OSWEGO, NY – Oswego Speedway has been off for two weeks following an exciting A&P Auto Parts ‘Spring Championship, back on June 16, but this Saturday the track will come alive again for the 75-lap Independence Weekend ‘Grand Prix’ special presented by Century 21 Galloway Realty and Oswego D Bus.
With a total of five Novelis Supermodified feature events already completed this season due to the Twin 50s on May 26 and most recently the Twin 35s on June 16, three different drivers have visited victory lane including Dave Shullick Jr, Chris Perley, and Michael Barnes.
The race for the championship remains tight between Otto Sitterly and Keith Shampine out front, who have each finished in the top five for a total of four occasions to begin 2018 with Sitterly paying visits to the podium three out of those four times.
With his sweep of the Twin 35s, Barnes has jumped all the way up to third in the overall race to the championship with consistency and top tens paying off for Dave Gruel and Joe Gosek to complete the remaining spots in the top five three weeks in.
Rounding out the top ten are Dave Danzer and Aric Iosue in sixth and seventh with three top fives already racked up for Danzer and one trip to the podium for Iosue in last week’s first Twin 35.
Defending champion Dave Shullick Jr. has two wins already, but is only eighth in points. He wrecked out of the second Twin 50 on May 26 after winning the first one, won on June 9, but the big story was the contact he had with Sitterly to brush the wall while leading the first Twin 35 on June 16 causing him to later retire from both feature events to take a major hit in the points race.
Rookie Tyler Thompson has been mighty impressive so far and sits ninth in the standings just ahead of Lou LeVea Jr’s No. 83 in tenth.
This Saturday night, the championship hopefuls will be joined by a few fresh faces in former Indy Car star Davey Hamilton, who will pilot the reworked Nicotra Racing No. 7 in the 75-lapper for his first regular show in a handful of season.
Joining Hamilton as invaders for the extra distance main event are Canadian Dave McKnight as well as the No. 4 of Roger Clark, who will return to the speedway for the first time in just about twenty years when he makes his initial appearance this season with his reworked 1994 racer.
Brian Sobus will also be back in the driver’s seat behind the wheel of the Schultzkie Racing No. 26 Supermodified. The car is Sobus’ former No. 79 which was sold to Joe Schultzkie for his son Nathan prior to the start of the season. The Schultzkie family is on vacation this weekend and has tabbed Sobus as the temporary pilot.
Aiming for improvement after trying starts to their 2018 campaigns will be the No. 05 of Jeff Abold, the No. 02 of Brandon Bellinger, and the No. 01 of Dan Connors Jr, who will race this weekend with his backup car; the 2008 Xtreme Chassis that Doug Didero drove to victory on Classic Weekend of that year.
On the Pathfinder Bank SBS side of the pits, it appears as though Anthony Losurdo is currently the man to beat in the Missile Motorsports No. 1 machine owned by Mark Castiglia.
Losurdo is coming into the night as the points leader fresh off a victory on June 16, when he passed runner up point man Russ Brown and teammate Dan Kapuscinski to take the lead and go on to his sixth career Oswego victory. ‘Hawk’ has also been the D&S Landscaping Hard Charger for two out of the three races.
Brown, the original SBS champion when the class was formed in 1992, is looking for another championship this year and has been right there in contention just three points behind Losurdo in second with two podiums in three races to begin the season.
Defending Pathfinder Bank SBS champion Dave Cliff was caught up in an accident last week, but remains third in the standings after a win on opening night.
Kapuscinski is fourth in points and knocking on the door with two second place finishes in a row plus a heat win as ‘Danny K’ looks for his first career Small Block Super victory.
Veteran Jack Patrick, always a strong runner, rounds out the top five with three top ten finishes.
Sitting six through tenth are Mike Bond, the division’s all-time win leader who added to that total with a win back on May 26, while David LaTulip, Barry Kingsley, Cameron Rowe, and Greg O’Connor are seventh on back.
Usual contenders Camden Proud, Dalton Doyle, and Mike Bruce are eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth and have had miserable starts to their seasons, but will each hope to turn that around come Saturday night.
Driver shake ups and additions in the Pathfinder Bank SBS division include former Mr. SBS AJ Bernys driving the Addison Bowman Racing No. 12 filling in for Dennis Richmond.
2015 Bud Light Classic 75 champion Bryan Haynes will fill the role of rookie Tyler Henry in the Pratt Racing No. 88.
Additionally, Brad Haynes is returning to drive the family owned No. 86 while Missile Motorsports team owner Mark Castiglia making his first start of the season with the David LaTulip No. 27 while LaTulip will be out of town for a wedding.
Fans are reminded that feature action this week will be 75 laps for the Novelis Supermodifieds and 35 laps for the Pathfinder Bank SBS in observance of Independence Weekend.
The night’s action will also include the second ‘Fan Can Chase’ of the year as well as a spectacular fireworks show to cap off the program which is free to all in attendance.
2018 Oswego Speedway – Novelis – Hoosier Tire – SUNOCO
Supermodified Driver’s Championship:
Position Number Driver Points
1
7
Otto Sitterly
485
2
55
Keith Shampine
483
3
68
Michael Barnes**
479
4
50
Dave Gruel
434
5
00
Joe Gosek
425
6
52
Dave Danzer
420
7
11
Aric Iosue
416
8
2
Dave Shullick Jr.**
413
9
98T
Tyler Thompson ®
363
10
83
Lou LeVea Jr.
357
11
66
Lou LeVea Sr.
355
12
02
Brandon Bellinger
345
13
56
Hal LaTulip
344
14
71
Bill Sharkey
343
15
01
Dan Connors Jr.
