June 7th, 1997

MIKE MULDOON TAKES SECOND OF SEASON, RAIN AFFECTS PROGRAM ONCE AGAIN

Oswego, NY - It doesn't seem like a race night goes by that rain doesn't appear in the program somewhere. Saturday night at Oswego Speedway, Mike Muldoon and Dean Hoag were the winners of the first two events, while the last limited supermodified main was postponed due to a shower just after the supermodified feature concluded. The Cam's NY Pizzeria 45 lapper looked to be Doug Didero's until a lap 39 restart bunched the field. Mike Muldoon hunted down the Matczak 3 and one lap later took over the point for his second win of the season. "The car ran great tonight," said Muldoon, "I'd especially like to thank Doug Holmes for all the work he's done on the engines and of course, the crew, who have worked so hard and done such a great job. Hopefully the luck will continue.

Bill Sharkey and Tim Gareau were the front row for the Cam's NY Pizzeria 45 lapper for the supermodifieds, who hadn't seen action since May 24. Gareau powered his 5 into the early lead with Fulton's Eddie Bellinger charging from fifth to take over second on lap 4. Sharkey fell back to third while Todd Stowell, Tim Snyder, Greg Furlong, Dan Soule and Howard Page were the next in line. Up on the outside from 14th, was 1996 champ Doug Didero, who was picking off car after car as the race sped along.

Bellinger was next to lead when he overtook Gareau and passed him on lap 8. Bellinger quickly outdistanced the troops, leaving Gareau, Sharkey and Stowell behind. Dan Soule and Greg Furlong were fighting a hefty war for fifth as Snyder, Page, Jeff West closed in. Not far behind by lap 11 were Didero and Mike Muldoon.

Yellow slowed the race on lap 17 for Bill Sharkey and Gary Syrell. Steve Gioia and Andy Powell pitted for adjustments or tires at this point. On the restart, Gary Syrell's 08 was pushed onto the track but it did not fire, causing another yellow to fly.

Bellinger patiently waited to resume the lead, which he did, as Gareau and Stowell stayed second and third. An exciting side-by-side, wheel to wheel race developed between Furlong and Soule, Didero and Page and West and Muldoon as the race approached lap 20.

The racing was slowed on that very same lap when the 2 of Joe Hawksby Jr. and the 12 of Powell tangled. Dan Soule took the 32 in out of a top ten spot with a mechanical problem.

In a bonsai move on the restart, Didero stormed past Stowell to take third, and as suddenly, leader Bellinger fell out of first, leaving it to Gareau. A red was the next flag in motion on lap 21, unfortunately, as the 18 of Howard Page, running in the eighth spot, got turned sideways, causing a roadblock just out of turn one. Page was broadsided by Tim Snyder while the 04 of Mazzoni, the 98 of Lou Cicconi, the 9 of Gioia and the 32 of Soule were going every which way to avoid. When the yellow came out, Eddie Bellinger was pushed into the pits with a flat tire, virtually negating his chance at the win.

New leader Gareau held his own on the restart but he had the two hotshoes, Didero and Muldoon, bearing down on him. On lap 25 both Didero and Muldoon passed by Gareau to set up a familiar duel for the lead. Gareau, Stowell, West, Furlong and Trytek were joined by a charging Bellinger by lap 32.

Didero and Muldoon looked to be about equal and with the race coming to a close, it appeared that it would end in that order. But, one more yellow would give everyone one last chance at the lead. The yellow flew for Muldoon's teammate Dave Trytek as a flat tire caused him to spin on lap 39. This set up the opportunity for Muldoon to take the lead and he did just that.

On the restart, Muldoon effortlessly drove the 35 by Didero just off the fourth corner and set sail for victory number two in 1997. Didero claimed second while Stowell, Jeff West and Furlong had great nights in the top five. Didero wasn't really surprised at Muldoon's pass. "The car was bad on restarts all night," said Doug later, "I knew Mike was right there and that he was a lot better on restarts than we were. And, that's exactly what happened at the end."

Todd Stowell, the third place finisher, also commented, "The car was not there tonight. I was loose getting in and I just tried to hold on to what I had. The top five is where we should have been the first week and the motor went sour the second week. If we get a little harmony between car and driver, I think we'll have a lot of these(top fives) this year." Catching Jeff West as he walked in the rain from the scales, he had a smile on his face. "It worked out pretty good for us. We changed everything except the air pressure in the tires after the heat. The crew changes springs, shocks..they did a great job. The car got real tight at the end of the race but we're getting there with this new car. You can't complain about two top fives in a row."

Gareau, Bellinger, Soule, Ken Bell and Tim Snyder were the top ten. Didero was the SCS Installations Hard Charger while Stowell picked up the Universal Joint Sales Up and Comer Award.

Just as Bob Kingsley and Vern LaFave brought the limited field down for their second main of the night, rain began to fall. With the lightening creating a light show over Lake Ontario, it was decided to postpone this last event of the evening. This limited feature, with grid locked in, will be run at 6:15 on June 28 to be followed by a regular slate of events. The Dunkin' Donuts Twin 35's for supers are on tap for June 14, and hopefully this exciting evening of racing will not see any more rain.

Heat 1: Mike Muldoon, Tim Gareau, Howard Page, Greg Furlong, Bill Sharkey, Lou Cicconi, Ken Bell, Andy Powell

Heat 2: Dave Trytek, Dan Soule, Steve Gioia, Dave Mazzoni, Joe Hawksby Jr., Todd Stowell, Jamie Letcher

Heat 3: Doug Didero, Eddie Bellinger, Tim Snyder, Bob Goutermout, Jeff West, Gary Syrell, Shannon Groves, Dave Heitzhaus