OSWEGO, NY (June 17) - Rob Pullen became the first repeat winner on Saturday night at Oswego Speedway in the Pathfinder Bank SBS division, after pulling underneath David LaTulip to the lead on lap 14 of the Universal Metal Works 30-lap event behind the wheel of his No. 2. Pullen was again able to hold off the late advances of defending Speedway champion Mike Bond.
Jack Patrick, AJ Bernys, and Mike Bruce filled the Top 5 ahead of Kreig Heroth, Andrew Schartner, Tim Barbeau, Nate Sitterly, and Dalton Doyle.
“Every win gets better and better,” said Pullen in Chris Nelson Insurance Victory Lane. “It is hard to expect anything, but this car has been really good this year. I think we may just get another one by the end of the year.”
Bernys and LaTulip brought the Pathfinder Bank field to the Cam’s NY Pizzeria green flag and it was Oswego Kartway graduate LaTulip gaining the early advantage in the TNT Motorsports No. 17. LaTulip, Bernys, and Patrick would quickly team up in a three car pack, distancing themselves from the remainder of the field.
Lap 3 however would see the races first caution and it would initially come out for the No. 00 of Brian Osetek who had a front end issue, resulting in the car making contact with the outside 4th turn steel. Further behind Osetek, Dennis Rupert and Brad Haynes would also tangle with the Rupert No. 99 being hooked off the race track.
Just one lap after the restart Pullen began to press as he moved to the inside of Patrick out of turn two to the 3rd spot and immediately drew in the No. 24 of Bernys for 2nd.
On lap 8 Pullen this time moved to the high side making quick work of Bernys to slide into the runner-up position into turn one.
By the 10th circuit the front four of LaTulip, Pullen, Bernys, and Patrick were on their own leaving Mark Castiglia, Cameron Rowe, Bruce, JJ Andrews, Bond, and Schartner to battle for Top 5 positions.
Soon though, the entire Top 10 would shake up.
As the laps wore on LaTulip began to falter, leaving the low lane open for Pullen to nab the top spot on lap 14 heading into turn one. From there, LaTulip began a tremendous back slide through the field before eventually looping the No. 17 in turn four with just 10-laps to go.
On lap 20 the Top 10 order would then show Pullen, Bernys, Patrick, Castiglia, Rowe, Bond, Bruce, Andrews, Schartner, and Heroth.
But again, a Top 5 car would run into issues on the restart.
This time it was last weekend’s winner Castiglia in the No. 69. As the field rounded turn one, the No. 69 pulled high and out of line nearly slowing to a stop before heading into the pit area so not to cause a caution. Front runner Andrews would also run into issues not much after, also knocking himself out of the Top 10.
With front running cars dropping out left and right, Bond again used the waning laps of the event to mount an attack.
With 7-laps to go the No. 26 worked to the inside of Patrick in turn three to 3rd before pulling the same move on Bernys to 2nd one lap later. But as it was in the Supermodified feature, this time it was too little, too late for Bond.
Despite closing quickly on the No. 2 of Pullen, the laps would wind down on Bond’s attack, leaving Pullen to cross under the Cam’s NY Pizzeria checkered flag.
“It’s tough out there. There are a lot of guys running real tough,” said Bond. “We were lucky to get up to 2nd tonight. I needed a caution there at the end, I overheated my tires. If we could have got a caution to cool them down some, I may have been able to make a run for it. It was a good run for the guys, we did a lot of work this week, and I think we finally got our overheating issues (with the engine) fixed.”
Patrick waited until the final lap of the event to make the move on Bernys to head into the Top 3.
“It was a little hairy up there on the outside,” said Patrick. “I think AJ was getting a little loose there at the end, because he slowed down some. I decided to get up there and try the outside and it stuck. We’ve struggled the last couple weeks after the accident to get the car back to par, but I think we’re getting back there. Hopefully we’ll be back in victory lane soon.”
