June 19, 2004

FURLONG WINS HIS FIRST OF THE SEASON

Oswego, NY - Greg Furlong has been a favorite to win a feature all season. He finished second on opening night, and was leading in the final stages of the Jim Shampine Memorial before a mechanical problem forced him to pit. On Disney / C&B Farm & Garden / Pigger's Liquors / TaxRace.com Night Saturday, Furlong passed Otto Sitterly for the lead just after halfway of the 45-lap main and lead the rest of the way for his first Oswego Speedway Supermodified points win since August 24, 2002. Dave Cliff and Dwayne LeMay carried their success from last Saturday over to this past Saturday to take two in-a-row on the season.

Doug Kells and Bob Magner led the Supermodified feature to the green flag. Kells took the lead into turn one, but Otto Sitterly came from third place to take the lead before the first lap was recorded into the record books. The caution flag came out early as Keith Gilliam spun his 87 down the front stretch.

When the green lights came back on, Tim Snyder was on the charge. He immediately put himself into a top five position, and didn't stop there. He put moves on Gary Morton and Bob Magner to gain third position before Craig Rayvals caught a wheel and hit the first turn wall. The nose of Rayvals car was very high in the air, but was able to slow down considerably before his impact with the foam blocks. Lavery spun his 99 with his nose facing the inside hub-rail safely, but Dave Lair couldn't slow down in time to miss him. All three of those racers were out for the night.

Otto Sitterly began to pull away from the field on the restart, as Joe Gosek and Greg Furlong began to make runs for the top spot. Second through ninth place were all running together, shuffling for position and putting on some of the best racing of the season. Snyder powered by Kells for second place on lap 15. Kells' 39 machine got out of shape, allowing Furlong to also get by.

After impressively running out front during the early going, Sitterly began to show smoke from the tail of his car between the turns. The track officials were eyeing Sitterly's 79 before Gilliam and Danny Kapuscinski came together as Todd Stowell slowed in front of them. Kapuscinski was able to continue as Gilliam's night came to an end.

Furlong was in second place as the green flag came back out, and with Sitterly having troubles, Furlong only needed a couple of laps before getting around him for the top spot. Joe Gosek also was able to get under Sitterly and put himself in second. Just after losing the lead, Sitterly's car started to smoke too heavily for track officials to allow him to continue. He pulled his car into the pits, giving Snyder, Kells, and Bob Magner top five positions.

Furlong and Gosek rapidly pulled away from the rest of the pack, while Magner pushed up the track through turns one and two, allowing Coca-Cola Supermodified Point Standings leader Tim Gareau into the top five. Joe Gosek certainly appeared to have enough power to get by Furlong, but was not able to set him up. Gosek's exciting run for the lead was cut four laps short of the end, as a torque arm broke making the Carson Carmart 27 spin gracefully between turn three and four.

With Gosek out of the event, Furlong's last four laps were a bit easier. He was able to hold off Tim Snyder to take the victory. Gareau, Bob Goutermout, and Magner rounded out the top five.

Heat 1:
1. Otto Sitterly (79) 2. Doug Kells (39) 3. Bob Goutermout (77) 4. Keith Gilliam (87) 5. Craig Rayvals (94) 6. Vern LaFave (97) 7. Jerry Curran (24) 8. Kyle Carpenter (49) 9. George Groves (38)

Heat 2:
1. Joe Gosek (27) 2. Tim Snyder (0) 3. Gary Morton (96) 4. Bob Magner (40) 5. Tim Gareau, Jr. (5) 6. Bill Sharkey (7) 7. Danny Kapuscinski (85) 8. Mike Hooper (17) 9. Bill Peri (14)

Heat 3:
1. Todd Stowell (89) 2. Bob Bond (25) 3. Greg Furlong (72) 4. Shawn Muldoon (1) 5. Gene Lee Gibson (16) 6. Pat Lavery (99) 7. Dave Lair (88) 8. Jeff Holbrook (35)

Feature 1 (45):
1. Greg Furlong (72) 2. Tim Snyder (0) 3. Tim Gareau, Jr. (5) 4. Bob Goutermout (77) 5. Bob Magner (40) 6. Bob Bond (25) 7. Vern LaFave (97) 8. Danny Kapuscinski (85) 9. Joe Gosek (27) 10. Doug Kells (39) 11. Gary Morton (96) 12. Gene Lee Gibson (16) 13. Otto Sitterly (79) 14. Todd Stowell (89) 15. Keith Gilliam (87) 16. Mike Hooper (17) 17. Shawn Muldoon (1) 18. Craig Rayvals (94) 19. Pat Lavery (99) 20. Dave Lair (88) 21. Bill Sharkey (7) 22. George Groves (38)
DNS: Jeff Holbrook (35) - Bill Peri (14) - Kyle Carpenter (49) - Jerry Curran (24)