7//24/11
Ray Graham Jr Races To Sunoco Race of Champions Checkers
by Dan Johnson
It was a family reunion of sorts in the supermodified division at Oswego Speedway Saturday night,
as Ray Graham beat out son Kody in the 61-lap feature event during Race of Champions weekend.
Kody Graham led the race until breaking loose and sliding sideways out of turn four on lap 36,
when dad ray slid under and took the lead. The #90 drove away from there for his first win of 2011.
Kody Graham and Bobby Haynes Jr led the 22-car parade to the green flag, with the pair racing
side by side for a full lap, before Graham came out at the head of the class. Cars shuffled for racing
room, with Randy Ritskes and Otto Sitterly moving to the inside, while Joey Payne and Dave
McKnight shifting to the outside to get through early race traffic.
Graham and Haynes held the advantage early over Michael Barnes, Ray Graham, Danny Connors,
Joey Payne, Jerry Curran, Dave Danzer, Dave McKnight and Randy Ritskes. Lap 5 the caution flag
came out for the first time, for two cars in turn one. Otto Sitterly’s 7 car spun around, while Michael
Muldoon’s 20 car ended up against the outside wall, out of the event.
Kody Graham took off once racing, while McKnight picked his way by Danzer and Curran for
seventh on the take off. Payne worked his way by Connors. The 21 circled the track in 17.45 and
17.43 laps in the heat of the afternoon, while holding a two-car length gap over the 44 of Haynes.
Barnes slipped back to fifth on lap 13, as Ray Graham’s 90 and Joey Payne’s 99 worked their way
by the Strong 98. The pair chased down the lead duo, but ran nose to tail for a few laps.
Leader Kody Graham came up to slower cars on lap 17, and made a low move out of four to clear
the traffic. Next time around, Dave Danzer’s 52 had the back slid come around out of turn four,
bringing out the yellow flag, slowing the action. Kody Graham began to pull away on the restart,
building up a 2.07 second lead within a few laps.
As Kody’s #21 pulled ahead with 17.4 laps, Haynes held back the pack of Ray Graham, Payne,
McKnight, Ritskes and Gosek. Ray Graham shot by Haynes on lap 27 along the back straightaway,
2.28 seconds behind his son.
The over two second lead was erased on lap 29, as Danzer again spun the 52 out of four, slowing
the race again. On the restart, the 90 car looked to get by the 21 on the high side, but had to back
out as they exited turn four. The pair pulled ahead of the rest of the field, as it appeared the race
was going to be settled within the Graham family.
Lap 21, Kody’s 21 lost traction out of turn four, and got sideways, with Ray and the #90 shooting by
on the outside, taking control of the race. Kody gathered up the #21, and held on for second place
behind his dad.
Ray Graham’s first lap up front was clocked in at 17.39, as he began to distance himself from the
field. By lap 45, the lead was up to over 3 seconds.
Yellow slowed the race on lap 48 for a Jerry Curran accident in turn one. Ray Graham picked up
right where he left off, leaving the field behind. Fans attention was then shifted to Joe Gosek, who
blasted his way to the front. He restarted seventh, but the outside groove came in for the 00,and
Gosek wheeled the 00 by Ritskes and McKnight for a top five, spot, then kept going by Payne and
Haynes on the outside all the way up to third.
Gosek raced up to Kody Graham on second, but couldn’t work his way by. Back up front, it was all
Ray Graham, as he pulled away in the final stages for an over 4 second victory. Kody Graham held
on for his best ever finish in second, with Joe Gosek on his back bumper for third.
“As happy as I am to win, I’m more happy for my son in second,” the emotional winner exclaimed in
Victory Lane. “If he didn’t slip up, I would have been in second, as I couldn’t catch him. I’ll have to
thank him on the ride home tomorrow. I gave it everything, but I could reel him in. The car was
good, we’re happy with it and we’re happy to win, but seeing the run he had tonight, I couldn’t be
any prouder.”
“The car was really good, but it was just that one mistake out of four,” Kody Graham reflected. “I’m
actually surprised more guys didn’t get me, but it was a good race for us. We’re happy, rally happy
with the race tonight.”
News and Notes…Zane Zeiner beat out Tony Hirschman to win the 61st Race of Champions 200. It
was Zeiner's first RoC win. They were the only cars on the lead lap.. Eric Rudolph came home
third a lap down. 25 supermodifieds and 35 RoC modifieds were pitside Saturday. Ray Graham,
Joey Payne and Danny Connors won supermodified heat races. Kyle Ebersole, Jan Leaty, and
Rusty Smith on heat races for the RoC modifieds. Chuck Hossfeld was fast time trailer for the RoC
mods, turning in a lap of 17.677 for the fast time award. Rick Kluth destroyed his modified ion
practice with a hard first turn hit. Pat Lavery and Stephen Gioia were involved in a hard accident in
their heat race, severely damaging both the 22 and 9 cars. Scott Shafer, Chris Perley and Kreig
Heroth won Friday night races at Oswego Speedway as part of Race of Champions weekend.
