At the Races

In front of the largest Oswego Speedway crowd in several years, Michael Muldoon swept the night – winning his Novelis Supermodified qualifying heat, semi-final feature, and the 45-lap main event during the 65th Anniversary of the ‘Steel Palace’ presented by JP Jewelers and RJ Caruso Tax & Accounting.

Muldoon’s victory is his second of the season, but the first which he could savor all to his own, as Muldoon’s first triumph came in a dead heat victory with Otto Sitterly on June 20.

Starting from pole position after winning the first semi-final, Muldoon fended off a hard charging Brandon Bellinger and a late charging Brian Sobus for the victory.

Sobus, Joe Gosek, Tim Devendorf, and Bob Bond finished the top five positions.

“It feels great to win one of my own,” said Muldoon in Turning Stone Resort Casino Victory Lane. “The car wasn’t really all that great tonight, we will have a bit of a vibration somewhere, but it was enough tonight. It was great to have a Muldoon and a Bellinger starting on the front row and racing tonight on the track’s 65th Anniversary. It all came together tonight.”

Dave Danzer, Michael Barnes, Jeff Abold, Pat Lavery, and Tim Snyder finished the top ten runners on Saturday.

Supermodified point leader Otto Sitterly started the night’s 45-lapper from the 12th position as a result of winning the previous week’s main event, but was caught up in a lap three incident involving Shaun Gosselin and Barnes.

A bent front axle on Sitterly’s John Nicotra No. 7 would put him out of the event, handing the point lead back to Bond, unofficially by 16.5 points.

A total of 21 Novelis Supermodifieds took the Cam’s Pizzeria green flag on the Speedway’s 65th Anniversary with a pair of third generation drivers in Muldoon and Bellinger leading the pack.

Muldoon would gain the early advantage with Bellinger tucking into second as Sobus, Gosek, Devendorf, and Bond all gave chase.

Sitterly started to make an early charge into the top ten, but that run was halted at lap three as Gosselin’s No. 26 spun in turn two collecting Barnes and Sitterly in the process.

Both Gosselin and Barnes were able to re-join the field, but Sitterly was forced to call it quits with a severely bent front axle on the No. 7, resulting in a devastating 21st place finish for the seven-time champion.

The restart order would see Muldoon lead Bellinger, Sobus, Gosek, Devendorf, Bond, Abold, Dave Gruel, Danzer, and Snyder.

Just laps after the restart Danzer was able to make quick work of Gruel to work into the 8th position, now reeling in the Abold No. 05 for 7th.

Unfortunately for Gruel, Danzer would not be the only car to pass as the No. 50 began to run into issues falling through the pack. A feature winner earlier this season, Gruel would eventually call it quits at lap 23 with a 16th place effort.

In the early stages of the event it looked as though Muldoon was going to run away and hide, but by lap 15 both Bellinger and Sobus began to reel in the race leader.

Eventually the trio would hit lap traffic and at lap 21 Bellinger made a low side move into the third turn, temporarily nosing to the race lead, sparking a new generation Muldoon/Bellinger Oswego battle.

But as Bellinger exited the fourth corner, the No. 02 broke traction as he and Muldoon appeared to touch wheels coming to the main straight away. Bellinger did a great job to keep the car in motion, but slipped all the way from a battle for the lead to 11th in the field.

With Bellinger now out of the picture passed halfway, that left only Sobus in true contention to battle Muldoon for the point.

With five laps remaining lapped traffic again crept into the picture as Muldoon closed rapidly on the tail of the field. After a couple tense laps in which it looked as though Sobus could challenge for the point, Muldoon was able to clear the pack and race away to his second Novelis Supermodified win of the season at Oswego.

Sobus chased Muldoon in the runner-up spot, for yet another second place finish in 2015.

“I was getting a little excited there towards the end,” said Sobus. “I thought we might have something for him at the finish, but Michael was good tonight. Second place feels good, we’ve spent a lot of time on the car the last few weeks.”

Gosek was happy to score another top five finish, this time driving his own No. 00.

“It’s kind of funny being the old man now trying to pedal around these kids,” joked Gosek. “The car was pretty good tonight, hopefully we hit on something. We have a couple weeks to fine tune the car now before the Classic, I think we will be good.”

Shell Shock Custom Helmet Paint heat race victories went to Muldoon, Gosselin, and Sobus.

Semi-final victories were taken by Muldoon and Bellinger.

The Radical Race Gear Lap Leader was Muldoon while Lavery notched the Lighthouse Lanes Hard Charger Award with Sobus claiming the Lighthouse Lanes Up and Comer prize.

Racing at Oswego Speedway continues on Saturday, August 15 race fans will paint the ‘Steel Palace’ teal on Ovarian Cancer Awareness night. The night will also feature the second driver autograph session of the season.

Pit gates will open at 2 p.m. on August 15 with the grandstand opening and hot laps beginning at 3:30pm.

Kids 16 and under with paid adult and active military with I.D. are free.

For more information on Oswego Speedway visit online at www.oswegospeedway.com or call (315) 342-0646. Visit the Speedway on social media @OswegoSpeedway or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OswegoSpeedway.