5/16/10
Otto Sitterly and Steve Abt kick off 2010 in Oswego Speedway's Victory Lane
By Dan Johnson
Otto Sitterly and Steve Abt kick off 2010 in Oswego Speedway's Victory Lane
By Dan Johnson
Defending track and Classic champion Otto Sitterly picked up right where he left off as he drove
to victory Saturday night at Oswego Speedway. Starting inside row three, Sitterly used the
inside line to move from fifth to the lead from laps 15 to 21, and drove off from the field numerous
times for the dominating win. This was Sitterly’s third opening night victory at Oswego, and his
thirteenth career supermodified win.
Hometown drivers Bobby Magner and Danny Connors paced the 17 car field to Donnie Forbes
green flag, with Magner shooting out to the lead. Most of the field fell into single file on the inside
portion of the speedway, while Doug Didero and Jeff Holbrook were the only ones to venture out
to the high side of the speedway.
After a pair of spins early for Lou Levea and Dave McKnight, Keith Shampine held the lead as
Magner pulled the Holbrook owned 41 pitside.
Caution again flew over the speedway early, as Tim Snyder crinkled up the sheet metal on the
new 0 car, ending his night early. Shampine led the parade of Joey Payne, Connors, Pat Lavery,
Sitterly, Holbrook, Didero, Joe Gosek, Dave Gruel and McKnight, as the field went back to green
flag racing.
The Snyder garage would be a busy place after this race, as Shaun Gosselin tapped the turn
two wall on lap 13 with his #26. Once racing, Shampine stopped clocks at consistent 17.45 and
17.51 laps with the 88, as he kept control of the race. Sitterly, running fifth after the lap 13 take
off, began his charge to the front. Lap 15, he pulled to the inside of Lavery along the front
straightaway for fifth. Two laps later, he used the same move this time on the back stretch to
shoot to third by Connors. Two laps later, Sitterly used the inside front straightaway to grab the
runner up spot by Payne, .53 seconds behind leader Keith Shampine.
Sitterly instantly closed the gap, and began to work on the leader. Lap 21, the eventual pass
for the win came again, on the inside of the front straight away. As they drag raced to turn one,
Sitterly nosed out in the lead. Once out front, he quickened the race pace with a 17.17, as he
easily drove away from the pack.
Didero knew it was time to go, as he wheeled the #3under Connors in turn three for fourth. AT
the crossed flags portion of the race, Sitterly wheeled the Nictora #7 to a lap of 17.08, as he held
a 4.73 second gap on the pack of Shampine, Payne, Didero and Connors.
Didero moved into the show spot by Payne lap 35, as he began to work on Shampine. Sitterly’
s gap grew to just over 8 seconds in the next handfulof laps, as the rout appeared to be on.
Didero’s charge to the front came to an end a few laps later, as smoke billowed from the car,
ending his chances for a win. Yellow flew over the speedway on lap 40, wiping out Sitterly’s half
track lead, as top five Joey Payne spun the #99 on the back stretch pit entrance road after
contact from the 00.
He was able to keep his position, as the restart saw Sitterly, Shampine, Payne, Gosek,
Connors, McKnight, Holbrook, Lavery, and Gruel were in line. McKnight charged back to the top
five after his earlier spin, as he raced the Syrell 08 back to fifth. Each restart, Sitterly pulled away
with ease, as the Shampine, Payne, Gosek, McKnight and Connors battle kept fans attention.
Danny Connors had the 01 on a rail late in the race, as he shot the 01 by McKnight. He followed
Gosek by Payne, with a few laps left, then the duo shot by Shampine for second and third as the
race came to as close. Back up front Sitterly was putting his foot into it, and driving away for the
convincing victory.
“It wasn’t as easy as it looked,” he replied after the victory. “We discovered an oil lead in this
car early in the day, and thought about running the Xtreme. We fixed the oil lead, and the car
was good. It was a good race for us, and I have to thank all the guys on the crew for their hard
work, and for Johnny Nicotra, too. The car worked on the inside well, and it’s a good way for us
to start the season.”
“There is a good field of cars and drivers here,” second place Joe Gosek said. “This is going
to be a tough place this year, with all these guys here. Now add in young Danny (Connors), to all
the veterans, and it gets tougher. It was a good night for the 00. We have a bent wing, but all in
all, we’ll take it.”
“It was a long winter, as we wanted to get going,” Danny Connors said of his best ever run.
“The car really came to us in the end, and we just kept moving our way forward. It’s a great start
for us, and we’re happy.”
to victory Saturday night at Oswego Speedway. Starting inside row three, Sitterly used the
inside line to move from fifth to the lead from laps 15 to 21, and drove off from the field numerous
times for the dominating win. This was Sitterly’s third opening night victory at Oswego, and his
thirteenth career supermodified win.
