OXFORD — Starting deep in the Valenti Modified Racing Series field Saturday night, Rowan Pennink was persuaded to take it easy and conserve his car for much of the Dunkin’ Donuts 100 at Oxford Plains Speedway.

Go time was show time for the driver from Huntington Valley, Pennsylvania. Five other drivers led early, but it was Pennink to surged to the front on lap 76 and held off Richard Savary of Canton, Mass., to win the main event on the eve of the TD Bank 250.

Pennink took the lead to the low side of Anthony Nocella at the three-quarter pole, then denied two overtures from Savary in that same lane over the final five laps.

“There’s a couple different strategies you can play at a track like this,” Pennink said. “We decided to stay out and let the other cars pit and play catch-up. I tried to keep the tires underneath me, and when my spotter said go, I got there and had enough to hold him off.”

Tommy Barrett of Millis, Mass., Norm Wrenn of Nashua, N.H., and Dylan Kopec of Palmer, Mass., completed the top five.

All four caution flags in the event flew by lap 58, spreading out the field and leaving waves of lapped traffic in the leaders’ path down the stretch.

“It’s hard, especially when the lapped cars are in the middle of the track,” Pennink said. “You have to go high or low. I chose the high side and Richard tried to go underneath me a couple of times. He’s a really good driver, and we battled right until the end.”

It was the second win of the season for Pennink and the ninth of his career.

“He’s been in this series since the beginning, and I’m new to it,” said Savary, who had never raced at OPS before Saturday. “I thought we had a better car if we could have gotten by him, but it didn’t work out.”

Wrenn, Chris Pasteryak, Joey Jarvis and Louie Mechalides also led the event.

In other touring action, David Sprague won a thrilling Pro All Stars Series Modified feature, and John Peters showed the way in the NELCAR Legends.

Local features rounded out the evening. Justin Larsen won his sixth consecutive 25-lap Mini Stock scramble. Tyson Jordan prevailed for the third time this season in the 30-lap Street Stock showdown. And Corey Morgan won his ninth Outlaw Sportsman encounter in 11 tries.

Sprague won a furious battle with Dana Reed in a 40-lap PASS Modified sprint that unfolded without a stoppage.

The two leaders exchanged the lead four times in the second half of the event, with slower traffic twice allowing Sprague to break up the side-by-side formation.

It was a win out of nowhere. While Reed has a been a regular face on the tour since its inception, Sprague is a part-time participant, having run 12th and 17th in his two previous starts this season.

“First win,” Sprague said. “I’ve only finished three.”

Reed made one final surge in the outside lane in hopes of playing the spoiler, but he fell three-quarters of a car length short.

“I could make the outside work for about 10 or 15 laps,” Reed said. “Then the tires got hot and the right rear went away and it got wishy-washy. You saw some racing tonight.”

Scott McDaniel of Livermore Falls had an impressive night, winning his 10-lap heat and charging from 11th to third in the feature.

Peters dominated the 25-lap Legends event through four restarts. The Westbrook driver weathered a modest challenge by 15-year-old Reid Lanpher of Manchester before pulling away.

“This car was on a rail tonight, and it really doesn’t have a lot to do with me,” Peters said. “I’m out of breath. This is unbelievable. This is the weekend we wanted, and we got it.”

Lanpher, a development driver for the JR Motorsports team owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr., is one of 65 drivers entered in the TD Bank 250 as of Saturday night. He has run several late model events for Earnhardt’s outfit in the Carolinas this spring and summer.

“It gives us a little confidence coming out here tomorrow,” Lanpher said of the runner-up finish.

koakes@sunjournal.com