There are going to be strong battles for Rookie of the Year honors in both the Supermodified and Small Block Supermodified divisions at the Oswego Speedway in 2010, the 60th Anniversary Season at the Steel Palace. At least a half dozen new faces will dot the infield of the Oswego Speedway in 2010 as drivers from this group will be gunning for Supermodified or Small Block Super “Rookie of the Year” honors.
In the Supermodified division there are at least four rookies ready to battle for the title in 2010. The most talked about driver getting his start in Supermodifieds is Dave Gruel. The defending Track Champion in the SBS division has landed the coveted ride with the Double Deuce Racing team owned by Billy Samuels and Bob Hoefer. Gruel will team up with Pat Lavery, who has finished 2nd and 3rd in points the past two years.
Double Deuce Racing has already had two highly touted drivers behind the wheel of the car Gruel will drive. The first was Michael Barnes, who became one of the very few drivers who have ever won a non-winged Supermodified race at the Oswego Speedway in his rookie year. When Barnes left to join Cylde Booth’s race team he was replaced by Bobby Magner. Magner is the two time defending champion of the Mr. Supermodified title. Magner and Double Deuce Racing decided to have an amicable parting of the ways after the 2009 season.
Another driver moving up from the SBS division to campaign a Supermodified in 2010 is Dave Danzer. Danzer finished 11th in points in the SBS division last year. His father, Craig, owned a Supermodified for many years, driven primarily by Bill Sharkey, before son Dave decided to take up racing in the SBS division. They have purchased a car from Furlong Racing to campaign in 2010.
Larry Muroski, who took the year off from the SBS division in 2009 and will be back this year behind the wheel of the Coon-France Racing Supermodified in 2010. Lou LaVea, Sr. drove the car for the first half of last year before jumping to the #61 ride owned by Mark Castiglia. Muroski and the Coon-France team have completely gone through the car and will be ready to go opening day.
Shaun Gosselin, who has been campaigning on the USAC Ford Focus Midget series, has worked out a deal with Snyder Racing to campaign a car for the 2010 season, but there are a few “if’s” in the mix. Tim Snyder has a new car on order from Xtreme Chassis, but there is a lot of work to be done on that car and it may not be ready for opening day. Snyder will continue to drive the current Super until the new car is ready to go and has been tested.
Cody Graham, son of Ray Graham, Jr., will see time behind the wheel of one of his father’s Supers in 2010, but may not compete for the entire season. Cody was impressive in the car late last season when he took it out for some practice laps.
In the Small Block Supermodified division at least two rookies will be vying for Rookie of the Year honors as Bobby Henry and Fred Kilian will both be new to the division. Henry is a veteran campaigner in the dirt Sportsman series where he has compiled several victories at a number of tracks. He has been looking to pick up a ride in the SBS division for the past couple years. If things go according to plan Henry will be behind the wheel of the Jay Andrews owned #93. Jay has been drastically cutting back his racing schedule the past couple years, but came home with a strong third place finish in the SBS 100 lap Classic last year.
Perhaps the most interesting driver going for Rookie of the Year honors in any division is Fred Kilian. Kilian has long been a supporter of the SBS class and last year on several occasions he added money to the SBS purse. Once the season was over Kilian bought one of the Eddie Horne owned cars. Horne’s team pretty much dropped off scene in mid 2008 when driver Josh Larochelle decided to call it quits. Sammy Reakes IV drove the car a few times toward the end of last season.
Kilian is a little north of 60 years old, and this will be his first time racing. He said his family is grown and gone, he has the money, and it’s something he’s always wanted to do. Kilian says he knows it is going to be an uphill battle, but as long as he’s having fun he’ll be in action.