by Contributor | December 18, 2017 6:54 am
OSWEGO, NY – For the first time in Oswego Speedway’s rich history, a new tradition will take place on Memorial Day Weekend which this season will play host to the Opening Night of racing set to mark 68 consecutive seasons of on track action at the ‘Steel Palace.’
In 2018, two 50-lap Jim Shampine Memorial feature events will be contested on May 26 in conjunction with a 35-lap Small Block Supermodified Tony White Memorial to be ran in between the two Supermodified mains. With the establishment of this new format, Opening Weekend marks another opportunity for fans to flock to the speedway’s steel gates with the chance to catch 100-plus laps of Super action.
A tradition that began in 1970, ‘twin’ feature races have been an integral part of Oswego’s Supermodified history. It all started with ironically, Shampine, in 1970 when the ‘8-Ball’ swept Twin 50 events in May of that year.
This format stuck around for two more seasons, before track officials adapted ‘Triple 33s’ in 1973 and 1974, a format in which Shampine swept as well, winning six out of six total races.
‘Shampine,’ now the namesake of the Twin 50s, has more wins than any other driver in Twin competition at Oswego sitting at 17 total victories and sitting alone as the only driver to have double digit wins in twin events while Steve Gioia Jr. and Bentley Warren each have 9.
The ‘Twin 30’ format was ran just once in 1975, before the Twin 35 races got the green light from 1976 through 1998, often running twice a year, before a two year break took place in 1999 and 2000 which would later see the return of the twins in 2001 at 30 laps in distance before on and off contention up until the 2011 season.
In 2014, Twin 35s returned once again and they have come to stay thus far, with the event being held for the past four years and taking place for a fifth season in a row in 2018 when the second twin event in as many months will be held on June 16, making this the first time since 2004 that two prior scheduled twin events have helped in deciding a Supermodified track champion.
A rainout set up a Twin 45 and Twin 30 combination in 2010 as well as the latest ‘Twin 50’ event contested in 2013 which saw Pat Lavery and Kody Graham go to victory lane.
Not only will an overall champion be crowned at the speedway’s popular $5 admission Track Championship Night on August 18, but the Twin 50s will decide two Jim Shampine Memorial Champions for the first time since the race began in 1991, creating a unique opportunity for drivers who have never earned the right to stand in victory lane on one of the most special night’s of the season at Oswego Speedway.
There’s no question that this year’s Memorial Day Weekend extravaganza will be exciting as ever, with a full field of Supermodifieds expected on Opening Night including that of defending JIm Shampine Memorial champion Keith Shampine, who is the nephew of the race’s namesake.
With a throwback ‘8-Ball’ scheme rumored to be a possibility for the Osetek Racing team as part of this special event, there’s no doubt that Supermodified fans will want to make their plans early to be a part of another key moment in Oswego’s storied history.
The full 2018 schedule for Oswego Speedway, set to open with the Jim Shampine Memorial Twin 50s on May 26, has been posted online at OswegoSpeedway.com.
Season ticket information, pricing, and time schedules will be added after the 1st of the year.
All kids 16 and under will remain free with a paid adult this coming season.
2018 rule changes have been sent to all Small Block Supermodified competitors with Supermodified rule adjustments being readied for distribution this coming weekend.
Full rulebooks will be available online in PDF format in early January.
Payout and full race format for the Twin 50s will be announced to teams in the coming weeks via email, with that information also set to be included on the speedway’s website.
Winter office hours at Oswego Speedway are 11 a.m. – 4.p.m. on Saturdays, with special week hours posted frequently on the speedway’s social media outlets.
For more information on Oswego Speedway, be sure to visit online at OswegoSpeedway.com.
All-Time Oswego Speedway ‘Twin’ Event History:
May 1970 (Twin 50s): Jim Shampine – Both
May 1971 (Twin 50s): Jim Shampine, Nolan Swift
May 1972 (Twin 50s): Baldy Baker, Fred Graves
May 1973 (Triple 33s): Jim Shampine – All 3
July 1973 (Twin 30s): Baldy Baker, Bobby Stelter
May 1974 (Triple 33s): Jim Shampine – All 3
June 1975 (Twin 30s): Jim Shampine – Both
July 1975 (Twin 30s): Kempton Dates, Gary Allbritain
June 1976 (Twin 35s): Fred Graves – Both
July 1976 (Twin 35s): Fred Graves, Ron Wallace
June 1977 (Twin 35s): Warren Coniam, Kempton Dates
July 1977 (Twin 35s): Kempton Dates – Both
June 1978 (Twin 35s): Jim Shampine – Both
July 1978 (Twin 35s): Jim Shampine – Both
June 1979 (Twin 35s): Steve Gioia Jr, Jim Shampine
July 1979 (Twin 35s): Jim Shampine, Chuck Ciprich
June 1980 (Twin 35s): Warren Coniam, Steve Gioia Jr.
July 1980 (Twin 35s): Warren Coniam, Doug Heveron
June 1981 (Twin 35s): Doug Heveron – Both
July 1981 (Twin 35s): Doug Heveron, Steve Gioia Jr.
June 1982 (Twin 35s): Doug Heveron, Brian Herb
July 1982 (Twin 35s): Doug Heveron, Mike McLaughlin
June 1983 (Twin 35s): Warren Coniam, Steve Gioia Jr.
