August 14, 2004

FURLONG SWEEPS OSWEGO QUALITY CARPETS TWIN 30'S

Oswego, NY - Greg Furlong had a perfect night on Saturday night at the Oswego Speedway, claiming victories in both "Twin 30" Supermodified feature events. Furlong held off challenges from Bob Bond and Shawn Muldoon in the first twin event, and held off a charging Tim Snyder to capture the second. With good finishes, Tim Snyder claimed the Lucas Oil Challenge Championship.

With a heat win, and the fastest last lap of all the Supermodified heat races, Furlong earned a pole position start in the first twin 30 event. Bob Bond joined him on the front row when the green flag fell. Furlong took the lead down the back straightaway, but Bond stayed close as the opening laps were completed. yellow lights came on fora spinning Gary Morton after coming together with Todd Stowell going into turn one. Doug Kells and Bill Peri were also collected in the lap 9 caution. Morton, who had won the last 30-lap event at Oswego Speedway, went off on the hook.

On the restart, Bond blasted by Furlong to take the lead. Looking for his first ever Supermodified feature win, he held the lead as Joe Gosek charged through the top five. He caught Furlong before dropping off the pace and bringing out the second caution of the event. Bond led the field to the restart, as Furlong, Shawn Muldoon, Jeff Holbrook, and Bob Magner followed in that order.

Muldoon put the pressure on Furlong for second when the green came back out, but when the race hit halfway, Furlong turned on the jets. Furlong passed Bond to retake the race-lead as Muldoon followed to gain second place.

Furlong pulled away from the field considerably before the race came to an end. Furlong captured his third victory of the season, with Muldoon, Bond, Holbrook finishing second through fourth respectively. Otto Sitterly passed Bob Magner to get a fifth place finish in the closing laps.

Jerry Curran and Shawn Muldoon led the Supermodifieds to the green flag for the start of the second twin 30 event. Curran took the lead, but only led one lap as Bob Magner came through and took the top spot. Magner, Curran, Muldoon, Bob Bond, and Greg Furlong were the top five at lap 2.

Furlong wasted no time going to the front early. By lap 7, Furlong worked his way into the runner-up position right behind Magner. As Joe Gosek once again entered the top five, Furlong took the lead on lap 8. The field shuffled a bit, and the new top five was Furlong, Magner, Muldoon, Gosek, and Curran.

Magner began to reel in race-leader Furlong just before halfway, but Furlong once again picked up the pace at halfway. Gosek experienced another misfortune for the night, as his 27 stalled in turn four on lap 19 running third.

Tim Snyder was the center of attention during the final 10 laps of the event. Snyder entered the top five on lap 22, and went from fourth to second in the same turn on a lap 24 restart. Snyder appeared to have a shot at challenging Furlong, but Furlong was not about to give up on a perfect performance. Furlong went on to win his fourth of the season, with Snyder, Magner, Bond, and Otto Sitterly rounding out the top five.

Points leader Tim Gareau had a rough night, which started with a last-lap accident in his heat race. He had an ninth and twelfth place finish on Saturday night, and his point lead shrunk to 25 points over Tim Snyder. Greg Furlong took over third in the points, and is now only 27 points behind Gareau for the lead in the Supermodified point standings.

With an eighth and a second place finish during the night, Tim Snyder clinched the Lucas Oil Challenge Championship. Joe Gosek, who was leading the points going into Saturday, suffered two DNF's and placed third in the Lucas Oil Challenge. Gareau finished runner-up.

Heat 1:
1. Greg Furlong (72) 2. Bob Magner (40) 3. Joe Gosek (27) 4. Jerry Curran (24) 5. Joe Hawksby, Jr. (2) 6. Bill Peri (14) 7. Vern LaFave (97) 8. Tim Gareau (5)

Heat 2:
1. Jeff Holbrook (35) 2. Tim Snyder (0) 3. Otto Sitterly (79) 4. Ray Graham, Jr. (90) 5. Danny Kapuscinski (85) 6. Pat Lavery (99) 7. Craig Rayvals (94) 8. Mike Hooper (17)

Heat 3:
1. Bob Bond (25) 2. Shawn Muldoon (1) 3. Bob Goutermout (77) 4. Dave Trytek (70) 5. Todd Stowell (89) 6. Doug Kells (39) 7. Gary Morton (96) 8. Brandon Bellinger (02) 9. Roger Clark (88)

Feature 1 (30):
1. Greg Furlong (72) 2. Shawn Muldoon (1) 3. Bob Bond (25) 4. Jeff Holbrook (35) 5. Otto Sitterly (79) 6. Bob Magner (40) 7. Bob Goutermout (77) 8. Tim Snyder (0) 9. Tim Gareau (5) 10. Dave Trytek (70) 11. Jerry Curran (24) 12. Craig Rayvals (94) 13. Danny Kapuscinski (85) 14. Pat Lavery (99) 15. Jamie Moore (88) 16. Doug Kells (39) 17. Vern LaFave (97) 18. Brandon Bellinger (02) 19. Mike Hooper (17) 20. Joe Hawksby, Jr. (2) 21. Todd Stowell (89) 22. Joe Gosek (27) 23. Gary Morton (96) 24. Bill Peri (14) 25. Ray Graham, Jr. (90)

Feature 2 (30): 1. Greg Furlong (72) 2. Tim Snyder (0) 3. Bob Magner (40) 4. Bob Bond (25) 5. Otto Sitterly (79) 6. Dave Trytek (70) 7. Shawn Muldoon (1) 8. Bob Goutermout (77) 9. Jerry Curran (24) 10. Danny Kapuscinski (85) 11. Jamie Moore (88) 12. Tim Gareau (5) 13. Doug Kells (39) 14. Pat Lavery (99) 15. Jeff Holbrook (35) 16. Vern LaFave (97) 17. Gary Morton (96) 18. Brandon Bellinger (02) 19. Craig Rayvals (94) 20. Ray Graham, Jr. (90) 21. Joe Hawksby, Jr. (2) 22. Joe Gosek (27) 23. Todd Stowell (89) 24. Mike Hooper (17)