Kreig Heroth, Mike Bond Split SBS Twin 20’s At Oswego

Story By: CAMDEN PROUD / OSWEGO SPEEDWAY – OSWEGO, NY – On a night that is always known to play a pivotal role in the outcome of the driver’s championship for the Pathfinder Bank SBS division, it was not any of the top three championship contenders, but two former champions and series veterans in Kreig Heroth and Mike Bond going to victory lane.

Heroth, driving the familiar Dick Myers No. 04, is the 2012 Track Champion and will be making his exit from the division at the conclusion of the 2017 season. Starting on the outside pole in the first Twin 20, the Fort Plain, NY talent dove to the bottom of the race track in front of polesitter Jack Patrick heading into turn 1 to make his initial move to the lead.

On lap 2, the red flag was put out for a nasty crash involving Cameron Rowe and Barry Kingsley in turn 1. Rowe’s No. 77 was hooked, sent airborne and turned hard into the outside wall on the front straightaway. Rowe made heavy contact with the turn 1 foam with Kingsley’s No. 91 piling in. The accident also collected Tony Pisa and Scott Shafer, but both were able to continue on without damage. Kingsley and Rowe were uninjured in the scary incident, but their race cars sustained very heavy damaged.

After a lengthy cleanup and another masterful job by the Oswego Speedway Track Safety Crew, the green lights came back on and it was all Heroth leading the final eighteen circuits from there on out, running consistent laps at 19.0 seconds to march away from Patrick, who was also a winner earlier this season. The driver of the Longley Dodge No. 9 machine finished in the runner up spot.

Dalton Doyle, who had a very solid Twin 20 showing with two third place efforts, put together the two most important moves of the race, getting by Greg O’Connor on the start to fall into fourth before later making work of ‘Mr. SBS’ Jesse Bearup on lap 4 to move into the final podium position.

Heroth, Patrick, Doyle, Bearup and O’Connor lead them from there on out as current championship runner up Andrew Schartner, series all-time wins leader Mike Bond, points leader Dave Cliff, last week’s feature winner Mike Bruce, and third place point man Camden Proud were the remaining top ten finishers.

“I am really happy to get Dick Myers back to victory lane,” Heroth said of his seventh career victory. “I’m also excited for my local support as we were able to get them into victory lane as well. I am very proud of our whole team and glad to be leaving the Small Block Super class on a high note. We are hoping to have a good last regular season go at things next weekend.”

Rob Pullen, who made his first appearance of the season with his own No. 2 machine after several starts in Mark Castiglia’s 69, D&S Landscaping Hard Charger Brad Haynes, and Shafer, who also was making his first start of the season, completed the on track running order when the checkered flag waved on lap 20. James Babcock, Rowe, Kingsley, and Pisa were credited with fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth. Heroth was the Sherwood Racing Wheels Lap Leader while Bearup was credited with the White’s Car Care ‘4th Place’ Award.

First time winner this season Greg O’Connor and once again, Patrick, lead the second Twin 20 to the green flag. O’Connor dropped out of the top three early, as Patrick found his way to the lead, this time from the outside of the front row.

It then became a battle between two of the most experienced drivers in the field in Patrick and Bond, with Bond taking the Four Sevens Motorsports No. 74 machine to the top spot on the inside of Patrick on lap 6.

As soon as Bond got to the lead, the 39-time winner going into the evening became rather dominant, walking away from Patrick’s red No. 9 as the man on the move once again was the No. 01 of Doyle, who drove from fifth once more getting by Bearup and O’Connor for the final podium position.

Rather than Heroth, this time, it was Bond leading Patrick and Doyle as O’Connor and Bearup went head to head for the fourth spot, with O’Connor eventually winning the battle, which was the opposite of what had happened in the first twin.

For nearly the entire race, less the last corner, Proud was able to hold his No. 54 down on the bottom of the speedway to keep fellow championship contenders Schartner and Cliff at bay but the Step One Creative machine slipped up just enough on the final corner of the final lap for the Schartner No. 18 to get by, allowing Schartner to pick up vital points in the battle between the two, Doyle, Dave Cliff, and now Heroth and Patrick for the track championship.

Cliff finished just behind Proud in eighth, with Heroth ninth and Haynes in tenth. Rookie of the Year Pisa brought the Greg O’Connor Racing No. 89 home in eleventh with Babcock finishing in the twelfth spot.

Shafer gave the controls of his No. 76 to Rowe for the second twin to allow Cameron to pick up championship points, and Rowe took three laps before pulling the Snafu Racing ride back pitside. Bruce was involved in a lap 1 incident which sent him pitside after only a corner of racing action, while Pullen, who was set to start sixth, opted not to start the second twin.

Bond’s victory was the fortieth of his illustrious Oswego career, which has included the aforementioned forty wins along with five track championships. The Mexico, NY native is no doubt among the very greatest to step into a Small Block Super at the ‘Steel Palace.’

