As the 2007 race season gets closer by the day, teams are putting final touches on off season preparations. A long season approaches, but once early May gets here, the season simply is over before we know it. While the slate for 2007 waits to play out, the 2006 season was dramatic week in and week out. 2006 had a bit of everything, as a former journeyman driver had a breakout year, come Classic time, Greg Furlong and the 72 team broke into un-chartered territory.
In his Hawk Chassis, Otto Sitterly dominated the regular season like he never had before. Otto raced the black and yellow #79 to a career high six feature wins en route to his first ever Oswego Speedway Novelis Supermodified Track Championship.
Just as it had been in 2005, opening night got the heats in, and was ready to line up the feature. As it was just about green flag time for the 45, Mother Nature showed she was in control and it started to rain. For the second year in a row, the opening night feature was rained out. Tim Snyder, Jerry Curran and Otto Sitterly picked up heat race wins, before the wet stuff soaked the speedway.
Memorial Day Weekend once again brought the opening feature of the season. All the pre-season speculation about Otto Sitterly and his 79 proved true, as Otto put on a spectacular driving exhibition as he decimated the field in the 75 lapper. Tim Gareau, in his new ride, the Kerfien #5, led the early laps of the race. Gareau led the first half of the race, until Sitterly worked his way by the 5 on the front straightaway. Timmy Snyder followed Sitterly through the hole for second. A caution flag a few laps later slowed the race, as contact between the 72 and 5 cars saw them touch the foam. Gareau returned to the race, while Furlong was off the race pace after that. As Sitterly pulled away, and Snyder all alone in second, the battle was for third place between Craig Rayvals, Todd Stowell and Jerry Curran. Stowell managed to come away with the spot, but not after some tight wheel to wheel racing with the 94 and 24 cars. Sitterly cruised under the checkered flag a full straightaway ahead of the Snyder 0. It was win number one on the year for the Canajoharie driver, but more importantly, was a sneak preview of what was ahead for the team.
On ASA night, Otto showed his opening night win was no fluke as he backed up that win with one of the most dominating runs in recent memory. For the second time in two races, Sitterly grabbed the lead at the halfway point of the race, and sped away for the victory. Bobby Bond led early in the race, and had a strong run. Todd Stowell had another early season top three, showing the 89 was strong once again. This night though, belonged to the 79. Once out front, Otto began lapping cars at an alarming pace. He kept his foot on the gas, and danced his way by the lapped cars. As the checkered flag flew, only second running Todd Stowell, who was eight seconds back, stayed on the lead lap with the 79. Bond stayed in the top three all race long and wheeled the 25 home in third, with Pat Lavery and Craig Rayvals with strong runs in fourth and fifth. Michael Barnes made his first supermodified appearance of the year, as he drove the Furlong 72. Michael logged laps in the car, and tapped the inside hubrail during the main. Tim Snyder got in the marbles early in the race, which resulted in a trip in the wall for the 0 car. Keith Shampine had a big smile on his face early in the night, as he picked up his first ever heat race win at Oswego.
Week three had everything a supermodified race fan could ask for. Three drivers led in the last five laps of the race, legend Bentley Warren returned for a cameo appearance, a moving pre race tribute to a fallen track worker and tight wheel to wheel racing all night long all highlighted the evening. Keith Shampine took his reworked 85 to the lead early in the event, as the star studded field shuffled behind looking to move forward. Snyder was a bit closer to the front, while Sitterly and Furlong raced nose to tail in the early going. Lap 26 saw Furlong race the 72 to the front of the field, bringing the 79 and 0 behind him. “The Battle of the Hawks” was on. Bentley followed in fourth spot. Furlong opened his lead up to a second and a half as the laps clicked on. Just as it looked like the 72 was on its way to victory, it shot out to the wall. A broken rack ended the dream of a feature win for the Furlong Team. Sitterly inherited the lead and looked to go three for three. On the white flag lap, the caution flag came out, bunching the field.
On the restart, Tim Snyder wheeled the 0 to the outside and pulled off an exciting pass for the lead, which had the crowd in the stands on their feet cheering. Snyder kept the momentum going, and broke the Sitterly feature win streak. In a kind gesture, Tim mentioned that fallen track worker Eddie Clark had helped him in the final laps of the race. Pat Lavery had another great run with a third place, with Todd Stowell and Keith Shampine rounding out the top five.
Going into race 4 of the season, Otto Sitterly held a 376 - 349 point lead over Todd Stowell, with Tim Snyder and Pat Lavery 50 points behind the 79. Anticipation was high entering this race, as all the top dogs of the supermodified game were in town. Chris Perley was behind the wheel of the Furlong 72, while Mike Ordway made his first Oswego appearance of the year. Ray Graham and Pat Abold were also on hand for the 75 lapper. When all was said and done, this race meet’s headlines were stolen by one of the loyal, hardworking, local supermodified low bucker. Hal Latulip bought a couple of tires early in the night. The result of which was Hal’s first heat race win since 1981. It was quite a thunderous ovation for Hal’s win. Feature time, Hal stayed up front for the first handful of laps, and stayed in the top five until lap 55. It was a great feature run, but ended short of the end with an accident near the finish. It was a memorable night for Hal and the 56.
