Gosek Electrifies ‘Retro Night’ Crowd With 43rd Career Win At Oswego

Story By: CAMDEN PROUD / OSWEGO SPEEDWAY – OSWEGO, NY – He’s still got it. 61 year-old Joe Gosek did it again last night at Oswego Speedway, earning his 43rd career victory on ‘Retro Night’ at the Big O, bringing the crowd to it’s feet as Gosek became the oldest non-wing Supermodified winner in track history.

The driver of the Burke’s Do It Best Home Centers No. 00 didn’t waste any time getting to where he wanted to be, the lead, in the 45-lap special, which was ran in honor of the ‘retro’ program presented by RJ Caruso Tax and Accounting and JP Jewelers.

Starting in the fourth spot, Gosek made quick work of outside pole sitter Tim Snyder, and on lap 5, got under the other front row starter in Dan Connors Jr. to take the top spot on an exciting move heading into turn one.

Gosek ran away early as the front five ran nose to tail. On lap 13, the caution flag flew for the No. 71 of Bill Sharkey, who found himself into the turn four foam. Sharkey was done for the night.

On the restart, Gosek continued to walk away, leading Connors, Jeff Abold, Snyder and a very fast Keith Shampine. It was then that Shampine and seventh starting Otto Sitterly began to make their moves to break into the top five as Shampine went by Snyder for fourth with Sitterly following suit into the fifth spot.

Further back in the top ten, defending champion Michael Barnes, ‘Mr. Supermodified’ Dave Gruel and series points leader Dave Shullick Jr. put on a tight battle for positions six, seven, eight and nine for nearly 20 laps.

Lap 24 saw another Canale Insurance and Accounting yellow flag in the air for the driver of the No. 94, Logan Rayvals, when he came to a halt in turn one. The Canadian experienced what appeared to be motor problems on his ride. Rayvals joined Brandon Bellinger as drivers with engine issues on the evening, as the plant in the Bellinger No. 02 went south on the original start of the feature event.

Just before the yellow was thrown, defending Budweiser International Classic 200 Champion Jeff Abold was on the move, taking second from Connors and giving chase to Gosek. The restart set things up perfectly for the driver of the A&P Auto Parts No. 05 to put the pressure on ‘00 Joe’ as Gosek tried to make a clean getaway once again.

For 20 laps, Abold kept the legendary driver honest on the night of his oh so fitting victory, as he was honored with the debut of his special edition ‘Hall of Fame Legends’ t-shirts on the same evening.

It was when Abold really began to apply pressure on Gosek that the final yellow of the race came out with five to go for polesitter Connors, who unfortunately found himself up against the turn three foam with his orange No. 01. Connors was also out for the night. This in turn packed the field right tight together once again.

Battles had ensued for the remaining 20 circuits further back in the field as Shullick made the hard charge from ninth, but it was within the last five laps following the crucial restart that ‘The Shoe 2’ really heated things up, finding his way by both Gruel and Barnes to crack the top five with only a handful of laps to go.

Moving into fifth, Shullick pulled in right behind teammate Otto Sitterly, who sits right behind him in second in the point standings, keeping himself in check with a relatively comfortable lead as only two shows remain in the points race. Sitterly and Shampine found their way by Connors on lap 28 when the No. 01 machine slipped up the track.

For awhile, it appeared as if there would be a four car battle for the lead as the the front four cars raced nose to tail, but when it all came down to those last five laps Gosek and Abold pulled away from Shampine and Sitterly.

Bringing the vocal crowd to its feet, Gosek was able to hold off a closing Abold for his 43rd career victory. He was greeted by his wife, daughters, and a plethora of fans in victory lane for photos, autographs and congratulatory wishes after pulling off a rather impressive feat that will always go down as one of those “special moments” in the speedway’s rich history. Oswego’s fans were ecstatic to see ‘Go Joe’ back in victory lane after a nailbiting last few laps, and Gosek was pretty darn happy to hold the checkered flag himself.

