Column By: MARTY CZEKALA / RPW – OSWEGO, NY – Classic Weekend has arrived at the Oswego Speedway. The momentum is steadily building toward Sunday’s Budweiser International Classic 200 for the Supermodifieds.
Scattered clouds and winds of up to 20 mph brought an eventful qualifying to “The Steel Palace” and made qualifying enjoyable.
Five-time 200 champion Otto Sitterly, who has been fast all week, was the final car out on track for time trials. He was the fastest Friday afternoon in pole qualifying with a 16.076s, the second fastest time of all sessions this week at the Oswego Speedway. In his nearly 25 years of racing, this is Sitterly’s first pole in the 200.
“That feels pretty cool,” Sitterly told RPW. “I drove it in easy and was able to get a good exit. That’s where you’re going to gain speed.”
Today was a phenomenal day for the driver of the No. 7. Sitterly was third quickest in the first practice session at 16.393s and then quickest in the second practice at 16.160s.
“All season long, we’ve been nibbling at it,” Sitterly said. “Each week, we just seemed to get a little bit better.”
Starting on the pole gives Sitterly clean air for the green flag. In a race known for fuel mileage races to the finish, Sitterly still needs a game plan in stone for Sunday.
“You have to look through the field and see who’s there,” said Sitterly. “I think there’s going to be a couple guys close to us that will try to go and lead. This many years into it, we know we have to hover around the top few cars.”
Sitterly knocked off Michael Barnes, who was the penultimate man on track, with a 16.138s. The 2021 International Classic 200 winner was surprised with his lap despite the track changing from cloudy to sunny.
“The track changed quite a bit from the last practice run,” said Barnes. “I noticed before I came out that the sun was beating down. I was watching a couple guys before me that their corner speed wasn’t there. More than pleased with second.”
The driver of the No. 68 now moves forward to Sunday, when he hopes to keep his nose near the front while conserving his fuel and tires.
“All the testing and fuel runs, I feel pretty confident,” Barnes said. “I try to conserve the car later than most guys.”
Mike McVetta qualified early in the order and had a provisional pole for a while with a 16.188s. His lap in the end put the Ohio native fourth on the grid for Sunday’s race. In his third appearance in the 200, this is a great spot that McVetta left the track Friday with a grin on his face.
“Absolute disbelief,” said McVetta. “Three weeks ago, we were awful and threw the kitchen sink at it. Proud of this team pulling it together.”
The Supermodifieds are off tomorrow for NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour action but are back Sunday with warmups at 10 a.m. before a full fuel load practice and the 200-lap finale.
In other action at Oswego, Andy Cryan started 11th and took the Dave London Memorial XVI Super Stock feature. Cryan’s No. 09 passed Bill Frisbie before the halfway point so as not to look back and take home $4000.
The race saw six different leaders, including defending winner Garrett Zacharias, who was hooked from behind on lap 12 while leading the feature, ending the No. 71Z’s night.