Otto grabbed win number 3 in 4 weeks, but it wasn’t an easy one. Tim Snyder recovered from a heat race incident to give Otto fits in the closing laps of the race. The 0 was pretty banged up, which necessitated a trip to the 10th Street garage for parts to fix the car. Snyder shot by Sitterly for the lead in the waning laps. Sitterly regained his composure and race back by the 0 with a few laps left. Fans left after this night k knowing they saw a little bit of everything. They had an underdog have his best night in a long time, a good battle for the race win, and good wheel to wheel racing all night long. Tim Gareau had his first podium finish of the year, while Pat Lavery nailed down another top five with a fourth. Pat Abold wheeled the Rayvals 95 to a fifth place run.
The front of the field on July 8 was a replay of the action just the week before, as the top three once again at the end of the races were Otto Sitterly, Tim Snyder and Tim Gareau. Otto began the season with a weekly blitz of the field, as this was his fourth win in five races. He started the feature race in row 6, and slashed his way through the field to the front early. Lap 8, the 79 was once again in front, showing the way. Otto was never seriously challenged throughout the feature, diverting the attention to his crews and Doug Holmes. Limited supermodified graduate Michael Barnes showed a flash of what was to come as he chauffeured the Furlong 72 to a fourth place finish in his first feature run in the car. Bobby Bond began to overcome early season problems and wheeled the 25 home to a fine fifth place run.
July 15 was a race night not too many in attendance that night will soon forget. A heat race accident early in the night gave the appearance that Otto Sitterly’s dominance was over for a night, as the 79 did a flip in turn one. The car was extensively damaged, and appeared out for the night. The car’s builder, Joey Hawksby, looked the 79 over in the pits and said they could fix it. What happened after that was amazing. Crew members from all over the pits came over and helped repair the badly damaged car. Come feature time, the car was race ready. Craig Rayvals grabbed the early lead with the 94, but fans were watching the 79 in amazement. Sitterly pulled the 79 to the outside lane, and had the car in the top ten by lap two. A few laps later, the fastest cars of the year, the 0 and 79 made contact, sending both to the pits for repairs. Racing returned for a few laps, then a major accident occurred in turn one, stopping the race once again. Shawn Muldoon looped the 1, which resulted in a massive chain reaction accident. Andy Noto came on the scene and flipped the 19. Fuel poured from the car, as there were a few tense moments at the accident scene. Todd Stowell took off passed the 94 a few laps later the restart, and took the lead in the 89. Lap 27 saw him et into fluid laid down by another car, and slap the wall. The unimaginable had happened, the 79 was in the lead. It was now a battle between the defending track champion and the guy that was on a current hot streak. Furlong gave it a shot on the restart, but was running low on fuel. Sitterly pulled away and held on at the end. In a night which saw the 79 upside down just a few hours ago, it now sat in victory lane. Otto Sitterly’s fifth win of the year was as improbable as you could think of. Furlong held on for second, with Gareau, Bond and Lavery once again finishing in top five spots. It was only midway through July, and Otto already held almost a 100 point lead over Tim Snyder, with a month and a half of the season still to go.
In a season where just about anything you could think of to happen, did, another chapter from the “Can you Believe It” played out on August 5. Otto Sitterly came in winning 5 of 6 features, Greg Furlong was getting around nicely in the 72, Joe Gosek was now in the 0 as Tim Snyder was out of action, and Todd Stowell had been knocking on the door for a feature win as well. Michael Barnes came up from the limited supermodified ranks, and had been in three supermodified races to this point. He ran Classic last year, and ran the Furlong 72 twice to date, once to a top five just a few weeks ago. This race night he was in the Hoefer-Samuels “Double Deuce” as a replacement for Bentley. All he did was rewrite the record books as the fastest driver to ever win a supermodified feature event at Oswego, in only his fourth race. Todd Stowell led the first ten laps of the main, before Greg Furlong shot by with the 72. Sitterly, Gosek and Barnes chased the 72 in the first half of the race. About the halfway point of the show, the Muldoon 1 went into the third turn wall. Leader Furlong was collected in the accident, which handed the lead to Sitterly. Otto looked to continue his win streak to 6 of 7 races. Apparent contact near the end saw the race change again, as Sitterly’s 79 spun. Sitterly mashed the gas, attempting to do a 360 and keep the car going. As smoke poured from the scene, second running Joe Gosek’s view was blocked, and the front end of the 0 hit the 79. Both cars were eliminated. Inheriting the lead was rookie Michael Barnes in the 22. Barnes never looked back and cruised ahead for the popular victory. Barnes joined Mike McLaughlin and Dave Trytek as the only rookies to ever win a supermodified race at Oswego Speedway. Todd Stowell followed Barnes across the line, with Pat Lavery in third, Tim Gareau fourth and Keith Shampine in fifth.
