OXFORD — In one of the most thrilling races seen thus far in 2012, two-time champion Shawn Martin made his long-awaited return to the winner’s circle by holding off Chris Coolidge to claim the Aaron’s Late Model Trophy Dash Saturday night at Oxford Plains Speedway.

Corey Morgan, Pete McCollett and Jonah Farrington were also feature winners during the Aaron’s salutes Father’s Day program at the historic 3/8-mile paved oval.

Rookie Thom Bell led the 26-car Late Model field to green in his first big test of the season. His time at the point was brief, however, as veteran Doug Coombs sailed by into the lead within two laps. Coolidge powered his machine into the lead at lap 5, then checked out on the field.

Martin used a power move on the outside during a restart at lap 18 to make his move, pulling alongside Coolidge to begin a side-by-side battle that lasted at least a dozen laps.

It really was impossible to tell who would claim this one until the end, an ideal scenario for any feature event. Coolidge settled for second, while TJ Brackett finished a solid third. Bryan Mason and veteran Glen Luce of Turner completed the top five.

“This win is for all the guys on my crew,” a relieved Martin said in Victory Lane. “We wrecked this thing pretty hard last week. They worked late every night to get it back here. I also need to thank Jeff Taylor at Distance Racing for this win, as well. He’s been working with us a lot. This is essentially a brand new car for us, but it’s coming around to where I’m pretty happy with it. This feels great to win again for my guys and all of our great sponsors.”

In earlier feature action, Farrington made a daring inside pass on Jamie Leavitt going into turn 1 on lap 18 and hung on for top honors in the Rebel division. The driver from Minot started sixth on the grid and wasted little time moving to the front. Leavitt attempted to retake the lead on the final circuit but settled for second, while Nate Dubuc finished right where he started in third. Jason Berry and Brady Romano completed the top five.

McCollett made his move to the outside of Justin Trombley on lap 12 then held off a late-race charge by Rob Greenleaf to claim the 30-lap Mini Stock tussle. The driver from Readfield became the third different leader after Jimmy Childs and Trombley led early on. Greenleaf settled for second, while Calvin Rose was a distant third. Trombley and former champion Danny Morris completed the top five.

“That was pure fun out there tonight,” McCollett said of his first victory of 2012. “I knew Jimmy ran away from us there early, but I guess his car faded. Justin was hooked up tonight, but my car had super grip outside, and I was able to drive on by. Rob ran me real clean in the closing laps, which is nice.”

Morgan drove to victory in a spirited 30-lap Strictly Stock battle. The  Lewiston veteran, who does vinyl lettering and graphics work for almost everybody, started fourth on the grid, but quickly powered his way to the front at the end of lap 1.

Matt Williams thrilled the crowd with a thrilling run up the outside lane to claim second, while young gun Ryan Hewins put in a solid effort to claim third. Zach Bowie came home fourth, while Skip Trip edged Ryan Robbins for fifth on the final lap.

“This car has been on the verge of winning the last few weeks. We just had a few bugs to work out,” Morgan said. “We’ve worked through various issues on this new machine, and it’s really coming around. Ryan was strong tonight, and I know Matt was coming on strong there in the closing laps. I’m happy to hold them off this time and hope to win a few more as we hit our mid-season stride.”

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