July 10, 2004

FURLONG HOLDS OFF GOSEK IN SUPERMODIFIEDS

Oswego, NY - Perhaps the greatest rivalry since Mike Muldoon and Doug Didero in the mid-1990's came alive Saturday night, when Greg Furlong and Joe Gosek drew one and two respectively for their feature event starting positions. One week after Furlong and Gosek tangled while running up front, the two raced aggressively for the entire 45-lap distance. In the end, Furlong took the open competition special, with Gosek taking the runner-up position in Carson Carmart 27.

The evening was sponsored by Labatt's, Fas-Trac, and Burkes Do-It-Best Home Centers.

Furlong and Gosek started the feature on the front row, which became controversial before one lap was complete. The two came out of turn four to take the green way out of shape, forcing track officials to throw out the caution and try it again. The fans began to get excited, as the two who came together on July 3 ran side-by-side once again to the green flag.

No one held an advantage in the opening laps, as Furlong and Gosek ran side by side. The two pushed each other as much as they could before Gosek blasted by on the outside two laps after the initial start. Tim Snyder, Tim Gareau, and Pat Lavery rounded out the top five in the early going. Shawn Muldoon, who had to start last after pitting before the green flag, began his charge to the front immediately at the start of the race.

Gosek pulled away from the field after a few laps while Gareau challenged Snyder for the third place spot. Around lap 15, Furlong began to reel Gosek back in. Gareau was able to pass Snyder for third as the leaders hit heavy traffic.

Gosek and Furlong ran nose-to-tail, and provided some of the best racing of the year as they scrambled through lapped traffic. At lap 28, Furlong put an inside move on Gosek out of turn four that got the Carson 27 out of shape, but wasn't able to get by. The next lap, Furlong put the same move on Gosek, and took the lead while Gosek regained control.

Three of the event's four cautions occurred all on the same lap. Howie Page, driving the Tom Bliss owned 65, spun around with Jerry Curran to bring out the yellow lights on lap 31. On the restart, Craig Rayvals spun through turns three and four taking him out for the night. Mike Brubaker spun his 36 in turn three on another restart before racing was able to resume.

Gosek tried to slingshot by Furlong while Gareau followed in third in the late stages of the event. Shawn Muldoon put his 1 into fourth place before Howie Page spun around once again, closing the top three together for one last shootout on lap 36.

When the green lights came back on, Gosek aggressively tried to get by Furlong, but was unable to retake the top spot. Gosek, Gareau, Muldoon, and Pat Lavery rounded out the top five positions.

The Snap-on Tools Dash for $500 was won by Joe Gosek earlier in the evening. Semi-final events were won by Gosek and Joe Hawksby, Jr. Heat races were won by Gosek, Gareau, and Furlong.

Heat 1 (12):
1. Joe Gosek (27) 2. Todd Stowell (89) 3. Doug Kells (39) 4. Danny Kapuscinski (85) 5. Pat Lavery (99) 6. Jerry Curran (24) 7. Bob Magner (40) 8. Howie Page (65) 9. Jennifer Chesbro (33)

Heat 2 (12):
1. Tim Gareau (5) 2. Craig Rayvals (94) 3. Tim Snyder (0) 4. Shawn Muldoon (1) 5. Jeff Holbrook (35) 6. Bill Sharkey (7) 7. Mike Hooper (17) 8. Mike Brubaker (36)

Heat 3 (12):
1. Greg Furlong (72) 2. Bob Goutermout (77) 3. Otto Sitterly (79) 4. Vern LaFave (97) 5. Joe Hawksby, Jr. (2) 6. Bob Bond (25) 7. Johnny Payne (16) 8. Doug Didero (08) 9. Gene Lee Gibson (54 - DNS)

Semi-Final 1 (15):
1. Joe Hawksby, Jr. (2) 2. Greg Furlong (72) 3. Otto Sitterly (79) 4. Tim Snyder (0) 5. Tim Gareau (5) 6. Todd Stowell (89) 7. Jerry Curran (24) 8. Jeff Holbrook (35) 9. Bob Magner (40) 10. Mike Brubaker (36) 11. Danny Kapuscinski (85) 12. Doug Didero (08 - DNS)

Semi-Final 2 (15):
1. Joe Gosek (27) 2. Doug Kells (39) 3. Pat Lavery (99) 4. Bob Bond (25) 5. Howie Page (65) 6. Bill Sharkey (7) 7. Vern LaFave (97) 8. Jennifer Chesbro (33) 9. Mike Hooper (17) 10. Gene Lee Gibson (54) 11. Shawn Muldoon (1) 12. Bob Goutermout (77) 13. Craig Rayvals (94)

Dash (12):
1. Joe Gosek (27) 2. Tim Gareau (5) 3. Bob Bond (25) 4. Joe Hawksby, Jr. (2) 5. Bill Sharkey (7) 6. Tim Snyder (0) 7. Greg Furlong (72) 8. Howie Page (65) 9. Pat Lavery (99) 10. Todd Stowell (89) 11. Otto Sitterly (79) 12. Doug Kells (39)

Feature 1 (45):
1. Greg Furlong (72) 2. Joe Gosek (27) 3. Tim Gareau (5) 4. Shawn Muldoon (1) 5. Bob Bond (25) 6. Otto Sitterly (79) 7. Pat Lavery (99) 8. Joe Hawksby, Jr. (2) 9. Doug Kells (39) 10. Todd Stowell (89) 11. Bob Magner (40) 12. Jerry Curran (24) 13. Danny Kapuscinski (85) 14. Jeff Holbrook (35) 15. Vern LaFave (97) 16. Mike Brubaker (36) 17. Howie Page (65) 18. Tim Snyder (0) 19. Bill Sharkey (7) 20. Craig Rayvals (94) 21. Doug Didero (08) 22. Jennifer Chesbro (33) 23. Mike Hooper (17) 24. Gene Lee Gibson (54)