Chris Perley and Josh LaRochelle started out the season in winning fashion as they picked up feature wins at Oswego Speedway Sunday afternoon. Perley put on a dazzling performance in dominating the ISMA 50 lap race. LaRochelle carried momentum from 2005 as he was the fastest car all weekend in the limited division all weekend long and capped it off with his first Oswego Speedway limited supermodified win.
Mark Reagan and Guard Nearbin paced the 25 car field in the limited supermodified feature event. Regan took the lead when the race started, and was followed at the beginning by second row starter LaRochelle. Lap 2, LaRochelle put the 10 car to the inside groove, and wheeled by Regan for the lead.
LaRochelle had the fastest limited supermodified all weekend, so catching and passing him would be a tough task. Regan, and Tim Barbeau tried in the first half of the feature, but could only stay lengths behind. Russ Brown worked his way from his familiar twelfth starting spot to move to fourth place on lap 14. LaRochelle held a five car length lead throughout the midstages, but that was erased by a midrace caution flag. Regan kept close in the #4, and Brown began to work on Barbeau for third place. Brown got by with three laps left, but time was winding down to catch the 10 or 4 cars.
No one was going to catch LaRochelle, as this was his race. He cruised up front for all but the opening lap, and was unchallenged all race long. The 2005 limited supermodified Rookie of the Year began his sophomore season with a bang, his first Oswego feature win. “I have to thank my dad for all the time and work he put in this winter,” the happy winner stated after his win. “I’ve thought a long time about winning at Oswego, and today we did just that. What a great feeling!”
A full compliment of 25 ISMA supermodifieds took to Donnie Forbes’ green flag. Justin Belfiore and Joe Petro brought the field down for the first feature laps of the year. Petro jumped out from his outside front row starting position spot for the lead. Perley and Lou Cicconi elected to run the inside lane in the early laps, while Nokie Fornoro and Dave McKnight chose the outside lines at the Speedway. McKnight shot by Petro on lap two, and began to distance himself from the pack. As the 94 pulled away, fans focus went to the Perley 11 machine, as he sliced his way through the field. By lap two, Perley raced from his tenth starting spot to fourth place. Lou Cicconi’s dream of a second straight ISMA season opening win went away on lap 3, as he sidelined the 75. Perley kept his momentum going as he wheeled by Belfiore on lap six for third spot. The next trip around the track, Petro was his next victim on the front straightaway. Perley was now in second spot, 1.37 seconds behind McKnight. Perley immediately went to work, and began to close the gap on the leader. Lap 8, Perley shot by McKnight on the back straightaway and took over control of the race. His first lap up front was timed at 16.09, as he began to pull away. Lap 11 saw top contender Nokie Fornoro pull the Soule owned 32 to the pits with a broken rear end.
Further back in the pack, Oswego Speedway regular runner Ray Graham began to make his presence felt as he worked his way through the pack.
The caution flag came out on lap 15 as Ohio driver Charlie Schultz spun the #7 off turn two. The top five at the restart was Perley, McKnight, Petro, Belfiore and Graham. Graham shot by Belfiore on a lap 17 restart, as Perley again distanced himself from the field. Perley’s laps clocked in at 16.04 and 16.08 as he opened up a 2.68 second lead as the race came near the halfway point.
A pair of caution flags slowed the race near the lap 25 point. Perley ran away from the field easily through the restarts. The race on the speedway at this point was for third place, as Petro and Graham raced wheel to wheel over ten laps, each driving the other driver clean. As they raced each other, they began to close in on McKnight’s #94. The trio caught lapped traffic, and McKnight was in trouble. Petro wheeled by on the inside on lap 36 for the runner yp spot, while Graham followed suit a lap later. Belfiore worked by a few laps later as McKnight faded from second to fifth in a few laps. Three laps later, Belfiore pulled pitside as he 8 car slowed. Back up front, Perley held a 4.63 second advantage, and stopped watches at 16.23. Graham chased down Petro for second, and wheeled by with 5 laps remaining. He needed a caution flag to have any chance at the win, but that never came. Perley cruised ahead of the field easily, and drove under the checkered flag 6.98 second ahead of Graham. Petro had his finest Oswego run as he brought the 33 home in third. “What a great way to start the season,” the victorious winner stated in victory lane. “We want to win all of these races, and the car is running just great right now. Hopefully there are many more of these to come this year.”
News and Notes…..26 ISMA supermodifieds, 24 limiteds and 39 RoC modifieds were pitside. Heat race wins went to Tom McGrath, Zach Sylvester, Darren Scherrer, Tommy Cloce and Billy Putney in mods, Josh LaRochelle, Mark Regan, and Tim Barbeau in limited and Lou Cicconi, Mark Sammutt and Nokie Fornoro in ISMA heats. Kenny Troyer and Earl Paules won the RoC B Mains. Racing resumes this Saturday with the traditional Coca-Cola Kickoff for supermodifieds, limiteds, stock cars and USAC Ford Focus cars. The first green flag of 2006 will go off at 6pm.
Limited feature
1)10 Josh Larochelle, 2)4 Mark Regan, 3)13 Russ Brown, 4)50 Tim Barbeau, 5)85 Cameron Rowe, 6)18 Dave Gruel, 7)78 Guard Nearbin, 8)93 Jay Andrews, 9)79 Brian Sobus, 10)68 Shawn Walker, 11)90 Mike Bond, 12)96 Lou Levea, 13)9 Jack Patrick, 14)95 Mike Barnes, 15)52 Dave Danzer, 16)38 Larry Muroski, 17)44 John Moore, 18)1 Ray Sand Jr, 19)94 Kevin Knopp, 20)7 Bill Moore, 21)3 Chris Proud, 22)23 Barry Kingsley, 23)2 Rob Pullen, 24)67 ken Peirce
ISMA finish
1)11 Chris Perley, 2)90 Ray Graham, 3)33 Joe Petro, 4)94 Dave McKnight, 5)78 Mark Sammutt, 6)84 Mike Lichty, 7)9 Kyle Carpenter, 8)68 Doug Heveron, 9)70 Dave Trytek, 10)25 Bob Bond, 11)Bob Magner 40, 12)John Torrese 91, 13)Jeff Holbrook 35, 14)8 Justin Belfiore, 15)75 Lou Cicconi, 16)76 Kelly Miller, 17)72 Greg Furlong, 18)Bobby Santos 97, 19)Larry Lenhert 92, 20)44 Bobby Haynes, 21)16 Joe Miller, 22)Jerry Curran 24, 23)32Nokie Fornoro , 24)02 Brandon Bellinger
Opening Day photos from the Gater News and Parts Plus Open Wheel Extravaganza have been posted to the Photo Gallery.