON, OH – July 16, 2022 – His father Donnie did it in 1999, and now Devin Moran has a big slice of Birthday Race cake cut all for himself.
Moran took the lead from Colin Shipley on Lap 10 and never looked back, leading the final 31 circuits around Oakshade Raceway Saturday night en route to Victory Lane in the 24th running of the Birthday Race.
“To win the Birthday Race is pretty cool,” said Moran, of Dresden, OH. “I never get to come up here, but it’s a home-state track. To come out here and win is definitely a lot of fun.”
He and father Donnie Moran now join six-time Hell Tour champion Billy Moyer and son Billy Moyer Jr. as the only two father-son duos to win the coveted Summer Nationals event.
“The crowd and the fanbase here are pretty electric, and it’s a lot of fun to come race in front of these guys,” Moran said. “To win it with my dad is pretty badass.”
Moran took the green from third on the starting grid and wasted zero time in his charge to the front, getting around Payton Freeman for second on Lap 2 and setting his sights on leader Shipley, who was nearly two seconds ahead at one point.
When 16-year-old Shipley, of Weston, OH, reached lapped traffic and overshot Turns 1-2 on Lap 10, Moran was ready to pounce in the bottom lane and zoomed by to capture the top spot.
“I was just being patient and letting [Shipley] go as hard as he could,” Moran said. “I knew eventually, he was going to mess-up a little bit. When he did, I slid underneath him and tried to hold on from there.”
But his fight wasn’t done there. Moran encountered a heavy challenge from six-time Oakshade track champion Rusty Schlenk in the closing stages. Schlenk, of McClure, OH, worked his way up through the top-five after starting eighth and came to life in the second half. He pressured Moran heavily after a restart with 13-to-go, then threw a big slide job at him to take the lead for one turn before Moran crossed him back over in Turn 4 to regain the spot.
Despite more pressure from the #91 in the final laps, Moran was able to hold on to score the $10,000 check and his fourth career Summer Nationals Feature win.
Schlenk held on for second while Bobby Pierce crossed in third after dropping as low as eighth at one point early on. Payton Freeman bagged his fifth top-five finish of the season with a fourth-place run, and defending track champion Devin Shiels rounded-out the top-five.
UP NEXT
The DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models are back in action Sunday, July 17, for the tour debut at Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, OH. If you can’t be there in person, watch every lap live on DIRTVison.
