OXFORD – Shawn Martin likes the format for the “Heads or Tails” portion of new Iron Man Series at Oxford Plains Speedway.

The young hotshot from Turner was the big benefactor of a field inversion, and inherited the lead on lap 40 of 60 and drove to a convincing victory in a hotly-contested event for the Late Model Stock division.

Gary Drew, Dave Raymond, Jim Duguay and Bill Childs Sr. were also feature winners on Maine State Lottery/Fireworks night at Oxford Plains Speedway.

Kicking off the program Saturday evening was a demonstration by the Vertical Outlaws, a motorcycle thrill team based in Central Maine. The near-capacity crowd witnessed some gravity-defying tricks by riders possessing an almost uncanny sense of balance, providing the ideal warm-up for a full card of stock car racing.

Steve Reny started out with an impressive run in the first 20-lap segment for Late Models. The Boothbay driver went door-to-door with Lewiston’s Corey Morgan in a spirited duel up front, until a flat left-front tire ended his chances. Raymond, competing in two divisions on this night, inherited the win while Ron Charpentier edged out talented rookie Jon Brill for second.

Once he got out around the lapped car of Mike Pond, Raymond ran off and hid in the second segment. Charpentier and Brill looked strong again and finished second and third, respectively. The decision to invert the field for the third and final 20-lap run meant Raymond would have to come from the back to pull this one off.

Martin led the field to green for segment three, with Donnie Wentworth and Dale Verrill in tow. Buddy Leavitt started a march forward early, driving past Verrill to take over the second spot on Lap 5. Raymond was struggling back in traffic with no hopes of getting back to the front. Martin, an obvious benefactor of the inversion, sailed to an easy win with Wentworth holding on for second and Leavitt in third. Verrill and Chris Hatstat completed the top five.

Doug Poland grabbed the early lead in the 35-lap Limited Sportsman feature and attempted to distance himself from the pack. Steve Bennett Sr. and Raymond battled behind Poland for much of the race, with Raymond taking over the second spot on Lap 14. Archie Watt made a strong charge in the waning laps, getting past Raymond for second on Lap 25. Poland faded in the late going, handing the lead and win to Raymond. Watt held on for second while Carey Martin finished third. Tommy Ricker and Bennett rounded out the top five.

In the 50-lap feature for the headline Oxford Networks Pro Stocks, Drew was back from his overheating problems of the previous week and once again led the 31-car field into Turn One and quickly ran away. After a couple of quick cautions in the early going, Drew checked out on the field while Jim Weymouth and Mickey Green gave chase.

Last year’s champion Ricky Rolfe had his night go sour on the 10th lap as mechanical gremlins took their toll.

Green got the jump on Drew on a Lap-21 restart and held the point until caution waved just five circuits later. On the ensuing restart, Drew was ready and the two went side-by-side for three laps until Drew finally took sole possession of the lead. The Otisfield resident survived numerous restarts and sailed home to victory, with Green and Glenn Joselyn trailing. Al Hammond and Scott Chubbuck completed the top five.

“We’ve had an awful lot of bad luck this year, and it’s been hard to take,” Drew said in Victory Lane. “This week we went back to some yellow numbers, maybe that’s what it took to get our luck turned around. I hope this is the start of a good run for us, my crew really deserves this win and with the 250 just two weeks away, it isn’t a bad time to get things dialed in.”

Duguay earned his win in the 20-lap Strictly Stock feature that saw nearly 40 cars take the green flag.

The race was shortened by 10 laps due to the need for qualifying heats. Rookie Jason Gaboury dogged Duguay in the closing laps but fell just short and had to settle for second. Ben Tinker drove to a solid third place finish in one of the cleanest races of the evening.

Childs captured the 30-lap Mini Stock feature with a convincing run. Darick Barker jumped out to the early lead with Craig Moore and Rich Baumgartel in pursuit.

Divisional strongman Bill Childs Sr. made a charge and wheeled into the lead on Lap 14. From there on it was easy sailing as he notched his second win of the season. His son Jim made a tremendous late-race charge on him but had to settle for second, while Joe Treadwell came home in third.

Dan Sirois and Scot Audet rounded out the top five.