Saturday, June 16th, 2012
Oswego Speedway
Oswego, NY
Universal Metal Works Autograph Night
UPCOMING SHOWS:
Saturday, June 30th – Davis Bros. Meats Grand Prix Night featuring FIREWORKS
Novelis Supermodified 75 and Pathfinder Bank SBS 35
PATHFINDER BANK SBS SERIES
Feature (30-laps): 1. 2 – Rob Pullen, 2. 26 – Mike Bond, 3. 9 – Jack Patrick, 4. 24 – AJ Bernys, 5. 22 – Mike Bruce, 6. 04 – Kreig Heroth, 7. 18 – Andrew Schartner, 8. 79 – Tim Barbeau, 9. 27 – Nate Sitterly, 10. 01 – Dalton Doyle, 11. 95 – Lou LeVea Jr., 12. 47 – Jon Tesoriero, 13. 11 – John Ketcham, 14. 87 – Nick Barzee, 15. 17 – David LaTulip, 16. 93 – JJ Andrews, 17. 69 – Mark Castiglia, 18. 77 – Cameron Rowe, 19. 98 – Jason Simmons, 20. 99 – Dennis Rupert, 21. 44 – Justin Cornell, 22. 00 – Brian Osetek, 23. 34 – Will Hadcock, 24. 88 – Brad Haynes
1st Heat (10laps): 1. 22 – Mike Bruce, 2. 26 – Mike Bond, 3. 2 – Rob Pullen, 4. 98 – Jason Simmons, 5. 11 – John Ketcham, 6. 34 – Will Hadcock, 7. 27 – Nate Sitterly, 8. 8 – Josh Kerr, 9. 44 – Justin Cornell
2ndHeat (10laps): 1. 24 – AJ Bernys, 2. 17 – David LaTulip, 3. 9 – Jack Patrick, 4. 18 – Andrew Schartner, 5. 04 – Kreig Heroth, 6. 01 – Dalton Doyle, 7. 87 – Nick Barzee, 8. 47 – Jon Tesoriero
3rd Heat (10laps): 1. 69 – Mark Castiglia, 2. 00 – Brian Osetek, 3. 93 – JJ Andrews, 4. 77 – Cameron Rowe, 5. 79 – Tim Barbeau, 6. 95 – Lou LeVea Jr., 7. 88 – Brad Haynes, 8. 99 – Dennis Rupert
About Oswego Speedway: Oswego Speedway, a sports entertainment company, is a 5/8 mile semi-banked pavement racing oval located off the shores of Lake Ontario in scenic Oswego, NY. Oswego Speedway has been a continuously run weekly racing venue since August, 1951. The premier open-wheel pavement short track cars in the world, Supermodifieds, run weekly at Oswego Speedway making Oswego the only weekly Supermodified racing venue in the world. The Small Block Supermodifieds accompany the full blown Supers on a weekly Saturday night schedule which runs from May through September. Oswego Speedway is mentioned in racing circles as the “Indy of the East,” as no fewer than a dozen past and present competitors have competed at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway including Mario Andretti, arguably the greatest driver of all time, two-time Indy 500 champion Gordon Johncock, along with former International Classic Champions Bentley Warren, Joe Gosek, and Davey Hamilton.
Oswego Speedway is honored to recognize several sponsors and corporate partners that help to bring the racing action to you each Saturday night (listed alphabetically): All Seasons Inn, Alliance Bank, Bacc Off, Best Western/Quality Inn, Blue Bowl Sanitation, Bonded Motor Sales, Bosco & Geers, Bracy’s Transmission Services, Bridge Street Jewelers, Brioschi Pharmaceuticals International LLC, Burke’s Home Centers, Burritt Motors, Butler Disposal, Canales Restaurant, Canales Insurance, Century 21 Galloway Realty, Chris Nelson Insurance, Cleaning for a Reason, City Electric, CNY CPR, Coca-Cola, Compass Federal Credit Union, Constellation Energy, Corr-Pak, CPS Electric, C’s Beverage Center, Davis Bros. Meats, Days Inn/Travelodge, Dufore’s Jewelers, Dunkin Donuts, Eagle Beverage, Ellsworth Heating and Cooling, Entergy Northeast, Ferris Industries, Gater Racing News, Green & Seifter CPA, G&I Homes, H. Lee White Marine Museum,Hofmann’s, GMAC Insurance, Gioia Signs, Hoosier Racing Tire, Hudson Dairy, Jerome Fire Equipment, Johnston’s Propane, John Costello & Associates, K&G Lodge, Lighthouse Lanes, Longley Dodge, Marollo Racing Engines, May’s Country Store, McCaffrey Chiropractic, Mickey’s Magical Vacation, Munski’s Auto and Marine, Novelis, Ontario Orchards, Oswego County Federal Credit Union, Oswego Health, Oswego Inn, OTB/Western Region, Oswego Quality Carpet, The Palladium-Times, Par-K Enterprises, Pathfinder Bank, Outdoor Power West, Performance Harley Davidson, Pizza Villa, Ponderosa, The Post-Standard, Precision Balancing, Press Box, Price Chopper, Pullen’s Plumbing, RE Davis and Son, RJ Caruso Tax & Accounting, Rudy’s Lakeside, S&S Tractor, Scriba Electric, Scriba Meats, Shapiro Motor Sales, Sharon’s Hair Gallery, Speedway Press, Steve Abt Auto, Stop DWI – Oswego County, Sunset RV Park, Supercuts, Terrell’s Potato Chips, Thunder Road Bar and Grill, Turning Stone Resort and Casino, Universal Metal Works, Vashaw’s Collision Service, Yogi Bear’s Jelly Stone Park