OXFORD — He’d been there a number of times in the past, he just hadn’t done it for far too long. 

Former divisional champion Shawn Martin made a long-awaited return to Victory Lane on Saturday, leading every lap to win the Late Models feature at Oxford Plains Speedway. 

The Turner resident and native of Aroostook County hadn’t won a feature since 2009.  

Martin had to fend off the challenges of Jimmy Childs, who started on the pole. Oxford veteran Donnie Wentworth sneaked past Childs in the closing laps to finish second, while Childs settled for third. Miles Chipman and Shawn Knight completed the top five.  

Derek Cook, Calvin Rose Jr. and Larry Emerson were also feature winners on another perfect night for racing. 

“Jimmy ran great and sure didn’t make it easy for us,” Martin said. “That was some good racing right there. When we unloaded the car today, it was just phenomenal. Then we put on some new tires in the second practice session and the car was horrible. We made so many changes before the feature, I lost count. The car is still just a little too free, but it came around nicely.”   

Finishing sixth through 10th in the Late Model race was Jeff Taylor, T.J. Brackett, Calvin Rose Jr., Tommy Ricker and Jeff White. Three cautions slowed the pace, yet none were for serious incidents. Seventeen of the 27 starters finished on the lead lap, while 24 were running at the finish. Martin’s margin of victory over Wentworth was a mere half second. 

In earlier feature action, Cook came all the way from dead last to claim the 20-lap Rebel tilt. The young hotshoe from Auburn powered around the outside of Ryan Glover on lap eight and pulled steadily away from the field. Craig Bartlett started ninth on the 18-car grid and finished second, while Nate Dubuc was third. Brady Romano and Glover completed the top five.  

As an entry-level division that usually runs on Wednesday night, the Runnin’ Rebels give first-timers a place to hone their skills. For Cook, those skills have been sharpened quite nicely. 

Rose was the benefactor when things got wild early on in the 30-lap Mini Stock battle. The veteran from Turner was following early leader Jeff Moon and second-place Jimmy Childs when several cars got together and positions started shifting. Rose found himself in the right place at the right time, then drove off for top honors.

Darrell Moore drove up from last to finish second, while former champion Danny Morris was bumped up to third after Adam Polvinen was disqualified in post-race technical inspection. Chris Morris (Danny’s brother, also a former champion) and Childs finished fourth and fifth, respectively. 

“I got pretty lucky out there on Turn 4 tonight,” Rose said. “Those guys were all sideways. I thought I was doomed, but managed to sneak through. My dad has been working hard on the car lately, and of course we have the Late Model to maintain, as well. This is a family race team, and it sure feels good when we win.”  

Emerson drove around early leader Bobby DiPompo on lap four and pulled away to record his 16th career victory in the Strictly Stock division. The former champion from Durham built a huge lead in the closing laps and was never challenged. Defending champion Skip Tripp edged rookie Ryan Hewins for second on the final lap, while Rick Spaulding (last week’s winner) and Zach Emerson completed the top five. 

“They don’t come that easy very often,” Emerson said. “I was able to stretch it out and run tonight. It might have been different if I had lapped traffic to battle. We knocked it out pretty clean, and here we are in Victory Lane again. I sure love nights like this when it all comes together.”