328
16
26
Nathan Schultzkie ®
281
17
05
Jeff Abold
280
18
77
Shaun Gosselin
232
19
0
Brent Murray ®
207
20
44
Chris Perley*
187
21
25
Dan Bowes
150
22
94
Logan Rayvals
143
23
70
Dave McKnight
108
Novelis Supermodified Rookie of the Year:
Position Number Driver Points
1
98T
Tyler Thompson
363
2
26
Nathan Schultzkie
281
RJ Caruso Tax & Accounting Heat Race Challenge:
#7
Otto Sitterly
3
#11
Aric Iosue
2
#44
Chris Perley
1
#2
Dave Shullick Jr.
1
#50
Dave Gruel
1
#68
Michael Barnes
1
D&S Landscaping Hard Charger Award Winners:
May 26
#66
Lou LeVea Sr.
May 26
#71
Bill Sharkey
June 9
#98T
Tyler Thompson®
June 16
#66
Lou LeVea Sr.
June 16
#7
Otto Sitterly
Lighthouse Lanes Up and Comer Award Winners:
May 26
#25
Dan Bowes
May 26
#71
Bill Sharkey
June 9
#01
Dan Connors Jr.
June 16
#83
Lou LeVea Jr.
June 16
#98T
Tyler Thompson
Novelis Supermodified Top 5 Finishes:
#7
Otto Sitterly
4
#55
Keith Shampine
4
#50
Dave Gruel
3
#52
Dave Danzer
3
#68
Michael Barnes
3
#00
Joe Gosek
3
#2
Dave Shullick Jr.
2
#01
Dan Connors Jr.
1
#44
Chris Perley
1
#11
Aric Iosue
1
Novelis Supermodified Top 10 Finishes:
#7
Otto Sitterly
5
#55
Keith Shampine
5
#11
Aric Iosue
4
#52
Dave Danzer
4
#50
Dave Gruel
4
#00
Joe Gosek
4
#68
Michael Barnes
4
#25
Dan Bowes
2
#2
Dave Shullick Jr.
2
#02
Brandon Bellinger
2
#44
Chris Perley
2
#98T
Tyler Thompson
2
#83
Lou LeVea Jr.
2
#66
Lou LeVea Sr.
2
#77
Shaun Gosselin
2
#71
Bill Sharkey
1
#01
Dan Connors Jr.
1
#56
Hal LaTulip
1
#0
Brent Murray
1
2018 Oswego Speedway – Pathfinder Bank- Hoosier Tire – SUNOCO
Small Block Supermodified Driver’s Championship
Position Number Driver Points
1
1
Anthony Losurdo*
326
2
13
Russ Brown
323
3
50
Dave Cliff*
273
4
00M
Dan Kapuscinski
269
5
9
Jack Patrick
268
6
74
Mike Bond*
260
7
27
David LaTulip
259
8
77
Cameron Rowe
244
9
91
Barry Kingsley
241
10
90
Greg O’Connor
239
11
54
Camden Proud
233
12
01
Dalton Doyle
225
13
22
Mike Bruce
216
14
26
Joshua Sokolic
200
15
32
Steve Flack
192
16
94
Tim Glidden Jr.
167
17
71
Ray Sand Jr.
152
18
23
Cameron Black
144
19
8
Josh Kerr
144
20
67
Tyler Shullick
135
21
12
Dennis Richmond
132
22
15
James Babcock
126
23
37
Jesse Bearup
95
24
18
Andrew Schartner
87
25
88
Brad Haynes
72
26
88
Tyler Henry
57
Pathfinder Bank SBS Rookie of the Year
Position Number Driver Points
1
26
Josh Sokolic
200
2
94
Steve Flack
192
3
32
Tim Glidden Jr.
167
4
88
Tyler Henry
57
RJ Caruso Tax & Accounting Heat Race Challenge:
#74
Mike Bond
2
#1
Anthony Losurdo
2
#27
Dave LaTulip
1
#37
Jesse Bearup
1
#9
Jack Patrick
1
#00M
Dan Kapuscinski
1
#13
Russ Brown
1
Sherwood Racing Wheels Lap Leader Award:
May 26
#50
Dave Cliff
June 9
#74
Mike Bond
June 16
#00M
Dan Kapuscinski
White’s Care Care 4th Place Award – In Memory of Tony White:
May 26
#9
Jack Patrick
June 9
#13
Russ Brown
June 16
#90
Greg O’Connor
D&S Landscaping Hard Charger Award Winners:
May 26
#1
Anthony Losurdo
June 9
#1
Anthony Losurdo
June 16
#18
Andrew Schartner
Lighthouse Lanes Up and Comer Award Winners:
May 26
#54
Camden Proud
June 9
#00M
Dan Kapuscinski
June 16
#00M
Dan Kapuscinski
Pathfinder Bank SBS Top 5 Finishes:
#1
Anthony Losurdo
3
#13
Russ Brown
3
#00M
Dan Kapuscinski
2
#50
Dave Cliff
1
#9
Jack Patrick
1
#37
Jesse Bearup
1
#74
Mike Bond
1
#01
Dalton Doyle
1
#90
Greg O’Connor
1
#18
Andrew Schartner
1
Pathfinder Bank SBS Top 10 Finishes:
#13
Russ Brown
3
#1
Anthony Losurdo
3
#9
Jack Patrick
3
#91
Barry Kingsley
3
#27
David LaTulip
3
#77
Cameron Rowe
3
#00M
Dan Kapuscinski
2
#50
Dave Cliff
1
#54
Camden Proud
1
#23
Cameron Black
1
#37
Jesse Bearup
1
#74
Mike Bond
1
#01
Dalton Doyle
1
#90
Greg O’Connor
1
#18
Andrew Schartner
1
#71
Ray Sand Jr.
1
For more information, visit OswegoSpeedway.com.
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