There have been several notable rivalries in the fifty eight seasons of competition at the Oswego Speedway. There were one-sided seasons where the results of one driver out-classed that of everyone else and there were also some rivalries which pitted two evenly matched drivers over the course of one or more seasons. In the spirit of the holiday season here is a look at the twelve top rivalries in the history of the Oswego Speedway. A new entry will be added each day until the number one rivalry is revealed on December 24th.

#12: Dick Jerrett, Sr. – vs – Nolan Swift (1955).

Nolan Swift’s name will come up more than once in this year end countdown of the best rivalries in the history of the Oswego Speedway and he figures prominently in the first such rivalry in track history. Dick Jerrett Sr. from Mexico was as much of a hot shoe as there was in the mid 1950’s at the Oswego Speedway. Jerrett finished no worse than third in the point standings for the six consecutive seasons from 1952 through 1957. Jerrett’s shining moment came during the 1955 season when he and Swift were the class of the field. Swift managed five wins that season compared to Jarrett’s three. Swift also out numbered Jarrett’s top five totals with twelve compared to eleven. But Jarrett was in the right place at the right time on the nights that Swift ran into problems. Dick Jerrett Sr. captured the 1955 Track Championship by just fourteen points over Nolan Swift in the first real rivalry in Oswego Speedway history.

#11: Eddie Bellinger, Jr. – vs – Steve Gioia, Jr. (1985).

If you grew up in the city of Oswego, your scholastic rival was the city of Fulton located ten miles to the south. During the first two decades of racing at the Oswego Speedway, Fulton’s Eddie Bellinger, Sr. was the only dominant driver to compete from either city. That all changed in 1973 when Eddie Bellinger, Jr. and Steve Gioia, Jr. began their driving careers. The fan base for each driver would swell in numbers each year as both drivers slowly started to stake their claim in the history books at the Oswego Speedway. 1985 was the one season where everything was about Bellinger and Gioia. It seemed like when one of the drivers wasn’t winning the other one was. Bellinger collected six wins, two seconds and twelve top five finishes. Gioia made it to victory lane twice and notched five runner up positions and matched Bellinger with twelve top five finishes. On three separate occasions they finished first and second in the same feature event. Bellinger collected his second of five International Classic titles and Gioia collected his first and only Track Championship crown. The local Fulton - Oswego rivalry played out on the racing surface at Oswego Speedway between Eddie Bellinger, Jr. and Steve Gioia, Jr. in 1985.

#10: Bob Smith – vs – Nolan Swift (1966).

The seventh of a record eight Track Championships for Nolan Swift occurred in the 1966 season at the expense of Bob Smith and the official rule book that was in place at that time. Smith and Swift were at the head of the class throughout the 1966 season. Smith collected six wins and twelve top five finishes. Swift made it o victory lane four times and had fourteen top five finishes, two more than Smith. They finished first and second in the same feature four different times. The controversy surrounding the final points race is overshadowed by the fact that Bentley Warren won his first ever feature on that night, September 17, 1966. Nolan Swift did not qualify for the feature on that season-ending night. Ed Bowley offered his Flyin 5 to Swift to drive but the rule book stated that a driver must qualify his own car to run in the feature. Track owner Harry Caruso was fond of Swift and wanted the points race to be decided on the track. He allowed Swift to run the feature which led to Swift claiming the Track Championship by just seven points over Smith. Track Manager Willie Hacket quit his job over the actions of owner Caruso which had a direct effect the outcome of the 1966 Oswego Speedway rivalry between Bob Smith and Nolan Swift.

#9: Tim Gareau, Jr. – vs – Mike Muldoon (1998).

With the departure of the Skip Matczak / Doug Didero team after the 1997 season at Oswego, all eyes were on Mike Muldoon cleaning up house in 1998, but that was not to be the case. Former Small Block Super drivers Bob Goutermout and Tim Gareau, Jr. each won more supermodified features than Muldoon did and Gareau chased Muldoon to the closest points battle finish in Oswego Speedway history. Gareau’s four feature wins were one more than Muldoon’s three. Muldoon had the edge over Gareau in top five finishes by thirteen to eleven. A comfortable points lead evaporated on Muldoon with just one week left in the season. On the final night of the points race, Gareau controlled his own destiny. If he won his heat and the feature he would be the Track Champion. Gareau got bottled up in traffic in his heat race and finished second to Pat Abold in the new Clyde Booth #6. Muldoon had to finish in second in the feature, even if Gareau were to win, and he would pick up the title. Gareau came home the feature winner and Muldoon did pick up second place. Muldoon captured his second consecutive Track Championship by just two points over Tim Gareau, Jr. during this 1998 Oswego Speedway rivalry.

