THE VALLEY NEWS - July 1, 1995

Didero tops Muldoon at Oswego Speedway

Oswego, NY - Doug Didero showed that patience pays off in long-distance supermodified races at Oswego Speedway as he slowly worked his way to the front, saving his tires in the process, en route to his win Saturday night. Didero took over the lead from Mike Muldoon with a lap-55 front straightaway pass and pulled away in the 75-lap holiday feature, breaking Muldoon's four-race winning streak.

Cliff Graves and Joe Hawksby started on the front row for the feature event, with Graves taking the lead when the race started. Steve Gioia, Russ Wood, Mike Muldoon, and Doug Didero all chose the outside groove to work their way to the front, Danny Soule took over the top spot in the fourth turn pn lap three and clocked a 17.35 his first lap, gaining a quick eight-car length lead.

On lap eight, the top ten were Soule, Graves, Steve Gioia, Eddie Bellinger, Randy Ritskes, Russ Wood, Todd Stowell, Jeff West, Joe Hawksby, and Howard Page. Back in the pack, Muldoon and Didero raced for 11th spot with Muldoon making the pass on the front straightaway. Muldoon then put on a charge in which he passed Dave McKnight and Hawksby on lap 15, went by Stowell on the inside the next lap, then by West and Ritskes two laps later as he moved from 12th to sixth in five laps. Muldoon went to the outside of Wood on lap 20 for fifth. On lap 23, he went to the outside to pass Gioia in the fourth turn, then past Graves on the inside of the back straightaway the same lap to move to second place 3.78 seconds behind Soule.

As Muldoon worked his way to the front, Soule continued to clock laps in the 17.40 range, but he was coming up on lapped traffic. On lap 30, the top ten read Soule, Muldoon, Wood, Graves, Bellinger, Gioia, West, McKnight, Ritskes, and Didero. Soule's big lead was gone as he struggled to get by the slower car of Willie Stutzman. The two leaders raced bumper to bumper for two laps at 17.66 and 17.59, a full straightaway ahead of third-place Wood. On lap 33, with the race still caution free, Muldoon pulled the 50 to the inside of Soule in the second turn and took over the lead. Muldoon's first lap in the lead was timed at 17.42, giving him a three car-length lead.

Traffic came into play on lap 38 with the leaders having no problem clearing it. The first caution flag of the race came out on lap 39 with Tim Snyder in the second turn wall and Stowell stopped on the inside. Before the restart, the top ten were Muldoon, Soule, Wood, Graves, Bellinger, Didero, West, McKnight, Gioia, and Ritskes. Once racing, Soule apparently got into the back end of the 50, sending his 32 sideways and letting Wood go by on the outside for second place. Didero used the restart to go to the inside of Bellinger and Graves for fourth place and the cars of Muldoon, Wood, Soule, and Didero broke away from the rest of the field.

On lap 41, Wood turned the Shea Concrete 27 to the inside of Muldoon and took over the lead on the front straightaway and immediately quickened the pace with a lap of 17.19. Didero took over third place as he went by Soule two laps later on the inside of the second corner. Wood's next two laps were timed at 17.24 and 17.22 as he began to pull away.

At lap 50, Wood held a 2.28 second lead over the bumper to bumper race for second between Muldoon and Didero, who were 20 car lengths ahead of the race for fourth between Soule, Graves, West, McKnight, Gioia, Bellinger, and Ritskes, West made his first appearance in the top five as he went to the inside of Graves on lap 52. Wood was in command of the race until lap 53, when he entered the first turn and a front suspension part broke, sending the leader hard, front end first, into the first-turn wall. Wood was uninjured, but his car suffered extensive front-end damage. This put Muldoon and Didero back in the front two spots with Soule, West, McKnight, Graves, Gioia, Bellinger, Jamie Moore, and Ritskes rounding out the top ten.

Muldoon and Didero pulled away on the restart and made it a two-car race for the lead. Didero, who finished second to Muldoon three of the past four weeks, pulled the 3 to the inside of Muldoon as they raced down the front straightaway on lap 55 and took over the lead. Didero wasted no time in pulling away as he clocked in laps of 17.25 and 17.28 to gain a 15 car-length lead in just two laps.

With 10 laps left, Didero held a commanding lead with Muldoon, Soule, McKnight, and West in the top five. Laps of 17.33 and 17.23 kept Didero unchallenged 3.44 seconds ahead of Muldoon. Traffic came into play with five laps left, but the leader raced to both the inside and outside lanes to get past the slower cars. Didero took his time in the traffic as he had a comfortable lead, and raced under the checkered flag with his right arm in the air 1.88 seconds ahead of Muldoon. Soule, McKnight, and West rounded out the top five.

"This feels good," Didero commented about his win. "We've been knocking on the door for several weeks trying to get the right set up. The longer we ran, the better the car was. We have a pretty good set up now."

News and Notes: 38 limiteds and 31 supermodifieds were in the pits. Limited heat race wins went to Powell, Churchill, and Bond, while supermod heat wins went to West, Soule, and Wood. Tom Jodway and Tim Gareau won the consolation races, Pat Abold withdrew the 05 for the night after experiencing magneto problems, and stepped into the backup West 01. Abold entered the car in the consolation race, but slammed the third turn wall hard at the start of the race, damaging the West car. Didero won $5,000 for the feature win. Muldoon is on top of supermodified points, while Higgins' win vaulted him from seventh to the lead in limited points.