Hometown drivers Bobby Magner and Danny Connors paced the 17 car field to Donnie Forbes
green flag, with Magner shooting out to the lead. Most of the field fell into single file on the inside
portion of the speedway, while Doug Didero and Jeff Holbrook were the only ones to venture out
to the high side of the speedway.
After a pair of spins early for Lou Levea and Dave McKnight, Keith Shampine held the lead as
Magner pulled the Holbrook owned 41 pitside.
Caution again flew over the speedway early, as Tim Snyder crinkled up the sheet metal on the
new 0 car, ending his night early. Shampine led the parade of Joey Payne, Connors, Pat Lavery,
Sitterly, Holbrook, Didero, Joe Gosek, Dave Gruel and McKnight, as the field went back to green
flag racing.
The Snyder garage would be a busy place after this race, as Shaun Gosselin tapped the turn
two wall on lap 13 with his #26. Once racing, Shampine stopped clocks at consistent 17.45 and
17.51 laps with the 88, as he kept control of the race. Sitterly, running fifth after the lap 13 take
off, began his charge to the front. Lap 15, he pulled to the inside of Lavery along the front
straightaway for fifth. Two laps later, he used the same move this time on the back stretch to
shoot to third by Connors. Two laps later, Sitterly used the inside front straightaway to grab the
runner up spot by Payne, .53 seconds behind leader Keith Shampine.
Sitterly instantly closed the gap, and began to work on the leader. Lap 21, the eventual pass
for the win came again, on the inside of the front straight away. As they drag raced to turn one,
Sitterly nosed out in the lead. Once out front, he quickened the race pace with a 17.17, as he
easily drove away from the pack.
Didero knew it was time to go, as he wheeled the #3under Connors in turn three for fourth. AT
the crossed flags portion of the race, Sitterly wheeled the Nictora #7 to a lap of 17.08, as he held
a 4.73 second gap on the pack of Shampine, Payne, Didero and Connors.
Didero moved into the show spot by Payne lap 35, as he began to work on Shampine. Sitterly’
s gap grew to just over 8 seconds in the next handfulof laps, as the rout appeared to be on.
Didero’s charge to the front came to an end a few laps later, as smoke billowed from the car,
ending his chances for a win. Yellow flew over the speedway on lap 40, wiping out Sitterly’s half
track lead, as top five Joey Payne spun the #99 on the back stretch pit entrance road after
contact from the 00.
He was able to keep his position, as the restart saw Sitterly, Shampine, Payne, Gosek,
Connors, McKnight, Holbrook, Lavery, and Gruel were in line. McKnight charged back to the top
five after his earlier spin, as he raced the Syrell 08 back to fifth. Each restart, Sitterly pulled away
with ease, as the Shampine, Payne, Gosek, McKnight and Connors battle kept fans attention.
Danny Connors had the 01 on a rail late in the race, as he shot the 01 by McKnight. He followed
Gosek by Payne, with a few laps left, then the duo shot by Shampine for second and third as the
race came to as close. Back up front Sitterly was putting his foot into it, and driving away for the
convincing victory.
“It wasn’t as easy as it looked,” he replied after the victory. “We discovered an oil lead in this
car early in the day, and thought about running the Xtreme. We fixed the oil lead, and the car
was good. It was a good race for us, and I have to thank all the guys on the crew for their hard
work, and for Johnny Nicotra, too. The car worked on the inside well, and it’s a good way for us
to start the season.”
“There is a good field of cars and drivers here,” second place Joe Gosek said. “This is going
to be a tough place this year, with all these guys here. Now add in young Danny (Connors), to all
the veterans, and it gets tougher. It was a good night for the 00. We have a bent wing, but all in
all, we’ll take it.”
“It was a long winter, as we wanted to get going,” Danny Connors said of his best ever run.
“The car really came to us in the end, and we just kept moving our way forward. It’s a great start
for us, and we’re happy.”
Guard Nearbin and Brian Sobus drew front row starting assignments for the 30 lap SBS main.
As the field race under green early, Kreig Heroth was the innocent bystander of a chain reaction
accident, with Heroth’s 44 being the one with the damage after the incident. On the subsequent
restart, heat race winner Stan Gates pounded the water barrels under the starter stand, ending
his race as well.
On the third start, Sobus grabbed the early lead, with Abt following through on the start, to
running right on the back bumper of the #79 early on. Chris Proud tag teamed the 79 and 85
cars, as the lead trio pulled away from the field. Abt kept his momentum going, as lap 8 he made
the move for the eventual win.
As the cars raced out of turn four, Abt pulled the steering wheel to the left, as he pulled the red
#85 to the inside of Sobus. The drag race was on, with Abt nosing out ahead as the duo raced to
the first turn. Proud followed Abt by Sobus, as the scoreboard now read 85, 50, 79.
