The end of September means new life for race fans across New York state, along with the management and local race teams of Fulton Speedway. The 3/8-mile oval track that sits overlooking the banks of the Oswego River will turn the stadium lights back on for one night only. Oct. 8 marks the return of racing at the historic speedway as OktoberFAST heads through town. 

DIRTcar OktoberFAST is a six-day, six-race event substituting for the NAPA Super DIRT Week that was canceled due to the COVID-19 restrictions. Four series started at Albany-Saratoga Speedway on Oct. 6 and will conclude at Weedsport Speedway on Oct. 11. These series other stops include Utica-Rome Speedway, Can-Am Speedway in LaFargeville, Land of Legends Raceway in Canandaigua and Fulton Speedway. These races will be held with no spectators with races being streamed online through DIRTVision. 

Thursday, Oct. 8, night the DIRTcar 358 Modified Series, DIRTcar Sportsman Modified Series and Super DIRTcar Series will throw dust up into the Central New York air.  The highlighted SuperDIRTcar Series will race for a $7,500-payout in a 60-lap feature race. 358 Modified drivers will compete for $4,000 and the Sportsman Series will race for a $1,000 payout. Penske Racing Stocks pitched in an extra $5,000 for individual race awards like the Pole Award and Outside Pole Award after qualifying. These awards are spread throughout all three series. 

The Super DIRTcar Series has not competed at the track since April 29, 2017. Billy Decker held off Matt Sheppard to win the Highbank Hold-Up 100. A majority of the Top 10 finishers from that race will return Thursday night, highlighted by drivers Jimmy Phelps, Stewart Friesen and Erick Rudolph. The series has not raced since July 29 at Bridgeport Motorsports Park, where Friesen won by a half a car length over Decker. 

The 358 Modified Series had not raced before this week. Thursday at Fulton will be the second 358 Modified Series race for the season, as the series kicked off their OktoberFAST at Utica-Rome Speedway. Seventy-six drivers have entered for the event, as some from the Super DIRTcar Series will pull double duty.   

Thursday night would not be complete without the DIRTcar Sportsman Series. The series was able to complete four races this past season at tracks that are all on the schedule this week. The series has five races over the six days with 97 entries set for Fulton Speedway, one of those being Oswego Speedway’s very own Joseph Gosek, the brother of Oswego State men’s hockey head coach Ed Gosek. Matt Janczuk was able to come away with the victory at the Land of Legends Raceway on September 19 and is set to race in the series this week. Janczuk also won back at Utica-Rome Speedway on June 21 for the first race of the season. 

Photo by Nicole Hube |The Oswegonian