#8: Ron Lux (a.k.a. “Bob Hodgson”) – vs – “The Field” (1965).

A funny thing happened on the way to victory lane in the 1965 season. Not only had the fans and competitors never witnessed a winning streak this big in track history, but they didn’t even know who the real culprit was that was winning all of these races. The Howard Purdy deuce was registered to Bob Hodgson when the gates swung open to start the 1965 season. The Deuce would collect nine wins in the first twelve features on the way to a record twelve victories during the season. The closest competitor was Todd Gibson who finished in second place in five of those twelve victories. The Deuce would win the Track Championship by a two-to-one points margin over Gibson as well. The problem that surfaced in late June was that Bob Hodgson was not really the driver of the car. USAC driver Ron Lux had used the alias because USAC rules prohibited drivers from running non-sanctioned races. Local and wire racing results from 1965 listed Hodgson as the feature winner and point standings leader through the first four of his twelve victories. Then the story broke in June and the following win listed him as Ron Lux and he continued to dominate the competition the rest of the season in this one-sided rivalry at the Oswego Speedway in 1965.

#7: Bentley Warren – vs – Joe Gosek (1986 – 1987).

Bentley Warren had established himself by the mid 1980’s in his second stint of racing at the Oswego Speedway after leaving in 1970 and running on and off from 1975 through 1982. The 1980 “Rookie of the Year”, Joe Gosek, was finally settling in as one of the top runners by the mid eighties as well. Warren and Gosek staged a tremendous battle for supremacy during the 1986 and 1987 seasons at Oswego. Warren picked up fourteen wins and thirty top five finishes in that span and Gosek netted nine feature victories along with twenty three top five finishes. Warren collected his third out of a record six International Classic titles in 1986. On the way to six Track Championships, Warren picked up titles number three and four during those two years. With a total of twenty three wins and fifty three top five finishes in just two years between them, it is no surprise that Bentley Warren had Joe Gosek right behind him at second place in the point standings during their 1986 and 1987 rivalry at the Oswego Speedway.

#6: Todd Gibson – vs – “The Field” (1968).

Todd Gibson was the closest competitor to Ron Lux in 1965 as Lux put on a clinic on his way to twelve feature wins and a Track Championship. Gibson only waited three years to give the fans an even more impressive season by one driver. Gibson won an amazing thirteen feature races in 1968 breaking the record of twelve that Lux had set three seasons earlier. Gibson also broke the record of five consecutive wins that Lux had set by registering an amazing streak of nine consecutive wins. All other competitors were “0 for June and July” as Gibson made every trip to victory lane in those two months. Gibson won the Track Championship by over 550 points from the defending champ, Jim Shampine. Todd Gibson gave the fans their second one-sided rivalry in just three seasons at the Oswego Speedway in 1968.

#5: Warren Conaim – vs – Jim Shampine (1978).

The 1978 season was a true “David – vs – Goliath” season if there ever was one at the Oswego Speedway. Jim Shampine owned every piece of the record books during most of the season. His new offset roadster was breaking into the seventeen second bracket with regularity. He matched the Ron Lux win total from 1965 with twelve overall wins and shattered the Todd Gibson consecutive win mark of nine from 1968 by registering an unbelievable win streak of eleven victories. Unfortunately for Shampine his twelve wins were his only top five finishes. Enter Warren Coniam who was driving the Clyde Booth / Phil Miller #6. Coniam picked up no wins during the season but managed fourteen top five finishes which was three more that Shampine. Some of Shampine’s DNF’s came on double point nights and that is where the tide was turned in Coniam’s favor. Shampine’s twelve wins proved to be too little to match the no win, yet consistent, performance by Coniam. Warren Coniam captured the Track Championship over off track friend Jim Shampine while they battled in an on track rivalry at the Oswego Speedway in 1978.

#4: Jim Shampine – vs – “The World” (1974).

