Sitterly, Lavery & LaTulip Crack Top 25 In Oswego’s All-Time Points

Story By: CAMDEN PROUD / OSWEGO SPEEDWAY – OSWEGO, NY – Following a six year hiatus, all-time points for Oswego Speedway’s trademark 900 horsepower Supermodifieds have finally been completed and posted up to date ahead of the track’s 68th consecutive season of action set to begin on Saturday, May 26.

Besting a total of 588 drivers who have competed in the Supermodified division at Oswego since 1962, Joe Gosek has officially emerged as the speedway’s new all-time points leader with an impressive total of 32,606 career points. Scoring more top 5 finishes than any other driver at the track in 2017 played a key role in allowing Gosek to pass Jim Shampine, Steve Gioia Jr, and Eddie Bellinger Jr. all within the past six seasons.

Joining Gosek are several other current Supermodified campaigners who have moved as far up as inside the top 15. Tim Snyder, the 2001 Budweiser International Classic 200 champion, moved up one spot to 12th at 16,732. The top ten is now in reach for the ‘Zero Hero.’

Just behind Snyder is 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014 Supermodified track champion Otto Sitterly, who soared from 31st on the list to all the way up inside the top 15 after a half dozen more stout years with car owner John Nicotra.

Further back in the top 20, longtime campaigner Pat Lavery, who scored his first win in more than 15 years of trying with Hoefer/Samuels Racing in June of 2013, has made his way up to 17th on the all-time list.

Howard Page, who returned to Supermodified racing in 2014, was able to move up two spots to crack the top 20, while veteran Hal LaTulip improved from 39th to 23rd to mark the last active driver inside the illustrious top 25.

Sitting just outside that top 25 are Dave McKnight and Bobby Bond, who each competed at the speedway this year as well as Randy Ritskes, who last saw action at Oswego back in 2014 when he drove to three victories on the season for car owner Ken Locke.

Despite making his Oswego return for the first time in over a decade in 2017, Jeff West has dropped four spots down to 36th all-time, just ahead of current car owner Jerry Curran, who has now moved into the top 40 all-time surpassing Pat Abold, Fred Graves, Bob Goutermout, and more. Eight-time feature winner Ray Graham Jr. finishes the list of drivers who have competed since 2011 to make the top 50.

Five of the division’s current stars sit closely knit together within twelve spots as 2016 track champion Michael Barnes, defending Mr. Supermodified Dave Gruel, first time winner in 2017 Keith Shampine, another recent feature winner in Brandon Bellinger, and ten-time winner in the past six years Dave Danzer are now 57th, 58th, 61st, 67th, and 69th in all-time points, respectively. Dan Connors Jr, who has been almost an entirely full-time driver since 2011, is still looking for his first win after several second place finishes, but has still been able to move to 72nd in all-time points.

Driving for Strong, Graham and Penix Racing all within the past six years, the ‘Jersey Jet’ Joey Payne has made the top 75 at just over 5,000 points with more Oswego appearances expected for Payne in 2018 that could see the Fairlawn, N.J. driver move up as far as ten more spots.

Remaining drivers to compete in the past six years that sit within the top 100 include second generation driver and now three-time feature winner Michael Muldoon (82nd), fourteen-time top five finisher Stephen Gioia III (84th), three-time feature winner Jeff Holbrook (85th), 2002 track champion Shawn Muldoon (86th), another second generation driver and many time winner in Kody Graham (89th), the ‘original’ Mr. Supermodified Gene Lee Gibson (91st), recent breakout driver Tim Devendorf (92nd), 2016 International Classic Champion Jeff Abold (97th), returning competitor and many time feature winner Shaun Gosselin, who rounds out the top 100.

Other notables on the list include father and son Lou LeVea Sr. and Lou LeVea Jr. who are within sixty points of each other at 117th and 118th as well as defending track champion Dave Shullick Jr. who moved up more spots than anyone from 396th to 160th.

2015 rookie Aric Iosue has managed to start at the bottom of the list, but still crack the top 200 after just two full seasons of competition now see the two-time winner sitting at 183rd. Fellow newcomer Logan Rayvals is 258th after only one full season.

 

Quarter Midget Champion Sokolic an Oswego Small Block Super Rookie in 2018

OSWEGO, NY (December 19, 2017) – The 2018 Small Block Supermodified class at Oswego Speedway will see yet another quarter midget racer move up to full-size competition and take aim at the coveted SBS ‘Rookie of the Year’ honors handed out at the end of the season.

Josh Sokolic, a 15 year-old student at West Genesee High School, will join the likes of Michael Barnes, Dan Connors Jr, Dalton Doyle, Josh Kerr, Anthony Losurdo, Camden Proud, and more as active Oswego drivers who made the step up from the Syracuse and Oswego County Quarter Midget Clubs to the fast 5/8ths mile that is the ‘Steel Palace.’

Despite preparing to now be the youngest competitor at the track, Sokolic has been racing for a solid 8 years and has collected five quarter midget championships, over 100 feature wins and multiple USAC Northeast Series regional wins along the way.

As longtime Oswego fans, this will certainly be a family effort for Josh and his father John, who recently purchased what originally was a potent creation put together by former SBS driver and car owner Ed Horne that received its latest updates from Ray Hedger. This car, to now be numbered 26, has seen a good amount of success over the years at Oswego driven most recently by Chris Lupa and Shannon Jones. It has also seen some trips to victory lane in its day courtesy of series all-time wins leader Mike Bond.

This past September, Sokolic made his Small Block Supermodified debut at the Evans Mills Speedway. After laying down dozens of practice laps in pre-race testing, ‘Stosh’ entered his first event which was the ‘Fall Brawl 50’ as part of the Lighthouse Lanes SBS Series. It was a learning experience that saw the No. 26 click off several more laps that proved to be vital seat time for the up and coming young driver.

With his first SBS start out of the way, Sokolic now turns to a full-time Oswego campaign in 2018 with a goal of no more than to simply get acclimated to what is a very different type of race car for the quarter midget graduate.

“My goals this year are to get used to the different size and speed of the car, stay out of trouble and finish races,” Sokolic said. “We want to get as much practice and learning time in as possible, but compete when we can and also learn what I can from the veteran drivers. Hopefully that allows me to get better every time out.”

With a great support system already formed thanks to sponsors All Weather Power Equipment, Lakeland Auto Repair, Northern Property Services, and The First Tee Syracuse as well as presence on social media at Facebook.com/Joshua-Sokolic-Racing and on Instagram @joshua_sokolic_racing, there is no question that the Camillus native is ready for a full-scale assault on the Small Block Super class this coming season.

At least one other driver is expected to contend with Sokolic for Small Block Supermodified Rookie of the Year honors in 2018. To keep tabs on driver registrations as well as future announcements, be sure to visit online at OswegoSpeedway.com. You can also FOLLOW on Twitter @OswegoSpeedway or LIKE on Facebook at Facebook.com/OswegoSpeedway.

The full 2018 schedule for Oswego Speedway, set to open with the first ever running of the Jim Shampine Memorial Twin 50’s on Saturday, 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.