Story By: CAMDEN PROUD / OSWEGO SPEEDWAY – OSWEGO, NY – When news broke out that teenage Pathfinder Bank SBS sensation Anthony Losurdo would be piloting a brand new FFB Chassis for Missile Motorsports in 2018, everyone knew that the No. 1 car was destined for a great deal of success.
As it turns out, Losurdo and car owner Mark Castiglia accomplished everything they were hoping for and then some, as ‘Hawk’ drove the No. 1 to feature wins number six and seven of his career at Oswego, along with his very first track championship.
Losurdo lead the title fight for most of the year, but never quite comfortably enough to set the car on cruise control, as it all came down to the final night of a season long a battle with five-time division champion Russ Brown.
When the checkered flag fell on August 18, odds ended up in Losurdo’s favor as he landed his fifth podium finish of the season just behind teammate Dave LaTulip and championship rival Russ Brown. Although the Brown No. 13 finished ahead of Losurdo’s No. 1, his third place effort was enough to seal the deal on the track title.
In becoming this year’s SBS champion, Losurdo also breaks the record for right to being the youngest Small Block Super titlist in speedway history at just 20 years old.
Anthony nearly broke the barrier to become youngest champion overall between all divisions in track history, but wound up being about five months older than Doug Heveron was when the ‘Young One’ took his first title in 1981.
Notably, the Oswego High School graduate is also the youngest feature winner in the 62 year history of the speedway, visiting victory lane as a high school senior back in 2014.
This season however, Losurdo drove like a veteran and showed off his speed and experience right away, driving to a third place finish in the Tony White Memorial on May 26.
The following week, he was back on the podium again with a second place run behind Mike Bond in the Spring Championship on June 9, and then followed up his third and second place efforts with his first win of 2018 on June 16.
In the Independence Weekend Grand Prix on June 30, Losurdo drove from the back to a sixth place finish just behind championship rival Brown, and by the following week, secured his second win of the year in a late race move to get by rookie Joshua Sokolic.
Losurdo continued his consistency in the month of July with two fourth place finishes in a row on July 14th’s Summer Championship, and then again in the running of Mr. Pathfinder Bank SBS on July 21.
By August 4, Losurdo had found his way back to the podium for a fifth occasion, this time finishing in third behind Greg O’Connor and Dan Kapuscinski.
So far, everything was working in Losurdo’s favor and he lead the championship comfortably approaching double feature night on August 11, but a parts failure in the first Twin 20 and a conservative tenth place finish in the second allowed Brown to close back in.
Going into the final night of the season, Brown had put together a very consistent season as well with five top five finishes. Unfortunately for the No. 1 team, Russ beat Losurdo in both of the main events a week earlier, which provided an even bigger hit for Missile Motorsports due to the fact that all entrants in this year’s twins received full points for finishing position in each race.
With one race left to decide either dream come true or defeat, Losurdo handled the situation like a true professional. He remained calm, cool and collected, quickly navigating his way into the third spot early on in the August 18 season finale and fell in behind LaTulip and Brown. Wisely, Losurdo kept his nose clean for the duration to secure the championship, something he says he’s been “dreaming about since he was four years old.”
As if winning the title plus two more features at Oswego wasn’t enough, Losurdo also swept the Lighthouse Lanes SBS Series visits to the Evans Mills Speedway winning both the May Meltdown in the spring and the Fall Brawl this past September. He also drove to his first career top five finish in the Bud Light Classic 75 on Labor Day Weekend.
Tonight, Losurdo will be honored for his record breaking season at the track banquet, held at the Lake Ontario Event and Conference Center located at the Best Western PLUS in downtown Oswego.
Ticket sales for the banquet are now closed, but as part of the event, discounted room rates at host location Best Western PLUS in Oswego will be available to all ticket holders for $119. For more information, you can call the hotel at (315)-342-4040 or visit their website at
BestWesternOswego.guestreservations.com. Plan to bring your banquet ticket with you upon check-in.
Oswego Speedway’s 2019 schedule, along with a full rule book, are both a work in progress. The speedway’s 69th annual Opening Day has been set for Saturday, May 25th. Open Practice will take place a week earlier on Saturday, May 18.