A pair of spins just before the halfway point of the race bunched the field. Abt kept control of
the race after each take off. Through these restart perennial contender Mike Bond made his way
to the top three after starting in the back due to a heat race incident. Bond pulled his way into
third on lap 14, as he looked to close the .38 second advantage Abt and Proud held over the 26.
Red flag came over the speedway as a four car incident blocked the track in turn one. Involved
were rookies Mike Bruce, Chris Tedd, and Brian Osetek, while most attention was paid to Pulaski
driver Ivan Steen. Steen’s 04 took a hard shot, and even though fully conscious, Steen was
removed from the car and transported to the hospital for observation.
After the delay, Abt remained the top dog in the show, as Proud and Bond each took their shots
at the top spot, but neither being successful. Bond wheeled his 26 side by side with the Proud
50 with less than 10 to go, and came away with second place. As laps wound down, Bond tried
the high side of Abt, but had to back out each time.
Abt kept the Bond machine at bay, and drove under the checkered flag for the first time in his
career, an Oswego Speedway feature winner. Bond and Proud filled out the podium.
“We’ve been after this, and everything just seemed to come into place tonight,” the jubilant
winner said after the victory. “We got to the front early, and hung on from there. It’s a great way
to start the year, and we hope to find our way here more often.”
News and Notes…. Heat race wins went to Chris Proud, Kreig Heroth and Stan Gates, while Otto
Sitterly, Doug Didero and Pat Lavery won supermodified heat races. In an early morning track
rental, supermodified rookie Dave Danzer’s #52 was destroyed, as the throttle stuck on the car.
The car hit the outside wall, and flipped. Danzer suffered a sprained wrist, while otherwise
uninjured. The car was completely destroyed. Racing this week continues Saturday with a
regular night of a supermodified 45 lap feature, 30 lap SBS main and a full slate of qualifiers.
Gates open at 4;30pm, with the first race at 6:30pm.
As the field race under green early, Kreig Heroth was the innocent bystander of a chain reaction
accident, with Heroth’s 44 being the one with the damage after the incident. On the subsequent
restart, heat race winner Stan Gates pounded the water barrels under the starter stand, ending
his race as well.
On the third start, Sobus grabbed the early lead, with Abt following through on the start, to
running right on the back bumper of the #79 early on. Chris Proud tag teamed the 79 and 85
cars, as the lead trio pulled away from the field. Abt kept his momentum going, as lap 8 he made
the move for the eventual win.
As the cars raced out of turn four, Abt pulled the steering wheel to the left, as he pulled the red
#85 to the inside of Sobus. The drag race was on, with Abt nosing out ahead as the duo raced to
the first turn. Proud followed Abt by Sobus, as the scoreboard now read 85, 50, 79.
A pair of spins just before the halfway point of the race bunched the field. Abt kept control of
the race after each take off. Through these restart perennial contender Mike Bond made his way
to the top three after starting in the back due to a heat race incident. Bond pulled his way into
third on lap 14, as he looked to close the .38 second advantage Abt and Proud held over the 26.
Red flag came over the speedway as a four car incident blocked the track in turn one. Involved
were rookies Mike Bruce, Chris Tedd, and Brian Osetek, while most attention was paid to Pulaski
driver Ivan Steen. Steen’s 04 took a hard shot, and even though fully conscious, Steen was
removed from the car and transported to the hospital for observation.
After the delay, Abt remained the top dog in the show, as Proud and Bond each took their shots
at the top spot, but neither being successful. Bond wheeled his 26 side by side with the Proud
50 with less than 10 to go, and came away with second place. As laps wound down, Bond tried
the high side of Abt, but had to back out each time.
Abt kept the Bond machine at bay, and drove under the checkered flag for the first time in his
career, an Oswego Speedway feature winner. Bond and Proud filled out the podium.
“We’ve been after this, and everything just seemed to come into place tonight,” the jubilant
winner said after the victory. “We got to the front early, and hung on from there. It’s a great way
to start the year, and we hope to find our way here more often.”
News and Notes…. Heat race wins went to Chris Proud, Kreig Heroth and Stan Gates, while Otto
Sitterly, Doug Didero and Pat Lavery won supermodified heat races. In an early morning track
rental, supermodified rookie Dave Danzer’s #52 was destroyed, as the throttle stuck on the car.
The car hit the outside wall, and flipped. Danzer suffered a sprained wrist, while otherwise
uninjured. The car was completely destroyed. Racing this week continues Saturday with a
regular night of a supermodified 45 lap feature, 30 lap SBS main and a full slate of qualifiers.
Gates open at 4;30pm, with the first race at 6:30pm.