57 entries
DIRTCAR LATE MODELS
Feature (40 Laps): 1. 9-Devin Moran[3]; 2. 91-Rusty Schlenk[8]; 3. 32-Bobby Pierce[4]; 4. F1-Payton Freeman[2]; 5. 51S-Devin Shiels[10]; 6. 44S-Colin Shipley[1]; 7. 71DS-Drew Smith[17]; 8. 27H-Ken Hahn[13]; 9. 30-Mark Voigt[21]; 10. 14G-Joe Godsey[7]; 11. 71-Rusty Smith[23]; 12. 1N-Casey Noonan[22]; 13. 77K-Steve Kester[14]; 14. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[5]; 15. 8-Rob Anderzack[12]; 16. 4D-Doug Tye[15]; 17. 75-Dusty Moore[19]; 18. 22-Brad Eitniear[20]; 19. 63-Terry Rushlow[6]; 20. 55-Jeep Van Wormer[18]; 21. 34-Herb Reich[16]; 22. 53-Hillard Miller[9]; 23. R4-Rich Ruff[11]; 24. 14R-Jeff Roth[24]
Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps): 1. 75-Dusty Moore[4]; 2. 22-Brad Eitniear[6]; 3. 49L-Matt Lindsey[5]; 4. 06-Jake Rendel[9]; 5. 31AUS-Joe Chalmers[3]; 6. 22F-Nicholas Fenner[7]; 7. 20-Jim Plotts[12]; 8. 23NZ-Mick Quin[8]; 9. 7-Drake Troutman[1]; 10. 30-Mark Voigt[10]; 11. 39-Brandon Moore[15]; 12. 14R-Jeff Roth[14]; 13. P0-Jeff Robertson[16]; 14. 1N-Casey Noonan[13]; 15. (DNS) 23-Brad Wade; 16. (DNS) 67-Chris Keller
Consolation Race 1 (10 Laps): 1. 1N-Casey Noonan[7]; 2. 39-Brandon Moore[2]; 3. 47J-Cody Laney[4]; 4. P33-Josh Robertson[11]; 5. (DNS) G15-Jacob Gamber; 6. (DNS) 50-Ryan Missler; 7. (DNS) D3-Dan Gehring; 8. (DNS) 87-Jeff Geis; 9. (DNS) 71-Rusty Smith; 10. (DNS) 36-Joel Morton; 11. (DNS) 28-Steve Reeves; 12. (DNS) 56-BJ Gregory; 13. (DNS) 10-Chad Doxsee; 14. (DNS) 19JH-Jimmy Houston
Consolation Race 2 (10 Laps): 1. 14R-Jeff Roth[12]; 2. P0-Jeff Robertson[5]; 3. 22JR-Bill Reeves Jr[2]; 4. 95M-Steve Miller[4]; 5. 38-Thomas Hunziker[1]; 6. 42*-Bob Mayer[13]; 7. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[10]; 8. E55-Chris Sands[9]; 9. 55R-Kevin Mack[7]; 10. LIL91-Carter Schlenk[6]; 11. 59-Adam Lantz[8]; 12. 8M-Stephen Mills[3]; 13. 9M-Matthew Chapman[11]
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 2. 14G-Joe Godsey[4]; 3. 27H-Ken Hahn[5]; 4. 7-Drake Troutman[3]; 5. 22F-Nicholas Fenner[8]; 6. D3-Dan Gehring[6]; 7. 47J-Cody Laney[9]; 8. 1N-Casey Noonan[1]; 9. 14R-Jeff Roth[7]; 10. (DNS) G15-Jacob Gamber
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[1]; 2. 91-Rusty Schlenk[2]; 3. 77K-Steve Kester[10]; 4. 67-Chris Keller[5]; 5. 23NZ-Mick Quin[7]; 6. 39-Brandon Moore[6]; 7. 50-Ryan Missler[3]; 8. 56-BJ Gregory[4]; 9. 36-Joel Morton[8]; 10. (DNS) 28-Steve Reeves
Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 44S-Colin Shipley[2]; 2. 53-Hillard Miller[3]; 3. 4D-Doug Tye[4]; 4. 31AUS-Joe Chalmers[7]; 5. 06-Jake Rendel[6]; 6. 71-Rusty Smith[1]; 7. 19JH-Jimmy Houston[9]; 8. 87-Jeff Geis[5]; 9. (DNS) P33-Josh Robertson; 10. (DNS) 10-Chad Doxsee
Heat 4 (10 Laps): 1. 9-Devin Moran[3]; 2. 51S-Devin Shiels[1]; 3. 34-Herb Reich[5]; 4. 75-Dusty Moore[6]; 5. 30-Mark Voigt[7]; 6. 38-Thomas Hunziker[2]; 7. 95M-Steve Miller[8]; 8. 55R-Kevin Mack[9]; 9. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[4]
Heat 5 (10 Laps): 1. 63-Terry Rushlow[2]; 2. R4-Rich Ruff[5]; 3. 71DS-Drew Smith[1]; 4. 49L-Matt Lindsey[6]; 5. 23-Brad Wade[4]; 6. 22JR-Bill Reeves Jr[9]; 7. P0-Jeff Robertson[8]; 8. 59-Adam Lantz[7]; 9. (DNS) 9M-Matthew Chapman
Heat 6 (10 Laps): 1. F1-Payton Freeman[1]; 2. 8-Rob Anderzack[2]; 3. 55-Jeep Van Wormer[3]; 4. 22-Brad Eitniear[4]; 5. 20-Jim Plotts[5]; 6. 8M-Stephen Mills[9]; 7. LIL91-Carter Schlenk[7]; 8. E55-Chris Sands[6]; 9. 42*-Bob Mayer[8]
Qualifying 1 (2 Laps): 1. 1N-Casey Noonan, 00:14.607[4]; 2. 32-Bobby Pierce, 00:14.820[7]; 3. 7-Drake Troutman, 00:15.033[1]; 4. 14G-Joe Godsey, 00:15.157[9]; 5. 27H-Ken Hahn, 00:15.736[5]; 6. D3-Dan Gehring, 00:15.882[10]; 7. 14R-Jeff Roth, 00:16.297[2]; 8. 22F-Nicholas Fenner, 00:16.491[6]; 9. 47J-Cody Laney, 00:16.752[3]; 10. G15-Jacob Gamber[8]
Qualifying 2 (2 Laps): 1. 21-Billy Moyer Jr, 00:14.725[7]; 2. 91-Rusty Schlenk, 00:14.895[6]; 3. 50-Ryan Missler, 00:14.957[1]; 4. 56-BJ Gregory, 00:15.201[9]; 5. 67-Chris Keller, 00:15.490[8]; 6. 39-Brandon Moore, 00:15.753[10]; 7. 23NZ-Mick Quin, 00:15.988[3]; 8. 36-Joel Morton, 00:16.886[4]; 9. 28-Steve Reeves, 00:18.156[2]; 10. (DNS) 77K-Steve Kester
Qualifying 3 (2 Laps): 1. 71-Rusty Smith, 00:15.382[1]; 2. 44S-Colin Shipley, 00:15.470[9]; 3. 53-Hillard Miller, 00:15.484[8]; 4. 4D-Doug Tye, 00:15.531[4]; 5. 87-Jeff Geis, 00:15.959[10]; 6. 06-Jake Rendel, 00:16.028[3]; 7. 31AUS-Joe Chalmers, 00:16.073[7]; 8. P33-Josh Robertson, 00:16.490[6]; 9. 19JH-Jimmy Houston, 00:17.171[2]; 10. (DNS) 10-Chad Doxsee
Qualifying 4 (2 Laps): 1. 51S-Devin Shiels, 00:14.888[8]; 2. 38-Thomas Hunziker, 00:15.024[9]; 3. 9-Devin Moran, 00:15.033[7]; 4. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr, 00:15.142[6]; 5. 34-Herb Reich, 00:15.499[3]; 6. 75-Dusty Moore, 00:15.609[2]; 7. 30-Mark Voigt, 00:15.828[4]; 8. 95M-Steve Miller, 00:16.093[5]; 9. 55R-Kevin Mack, 00:16.227[1]
Qualifying 5 (2 Laps): 1. 71DS-Drew Smith, 00:14.976[1]; 2. 63-Terry Rushlow, 00:15.031[7]; 3. 9M-Matthew Chapman, 00:15.082[5]; 4. 23-Brad Wade, 00:15.143[9]; 5. R4-Rich Ruff, 00:15.590[8]; 6. 49L-Matt Lindsey, 00:15.765[2]; 7. 59-Adam Lantz, 00:15.979[4]; 8. P0-Jeff Robertson, 00:16.739[6]; 9. 22JR-Bill Reeves Jr, 00:17.088[3]
