Story By: CAMDEN PROUD / OSWEGO SPEEDWAY – OSWEGO, NY – Despite Oswego Speedway’s May events being placed on the chopping block due to the public health pandemic, the virtual ‘Steel Palace’ will once again see action on Sunday, May 31 as J&S Paving presents another night of Supermodified Sim Racing.
The May 31 Xtreme Sim Racing event will also be broadcast LIVE on AsphaltVision.TV and feature the 75-lap Blackout Sim Race Products Oswego Super main plus a 35-lap driver’s only feature. Fans are again invited to watch the entire broadcast for FREE.
“XSTSR is pleased to partner with J&S Paving,” said race director Chris Meyers. “The admin team is really appreciative of Rich Wirth’s support. We hope we can put on a great show for fans at home. We’d also like to thank Thomas Video Productions, Dan Kapuscinski, Jacob Seelman, and Camden Proud for working with us to keep everyone entertained during this time.”
Wirth, who has become heavily involved with the Speedway scene in recent years, has also stepped up as title sponsor of the track’s 350 Supermod division thru J & S Paving. Additionally, he owns the No. 77 and No. 04 Pathfinder Bank SBS machines driven by Cameron Rowe and Mike Bruce, and the No. 77 350 Supermodified to also be driven by Rowe.
“We are proud to sponsor this XSTSR event and the 350 Super division,” stated Wirth. “Last season, I sponsored 13 race cars in six different series. I love being involved. I’m excited to get my son Robbie in a sim race car for this event. He has the best teachers for it in Cameron Rowe and Mike Bruce.”
The Blackout Sim Race Products 75 presented by J&S Paving will differ from the April 26 Skip’s Fish Fry Supermodified Showdown in several ways; the first being that it features only Oswego Speedway Novelis Supermodified race cars using the 2019 body style.
In an effort to run a more efficient race day program, XSTSR has also tabbed four back to back off-air qualifying nights; Monday, May 25, Tuesday, May 26, Wednesday, May 27, and Thursday, May 28, as a means to set the field for the May 31 finale.
Each of the four qualifying nights will follow the same process. If there are less than 27 cars, the drivers in attendance will qualify, run heats and a B-Main, with a feature to follow. If there are 27 cars or more, drivers will qualify, be inverted into two 20-lap B-Mains, and the top 12 from each of the B-Mains will transfer to the evening’s 50-lap feature.
At the conclusion of the week, the top 6 finishers from each of the four 50-lap qualifiers will then be eligible to compete in the Sunday, May 31 XSTSR Blackout Sim Race Products Supermod 75 presented by J&S Paving. Drivers may attempt to qualify as many times as they wish over the four days, but once a driver is locked in, he or she will be parked until Sunday.
On Friday, May 29, anyone who did not finish in the top 6 in at least one of the four qualifiers will have one final shot to make the big show in one of two 25-lap ‘Last Chance’ races. The top four from each LCQ will be welcomed to Sunday’s live broadcast. This event will also be off-air.
By Sunday, 32 total cars will be locked in, and entered into the server to compete. The J&S Paving raceday format will see four 10-lap heat races consisting of eight cars, with the top 5 transferring directly to the big main event. Next will be the Sunday B-Main race; held at 12-laps in distance, with the top 4 non-qualifiers being placed to the rear of the 75-lap feature field.
Following the completion of the preliminary program for all racers, real Supermodified, Small Block Supermodified, or 350 Super drivers from any track or sanction past or present, will then be invited to compete in an extended 35-lap main event. A brief warmup will be held just prior to the race, but there will be no qualifying or heat races. Only drivers who have previously turned competitive laps in one of these three divisions will be eligible to compete.
Fans are reminded that this event will be broadcast LIVE and FREE on AsphaltVision.TV with coverage beginning at 8pm on the 31st. Dan Kapuscinski will once again have the race call. A full schedule of events and format is available at the bottom of this press release.
In reality, Oswego Speedway’s 2020 season is paused due to COVID-19. Any further updates on the schedule, which is tentatively set to resume on June 6, are on hold as Speedway officials continue to monitor the situation, and await clearance from New York State.
As of May 7, 2020, patrons are also reminded that the Speedway office remains closed due to the restrictions, and all camping and ticket sales are halted for the time being.
Those hoping for further updates on the Speedway’s 2020 season are asked to log onto the track website at OswegoSpeedway.com, LIKE at Facebook.com/OswegoSpeedway, or FOLLOW on Twitter @OswegoSpeedway and Instagram @OfficialOswegoSpeedway.
The official Xtreme Short Track Sim Racing league site can be found at XtremeSimRacing.us, and you can also give the league a LIKE on Facebook at Facebook.com/XtremeSTSR.