Shampine & Shullick Split Novelis Supermodified Twin 35’s At Oswego

Story By: CAMDEN PROUD / OSWEGO SPEEDWAY – OSWEGO, NY – A full moon certainly made for an interesting Saturday night at Oswego Speedway this past weekend and at the end of the evening it was North Carolina’s Keith Shampine and Ohio’s Dave Shullick Jr. going to victory lane in Twin 35 action for the Novelis Supermodifieds, each earning their second career wins.

Shampine, driving the Osetek Racing No. 55, etched his name into Oswego’s record books yesterday as the second Shampine to score a victory in Novelis Supermodified Twin action. His Uncle Jim pulled the trick a total of 21 times in Twin 35, 30 and Triple 33 events.

A week removed from his first career victory at Oswego, Shampine, who was originally slated to start second in the first twin, would later line up on the pole due to a nasty lap 1 melee on the back straightaway which involved Dave Gruel, Otto Sitterly, Michael Muldoon, Michael Barnes, and many more. The Pathfinder Bank SBS feature was run first to allow Supermodified teams the opportunity to fix their cars.

Using his pole starting spot and a whole lot of confidence to his advantage, Shampine soared to the top spot past Joey Payne with Dave Shullick Jr. quickly giving chase in second. It was quite clear early that Shampine and Shullick had the fastest two cars. Despite Shullick giving the driver of the TJ Toyota No. 55 his very best shot, Shampine was too strong in the caution free 35-lapper.

Keith went on to his second Oswego Speedway victory in as many weeks and also his second career win, going to victory lane over Shullick, Joe Gosek, Payne, and Tim Snyder.

“This is great to be here two weeks in a row, this is exactly what we were looking for,” Shampine said. “I knew we had a fast car tonight and we were able to take advantage of starting up front and run away with it for 35-laps. I have to give a huge thanks to TJ Toyota, Cam’s Pizzeria, my car owner Chris Osetek, and this entire team. It’s nice to have some success and wins after so many years of trying.”

Brandon Bellinger, Dave Danzer, Jeff Abold, Michael Barnes and Dan Connors filled in the top ten in the first twin. Sitterly, Muldoon and Gruel were unable to make necessary repairs to return to action after the crash.

The nightcap and the second Twin 35 on the evening was lead to green by Joey Payne and Joe Gosek and it was Gosek driving away with the lead early from the outside pole on two occasions, after the race was stalled on lap 1 for Lou LeVea Jr, who slowed to a stop with a broken front end on the backstretch.

Another Canale Insurance and Accounting caution flag, which later turned to the track going red for the second time of the evening, was thrown on lap 3 when Bellinger made heavy contact with the outside turn three wall. Snyder, Payne, and more were all involved, but able to continue with limited damage. Bellinger was out for the night.

Gosek lead until lap 7 when a hard charging Shullick, who started 6th, had already worked his way to the front making his move for the lead on the outside coming off of turn four.

From that point on, it was all the speedway’s Opening Night winner ‘The Shoe 2,’ who unofficially re-took the points lead after he doubled up on podium performances on Twin 35 night behind the wheel of the Nicotra Racing No. 2. Gosek was also on the podium twice, hanging on for second ahead of a very strong Connors in 3rd. Payne brought the Penix Racing No. 14 home fourth once again, with rookie Logan Rayvals impressing with a fine 5th place finish.

“It was all about survival tonight,” Shullick commented in victory lane. “I was just happy to be able to get through those two big accidents to have something to show for in this one. We had a really strong car tonight and hopefully we can continue to build on this. Thanks to Nicotra Racing, Otto and all of the guys for standing behind me.”

Abold, Shampine, Sitterly, Snyder, and Hal LaTulip rounded out the top ten finishers in the second Twin 35. Danzer did not start due to mechanical problems. Gruel had the No. 50 repaired, but only took the green flag.

Payne, Sitterly, and Abold won the evening’s heat races. Point standings and contingency awards will be available at OswegoSpeedway.com later this afternoon.

The speedway returns to action on Saturday, July 1 featuring an Independence Weekend ‘Grand Prix’ special with a 75-lap main event for the Novelis Supermodifieds and a 35-lap main for the Pathfinder Bank SBS. Fireworks will conclude the evening’s action. Tickets can be purchased by phoning (315)-342-0646.

Oswego Speedway
June 11, 2017

Novelis Supermodifieds

Heat 1 (12-laps): 1. 14 Joey Payne, 2. 68 Michael Barnes, 3. 0 Tim Snyder, 4. 18 Howard Page, 5. 83 Lou LeVea Jr, 6. 52 Tim Jedrzejek DNS – Dave McKnight

Heat 2 (12-laps): 1. 7 Otto Sitterly, 2. 2 Dave Shullick Jr, 3. 72 Dave Danzer, 4. 50 Dave Gruel, 5. 01 Dan Connors, 6. 56 Hal LaTulip

Heat 3 (12-laps): 1. 05 Jeff Abold, 2. 55 Keith Shampine, 3. 00 Joe Gosek, 4. 15 Michael Muldoon, 5. 02 Brandon Bellinger, 6. 94 Logan Rayvals

Twin #1 (35-laps): 1. 55 Keith Shampine, 2. 2 Dave Shullick Jr, 3. 00 Joe Gosek, 4. 14 Joey Payne, 5. 0 Tim Snyder, 6. 02 Brandon Bellinger, 7. 52 Tim Jedrzejek, 8. 05 Jef Abold, 9. 68 Michael Barnes, 10. 01 Dan Connors, 11. 83 Lou LeVea Jr, 12. 18 Howard Page, 13. 94 Logan Rayvals, 14. 52 Dave Danzer, 15. 56 Hal LaTulp, DNS – Otto Sitterly, Michael Muldoon, Dave Gruel, Dave McKnight

Twin #2 (35-laps): 1. 2 Dave Shullick Jr, 2. 00 Joe Gosek, 3. 01 Dan Connors, 4. 14 Joey Payne, 5. 94 Logan Rayvals, 6. 05 Jeff Abold, 7. 55 Keith Shampine, 8. 0 Tim Snyder, 9. 7 Otto Sitterly, 10. 56 Hal LaTulip, 11. 52 Tim Jedrzejek, 12. 18 Howard Page, 13. 68 Michael Barnes, 14. 83 Lou LeVea Jr, 15. 02 Brandon Bellinger DNS – Dave Gruel, Dave Danzer, Dave McKnight, Michael Muldoon