Qualifying 6 (2 Laps): 1. F1-Payton Freeman, 00:14.992[6]; 2. 8-Rob Anderzack, 00:15.098[3]; 3. 55-Jeep Van Wormer, 00:15.138[9]; 4. 22-Brad Eitniear, 00:15.533[2]; 5. 20-Jim Plotts, 00:15.564[1]; 6. E55-Chris Sands, 00:16.019[4]; 7. LIL91-Carter Schlenk, 00:16.605[8]; 8. 42*-Bob Mayer, 00:16.854[5]; 9. 8M-Stephen Mills, 00:16.941[7]
Hot Laps 1: 1. 32-Bobby Pierce, 00:15.465[7]; 2. 1N-Casey Noonan, 00:15.746[4]; 3. 14G-Joe Godsey, 00:15.781[9]; 4. D3-Dan Gehring, 00:16.173[10]; 5. 22F-Nicholas Fenner, 00:16.405[6]; 6. 47J-Cody Laney, 00:17.690[3]; 7. G15-Jacob Gamber, 00:18.234[8]; 8. 27H-Ken Hahn, 00:18.234[5]; 9. 14R-Jeff Roth, 00:18.234[2]; 10. 7-Drake Troutman, 00:18.234[1]
Hot Laps 2: 1. 91-Rusty Schlenk, 00:15.363[6]; 2. 21-Billy Moyer Jr, 00:15.373[7]; 3. 67-Chris Keller, 00:15.740[8]; 4. 56-BJ Gregory, 00:15.908[9]; 5. 77K-Steve Kester, 00:15.910[5]; 6. 39-Brandon Moore, 00:16.751[10]; 7. 23NZ-Mick Quin, 00:17.078[3]; 8. 36-Joel Morton, 00:17.246[4]; 9. 28-Steve Reeves, 00:17.924[2]; 10. 50-Ryan Missler, 00:17.924[1]
Hot Laps 3: 1. 53-Hillard Miller, 00:15.644[8]; 2. 31AUS-Joe Chalmers, 00:15.827[7]; 3. 06-Jake Rendel, 00:16.281[3]; 4. 4D-Doug Tye, 00:16.416[4]; 5. P33-Josh Robertson, 00:16.562[6]; 6. 19JH-Jimmy Houston, 00:16.840[2]; 7. 10-Chad Doxsee, 00:19.214[5]; 8. 71-Rusty Smith, 00:19.214[1]; 9. 87-Jeff Geis, 00:19.214[10]; 10. 44S-Colin Shipley, 00:19.214[9]
Hot Laps 4: 1. 75-Dusty Moore, 00:14.999[2]; 2. 9-Devin Moran, 00:15.340[7]; 3. 34-Herb Reich, 00:15.504[3]; 4. 30-Mark Voigt, 00:15.638[4]; 5. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr, 00:15.889[6]; 6. 59-Adam Lantz, 00:16.087; 7. 95M-Steve Miller, 00:16.492[5]; 8. 51S-Devin Shiels, 00:16.492[8]; 9. 55R-Kevin Mack, 00:16.492[1]; 10. 38-Thomas Hunziker, 00:16.492[9]
Hot Laps 5: 1. R4-Rich Ruff, 00:15.018[8]; 2. 63-Terry Rushlow, 00:15.278[7]; 3. 55-Jeep Van Wormer, 00:15.534; 4. 71DS-Drew Smith, 00:15.598[1]; 5. 9M-Matthew Chapman, 00:15.625[5]; 6. 49L-Matt Lindsey, 00:15.636[2]; 7. 7-Drake Troutman, 00:16.078; 8. P0-Jeff Robertson, 00:16.984[6]; 9. 23-Brad Wade, 00:31.664[9]; 10. 22JR-Bill Reeves Jr, 00:31.664[3]; 11. 59-Adam Lantz, 00:31.664[4]
Hot Laps 6: 1. 20-Jim Plotts, 00:15.712[1]; 2. E55-Chris Sands, 00:15.741[4]; 3. 8-Rob Anderzack, 00:15.826[3]; 4. 22-Brad Eitniear, 00:16.538[2]; 5. LIL91-Carter Schlenk, 00:16.864[8]; 6. 42*-Bob Mayer, 00:16.941[5]; 7. 8M-Stephen Mills, 00:17.951[7]; 8. F1-Payton Freeman, 00:17.951[6]; 9. 55-Jeep Van Wormer, 00:17.951[9]