June 21st, 1997

DIDERIO BACK ON TRACK AT OSWEGO

Oswego, NY - A hot and hazy evening hid the full moon from view for a while, but it was still there. Massive pileups in both the supermodified and limited feature affected almost half the field in both, while the Pro Truck main saw a rollover, the first crash in that series to date. Doug Didero grabbed an easy win out of the super mess, while Mike Bond came home the victor in the limiteds. Eighteen-year old Jeremy Treadway claimed the first-ever Pro Truck main. For Didero, who suffered through a series of mishaps the previous week, it was his second of the season and for Bond it was the first of '97.

Everything proceeded pretty smoothly for the night, with the supermodifieds getting the green for the Seaboard Atlantic Garment Company 45-lapper just before 9:30 pm. Unfortunately before a lap was in, the red flew with 14 cars of the 24 car field sitting in a pile in between turns 3 and 4. The 40 of Dave Trytek and the 72 of Greg Furlong, starting in the second row, came together just out of three and the outcome was a massive tangle affecting them and many more. Steve Gioia, Joe Gosek, Eddie Bellinger, Tim Snyder, Mike Muldoon, Lou Cicconi, Andy Powell, Joe Hawksby Jr., Gary Syrell, Todd Stowell, Howard Page and Dave Mazzoni, some for the second straight week, joined Furlong and Trytek in a trip to the pits. During the gigantic cleanup, crews scurried to get their drivers back in action. When all was said and done, seventeen of the twenty-four were back on the track to start the race that had already taken over a half and hour with no laps in. Hawksby, Powell, Syrell, Mazzoni, and Bellinger, were out of the action. Roger Clark, who had pitted just prior to the pileup, was also out for the night. Both Steve Gioia and Ken Bell, driving the Stowell 39, made the call to green, but pitted soon thereafter. Another costly tangle took its toll.

With the race now underway again, Jamie Letcher took the point for two laps before giving way to Dave Heitzhaus.

Yellow flew again on lap 4 for a collision between Joe Gosek and Tim Gareau. Both went pitside with Gosek missing the green for the restart. But, the race was not to go another lap before yellow flew again for a Todd Stowell spin in turn one. Stowell was in and out of the pits as was Furlong. This allowed Gosek to get back in the action.

Dave Heitzhaus was the leader of a declining field as the race got into a steady flow. But, the Matczak 3 of Didero was moving quickly through the field, taking over the lead on lap 8. Heitzhaus stayed second while Mike Muldoon and Dan Soule battled for third. Jeff West was up to fifth as Jamie Letcher and Tim Snyder, closed on West.

Muldoon made it a two way battle for the lead as he grabbed second from Heitzhaus on lap 9, heading for Didero.

The lead duo of Didero and Muldoon, once again controlled the front as they wove in and out of lap traffic. Dan Soule took over third putting Heitzhaus, West, Howard Page and Jamie Moore, in the Muldoon 50, behind him. Letcher, Bob Goutermout and Lou Cicconi ran the top ten.

Both Dave Trytek and Greg Furlong received black flags within two laps of each other as their two damaged machines were limping too slowly around the track for safety.

Lap 23 found yellow waving again, this time for Moore and Gareau in turn 4. Jamie Letcher pitted at this juncture with motor troubles, out of a top ten spot, and out of the action. Gareau was also out. Andy Powell, on the other hand, resumed racing after a lengthy repair session in the pits.

On the restart, Muldoon threatened Didero, but to no avail. Back in the pack, Joe Gosek muscled his mangled machine into a top ten spot, with everyone else maintaining their spots from before.

By lap 30, Muldoon began to loose a little ground to Didero as the race on the track was for eighth between Gosek, Cicconi, Moore and Stowell. As the race wore down, so did Muldoon. "We began overheating," said Mike later, "I was just nursing it near the end. I think we had something for him(Didero) until then."

Didero crossed the line unchallenged for his second victory of 1997. Muldoon, Soule, West and Page, rounded out the top five. Moore,Goutermout, Heitzhaus, Gosek and Stowell, completed the top ten.

"This is great for the team," said a warm Didero in victory lane, "We tore up both cars pretty good last week and they worked long and hard to get back here. Winning is the greatest reward they can get. This car worked really good tonight. Now maybe we have a good base for the rest of the year. We need to make up lost ground."

Dan Soule was also pleased with a third spot. "We're happy, especially compared to last week," Dan smiled in reference to the disastrous Soule team luck in the Twin 35's.

Jeff West, fast becoming Mr. Consistency, claimed his fifth top five to date. "I've got to start moving up not back," laughed Jeff. "This is a great race car, but I bent something in that wreck when I ran into Dan(Soule). But, if top fives is all I get, I'll take them thankfully."

Howard Page, a winner from the previous week, had his crew pretty much rebuild much of the car during the early red. Howard shook his head and stated after his fifth place finish, "This car looks a lot better than it did a half hour ago. We tore just about everything up. We worked too hard tonight for a fifth, but a right rear radius rod went with about six laps to go, so I guess I'm pretty lucky to finish that good."

Rookie Bob Goutermout unofficially claimed both the SCS Installations Hard Charger and Universal Joint Sales Up and Comer awards.

Heat 1: Mike Muldoon, Eddie Bellinger, Todd Stowell, Bob Goutermout, Jeff West, Joe Gosek, Andy Powell, Joe Hawksby Jr

Heat 2: Dave Trytek, Doug Didero, Tim Gareau, Lou Cicconi, Steve Gioia, Dave Heitzhaus, Tim Snyder

Heat 3: Howard Page, Dan Soule, Jamie Letcher, Greg Furlong, Gary Syrell, Ken Bell, Jamie Moore(50), Dave Mazzoni(dns)