“I guess this is pretty fitting for old timer’s night, here I am,” Gosek joked. “We’ve just been working hard all year and got a nice opportunity to start out front and it worked out, but this feels good. All the guys work hard. We spend a lot of time on this thing, as much as these guys can, and night’s like these are very rewarding.”

Abold drove to perhaps the most impressive run of his season thus far, but came up just a little bit short finishing runner-up to Gosek, something the pilot of the homebuilt A&P Auto Parts machine saw absolutely no shame in.

“This was a great night, I think that was the best car I’ve had all year,” Abold said. “We’ve been struggling all season long to have something like that to work with, so to finally go and run up front is nice. I actually think the cautions were hurting me, there were some longer runs where we were making gains but I kind of lost some momentum on the last restart. Congrats to Joe (Gosek), he has been working hard for so many years and has more laps around this place than anyone so it’s nice to see him get it done on a special night.”

Shampine, who appeared to be the favorite for victory all evening long in the Chris Osetek No. 55, was a bit disappointed with third after running in the top five for the duration of the feature event. The Concord, NC pilot turned a blistering fast 16.393 earlier in the evening in group time trials.

“We were actually a little tight tonight,” Shampine commented. “We’ve been chasing things with the new left rear all season since they’ve brought it out we’ve been pretty loose and tonight we got it closer, but were a little bit too tight coming off the corner. I had all I could do to get by the 0 and 01 to get up to third and that was about all I had at that point, so I was just kind of riding in third hoping Otto (Sitterly) didn’t get a run on me.”

In a rather recognizable ‘Retro Night’ top five, it was the legendary Gosek, second generation driver Abold, the iconic “Shampine,” seven time champion Sitterly, and another second generation driver in Shullick making up the front five positions. Gruel, Barnes, Snyder, Tim Devendorf, and Pat Lavery, in his Nicotra Racing debut, completed the top ten.

Devendorf was awarded Lighthouse Lanes Up and Comer for his ninth place effort while Shullick was declared the Lighthouse Lanes Hard Charger. Brad Penn Oil Supermodified Heat Winners were Snyder, Devendorf, and Connors.

Pathfinder Bank SBS veteran Mike Bruce has found himself caught in the middle of more bad luck this year than perhaps any other driver at the Oswego Speedway. Last night all of that changed when the driver of the Bruce Racing double deuce picked up his fifth career SBS triumph at the ‘Steel Palace’ after starting in the pole position and holding off good friend Cameron Rowe for victory.

Bruce and Rowe led the 18 car field to green, but there were problems right away as the 8 of Josh Kerr and 87 of Matt Magner got together in turn one. Everyone was able to make it through, but both Magner and Kerr were sent tail side for bringing out the yellow.

On the original restart, Bruce tried to begin his charge away from Rowe, but he didn’t get too far, as the many year veteran of the division in Rowe stayed right with the No. 22 for all thirty circuits as the front three of Bruce, Rowe and third place starter Kreig Heroth remained nose to tail.

Further back, sixth, seventh and ninth place point championship leaders Andrew Schartner, Dave Cliff and Camden Proud began their march through the field, avoiding the first lap accident before all three found their way by the No. 91 of fourth place starting Barry Kingsley to work into positions four, five and six.

Despite a caution at the halfway point for Rookie of the Year contender Tony Pisa which many assumed may have shaken the field up, the always competitive and even Small Blocks remained just that, and Bruce was able to hold off the Rowe No. 77 for his first Oswego victory since May 21st of last season.

At the bottom of the top ten, Mike Bond, another driver who narrowly missed the first lap crash, attempted to reel in Cliff and Proud to battle inside the top five, but was unable to do so while Dalton Doyle, Jack Patrick and Kingsley diced it out for the remaining three spots in the top ten.

‘Mr. SBS’ Jesse Bearup finished in 11th place while Matt Magner recovered from the first lap crash to finish 12th. Greg O’Connor and Josh Kerr filled out the running order to finish 13th and 14th. Cameron Black, Pisa and Mark Castiglia were all pitside before the checkered flag dropped.

