5/9/2022
Oswego Speedway
Muldoon Wins 350 SMAC Opener at Evans Mills Raceway Park
By 350 SMAC
EVANS MILLS, NY (May 8, 2022) - Before a packed house the 350 SMAC series rolled into Evans Mills for the 1st ever event at their facility in Northern NY.
Practice was fast and furious which saw the Sean Nicole Salon, Westford Glass sponsored #14 of Jeffrey Battle at the top of the board with a 13.204.
O'Reilly Heat #1 - Mike Keddy pulled out to the lead in his D&D Firewood, Osborne Welding, Performance Racing Industry #79 and held off a hard charging Kenny White Jr. for the heat win. Official finish:
1 - #79 Mike Keddy
2 - #77 Kenny White Jr.
3 - #01 Bill Helliwell
4 - #20 Kyle Perry
5 - #04 Nette Humphrey
6 - #23 Mike Fowler
O'Reilly Heat #2 - James Witkum showed plenty of speed quickly racing to take the heat win in his Heavnly Donuts #45 ride over the #20 of Scott Watts Sr. who showed speed all weekend. Official finish:
1 - #45 James Witkum
2 - #20 Scott Watts Sr.
3 - #15 Michael Muldoon
4 - #4 Rich Eaton
5 - #50 Matt Caprara
6 - #22 Sparky Macgyver
O'Reilly Heat #3 - Bobby Holmes took the MacLeod Motorsports #32 red rocket to the front and beat a hard charging Jeffrey Battle to secure the heat race win. Official finish:
1 - #32 Bobby Holmes
2 - #14 Jeffrey Battle
3 - #97 Very LaFave
4 - #50 Dave Cliff
5 - #22 Mike Bruce
6 - #21 Eddie Witkum Jr.
Top 4 from each heat redrew....#15 of Michael Muldoon drawing the pole and #4 Rich Eaton drawing outside pole for the J&S Paving, O'Reilly Auto Parts 50 lapper:
Now as the grandstand rose their feet...and 18 of the best Supermodified drivers anywhere got lined up...we were ready for one hell of a show.
The green flagged waved and Michael Muldoon in the FX Caprara Honda, Lucas Oil #15 got out to an early lead.
First caution flew on lap #2 with local driver Vern LaFave in the Otter Creek Winery #97 & the #21 of Eddie Witkum Jr. getting together. The 97 was able to get back out after a pit stop but the 21 of Witkum was out for the night with RF and wing damage.
Back to green and Muldoon took the top point with Eaton in his Jones Financial, Loconte Properties #4 ride hot on his tail.
With 5 laps in the books it was Muldoon #15, Eaton #4, Holmes #32, Keddy #79 & James Witkum #45 running in the top 5.
With 10 laps in the top 5 remained the same but competition in the field was heating up...including Kenny White Jr. moving up from his #12 starting position...and Jeffrey Battle quickly coming from 10th to 6th by lap 14.
A few moved in the top 10 as the lap counter turned 19 - Mike Keddy started to make his move taking over 3rd...Battle got into 5th...
Top 10 as of lap 19 - Muldoon, Eaton, Keddy, Holmes, Battle, James Witkum, Watts Sr., White Jr., Bill Helliwell & local racer Matt Caprara.
Lap 26 found Jeffrey Battle's #14 shooting into the 3rd position.
But a slowdown on lap 27 when the #32 of Bobby Holmes lost the motor. Red flag would wave when cleanup would begin.
Running order was - Muldoon, Eaton, Battle, Keddy, James Witkum, Watts Sr., White Jr., Helliwell, Cliff, Perry, Humphrey, Caprara, Bruce, MacGyver. (Holmes, LaFave, Witkum Jr. OFN)
Ready for the restart and the #4 of Eaton had a run on the #15 of Muldoon going into turn 1...but Muldoon just pulled ahead to maintain the #1 spot.
Battle was able to get by the #4 machine in a few laps and everyone in the stands got their popcorn ready.
For 10 laps it was Battle going low...going high...looking for a way by the #15...some of the most intense action ever seen in the 350 division.
On lap 40 they touched and Battle lost a piece of his sheet metal and the caution flew...Jeffrey has an incredible record of wins in the 350 Division. This battle however will have to be to be continued...maybe one day Part II.
One last restart and Eaton was back in the runner up spot....He again had a great run on Muldoon into turn 1...but was not able to make it stick.
Muldoon was able to take home his first victory in the 350 division - on his fathers Legend Series event. He wanted to thank his entire crew, family who was with him, his father on this win & FX Caprara Honda.
As of now his only scheduled race in 2022 besides his Big Block Supermodified.
News & Notes:
#20 of Watts Sr. had a solid run finishing 4th
Shout out to the RBI racing team #22 of Mike Bruce as he drove the wheels of the car starting in the back & driving it to 7th. Not hard to see why they won the 2022 Championship at Oswego.
#01 Bill Helliwell finished 6th. He and his brother Dave worked on the car tirelessly all weekend and a very solid run.
Consistent and popular #04 of Nette Humphrey with another 10 top run to start 2022.
#50 Matt Caprara in his 1st ever Supermod start was able to get up to 9th at the finish.
#23 had a Saturday am driver change due to illness of Kali Spaulding. Mike Fowler - a Dirt regular race winner got behind the wheel for the 1st time in a Super. He did a very respectful job and finished the race in 14th.
We welcomed Kyle Perry, Dave Cliff & Bobby Holmes to their 1st SMAC event. Hope to see them in the future!
Special thanks to Mackenzie Miller from Finish Line Boutique for winner presentations, Douglas Kells for the Announcing, Chris Marcinko for the Video work, Chuck Miller, Richard Nelson & turn4photos on the camera work...The push trucks guys....staff at EMRP, the Gills for the amazing facility the teams and the fans for making the trip!!! Luther & Ronzo for sponsoring the move of the race and making the whole weekend a fun experience. So many countless others it takes to put on this type of event THANK YOU!!!
Special thanks to TJ Toyota of Potsdam for helping sponsor the event!
Official Finish
1 - #15 Michael Muldoon
2 - #4 Rich Eaton
3 - #79 Mike Keddy
4 - #20 Scott Watts Sr.
5 - #45 James Witkum
6 - #01 Bill Helliwell
7 - #22 Mike Bruce
8 - #77 Kenny White Jr.
9 - #50 Matt Caprara
10 - #04 Nette Humphrey
11 - #20 Kyle Perry
12 - #50 Dave Cliff
13 - #22 Sparky Macgyver
14 - #23 Mike Fowler
15 - #14 Jeffrey Battle
16 - #32 Bobby Holmes
17 - #97 Vern LaFave
18 - #21 Eddie Witkum Jr.
Next race - May 14th Waterford, CT
Submitted By: CAMDEN PROUD