May 11, 2002

ORDWAY STORMS TO OSWEGO OPENING NIGHT SUPERMODIFIED VICTORY

Oswego, NY - "The Booth crew gave me one heck of a hot rod here," said Mike Ordway in victory lane after screaming to victory in the C&B Farm Market/Pigger's Liquors/Coca-Cola supermodified opener at Oswego Speedway Saturday night. That probably was an understatement as Ordway's 61 looked more like a jet. Smooth, consistent and FAST, Ordway put the 61 past leader Tim Gareau on lap 7 and the race was his. Greg Furlong got close in the waning laps when a caution flew on lap 37, but he just put his foot down and was gone.

Ordway noted that lap cars and that last caution might have closed the gap, but he didn't appear worried. "The car never skipped a beat all night long," said Mike. "I think I had to step on it a little more at the end there when that caution came and Greg (Furlong) closed up. I wanted to see what we had left. And we had some. It was pretty good. Clyde does his homework and he makes my job look real easy"

Ordway, who also is the first supermodified driver to try out the Hutchins device, now common in NASCAR, was asked about it's use. "I never even notice I have it on once I get it hooked up.I used it at Lee and Seekonk. I think it's a good idea and I think more of the guys should have one. It does make me feel more confident safefty-wise."

2001 Classic winner, Tim Snyder took up the initial lead of the 2002 season, but quickly lost it to Tim Gareau. Caution flew for Bob Bond on lap 3, and Bond went pitside, not to return until several laps later.

Gareau was in command - for the moment - when yellow fell again on lap 7 for a spin by Tim Proud. Bunching the field was not good for the front runners, as Ordway closed up from a 10th place starting spot, put the 61 outside, and grabbed the lead before the restart of lap 7 was complete. There was no catching the Fremont, NH man now. But, classic battles developed between Gareau, 2001 Oswego champ Greg Furlong and Howie Page, who was running strong once again coming off a third in ISMA's New England run the previous week.

Also racing side by side a little further back were Snyder, Bob Goutermout, Vern LaFave, Keith Gilliam and Joe Gosek, in a brand new car built for him by the Holbrook crew.

Yellow flew a couple times on lap 14 when first Otto Sitterly and Joe Peri got the hook and then for a bunch-up on the restart affecting rookie Craig Rayvals, Hal LaTulip and Jerry Curran.
Ordway jetted away on the green while Furlong grabbed second from Gareau. Howie Page was right on Gareau's tail as were Goutermout and Snyder on his.

A couple more yellows dotted the way to the midpoint, but Ordway continued to dominate in his intricate Booth creation. With ten to go, lap cars played a small role as Ordway was blocked with a side-by-side slower car battle. Furlong closed the gap considerably, but on a lap 37 yellow for the 88 of Dave Lair, Ordway put the pedal down as aforementioned and found a "lot" left in his car. Furlong ran ahead of Page, Gareau and Goutermout as Joe Gosek pulled into sixth in his new ride. Rookie Shawn Muldoon raced a great race, coming up into seventh while Tim Snyder, Vern LaFave, Keith Gilliam and Todd Stowell, all still sought top tens.

Ordway crossed under the checkers a half track away from Furlong, Page, Gareau and Goutermout in the top five. Gosek, Muldoon, Snyder, LaFave and Gilliam completed the top ten.

Furlong and Page were more than pleased to finish behind Ordway, albeit a good distance behind. Said Furlong, "It was a pretty good run. We had a good car. We got a little loose at the end. We tightened it up somewhat beforehand, but obviously not enough. In the beginning the cautions helped me, but that last one, I was wicked, wicked loose at the end. I had all I could do to hang on to it. The car's in one piece. We were fast. In practice we were horrible. Then we came out and ran really well in the heat and the feature. It's nice to go home in second place."

Top three finisher Howard Page commented, "Third place ... it's better than fourth. The car was running good until I ran into the side of Timmy (Gareau) and that slowed things down a little bit. We'll take third. It was good for tonight after what happened in practice. We broke a spindle. So, we're happy with that. I knew that we were pretty much racing for second tonight...Ordway was strong!"

CAR COUNT: Supermodifieds (26) / Limiteds (34) / Super Stocks (13)

SUPERMODIFIED HEAT #1
1. Mike Ordway (61) 2. Bob Goutermout (77) 3. Shawn Muldoon (1) 4. Bob Bond (25) 5. Brian Sweeney (3) 6. Jeff Holbrook (35) 7. Otto Sitterly (79) 8. Dave Lair (88) 9. Dave Halstead Jr (34)

SUPERMODIFIED HEAT #2
1. Tim Gareau Jr (5) 2. Joe Gosek (00) 3. Keith Gilliam (87) 4. Todd Stowell (89) 5. Pat Lavery (99) 6. Tim Proud (04) 7. Hal LaTulip (56) 8. Jamie Moore (44)

SUPERMODIFIED HEAT #3
1. Howard Page (18) 2. Greg Furlong (72) 3. Tim Snyder (0) 4. Vern LaFave (97) 5. Jerry Curran (24) 6. Bill Peri (14) 7. Craig Rayvals (94) 8. Dave Trytek (70) 9. Robert Parrow (21)

SUPERMODIFIED FEATURE (45)
1. Mike Ordway (61) 2. Greg Furlong (72) 3. Howard Page (18) 4. Tim Gareau Jr (5) 5. Bob Goutermout (77) 6. Joe Gosek (00) 7. Shawn Muldoon (1) 8. Tim Snyder (0) 9. Vern LaFave (97) 10. Keith Gilliam (87) 11. Todd Stowell (89) 12. Pat Lavery (99) 13. Jerry Curran (24) 14. Dave Lair (88) 15. Brian Sweeney (3) 16. Craig Rayvals (94) 17. Hal LaTulip (56) 18. Tim Proud (04) 19. Jamie Moore (44) 20. Bill Peri (14) 21. Otto Sitterly (79) 22. Bob Bond (25) 23. Robert Parrow (21) 24. Dave Trytek (70) DNS