Known for being calm, cool, collected and more than anything else; humble, Bond was just that in victory lane, saying “I’d like to thank Denise (Merrill) for giving me this great ride and to my crew for all of their hard work and dedication to get us to this point. I also want to thank my loyal sponsors and Ron Gray from Millenium Music for all of his support over the years.”

Patrick, who has had another great season, is a twenty plus year campaigner in the SBS ranks that has garnered nearly fifty top five finishes and seven victories in the dedicated span, was understandably a bit disappointed with two seconds.

The Fulton City fireman noted, “I’m a little disappointed because we’ve had a great season and if it wasn’t for the point penalty I’d be about ten points behind Dave Cliff going into the last week with a chance at my first championship in my twenty two year career. It’s a hard pill to swallow and I’ve also never been third or better in points in the end so that’s going to be hard to get as well with one week left. Starting spot was crucial as I was not the best car tonight and we were running different shocks than I’ve ever had. Hopefully we can get it tuned in a little better for the Classic.”

For Doyle, who started the night on the outside looking in as far as the top three in the standings is concerned, the Fulton NY driver was rather pleased with two third place finishes in a row, to move past Proud for third in the standings heading into the final event of the season.

“We are pretty happy with two third place runs,” Doyle offered. “I can’t thank the crew and people that support this race team, Mike, Dennis, Jesse, Mom and Dad enough as well as our sponsors RWW Contracting Group, Menter Ambulance Service, Lake Ontario Prompt Medical Care, Gary’s Equipment Company, L. Romano Rifle Co. and everyone enough for all they do.”

The Pathfinder Bank SBS now have just one regular event remaining, next week’s Track Championship night, before the Bud Light Classic 75 will commence on Sunday, September 3. Unofficially, it’s Cliff leading the standings by just under twenty points ahead of Schartner, Doyle, Proud and Heroth.

Oswego Speedway

Oswego, NY

Saturday, August 12, 2017

Pathfinder Bank SBS

BOX SCORE

Twin #1 (20-laps): 1. 04 Kreig Heroth, 2. 9 Jack Patrick, 3. 01 Dalton Doyle, 4. 37 Jesse Bearup, 5. 90 Greg O’Connor, 6. 18 Andrew Schartner, 7. 74 Mike Bond, 8. 50 Dave Cliff, 9. 22 Mike Bruce, 10. 54 Camden Proud, 11. 2 Rob Pullen, 12. 88 Brad Haynes, 13. 76 Scott Shafer, 14. 15 James Babcock, 15. 77 Cameron Rowe, 16. 91 Barry Kingsley, 17. 89 Tony Pisa

Twin #2 (20-laps): 1. 74 Mike Bond, 2 9 Jack Patrick, 3. 01 Dalton Doyle, 4. 90 Greg O’Connor, 5. 37 Jesse Bearup, 6. 18 Andrew Schartner, 7. 54 Camden Proud, 8. 50 Dave Cliff, 9. 04 Kreig Heroth, 10. 88 Brad Haynes, 11. 89 Tony Pisa, 12. 15 James Babcock, 13. 76 Cameron Rowe, 14. 22 Mike Bruce, 15. 2 Rob Pullen

Heat 1 (10-laps): 1. 2 Rob Pullen, 2. 04 Kreig Heroth, 3. 01 Dalton Doyle, 4. 54 Camden Proud, 5. 76 Scott Shafer, 6. 15 James Babcock

Heat 2 (10-laps): 1. 74 Mike Bond, 2. 37 Jesse Bearup, 3. 90 Greg O’Connor, 4. 77 Cameron Rowe, 5. 89 Tony Pisa, 6. 88 Brad Haynes

Heat 3 (10-laps): 1. 22 Mike Bruce, 2. 9 Jack Patrick, 3. 18 Andrew Schartner, 4. 50 Dave Cliff, 5. 91 Barry Kingsley

Timed Warmup: 1. 18 Andrew Schartner – 18.915, 2. 77 Cameron Rowe – 18.933, 3. 01 Dalton Doyle – 18.939, 4. 50 Dave Cliff – 18.957, 5. 90 Greg O’Connor – 18.969, 6. 54 Camden Proud – 18.977, 7. 9 Jack Patrick – 18.987, 8. 37 Jesse Bearup – 19.059, 9. 04 Kreig Heroth – 19.061, 10. 22 Mike Bruce – 19.082, 11. 74 Mike Bond – 19.096, 12. 2 Rob Pullen – 19.107, 13. 91 Barry Kingsley – 19.177, 14. 89 Tony Pisa – 19.235, 15. 76 Scott Shafer – 19.584, 16. 15 James Babcock – 20.005

D&S Landscaping Hard Charger (Twin 1): 88 – Brad Haynes

Sherwood Racing Wheels Lap Leader Award (Twin 1): 04 – Kreig Heroth

White’s Car Care 4th Place Award (Twin 1): 37 – Jesse Bearup

D&S Landscaping Hard Charger (Twin 2): 74 – Mike Bond

Sherwood Racing Wheels Lap Leader Award (Twin 2): 74 – Mike Bond

White’s Car Care 4th Place Award (Twin 2): 90 – Greg O’Connor