Story By: CAMDEN PROUD / OSWEGO SPEEDWAY – OSWEGO, NY – Another former competitor at the Oswego Speedway will now be among the field of TQ Midgets entered in the Inaugural Syracuse Indoor Race to be held this Friday and Saturday at the New York State Fairgrounds Exposition Center.
Pathfinder Bank SBS veteran AJ Bernys, the 2012 Mr. Small Block Supermodified, has landed a ride with Matt Smith Motorsports and will drive the No. 1 TQ Midget on both nights of action at the Fairgrounds this weekend.
Bernys has two Oswego feature wins to his credit, with his most recent victory coming on Opening Day of 2013. He competed in a pair of shows this past year piloting the Bowman No. 12 and picked up the D&S Landscaping Hard Charger Award with an 11th place run on June 30.
“I really just started asking around after the Atlantic City show,” stated Bernys in regards to acquiring a ride for Syracuse. “Once I got talking with the team, we had Mitchell’s Speedway Press jump aboard as a sponsor. This is kind of one of those bucket list deals to run indoors.”
AJ has been racing virtually his entire life, but is well aware of the high caliber field he will face off against this weekend. The 57 drivers registered include three other current and former Oswego competitors in Tyler Thompson, Joey Payne and Lou Cicconi.
“At these indoor events, it is hard to even make the field and that’s without all of the added local talent that will be there this week,” Bernys commented. “My plan is to show up, race hard, and have fun. I hope if we do well here, there may be more opportunities in the future.”
Approaching the Syracuse Indoor Race, Ryan Flores currently leads the overall TQ Midget championship standings, but is unable to compete this weekend, which will hand the points lead over to local short track star Erick Rudolph.
With only two nights of racing remaining in this year’s indoor season, Rudolph will lead NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour regular Justin Bonsignore by a mere 21 points ahead of Andy Jankowiak, Eddie Strada, and Matt Janisch in the top five.
If you plan on attending either night of the Indoor Auto Racing Championship season finale, you are encouraged to purchase tickets beforehand at IndoorAutoRacing.com. Preliminary action will get the green flag at 7:30pm on Friday evening and again at 7pm on Saturday.
The Syracuse Indoor Race will be held in conjunction with the 33rd annual Syracuse Motorsports Expo on Saturday, March 9. The Expo is set to run through Sunday afternoon in the Center of Progress Building. Oswego Speedway will have a booth at the Expo both days and Barry Kingsley’s 350 Supermodified will be on display.
Oswego Speedway’s 69th season of racing gets underway on Saturday, May 25 with Jim Shampine Memorial Twin 50’s for the Novelis Supermodifieds plus full programs for the Pathfinder Bank Small Block Supers and the 350 Supermodifieds.
An Open Practice session for all 2019 divisions will commence one week earlier on Saturday, May 18.
Those wishing to renew Classic Weekend or season ticket packages for the year have until Saturday, May 1 to contact Paul Conzone at oswegospeedway@gmail.com.
For more information on Oswego Speedway, be sure to visit online at OswegoSpeedway.com. You can also FOLLOW on Twitter @OswegoSpeedway or LIKE on Facebook at Facebook.com/OswegoSpeedway.