Oswego Speedway is closed this weekend, but opens back up on August 6th for Mr.
Supermodified and Mr. SBS night.
Results supermodified 61
1)Ray Graham 90, 2)Kody Graham 21, 3)Joe Gosek 00, 4)Bobby Haynes 44, 5)Joey Payne 99, 6)
Dave McKnight 08, 7)Randy Ritskes 88, 8)Otto Sitterly 7, 9)Bobby Bond 25, 10)David gruel 50, 11)
Tim Snyder 0, 12)Brian Sobus 79, 13)Michael Barnes 98, 14)Danny Connors 01, 15)Hal Latulip 56,
16)Jerry Curran 24, 17)Dave Danzer 52 18)Keith Gilliam 87, 19)Guard Nearbin 78, 20)Shawn
Muldoon 1, 21)Steve Abt 85, 22)Michael Muldoon 20
SBS 35 finish
1)Kreig Heroth 44, 2)AJ Bernys 24, 3)Mike Bond 26, 4)Andrew Schartner 18, 5)jack Patrick 9, 6)Mike
Bruce 22, 7)Tim Barbeau 50, 8)Rob Pullen 2, 9)Mark Castiglia 90, 10)Dave Latulip 37, 11)Barry
Kingsley 23, 12)Jason Simmons 98 13)Will Hadcock 43, 14)Lou Levea Jr 95, 15)Dennis Rupert 99,
16)Cameron Rowe 77
ISMA 50 finish
1)Chris Perley 11, 2)Ray Graham 90, 3)Bobby Dawson 28, 4)Jamie Timmons 27, 5)Mark Sammutt 78,
6)Tim Jedrzejek 32, 7)Ted Christopher 61, 8)Dave Duggan 51, 9)Eddie Witkum 9, 10)Joey Scanlon
88, 11)Danny Bowes 18, 12)Ben Seitz 47, 13)Russ Wood 29, 14)Rich Reid 52, 15)Jeff Locke 37, 16)
Paul White 16, 17)Bobby Bond 25, 18)Danny Lane 97, 19)Mike Lichty 84, 20)Dave McKnight 70, 21)
Robbie Summer 35, 22)Bobby Magner 40, 23)Bobby Haynes 44, 24)Jeff Abold 04, 25)Chris Deritis
66, 26)Johnny Benson 74
Ray Graham Jr Races To Sunoco Race of Champions Checkers
by Dan Johnson
It was a family reunion of sorts in the supermodified division at Oswego Speedway Saturday night,
as Ray Graham beat out son Kody in the 61-lap feature event during Race of Champions weekend.
Kody Graham led the race until breaking loose and sliding sideways out of turn four on lap 36,
when dad ray slid under and took the lead. The #90 drove away from there for his first win of 2011.
Kody Graham and Bobby Haynes Jr led the 22-car parade to the green flag, with the pair racing
side by side for a full lap, before Graham came out at the head of the class. Cars shuffled for racing
room, with Randy Ritskes and Otto Sitterly moving to the inside, while Joey Payne and Dave
McKnight shifting to the outside to get through early race traffic.
Graham and Haynes held the advantage early over Michael Barnes, Ray Graham, Danny Connors,
Joey Payne, Jerry Curran, Dave Danzer, Dave McKnight and Randy Ritskes. Lap 5 the caution flag
came out for the first time, for two cars in turn one. Otto Sitterly’s 7 car spun around, while Michael
Muldoon’s 20 car ended up against the outside wall, out of the event.
Kody Graham took off once racing, while McKnight picked his way by Danzer and Curran for
seventh on the take off. Payne worked his way by Connors. The 21 circled the track in 17.45 and
17.43 laps in the heat of the afternoon, while holding a two-car length gap over the 44 of Haynes.
Barnes slipped back to fifth on lap 13, as Ray Graham’s 90 and Joey Payne’s 99 worked their way
by the Strong 98. The pair chased down the lead duo, but ran nose to tail for a few laps.
Leader Kody Graham came up to slower cars on lap 17, and made a low move out of four to clear
the traffic. Next time around, Dave Danzer’s 52 had the back slid come around out of turn four,
bringing out the yellow flag, slowing the action. Kody Graham began to pull away on the restart,
building up a 2.07 second lead within a few laps.
As Kody’s #21 pulled ahead with 17.4 laps, Haynes held back the pack of Ray Graham, Payne,
McKnight, Ritskes and Gosek. Ray Graham shot by Haynes on lap 27 along the back straightaway,
2.28 seconds behind his son.
The over two second lead was erased on lap 29, as Danzer again spun the 52 out of four, slowing
the race again. On the restart, the 90 car looked to get by the 21 on the high side, but had to back
out as they exited turn four. The pair pulled ahead of the rest of the field, as it appeared the race
was going to be settled within the Graham family.