Jim Shampine was never on top of his game more than he was in the 1974 season at the Oswego Speedway. He tied Todd Gibson’s record number of wins in a season with thirteen. He won the Track Championship by over 450 points over Nolan Swift, who registered thirteen top five finishes compared to Shampines thirteen feature wins. Shampine also claimed the International Classic title, his second in five seasons. But the story does not stop there. In addition to Shampine’s thirteen wins and Classic title in the Supermodified division, he also was turning heads in pavement modified racing that season as well. On September 22, 1974 Shampine picked up his second consecutive Modified 200 win at Oswego. The single greatest season of accomplishments in the history of Oswego Speedway belongs to Jim Shampine in 1974 with his one-sided rivalry that netted him the Track Championship, the International Classic and the Modified 200 victories.

#3: Eddie Bellinger, Jr. – vs – Doug Heveron (1981 – 1983).

The all yellow battle of Eddie Bellinger, Jr.’s #02 and Doug Heveron’s #1 highlighted the early part of the 1980’s at the Oswego Speedway. While Heveron was winning most of the hardware for his top finishes it was almost a dead heat for top five finishes for both drivers over this three season period. Heveron picked up twenty seven feature wins during these three seasons with double digit win totals coming in 1981 and 1982. Bellinger reached victory lane seven times over these three years as there wasn’t much more he could do after Heveron claimed most races. Heveron registered thirty six top five finishes during the span but Bellinger was right there with thirty five top five finishes. Heveron cleaned up at the end of the year as well by claiming the Track Championship and International Classic Titles in 1981 and 1982. “Team Heveron” won the final seven point races in 1983 leading Doug’s teammate, Bentley Warren, to the Track Championship title by twenty nine points over Bellinger. This rivalry will always be remembered for the ending of the 1983 International Classic when Eddie Bellinger passed Warren Coniam, Bentley Warren and Doug Heveron over the final one and one quarter laps to capture his first of five Classic titles. The most exciting finish to a race in Oswego Speedway history put an exclamation mark on the Eddie Bellinger, Jr. and Doug Heveron rivalry from 1981 through 1983.

#2: Nolan Swift – vs – Jim Shampine (1966 – 1974).

The accomplishments of Nolan Swift and Jim Shampine will always make up some of the best stats in the history of the Oswego Speedway. Their careers overlapped for fifteen seasons. Swift made his mark in stock cars and supermodifieds. Shampine was a pioneer in the supermodified division with his mechanical aptitude that still has its mark on cars that compete today. From 1966 through 1974 the numbers put up by both competitors are staggering. Between June 4, 1966 and June 16, 1974, their rivalry status gained in stature as they finished first and second to each other, in feature events, seventeen different times. Track Championships for Nolan Swift occurred in 1966 and 1971. Jim Shampine picked up Track Championships in 1967, 1970, 1972, 1973 and 1974. Nolan Swift won the International Classic in 1967, 1968, 1971 and 1972 while Shampine claimed Classic titles in 1970 and 1974. A nine year run by either competitor with either set of stats was amazing enough, but to have both competitors battle it out each of these years for top honors was a treat for the fans to witness. The Nolan Swift and Jim Shampine rivalry from 1966 through 1974 at the Oswego Speedway will always be one for the record books.

#1: Doug Didero – vs – Mike Muldoon (1995 – 1997).

As hard as it may seem to beat the Swift and Shampine numbers, there is one key stat put up by Doug Didero and Mike Muldoon in just three seasons that took Swift and Shampine nine years to achieve. Most fans had never witnessed two cars so evenly matched and charging to the front with regularity in the history of the Oswego Speedway as was the case with Didero and Muldoon. During these three seasons Didero piled up twenty wins, eight second place finishes and thirty three top five finishes. Muldoon made it to victory lane eleven times, with sixteen runner up finishes and thirty nine top five finishes. Each week the fans of either driver didn’t have to wait that long to see the red and white cars of Didero and Muldoon charge their way to the front of the feature field. The record that they tied in just three seasons that took Swift and Shampine nine seasons to set was finishing first and second to each other an astonishing seventeen times. A look at the combined stats for these three years shows thirty one total wins, twenty four second place finishes, seventy two top five finishes and seventeen different feature races in which they occupied the top two spots when the checkered flag flew. Didero picked up his second and third Track Championships in 1995 and 1996 with Muldoon finishing in second place both times. Muldoon picked up his first of three Track Championships in 1997 with Didero finishing in second place. Didero won his first of two Classic races in 1996. Muldoon won his only Classic in 1995 and his back-up car, driven by Davey Hamilton, won the Classic in 1997. The Doug Didero and Mike Muldoon rivalry from 1995 though 1997 was the greatest statistical rivalry in the history of the Oswego Speedway.