After a nightmare season, which nearly went away with a ‘Mr. SBS’ crown two weeks earlier before a late race crash, Bruce’s win last night also came as his very first top ten finish of 2017, surprising for a driver who boasts 28 career top five finishes. The 25 year-old, who is the president of the new Lighthouse Lanes Small Block Supermodified Traveling Series, was thrilled to finally produce a good result for his family team in a season clouded by some of the worst luck of the Oswego driver’s career.

“We are excited to finally get this win even though it came from starting on the front row,” Bruce said. “Just to finally have a good race, my first one of the season, feels nice. It’s been a long, miserable year for us with a lot of time and money gone into both cars and to run the way we have been is pretty depressing, so it’s nice to finally get to victory lane. I can’t thank my Dad, brother, and Carlee (Heagerty) enough for all the help and support. Cameron Rowe has also been a huge help the last couple months trying to help me figure this car out again. It’s funny how it went from being a top three car every week last year to barely able to get out of it’s own way this year. Racing is such a crazy sport and the stuff racers and owners do just to gain another tenth is amazing. I want to also give a shoutout to my longtime sponsors Woodchuck Saloon and Millenium Music for their constant support to get me here. We will enjoy this one.”

Rowe, a four time winner at the speedway who was in the runner up spot one race prior with Bruce the leader, experienced quite the familiar sight last Saturday night with the back bumper of the No. 22 once again right in front of him. Unfortunately, in the running of ‘Mr. SBS’, the two cars ended up coming together, ending both of their chances at victory. Fortunately, both longtime Oswego shoes were able to turn it around as they each returned to the podium one week later.

“The car was good,” Rowe commented. “It.was better on the longer runs and Mike (Bruce’s) car was better on the restarts .I was faster just not in the right spots on the track and with (Kreig) Heroth that tight to me I couldn’t set up the pass without exposing the bottom. The car was just a hair tight in the center. Mike ran a good race and a good line and was deserving of the win.”

Joining in Rowe’s thoughts was third place Heroth, who has been solid all year in his sharp No. 04 machine. The 2012 series champion scored his second podium and third top five of the season, holding off Schartner and Cliff to finish in the third spot but unable to have just enough to get by either Rowe or Bruce.

“We had a solid night. Our Dick Myers 04 had a lot of speed,” said Heroth. “As we went through the feature, the car didn’t change how we expected it to, but we were still able to keep up with the top two. Unfortunately we just didn’t have quite enough grip to get by them. Looking forward to the last two regular shows and hoping to finish strong.”

Dalton Doyle was awarded the D&S Landscaping Hard Charger award for his eighth place effort, Bruce was the Sherwood Racing Wheels Lap Leader Award recipient after leading for all 30 circuits, and Schartner was the White’s Car Care ‘4th Place’ Award Winner.

The speedway returns to action next Saturday night, August 12 when CNY CPR and Oswego County Today present ‘Twin 20’s’ for the Pathfinder Bank Small Block Supers and a 50-lap main for the Novelis Supermodifieds. All of the action will get underway at 6:45pm. Tickets can be purchased at the speedway box office or at the gate for only $17. For further ticketing information, please phone (315)-342-0646.

For more information on Oswego Speedway visit online at www.oswegospeedway.com, follow on Twitter @OswegoSpeedway, or like on Facebook at facebook.com/OswegoSpeedway.

Oswego Speedway
Oswego, NY
August 5, 2017

Novelis Supermodifieds

BOX SCORE

Feature (45-laps): 1. 00 Joe Gosek, 2. 05 Jeff Abold, 3. 55 Keith Shampine, 4. 7 Otto Sitterly, 5. 2 Dave Shullick Jr, 6. 50 Dave Gruel, 7. 68 Michael Barnes, 8. 0 Tim Snyder, 9. 5 Tim Devendorf, 10. 6 Pat Lavery, 11. 83 Lou LeVea Jr, 12. 66 Lou LeVea Sr, 13. 01 Dan Connors, 14. 24 Jerry Curran, 15. 94 Logan Rayvals, 16. 71 Bill Sharkey, 17. 02 Brandon Bellinger

Heat 1 (10-laps); 1. 0 Tim Snyder, 2. 02 Brandon Bellinger, 3. 00 Joe Gosek, 4. 7 Otto Sitterly, 5. 94 Logan Rayvals, 6. 66 Lou LeVea Sr.