Qualifying 1: 1. 7-Otto Sitterly, 00:16.076[23]; 2. 68-Michael Barnes, 00:16.138[2]; 3. 95-Dave Shullick Jr, 00:16.162[22]; 4. 29-Mike McVetta, 00:16.188[12]; 5. O1-Dan Connors Jr, 00:16.227[5]; 6. 98T-Tyler Thompson, 00:16.283[27]; 7. O2-Brandon Bellinger, 00:16.359[3]; 8. 52-Dave Danzer, 00:16.369[6]; 9. O5-Jeff Abold, 00:16.402[1]; 10. 22-Mike Bruce, 00:16.439[4]; 11. 55-Mike Netishen, 00:16.481[14]; 12. 1-Bobby Santos III, 00:16.516[20]; 13. OO-Joe Gosek, 00:16.568[7]; 14. 15-Michael Muldoon Jr, 00:16.614[13]; 15. 54-Camden Proud, 00:16.635[18]; 16. 83-Lou LeVea Jr, 00:16.686[9]; 17. 11-Ben Seitz, 00:16.728[21]; 18. 14-Joey Payne, 00:16.753[17]; 19. 90-Jack Patrick, 00:16.828[16]; 20. 75-Brian Osetek, 00:16.981[15]; 21. 0-Tim Snyder, 00:17.005[25]; 22. 78-Mark Sammut, 00:17.013[19]; 23. 20-Nick Snyder, 00:17.032[24]; 24. 70-Dave McKnight Jr, 00:17.081[11]; 25. 41-Russ Wood Sr, 00:17.088[28]; 26. 27-Aric Iosue, 00:17.159[8]; 27. 66-Lou LeVea Sr, 00:17.203[10]; 28. 88-Josh Sokolic, 00:17.263[26]
Hot Laps 1: 1. 95-Dave Shullick Jr, 00:16.374[25]; 2. O1-Dan Connors Jr, 00:16.378[6]; 3. 7-Otto Sitterly, 00:16.393[26]; 4. 1-Bobby Santos III, 00:16.450[23]; 5. O5-Jeff Abold, 00:16.486[1]; 6. 98T-Tyler Thompson, 00:16.499[30]; 7. 29-Mike McVetta, 00:16.559[15]; 8. 22-Mike Bruce, 00:16.590[5]; 9. 52-Dave Danzer, 00:16.597[8]; 10. 68-Michael Barnes, 00:16.641[2]; 11. 54-Camden Proud, 00:16.672[21]; 12. O2-Brandon Bellinger, 00:16.709[4]; 13. 14-Joey Payne, 00:16.753[20]; 14. 83-Lou LeVea Jr, 00:16.769[12]; 15. 15-Michael Muldoon Jr, 00:16.820[16]; 16. 11-Ben Seitz, 00:16.864[24]; 17. 78-Mark Sammut, 00:16.965[22]; 18. OO-Joe Gosek, 00:17.010[9]; 19. 27-Aric Iosue, 00:17.039[11]; 20. 20-Nick Snyder, 00:17.054[27]; 21. 41-Russ Wood Sr, 00:17.177[31]; 22. 90-Jack Patrick, 00:17.197[19]; 23. 75-Brian Osetek, 00:17.277[18]; 24. 88-Josh Sokolic, 00:17.303[29]; 25. 55-Mike Netishen, 00:17.346[17]; 26. 19-Bobby Holmes, 00:17.376[10]; 27. 66-Lou LeVea Sr, 00:17.397[13]; 28. 99-Jerry Curran, 00:17.639[7]; 29. 21-Jeffrey Battle, 00:17.673[3]; 30. 0-Tim Snyder, 00:17.954[28]; 31. 70-Dave McKnight Jr, 00:24.478[14]
Hot Laps 2: 1. 7-Otto Sitterly, 00:16.160[26]; 2. 68-Michael Barnes, 00:16.195[2]; 3. 95-Dave Shullick Jr, 00:16.243[25]; 4. 98T-Tyler Thompson, 00:16.304[30]; 5. O5-Jeff Abold, 00:16.324[1]; 6. 52-Dave Danzer, 00:16.380[8]; 7. O1-Dan Connors Jr, 00:16.474[6]; 8. 1-Bobby Santos III, 00:16.565[23]; 9. OO-Joe Gosek, 00:16.569[9]; 10. 15-Michael Muldoon Jr, 00:16.593[16]; 11. 22-Mike Bruce, 00:16.615[5]; 12. 29-Mike McVetta, 00:16.630[15]; 13. O2-Brandon Bellinger, 00:16.659[4]; 14. 11-Ben Seitz, 00:16.662[24]; 15. 54-Camden Proud, 00:16.689[21]; 16. 83-Lou LeVea Jr, 00:16.807[12]; 17. 41-Russ Wood Sr, 00:16.866[31]; 18. 20-Nick Snyder, 00:16.877[27]; 19. 19-Bobby Holmes, 00:16.911[10]; 20. 75-Brian Osetek, 00:16.982[18]; 21. 78-Mark Sammut, 00:17.017[22]; 22. 99-Jerry Curran, 00:17.030[7]; 23. 14-Joey Payne, 00:17.038[20]; 24. 90-Jack Patrick, 00:17.072[19]; 25. 55-Mike Netishen, 00:17.106[17]; 26. 66-Lou LeVea Sr, 00:17.189[13]; 27. 70-Dave McKnight Jr, 00:17.195[14]; 28. 27-Aric Iosue, 00:17.438[11]; 29. 88-Josh Sokolic, 00:17.536[29]; 30. 0-Tim Snyder, 00:18.045[28]; 31. (DNS) 21-Jeffrey Battle
