THE VALLEY NEWS - July 1, 1995

Higgins Wins With Last Lap Pass

Oswego, NY - John Higgins became the seventh different driver to win a limited supermodified feature event this year, as he made a last-lap pass of Bob Bond for the win. Chris Weaver and John Churchill started on the front row for the limited main event with Weaver taking the early lead. The inside lane proved to be the faster line as inside row starters Aaron Greene, Mark Regan, Bond, and Higgins came to the front early.

Regan went to the inside of Greene and Weaver on lap three as he went from third to first in one lap. He then went out to a four car-length lead on his first lap in the lead with a 19.81 lap. The top ten at lap five were Regan, Bond, Higgins, Weaver, Andy Powell, Greene, Charley Pike, Todd Gordon, Shawn Muldoon, and Churchill.

The top three cars pulled away by the halfway point as they raced 10 car lengths ahead of Powell.

Bond went to the lead on lap 13 as he passed Regan on the inside of the third turn, with Higgins following in his tracks. The top two of Bond and Higgins pulled away from Regan in the next few circuits with 19.27 and 19.39 laps. On lap 20, Bond pulled away from Higgins by four lengths, and 25 car lengths ahead of third-place Regan. Bond's lead grew to 1.48 seconds on lap 22, but was gone as the yellow flag came out for debris on the front straightaway. Once racing, with two laps left, Bond took off with Higgins in his tire tracks waiting for a mistake. That mistake came on the last lap in the first turn as Bond's 11 got high and Higgins went to the inside to take over the lead. Higgins stayed out of trouble the rest of the way and came away with his first Oswego Speedway win.

"This is great," Higgins commented. I just kept waiting. I didn't think i could get by, I needed some help. That late caution helped us out."

News and Notes: 38 limiteds and 31 supermodifieds were in the pits. Limited heat race wins went to Powell, Churchill, and Bond, while supermod heat wins went to West, Soule, and Wood. Tom Jodway and Tim Gareau won the consolation races, Pat Abold withdrew the 05 for the night after experiencing magneto problems, and stepped into the backup West 01. Abold entered the car in the consolation race, but slammed the third turn wall hard at the start of the race, damaging the West car. Didero won $5,000 for the feature win. Muldoon is on top of supermodified points, while Higgins' win vaulted him from seventh to the lead in limited points.