Heat 2 (10-laps): 1. 5 Tim Devendorf, 2. 2 Dave Shullick Jr, 3. 05 Jeff Abold, 4. 55 Keith Shampine, 5. 24 Jerry Curran, 6. 71 Bill Sharkey

Heat 3 (10-laps): 1. 01 Dan Connors, 2. 50 Dave Gruel, 3. 6 Pat Lavery, 4. 68 Michael Barnes, 5. 83 Lou LeVea Jr.

Timed Hot Laps: 1. 55 Keith Shampine – 16.393, 2. 7 Otto Sitterly – 16.512, 3. 68 Michael Barnes – 16.556, 4. 2 Dave Shullick Jr. – 16.624, 5. 02 Brandon Bellinger – 16.647, 6. 50 Dave Gruel – 16.688, 7. 05 Jeff Abold – 16.730, 8. 6 Pat Lavery – 16.759, 9. 5 Tim Devendorf – 16.859, 10. 00 Joe Gosek – 16.993, 11. 01 Dan Connors – 17.043, 12. 24 Jerry Curran – 17.191,13. 0 Tim Snyder – 17.191, 14. 94 Logan Rayvals – 17.244, 15. 83 Lou LeVea Jr – 17.604, 16. 66 Lou LeVea Sr. – 17.798

Lighthouse Lanes Hard Charger: 2 – Dave Shullick Jr.

Lighthouse Lanes Up and Comer: 5 – Tim Devendorf

Brad Penn Oil Supermodified Heat Winners: Tim Snyder, Tim Devendorf, Dan Connors

Pathfinder Bank SBS

BOX SCORE

Feature (30-laps): 1. 22 Mike Bruce, 2. 77 Cameron Rowe, 3. 04 Kreig Heroth, 4. 18 Andrew Schartner, 5. 50 Dave Cliff, 6. 54 Camden Proud, 7. 74 Mike Bond, 8. 01 Dalton Doyle, 9. 9 Jack Patrick, 10. 91 Barry Kingsley, 11. 37 Jesse Bearup, 12. 87 Matt Magner, 13. 90 Greg O’Connor, 14. 8 Josh Kerr, 15. 23 Cameron Black, 16. 89 Tony Pisa, 17. 69 Mark Castiglia

Heat 1 (10-laps): 1. 9 Jack Patrick, 2. 74 Mike Bond, 3. 01 Dalton Doyle, 4. 87 Matt Magner, 5, 37 Jesse Bearup, 6. 89 Tony Pisa

Heat 2 (10-laps): 1. 8 Josh Kerr, 2. 50 Dave Cliff, 3. 04 Kreig Heroth, 4. 91 Barry Kingsley, 5. 69 Mark Castiglia, 6. 23 Cameron Black

Heat 3 (10-laps): 1. Andrew Schartner, 2. 22 Mike Bruce, 3 77 Cameron Black, 4. 54 Camden Proud, 5. 90 Greg O’Connor

Timed Hot Laps: 1. 87 Matt Magner – 18,955, 2. 54 Camden Proud – 19.057, 3. 04 Kreig Heroth – 19.067, 4. 01 Dalton Doyle – 19.080, 5. 77 Cameron Rowe – 19.098, 6. 50 Dave Cliff – 19.171, 7. 74 Mike Bond – 19.177, 8. 18 Andrew Schartner – 19.163, 9. 69 Mark Castiglia – 19.183, 10. 37 Jesse Bearup – 19.195, 11. 90 Greg O’Connor, 12. 91 Barry Kingsley – 19.318, 13. 9 Jack Patrick, 14. 22 Mike Bruce – 19.353, 15. 8 Josh Kerr – 19.521, 16. 89 Tony Pisa – 19.729

D&S Landscaping Hard Charger: 01 – Dalton Doyle
Sherwood Racing Wheels Lap Leader Award: 22 – Mike Bruce

White’s Car Care 4th Place Award: 18 – Andrew Schartner