OXFORD – Coming into the 2008 season, Jimmy Childs was among the most experienced rookies advancing into the Oxford Networks Late Model division. The two-time Mini Stock champion had 30 wins to his credit, and most insiders figured it was just a matter of time before he earned his first victory in the top division.

While it may have taken a little longer than he expected, the former Mini Stock king did it in dominant fashion.

The veteran from Leeds drove underneath Travis Stearns coming through turns 1 and 2 on lap four and went on to record his first Late Model victory Saturday night at Oxford Plains Speedway.

“I’ve been waiting a long time for this,” Childs said following his breakthrough win. “I was beginning to wonder if I was going to win this year. We’ve got the car hooked up pretty good. My cousin Perley has been helping me out, I have to thank him along with my uncle Dexter, my father and brother Billy. This really is a family deal with us, and it feels great to hold off the best to win tonight.”

Two-time division champion Shawn Martin broke free of traffic in the late going but settled for second, while Shawn Knight finished third. Martin was running fifth on lap 23, but a bobble by Knight allowed him to advance and earn his second straight podium finish.

Joe Hutter, Sumner Sessions, Justin Karkos, Jake Burns and Josh Childs were also feature winners Saturday at the 3/8-mile oval.

And on a night when nobody even thought racing would take place, seven features were completed and only eight scheduled laps were not run.

The Childs are second only to the Rowes in career wins for an immediate family at Oxford, with 185 to their credit after Jimmy’s performance Saturday night.

Martin has been on fire in the second half of this season, having finished fourth in the TD Banknorth 250 last month before posting a strong second-place run last week.

“Two second-place finishes in a row is great for this team,” Martin said. “Maybe some day we’ll win one of these things. The car has been running very well lately, we’re moving up in the points and that makes me happy. I couldn’t do it without a great team and the support of my sponsors, it takes the whole package to run like this. We’re happy but sure would like to pull off a victory before the season is over.”

Knight hung on for third at the finish, while defending champion and current point leader Travis Adams finished fourth. Kurt Hewins kept Conrad Childs’ team momentum rolling along with a solid fifth-place run.

Only one caution slowed the pace, while 16 of the 19 starters finished on the lead lap. Childs’ margin of victory was less than four seconds, putting an exclamation point on his dominant run.

Finishing sixth through 10th was Tim Brackett, Michael Lavoie, Dennis Spencer Jr., Ben Ashline and David Vaughn.

In earlier feature action, Hutter ran away with a makeup race from July 18 for the Strictly Stock division. The Oxford native led all 20 laps in the caution-free affair after starting on the pole in a 16-car field. Zach Emerson did his best to close the gap on Hutter but settled for second, while Matt Williams claimed third. Mike Short was the driver on the move in this one, wheeling his way into fourth at the finish after starting 10th. Skip Tripp completed the top five.

Burns picked up his 10th career victory in the Sport Truck division with a wire-to-wire performance. The Gray driver blasted to an early lead and built a sizable margin by halfway. Burns is closing in on his second straight points title in Trucks and has been tough to beat in 2008.

Ross Spurling notched his best finish of the season in second, while Devon Smith claimed third. Corey Williams of Sumner and John Lizotte completed the top five in a caution-free contest.

Josh Childs, 17, made easy work of the Runnin’ Rebel feature, pulling away from the field for his second win in four nights. The Oxford teen took the lead from Bill Dunphy on lap five and never looked back. Kyle Hewins looked strong throughout but settled for second at the line, while Scott Farrington claimed third. Troy Jordan and Dunphy completed the top five in yet another caution-free race under threatening skies.

Karkos picked up his fifth Mini Stock victory of the season despite having car trouble earlier in the week. The driver from Jay drove underneath Butch Keene on lap 28 and hung on for top honors. Keene was second, while Jimmy Childs Sr. placed third. Steve Barker and Darrell Moore completed the top five in a race slowed briefly by two cautions.

“We’ve been working on this thing for days,” Karkos said. “We’ve changed a ton of parts, but it looks like we got them all in the right places. We’ve having a dream season and it’s great to see it continue.”

Sessions finally got the monkey off his back in the second Strictly Stock feature. The longtime fan favorite from Norway became the third different leader on lap seven and shook off all gremlins to record the win. Glenn Henderson ran among the leaders the entire distance and settled for second, while Auburn’s Mike Short claimed third. Skip Tripp and Kim Tripp rounded out the top five in a race shortened from 30 laps to 22 laps by rain.

“I would have liked to see a restart after that last caution, but Mother Nature decided it wasn’t to be,” Sessions said. “We’ve had a tough season, but we got the right breaks at the start tonight and were able to keep those guys behind us.”