August 16, 2003

TIMMY SNYDER TAKES TWIN 30s
GOSEK CLINCHES TITLE

Oswego, NY - It was a great night to be one of the hometown heros at Oswego Speedway. Tim Snyder swept both 30 lap feature races Saturday nights for his first win during a regular race night at Oswego. Snyder led from green to checkered flags in both supermodified features, leading all 60 laps of competition. After 23 years of racing, Joe Gosek clinched his first ever Oswego Speedway track championship. Joe brought the Muldoon 50 home to two top fives in the 30's, and wrapped up one of the things on his to do list- an Oswego track championship.

The regular handicap system was used in the first race, as Snyder and Bob Bond paced the 25 car field as they took to starter Bruce Lee's green flag. Snyder wasted no time grabbing the lead, as he powered the 0 car to the front . Gosek, Bob Goutermout and Otto Sitterly pulled their machines to the inside of the race track to move to the front, while Jeff Holbrook and Keith Gilliam went to the outside.

As the field shuffled, Snyder led, Goutermout, Bond, Gilliam, Bob Magner, Sitterly, Holbrook, Bill Peri, Jerry Curran and Gosek. Snyder and Goutermout pulled away, as they began to battle by themselves for the top spot. Further back, Gosek began to pick his way through the traffic, as the field began to sort out. Gosek worked by Curran and Holbrook, as he was up to seventh place.

Snyder clicked off a 17.19 lap, as and Goutermout built up a 1.27 second advantage by lap 6.

The yellow lights flashed over the speedway on lap 7, as a multi-car mess in the first turn slowed the field. Dave Trytek, Todd Stowell, and Ray Graham were all involved, but all able to return to action after pit stops.

Goutermout pulled alongside Snyder on the restart, as the pair drag raced into the first turn. Goutermout was on the inside, Snyder on the outside. They raced side by side through the first turn, racing just inches apart. The caution again came out as this battle was going on. Jerry Curran looped the 24 in turn two.

Snyder grabbed the advantage on the restart, while Gosek was on his charge. Joe passed Magner on the restart, and wasted no time picking his way by Gilliam. The top five now read Snyder, Goutermout, Bond, Sitterly and Gosek. Snyder stopped watches at 17.17, as he and Goutermout and raced away from the Bond, Sitterly, and Gosek.

The lead duo picked up the pace, as they turned in consecutive laps at 17.09. Snyder came into lapped traffic the first time at the halfway point of the race, which he handled with ease on the outside. There were cars all over the race track, as the leaders picked their way by. Goutermout trued to use the lapped cars to his advantage, but he couldn't ,make a challenge on Snyder.

The lead two still maintained their 1.6 second advantage over the bumper to bumper battle between Bond, Sitterly and Gosek. Lap 24 saw Sitterly move into third as he wheeled his way by the Bond 25 car. With Snyder and Goutermout still stuck in traffic, Sitterly began to chop away at the lead. He turned laps two tenths of a second faster through the traffic. Snyder began to pull away from Goutermout, as his lead was no up to a full second.

Sitterly ran out of laps, as he couldn't catch the leaders. Snyder cruised the last laps at a 17.39 clip, and he crossed under the checkered flag .98 seconds ahead of Goutermout, who had Sitterly hot on his trail. Bond finished fourth, while Gosek padded his point lead with a fifth place finish.

"This is the one I've been waiting for" a jubilant Snyder said in victory lane. "The guys made a little tweak on it, and the car worked great. I knew Bob was there. It makes it really special, as this is our sponsors night. Now, we'll make another adjustment, and see what we can do in the second one."

"It was a fun race," second place finisher Goutermout said. The car was good, and we'll take a second,. We still have one more to go."

The second feature was lines up with the heat race winners starting up front. Ironically, the top two finishers of the first feature, started on the front row for feature number two. Snyder and Goutermout resumed their battle, this time it was in the second 30 lap race.

The pair raced side by side as they entered the first turn, neither giving an inch to the other. As they raced turn three, the Snyder 0 inched ahead, and the running order looked much like it did in the first feature. Snyder, Goutermout, Bond, Gosek, Holbrook, Sitterly, Gilliam, Magner, Curran and Page.

A Craig Rayvals first turn spin slowed the action on lap 5

Gosek shot the white #50 to the outside of the track on the restart, and grabbed the third spot from Bond. Gosek's 50 was overheating in the first feature, maybe due to a faulty radiator cap. He knew coming into this second 30 lap feature, that if he finished in front of his nearest rival in the points, Dave Trytek, he could wrap up his first Oswego track championship.

Snyder worked out a three car length gap between himself and the Goutermout-Gosek battle, while Bond and Sitterly were racing for fourth., The top five in this race was already the same top five as in race number 1. Gosek tried an outside pas son Goutermout on lap 8, but had to settle back in position. As they battled, Snyder pulled away.