August 12 was a race night which saw the track safety crew and tow trucks in heavy use, as it was a carnage filled night at the speedway. At the end of the night, cars of Greg Furlong(hard third turn accident in his heat), Otto Sitterly, Michael Barnes, Keith Gilliam(back stretch flip), Todd Stowell, Pat Lavery, Danny K., and Kevin Knopp were all extensively damaged, just a few weeks before Classic.
In just his second week in the car, Joe Gosek took home the feature win in the Snyder 0 car. Craig Rayvals led early in the 94, before Gosek started to chase him down by lap 15. Five laps later, the 0 was up front and pulling away. Rayvals had his best night of the season as he hung on for second. Jerry Curran began a late season flurry as he picked up third in the Nuclear Banana. Tim Gareau and Bob Bond remained consistent with fourth and fifth place runs again.
August 19 had the fan friendly, driver frustrating Twin 30’s on the schedule. Mother Nature once again reared her ugly head, as the program was rained out. This left the Mr. Supermodified race as the only regular season show on the agenda, with Classic weekend just a couple of weeks away.
For many years, the week before the Classic was a race where drivers looked to run conservative, and keep their machines in one piece for the “big show.” This year was a bit different, as the week before the Classic was the $10,000 to win, Mr. Supermodified race. The winner’s share of this race goes a long way to paying summer long bills built up. Jerry Curran continued his late season charge as he took the lead early in the race from his outside pole position starting spot. Curran showed the way in the first half of the race, as the field raced behind looking for racing room. Otto Sitterly played a patient game, not taking any unnecessary chances in the early part of the race. Joe Gosek followed his way though, and looked for his first ever Mr. Super win. About the halfway point of the race, Sitterly completed his charge to the front, taking the lead. Gosek stayed right behind, with Curran staying within striking distance. With 13 laps to go, Gosek tried to pin the #79 behind a lapped car, but he couldn’t make the pass complete. From that point on, Sitterly raced away for yet another dominant win. Gosek and Curran stayed in second and third, with Bob Bond and Pat Lavery adding on to their all ready impressive top five totals for the year. It was an impressive night for Sitterly, as not only did he pick up the title of Mr. Supermodified, at the end of the night he was also crowned Oswego Speedway supermodified track champion. The final point tally, 1) Otto Sitterly - 982, 2) Tim Gareau - 871, 3) Todd Stowell - 860, 4) Pat Lavery - 837, 5) Jerry Curran - 811.
All that was left on the Oswego Speedway supermodified docket for 2006 was the 50th annual International Classic. The front row from Friday night time trials was pretty predictable, as Greg Furlong and Otto Sitterly qualified for the front row. Furlong setting a new track record with a lap of 16.377. Sitterly also broke the old record as he stopped clocks at 16.535.
Classic Sunday was rained out as Hurricane Ernesto set up shop in Central New York for most of the weekend. The skies parted enough on Monday to let the show go on. Lou Cicconi, Brandon Bellinger, and Dave McKnight all took turns leading the race in the first half of the show. A pivotal point of the race came as McKnight led with Cicconi behind. Contact between the two saw both leaders spin. Furlong inherited the lead and was off from there. Just before, newly crowned track champion Otto Sitterly was involved in a grinding first turn accident. A suspension part broke, sending the #79 careening into the front straight away wall. The 79 did a series of powerspins in turn one, with its driver unconscious. Track safety crew member, Brian “Roads” Conzone put Sitterly’s safety ahead of his own and unselfishly jumped into the accident scene and killed the power to the car. Otto was transported to the hospital for a check up after the scary looking incident. Back on the track, Furlong took control of the race from there and was off to the record books. As the race came to lap 200, Greg Furlong became the first driver in Oswego Speedway history to win three International Classics in a row. It was also his fifth career classic win, trailing only Nolan Swift and Bentley Warren in Classic wins and tied with Eddie Bellinger Jr.
2006 was quite a memorable year in the supermodified division at Oswego Speedway. You never knew what was going to happen when you came to the speedway each week. We had one driver dominate, and win in every conceivable manner. We had a rookie driver become the quickest to ever win a supermodified feature, and we also had an old cagey veteran show he can take a borrowed ride to victory lane once again. Classic saw another competitive show, with the same tried and true strategy once again come through in the end. It was a record breaking weekend for the Furlong team, making the 50th Classic one of the more memorable ones in recent memory.
The gates for the 2007 season swing open shortly. Hopefully the 2007 Novelis Supermodified season will rank right up there with the 2006 season.