THE VALLY NEWS - Thursday, July 5, 1990
by Dan Johnson
History was made this past Sunday night at Oswego Speedway as a car that was borrowed ended up in victory lane for the first time. Joe Gosek, while running in second place in the first heat, slowed dramatically and pulled his Burke Home Center 00 into the pits with a major engine problem. He had little time to feel blue over his misfortune, however. Rookie Tom Bliss offered his car to the Oswego high-point man to help keep him close to the top in the battle for the track championship. Gosek qualified the Bliss 65 by virtue of a fifth-place in the third heat and then, starting 13th, he masterfully drove his way to the front and won the supermodified portion of the Arby's/National Parts Peddler Twin75's. The NASCAR-type modifieds followed with a win by Pennsylvania driver Tony Hirschman in the Syracuse-based Vecchio car 1. Hirschman started on the outside front row and grabbed the early lead in the second corner of the first lap. He led the entire 75 laps, being threatened only by Jan Leaty in the closing stages of the race. For both Gosek and Hirschman, it was their first time in victory lane at Oswego this year, even though both have won on numerous occasions in the past. They received checks of $3,500 for winning, though both pilots followed distinctly different paths to the winner's circle.
Tim Nelson sped from his outside pole-starting spot to grab the early lead in the feature. On the second lap, third-place Jeff West had a white puff of smoke come from the engine compartment on the 01 and the motor blew entering the third turn. What ensued was a nine-car pileup with the track blocked entering the third turn. Involved were Mike Ordway, Tony Pafumi, Steve Gioia, Randy Ritskes, Doug Heveron, Joe Hawksby, Eric Lewis, Mark Hartman. Bill Sharkey spun before the pile of cars so he wouldn't be involved. Pafumi, West Heveron, and Gioia were out for the night. Gioia came back out on the track but only lasted a few laps due to damage on the Nestle Crunch number 9.
The restart showed a top ten of Nelson, Pat Abold, Danny Soule, Doug Didero, Gary Morton, Ken Bell, Dean Hoag, Eddie Bellinger, Bentley Warren, and Mike Muldoon, with Gosek back in 11th. Abold then went to the outside of the Nelson 07 in the fourth turn and took over the lead. Gary Morton's right rear tire went flat on lap 5 bringing out the yellow flag once again. Didero shot his way into the lead on this restart as he pulled alongside the 05 down the front straightaway and passed him. Gosek was also on the move as he managed to pass Warren, Bell, and Bellinger in just a few laps. He went by the 07 of Nelson and the 32 of Soule in the fourth turn on a restart, and then the 80 of Muldoon behind the lapped car of Joe Chillemi for third spot on lap 16. Jamie Moore, running seventh, spun the 88 going into the third turn on lap 20. also involved in the spin were Sharkey, Morton, Ordway, and Bell. This left ten cars on the lead lap.
Gosek went by Abold in the third turn on the restart to take over the runner-up spot and set his sights on leader Didero, but the caution lights came out once again on lap 22 for Moore as he and Kenny Williamson came into contact. Dean Hoag also got a piece of the infamous Oswego steel wall on the caution flag. The red flag was brought out at this point to let the cars refuel to go the rest of the way. When the green flag finally came out again, Gosek made his move as he pinned the 73 of Didero right behind Moore, who was coming out of the pits. Didero pulled back alongside of the Bliss-owned 65 and the duo ran side by side for a couple of laps until Gosek got the advantage. He then proceeded to turn in laps in the area of 17.7 and 17.6 in building his lead to five car lengths. Randy Ritskes followed the 61 of Bentley Warren past Muldoon, then passed Warren on lap 47 to take over fifth place. Gosek now had watches stopping in the 17.5s, getting quicker the longer the green flag stayed out. By the 2/3 mark of the race Gosek led Didero, Soule, Abold, Ritskes, Warren, Muldoon, and Bellinger. On lap 53, Ritskes showed Warren the way around the Abold 05. The lead trio had a full straightaway lead at this point in the race. Gosek maintained his five-car length lead as they cleared traffic and Soule dropped back a bit enough to make it a two-car race. By lap 65, the tandem of Gosek and Didero put 15 car lengths between themselves and Soule.
Gosek and Didero ran even for the next few laps, but Didero just couldn't gather enough power to overtake the high-flying 65. Soule had a fine night as he came home third while Ritskes and Warren battled each other the rest of the feature and ended up fourth and fifth respectively. An elated Gosek commented in victory lane: "This was a strange night. This is a good car and you have to give Tommy and his crew a lot of credit as they prepared the car. It's a funny way to win the first of the year. We kept hanging on for life and kept going fast enough to win. The car was not real comfortable as I was bouncing around a bit. Steve (Gioia) set the car up a couple of weeks ago. It worked out great. It makes it so special being so unexpected; it was beyond my wildest dreams."
Supermod heats were won by Steve Gioia, Bentley Warren, and Danny Soule, while Jamie Moore brought home the consi trophy. Mod prelims were won by Ewanitsko, Heveron, and Hirschman. Kent won the consi.
Thirty-six supers and 29 mods graced the pits for the doubleheader show at Oswego. The Up and Comer Awards went to Soule in the supers and Preston in the modifieds, both third-place finishers.