The halfway point of the race, saw Snyder stop watches at 17.46, as his lead was now up to 1.48 seconds. Sitterly continued to work on Bond for fourth, but had to back out. Snyder was back in lapped traffic, which he was using both the inside and outside lanes. It appeared as he was enjoying himself on a Saturday night cruise, as the 0 appeared to be as good as it has ever been. Snyder turned in consistent laps at 17.29, and was putting an old fashioned stomping on the field. With 10 laps to go, his lead was up to 2.31 seconds, and growing each lap.

Further back, the seventh place battle was tight as Jerry Curran, Keith Gilliam, Tim Gareau, Howard Page and Doug Didero raced inside and outside looking for the spots. They raced like this for a few laps, as it was the best battle on the race track.

Bond became a part of the Goutermout Gosek battle, as Sitterly fell back. The yellow flag flew on lap 26, as Dave Halstead had a part break on the 34, sending it out of the race. Snyder's impressive 2 second lead was now gone, as he now had Goutermout, Gosek, Bond, and Sitterly on the back bumper of the high flying 0 car.

Goutermout made a run on the inside when the green flag came out, but had to back out. Snyder was in control of this one. The field fell back into line, with no one being able to make a pass. Snyder again began to pull away, as he was the dominant car this night. As the race wound down, he built his lead back up. At the finish, he timed in at 17.45, and crossed under Bruce Lee's checkered flag 8 car lengths ahead of Goutermout.

"What a night!", he exclaimed after the sweep. "I couldn't do it without my guys. They put a great car under mea tonight. This is what I wanted for years, a win on a regular night of racing. The Classic win was great, but this is just as good as that. The car drove great, and my crew and sponsors have been with me for years and are all a big part of this. Thanks to everyone ."

"Finally!"' Joe Gosek said after clinching his championship. "23 years, and we have it. There's been other things I have done in racing, but it's nice to win your hometown track championship. It's maybe more for everyone that has been with me along the way. My wife, my mother, Chuck and Tom Handley are my best friends and have helped me along the way. All my friends and sponsors along the way, there are a lot of them. It's not just me, we did it all together. We finally have the championship!"

SUPERMODIFIED HEAT #1
1. Tim Snyder (0) 2. Jeff Holbrook (35) 3. Keith Gilliam (87) 4. Doug Didero (08) 5. Craig Rayvals (94) 6. Tim Gareau Jr (5) 7. Dave Halstead Jr (34) 8. Shannon Groves (07) 9. Shawn Muldoon (1)

SUPERMODIFIED HEAT #2
1. Bob Bond (25) 2. Otto Sitterly (79) 3. Bill Peri (14) 4. Jerry Curran (24) 5. Howard Page (18) 6. Pat Lavery (99) 7. Dave Trytek (70) 8. Hal LaTulip (56) 9. Doug Kells (20)

SUPERMODIFIED HEAT #3
1. Bob Goutermout (77) 2. Joe Gosek (50) 3. Bob Magner (40) 4. Brian Sweeney (3) 5. Todd Stowell (89) 6. Dan Connors (96) 7. Joe Hawksby Jr (22) 8. Ray Graham Jr (90)

SUPERMODIFIED FEATURE #1 (30)
1. Tim Snyder (0) 2. Bob Goutermout (77) 3. Otto Sitterly (79) 4. Bob Bond (25) 5. Joe Gosek (50) 6. Brian Sweeney (3) 7. Keith Gilliam (87) 8. Bob Magner (40) 9. Doug Didero (08) 10. Jeff Holbrook (35) 11. Howard Page (18) 12. Tim Gareau Jr (5) 13. Pat Lavery (99) 14. Ray Graham Jr (90) 15. Dave Trytek (70) 16. Craig Rayvals (94) 17. Jerry Curran (24) 18. Bill Peri (14) 19. Dan Connors (96) 20. Hal LaTulip (56) 21. Dave Halstead Jr (34) 22. Shannon Groves (07) 23. Todd Stowell (89) 24. Doug Kells (20) 25. Joe Hawksby Jr (22)

SUPERMODIFIED FEATURE #2 (30)
1. Tim Snyder (0) 2. Bob Goutermout (77) 3. Joe Gosek (50) 4. Bob Bond (25) 5. Otto Sitterly (79) 6. Jerry Curran (24) 7. Howard Page (18) 8. Jeff Holbrook (35) 9. Doug Didero (08) 10. Keith Gilliam (87) 11. Tim Gareau Jr (5) 12. Pat Lavery (99) 13. Dave Trytek (70) 14. Ray Graham Jr (90) 15. Hal LaTulip (56) 16. Bob Magner (40) 17. Dave Halstead Jr (34) 18. Dan Connors (96) 19. Bill Peri (14) 20. Craig Rayvals (94) 21. Todd Stowell (89) 22. Brian Sweeney (3) 23. Shannon Groves (07) 24. Doug Kells (20) 25. Joe Hawksby Jr (22)