Shullick Jr., Cliff To Be Crowned Champions At Oswego’s Championship Banquet November 4th
Story By: DAN KAPUSCINSKI / OSWEGO SPEEDWAY – OSWEGO, NY – An annual tradition continues as Oswego Speedway will once again hold its Hall of Fame and Championship Banquet on Saturday, November 4 at the Lake Ontario Event & Conference Center in Oswego, honoring deserving track champions Dave Shullick Jr. and Dave Cliff.
Over two months removed from the final event of the regular season on Saturday, August 19, Shullick and Cliff will officially receive the accolades of an Oswego champion.
After years of coming to Oswego, first as a study under his father Dave Shullick Sr., then as a multiple feature winner in winged competition, Shullick Jr. finally made a full-time attempt at Oswego in 2017, and he made the most of it.
Putting together a weekly program with John Nicotra and Otto Sitterly, Shullick started the season fast with a victory in the Speedway’s 67th annual season opener, making it clear he aimed to be the Speedway’s first track champion from the state of Ohio since Todd Gibson in 1968.
A 10th place finish in the Jim Shampine Memorial on May 27 put a temporary hold on rumbles of Shullick domination, but that hold was lifted after Twin 35 events on June 10.
Keith Shampine became the man to beat while Shullick climbed back to the top, winning the Shampine Memorial and Twin #1, but Shullick quickly pounced yet again finishing second behind Shampine in the opener before running away to a 4-second victory in the second Twin of the night for win number two of the season.
With only four feature events in the books, the coffin door already appeared to be closing on the Novelis Supermodified championship, and Shullick took another heavy swing at the final nail in the Independence Grand Prix on July 1.
Winning the Grand Prix 75 by nearly 10-seconds, Shullick left little doubt that the 2017 title was his to lose.
Over the course of the next six regular season events, Shullick did exactly what he needed to in order to secure the title as he was named the night’s Hard Charger on three separate occasions while earning his fourth win of the season on July 15 in the Summer Championship.
When all was said and done, Shullick compiled four championship wins, nine top five finishes, and ten top ten finishes in 11 events, racing away to a 47.5-point win over his teammate, Sitterly.
Shullick’s championship winning margin of 47.5-points is the largest Novelis Supermodified championship victory since Sitterly defeated Joey Payne by 91-points in 2010.
While Shullick was a first-time champion at Oswego in 2017, Dave Cliff collected his third series championship in the Pathfinder Bank SBS division, becoming the first driver to win consecutive championships since Russ Brown won three straight titles from 2005-2007.
Entering 2017 as the defending champ behind the wheel of the Tim Barbeau owned No. 50, Cliff took second in the season opener behind championship rival Andrew Schartner.
From there, Cliff collected three more consecutive top five finishes to start the year, putting himself in prime position for a repeat, before his only blemish on the season – a 12th place finish on July 8.
That 12th place effort did not slow Cliff down as he bounced back for fourth on July 15 before taking sixth in the Mr. SBS championship on July 22.
The month of August sealed the deal for Cliff in his quest for back-to-back series titles with four top ten runs including two more top fives, with his only win of the season on August 19 capping the regular season in championship fashion.
One win, seven top five, and ten top ten finishes were more than enough to best Schartner by 49-points for the SBS track championship.
Now, Shullick and Cliff will officially be crowned champions in front of their fellow competitors, family & friends, and sponsors as a part of the Speedway’s Hall of Fame and Championship Banquet on November 4.
The night’s festivities will begin at 6 p.m.
The Lake Ontario Event and Conference Center is located at 26 E. 1st St. in Oswego.
Joining Shullick and Cliff as special guests at the banquet will be Hall of Fame inductees Russ Wood, Bill Abold, Jan Leaty, Don Forbes, and Jerry Kritzman.
The top ten finishers in the Novelis Supermodified and Pathfinder Bank SBS championships will also be honored as well as the Speedway’s 2017 Rookie of the Year recipients, crews of the year, car owners of the year, and other special award recipients to be named.
To book a room at the Best Western, phone a hotel representative at (315)-342-4040 or visit online at www.bestwestern.com.
Banquet tickets are available in the Speedway box office, located at 300 E. Albany St. in Oswego, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays. Tickets for the night’s festivities and dinner are $45.
For more information on Oswego Speedway, be sure to visit online at OswegoSpeedway.com. You can also FOLLOW on Twitter @OswegoSpeedway or LIKE on Facebook at Facebook.com/OswegoSpeedway.
To contact Oswego Speedway via phone, please call (315) 342-0646.
Novelis Supermodified Championship Standings – Top Ten – Final
1. Dave Shullick Jr.**** – 1065
2. Otto Sitterly – 1017.5
3. Keith Shampine** – 979
4. Michael Barnes – 968
5. Joe Gosek* – 940
6. Jeff Abold* – 923.5
7. Brandon Bellinger* – 863.5
8. Dave Gruel* – 823
9. Tim Snyder – 810
10. Dan Connors Jr. – 770
Pathfinder Bank SBS Championship Standings – Top Ten – Final
1. Dave Cliff* – 1010
2. Andrew Schartner* – 961
3. Camden Proud – 943
4. Jack Patrick* – 928
4. Dalton Doyle – 928
6. Jesse Bearup** – 904.5
7. Kreig Heroth* – 902
8. Mike Bond*** – 889
9. Greg O’Connor* – 859.5
10. Cameron Rowe – 825