Lap 21, Kody’s 21 lost traction out of turn four, and got sideways, with Ray and the #90 shooting by
on the outside, taking control of the race. Kody gathered up the #21, and held on for second place
behind his dad.
Ray Graham’s first lap up front was clocked in at 17.39, as he began to distance himself from the
field. By lap 45, the lead was up to over 3 seconds.
Yellow slowed the race on lap 48 for a Jerry Curran accident in turn one. Ray Graham picked up
right where he left off, leaving the field behind. Fans attention was then shifted to Joe Gosek, who
blasted his way to the front. He restarted seventh, but the outside groove came in for the 00,and
Gosek wheeled the 00 by Ritskes and McKnight for a top five, spot, then kept going by Payne and
Haynes on the outside all the way up to third.
Gosek raced up to Kody Graham on second, but couldn’t work his way by. Back up front, it was all
Ray Graham, as he pulled away in the final stages for an over 4 second victory. Kody Graham held
on for his best ever finish in second, with Joe Gosek on his back bumper for third.
“As happy as I am to win, I’m more happy for my son in second,” the emotional winner exclaimed in
Victory Lane. “If he didn’t slip up, I would have been in second, as I couldn’t catch him. I’ll have to
thank him on the ride home tomorrow. I gave it everything, but I could reel him in. The car was
good, we’re happy with it and we’re happy to win, but seeing the run he had tonight, I couldn’t be
any prouder.”
“The car was really good, but it was just that one mistake out of four,” Kody Graham reflected. “I’m
actually surprised more guys didn’t get me, but it was a good race for us. We’re happy, rally happy
with the race tonight.”
News and Notes…Zane Zeiner beat out Tony Hirschman to win the 61st Race of Champions 200. It
was Zeiner's first RoC win. They were the only cars on the lead lap.. Eric Rudolph came home
third a lap down. 25 supermodifieds and 35 RoC modifieds were pitside Saturday. Ray Graham,
Joey Payne and Danny Connors won supermodified heat races. Kyle Ebersole, Jan Leaty, and
Rusty Smith on heat races for the RoC modifieds. Chuck Hossfeld was fast time trailer for the RoC
mods, turning in a lap of 17.677 for the fast time award. Rick Kluth destroyed his modified ion
practice with a hard first turn hit. Pat Lavery and Stephen Gioia were involved in a hard accident in
their heat race, severely damaging both the 22 and 9 cars. Scott Shafer, Chris Perley and Kreig
Heroth won Friday night races at Oswego Speedway as part of Race of Champions weekend.
Oswego Speedway is closed this weekend, but opens back up on August 6th for Mr.
Supermodified and Mr. SBS night.
Results supermodified 61
1)Ray Graham 90, 2)Kody Graham 21, 3)Joe Gosek 00, 4)Bobby Haynes 44, 5)Joey Payne 99, 6)
Dave McKnight 08, 7)Randy Ritskes 88, 8)Otto Sitterly 7, 9)Bobby Bond 25, 10)David gruel 50, 11)
Tim Snyder 0, 12)Brian Sobus 79, 13)Michael Barnes 98, 14)Danny Connors 01, 15)Hal Latulip 56,
16)Jerry Curran 24, 17)Dave Danzer 52 18)Keith Gilliam 87, 19)Guard Nearbin 78, 20)Shawn
Muldoon 1, 21)Steve Abt 85, 22)Michael Muldoon 20
SBS 35 finish
1)Kreig Heroth 44, 2)AJ Bernys 24, 3)Mike Bond 26, 4)Andrew Schartner 18, 5)jack Patrick 9, 6)Mike
Bruce 22, 7)Tim Barbeau 50, 8)Rob Pullen 2, 9)Mark Castiglia 90, 10)Dave Latulip 37, 11)Barry
Kingsley 23, 12)Jason Simmons 98 13)Will Hadcock 43, 14)Lou Levea Jr 95, 15)Dennis Rupert 99,
16)Cameron Rowe 77
ISMA 50 finish
1)Chris Perley 11, 2)Ray Graham 90, 3)Bobby Dawson 28, 4)Jamie Timmons 27, 5)Mark Sammutt 78,
6)Tim Jedrzejek 32, 7)Ted Christopher 61, 8)Dave Duggan 51, 9)Eddie Witkum 9, 10)Joey Scanlon
88, 11)Danny Bowes 18, 12)Ben Seitz 47, 13)Russ Wood 29, 14)Rich Reid 52, 15)Jeff Locke 37, 16)
Paul White 16, 17)Bobby Bond 25, 18)Danny Lane 97, 19)Mike Lichty 84, 20)Dave McKnight 70, 21)
Robbie Summer 35, 22)Bobby Magner 40, 23)Bobby Haynes 44, 24)Jeff Abold 04, 25)Chris Deritis
66, 26)Johnny Benson 74