July 1983 (Twin 35s): Eddie Bellinger Jr. – Both
June 1984 (Twin 35s): Bentley Warren – Both
July 1984 (Twin 35s): – Steve Gioia Jr, Dean Hoag
July 1985 (Twin 35s): Eddie Bellinger Jr, Steve Gioia Jr.
August 1985 (Twin 35s): Bentley Warren – Both
June 1986 (Twin 35s): Joe Gosek, Steve Gioia Jr.
August 1986 (Twin 35s): Bentley Warren – Both
June 1987 (Twin 35s): Doug Heveron – Both
August 1987 (Twin 35s): Gary Morton, Bentley Warren
August 1988 (Twin 35s): Mike Ordway – Both
August 1989 (Twin 35s): Bentley Warren, Eddie Bellinger Jr.
June 1990 (Twin 35s): Eddie Bellinger Jr, Steve Gioia Jr.
August 1990 (Twin 35s): Doug Didero, Joe Gosek
June 1991 (Twin 35s): Joe Gosek, Mike Ordway
August 1991 (Twin 35s): Mike Ordway, Pat Abold
June 1992 (Twin 35s): Pat Abold – Both
August 1992 (Twin 35s): Pat Abold – Both
June 1993 (Twin 35s): Russ Wood, Bentley Warren
August 1993 (Twin 35s): Steve Gioia Jr, Dave McKnight
June 1994 (Twin 35s): Pat Abold, Russ Wood
August 1994 (Twin 35s): Eddie Bellinger Jr., Doug Didero
June 1995 (Twin 35s): Mike Muldoon – Both
August 1995 (Twin 35s): Doug Didero – Both
June 1996 (Twin 35s): Doug Didero, Mike Muldoon
August 1996 (Twin 35s): Doug Didero, Pat Abold
June 1997 (Twin 35s): Howard Page, Mike Muldoon
August 1997 (Twin 35s): Pat Abold, Doug Didero
June 1998 (Twin 35s): Mike Muldoon, Greg Furlong
August 2002 (Twin 30s): Tim Gareau, Jeff Holbrook
August 2003 (Twin 30s): Tim Snyder – Both
June 2004 (Twin 30s): Tim Snyder, Gary Morton
August 2004 (Twin 30s): Greg Furlong – Both
June 2005 (Twin 30s): Greg Furlong – Both
August 2005 (Twin 30s): Greg Furlong, Bob Goutermout
August 2008 (Twin 45s): Tim Snyder, Craig Rayvals
August 2008 (Twin 30s): Jerry Curran, Bobby Magner
August 2009 (Twin 30s): Joe Gosek, Tim Snyder
July 2010 (Twin 45s): Ray Graham, Jeff Holbrook
June 2013 (Twin 50s): Pat Lavery, Kody Graham
June 2014 (Twin 35s): Randy Ritskes, Michael Barnes
June 2015 (Twin 35s): Otto Sitterly, Michael Muldoon/Sitterly – Dead Heat
June 2016 (Twin 35s): Dave Danzer, Jeff Abold
June 2017 (Twin 35s): Keith Shampine, Dave Shullick Jr.
All-Time Oswego ‘Twin’ Event Wins List:
Jim Shampine – 17
Steve Gioia Jr – 9
Bentley Warren – 9
Doug Heveron – 8
Pat Abold – 8
Eddie Bellinger Jr – 6
Doug Didero – 6
Greg Furlong – 6
Tim Snyder – 5
Fred Graves – 4
Kempton Dates – 4
Warren Coniam – 4
Joe Gosek – 4
Mike Ordway Sr – 4
Mike Muldoon Sr. – 4
Baldy Baker – 2
Gary Morton -2
Russ Wood – 2
Jeff Holbrook – 2
Otto Sitterly – 2*
Nolan Swift – 1
Bobby Stelter – 1
Gary Allbritain – 1
Ronnie Wallace – 1
Chuck Ciprich – 1
Brian Herb – 1
Mike McLaughlin – 1
Dean Hoag – 1
Dave McKnight – 1
Howard Page – 1
Tim Gareau – 1
Bob Goutermout – 1
Craig Ryavals – 1
Jerry Curran – 1
Bobby Magner – 1
Ray Graham – 1
Pat Lavery – 1
Kody Graham – 1
Randy Ritskes – 1
Michael Barnes – 1
Michael Muldoon – 1*
Dave Danzer – 1
Jeff Abold – 1
Keith Shampine – 1
Dave Shullick Jr. – 1
*Denotes Dead Heat Finish
All-Time Oswego Speedway Jim Shampine Memorial Champions:
1991 – Bentley Warren
1992 – Doug Didero
1993 – Pat Abold
1994 – Cliff Graves
1995 – Ed Bellinger Jr.
1996 – Doug Didero
1997 – Doug Didero
1998 – Ed Bellinger Jr.
1999 – Bob Goutermout
2000 – Greg Furlong
2001 – Mike Ordway
2002 – Mike Ordway
2003 – RAIN
2004 – Craig Rayvals
2005 – Greg Furlong
2006 – Otto Sitterly
2007 – Randy Ritskes
2008 – Greg Furlong
2009 – Otto Sitterly
2010 – Otto SItterly
2011 – Randy Ritskes
2012 – Otto Sitterly
2013 – Otto Sitterly
2014 – Otto Sitterly
2015 – Otto Sitterly
2016 – Dave Danzer
2017 – Keith Shampine
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