September 2, 1995

Perley and Goutermout tops in Oswego's Saturday races

By Dan Johnson
Oswego, NY - Star Speedway regular Chris Perley, from Rowley, Mass., made his first ISMA win memorable as he won the ISMA Supernationals at Oswego Speedway Saturday night. Perley took the lead at the start of the race from his outside front-row starting spot and led all 50 laps of the race for the biggest win of his career.

Joe Gosek and Perley started the main event from the front row, with the Auto Palace team cars of Russ Wood and Mike Ordway in row two. When the race started, Perley went to the lead. He wasted no time in opening up a sizeable lead as by lap five his advantage was eight car lengths ahead of the rest of the top ten of Gosek, Ordway, Wood, Scott Martel, Dave Simard, Doug Didero, Dave McKnight, Gary Morton, and Danny Soule. Perley used laps in the area of 16.03 and 15.94 to gain the lead.

Cliff Graves brought out the first caution flag of the race as he banged the back-stretch wall with the 1. Ordway went to the outside of Gosek on the restart to take over second place and try to run down his fellow New Englander. Two laps later, Wood pulled the 29 to the pits with mechanical problems, out of the race. Successive cautions caused by Rebel Jackson and Randy Ritskes slowed the field on laps 14 and 15, which again slowed the race pace. Perley went back to work with laps of 16.16 and 16.13 in building up a seven-car-length lead over Ordway near the halfway point of the race. Gosek still rode third, four lengths behind Ordway, with Martel and Dave McKnight a distant fourth and fifth. Sixth through tenth at the halfway mark were Didero, Soule, Morton, Joey Moriarty, and Bentley Warren.

In the next few laps, Ordway began to catch Perley as they entered lapped traffic. On lap 29 the lead pair ran bumper to bumper, with Gosek starting to close the gap from third place. In the next couple of laps the lead trio ran nose to tail, with the threesome of Martel, McKnight, and Didero a full straightaway behind. Gosek fell off the torrid pace set by the lead duo and faded six lengths back in the next few laps.

Gary Morton brought out a yellow flag at lap 40 as he blew his second motor of the night in the 70. Perley kept Ordway at bay on the restart and quickly clocked in laps of 16.31 and 16.38 as he kept the lead. The remainder of the field followed in single file and the race drew to a close. Ordway couldn't muster a challenge to Perley at the end, and Perley turned in a last lap of 16.41 as he crossed under the checkered flag .56 seconds ahead of Ordway, Gosek, McKnight, and Martel.

"We're real happy. We ran strong here in July," Perley stated after the race. "We picked it up today as we were really hooked up. The car developed a push early, and I just hoped it wouldn't get too bad."

Danny Soule, Gary Morton, and Joe Moriarty won ISMA heat races. Scott Landers won the ISMA B-main. Mike Ordway won the ISMA dash for the top eight time trialers, which also included Gosek, Didero, Wood, McKnight, Perley, Simard, and Martel.

LIMITEDS:

In the companion limited supermodified 50-lap Nautilus, all-time limited feature win leader Bob Goutermout added one more win to his list as he won his first Nationals. Goutermout like Perley, started the race on the outside of the front row and led all 50 laps.

Andy Jodway and Goutermout started in the front row. When the green flag came out to start the race, the front row mates stayed side by side for over two laps before Goutermout got the lead. The lead two pulled out early in the race with laps of 19.53 and 19.39.

At the lap-10 mark Goutermout led with Jodway right in his tracks. Greg Furlong, Bob Bond, Ray Graham, Alan Tblly, Daryl Nichols, Charley Pike, Shawn Muldoon, and Todd Gordon were the top ten. The next few laps turned into a three-car race up front as Furlong caught the lead pair. Jodway tried for the lead on the inside with Furlong taking the oustide lane.

Yellow flags bunched the field a pair of times in the next few laps, with the Todd Gordon and Mike Bond the two drivers on the move as they raced up to seventh and eighth place by lap 16. Gordon kept his march going as in the next couple of laps moved past Nichols, Bob Bond, and Graham to move into fourth behind the lead trio.

At the halfway point of the race, Goutermout turned in a lap of 19.41 and still had Andy Jodway and Furlong on his back bumper. Gordon, Dean Hoag, Bond, Graham, Tom Jodway, Denny Wheeler, and Keith Abbott rounded out the top ten.

Jodway and Furlong kept the pressure on the 77 going high and low, but Goutermout was up to the task. Laps of 19.38 and 19.44 kept the 77 in the lead. Lap 35 saw Furlong's chances for win end as he spun the 72 in the third turn.

On the restart, Jodway could not make a move on the leader. A caution flag late in the race bunched the field for one last chance. Jodway couldn't make a serious challenge on the leader, and Goutermout drove a 19.22 last lap as he hung on for the popular win. Jodway held on for second with Hoag, Gordon, and Mike Bond rounding out the top five.

"The guys on my crew have worked hard all season," Goutermout said after the race. "I just drove as hard as I could to stay in front. I heard him and felt him behind me, so I knew he was there."

Greg Furlong, Andy Jodway, and Bob Goutermout won limited heat races.