Write a commentIn one of the closest finishes in Oswego Speedway history, Pathfinder Bank Small Block Super veterans Jack Patrick and Mike Bond dueled to the stripe in dramatic fashion on Saturday night with Patrick edging Bond by a mere .032 seconds for his second win of the season on Retro Night presented by RJ Caruso Tax & Accounting and JP Jewelers.
Patrick and Bond drove their way through the field to become the head of the class, taking advantage of early leader Barry Kingsley on a lap 21 restart to set up the most exciting finish of the season.
In two consecutive laps Bond tried the extreme high side of the Speedway out of turn four to try and take the lead. Despite a shower of sparks up against the steel retaining wall, Bond fell just short.
The victory marks Patrick’s sixth career triumph in the division, moving to a tie with Tim Gareau, Ray Graham, and Mark Castiglia all-time.
Behind Patrick and Bond at the stripe were Kingsley and Scott Shafer with their best runs of the season as well as championship leader Dave Cliff rounding out the top five.
“Barry got a little loose there and I knew Mike was behind me so I had to go,” said Patrick in Turning Stone Resort Casino Victory Lane. “At the end I gave Mike room but only just enough room. I have to thank my crew and the sponsors. That was a close finish.”
Cameron Rowe, Dalton Doyle, Anthony Losurdo, Kreig Heroth, and Mike Bruce were the top ten runners at the end of 30-laps.
It would be Rowe and Shafer bringing the Pathfinder Bank SBS field to the Cam’s Pizzeria green flag on Saturday with Shafer darting to the point in the No. 76 machine.
Shafer would lead the first handful of circuits out front until Kingsley made his charge in the No. 91 ride, first driving under Rowe for second on lap 2 before slicing to the lead in turn three on lap 7.
With Kingsley out front and beginning to run away from the field, Patrick put his head down and charged as well, making his way under Shafer at lap 10 to hit the runner-up spot in the No. 9.
After starting deep in the field, Bond began to battle for a top five spot before lap 10 and on lap 10 managed to drive by both Cliff and Rowe on the top side down the back stretch to move into the fourth position wheeling the No. 74.
Only two laps later Bond then disposed of Shafer to move to the third position, immediately giving chase to race leaders Kingsley and Patrick.
Before long it would be a three car runaway out front with Kingsley leading the fray over Patrick and Bond.
Not long after Cliff maneuvered by Rowe to move to the fifth position the races only caution flag waved for Andrew Schartner, who took a violent ride into the turn three foam in the No. 18. Schartner was ok, but the same could not be said for his ride, which appeared severely damaged.
As the field prepared to come back to green Kingsley led Patrick, Bond, Shafer, Cliff, Rowe, Losurdo, Doyle, Heroth, and Bruce.
Just one lap into the restart, Kingsley slipped out of turn two allowing both Patrick and Bond to dive to the low side to take positions one and two into turn three with only eight laps remaining.
Over the course of the final few circuits, Bond threw everything but the kitchen sink at Patrick near the finish including one last ditch effort on the extreme high side of the Speedway out of turn four, but he fell just .032 seconds short with Patrick taking his second win of the year.
“We were able to use the traction some in three and four, but it was just too high down in one and two, I needed it there,” said Bond. “It was a good race for Jack. We’re just trying to win features now. It was close.”
After an up and down season, Kingsley was happy to be on the podium.
“That caution didn’t help me any,” said Kingsley. “I slipped some after the restart and that was it. I need to thank Paul and John Stepien and my guys. They have stuck with me. It would have been real easy to quit the way this season has gone, but they haven’t. Everything just seemed to fall into place tonight.”
Shell Shock Custom Helmet Paint Heat Race Challenge victories went to Kingsley and Bond.
The D&S Landscaping Hard Charger was the No. 74 of Bond.
The Nice Price Auto Sales Up and Comer and White’s Car Care Fourth Place finisher was Shafer.
Kingsley would go on to collect the Sherwood Racing Wheels Lap Leader Award, while Camden Proud was declared the Bacc-Off Hard Luck winner.
Pathfinder Bank SBS (30-laps): 1. 9 - Jack Patrick, 2. 74 - Mike Bond, 3. 91 - Barry Kingsley, 4. 76 - Scott Shafer, 5. 50 - Dave Cliff, 6. 77 - Cameron Rowe, 7. 01 - Dalton Doyle, 8. 1 - Anthony Losurdo, 9. 04 - Kreig Heroth, 10. 22 - Mike Bruce, 11. 54 - Camden Proud, 12. 37 - Jesse Bearup, 13. 90 - Greg O'Connor, 14. 18 - Andrew Schartner, 15. 69 - Mark Castiglia
D&S Landscaping Hard Charger: #74 - Mike Bond
Nice Price Auto Sales Up and Comer: #76 - Scott Shafer
White's Car Care 4th Place: #76 - Scott Shafer
Sherwood Racing Wheels Lap Leader: #91 Barry Kingsley
Bacc-Off Hard Luck Award: #54 - Camden Proud
Heat #1 (10-laps): 1. 91 - Barry Kingsley, 2. 18 - Andrew Schartner, 3. 01 - Dalton Doyle, 4. 9 - Jack Patrick, 5. 76 - Scott Shafer, 6. 22 - Mike Bruce, 7. 37 - Jesse Bearup, 8. 90 - Greg O'Connor
Heat #2 (10-laps): 1. 74 - Mike Bond, 2. 50 - Dave Cliff, 3. 54 - Camden Proud, 4. 1 - Anthony Losurdo, 5. 04 - Kreig Heroth, 6. 77 - Cameron Rowe, 7. 69 - Mark Castiglia
