The day started with clouds and plenty of rain over the course of the morning. The track crew at Oswego Speedway was able to maintain the racing surface for a night full of racing as another day of the NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week was written into the history book. The day was highlighted with the Salute to the Troops 150 and the DIRTcar Pro Stock 50. Prior to opening ceremonies, the Super DIRTcar Series completed their postponed qualifying heats and the DIRTcar 358 Modifieds concluded their Last Chance Showdowns.

Salute to the Troops 150

The Salute to the Troops 150 featured 40 DIRTcar 358 Modifieds ready to conquer the Clay Palace. Matt Sheppard was able to steal a race away from Stewart Friesen who lead 134 laps over the course of the race. Sheppard lead the final 10 laps and picked up his third career 358 Modified race during Super DIRT Week.

After adjustments all race, the 9s was able to drive up and pass the Friesen machine on Lap 139. Sheppard won the $20,000 purse and took another checkered flag in his super season. Sheppard touched on those adjustments the team made that allowed him to get to the front of the field.

“We talked it over on the radio and we decided what adjustments to make at the halfway break,” Sheppard said. “We made some changes to this thing. The longer the race went on the better it got. [We] made all the right calls and I did not think we had a shot at this one either but man did this one come alive at the end.”

Friesen controlled most of the race from the start on the pole. The 44 was fast all night and posted the top lap time on the night with a 20.883. However, Friesen would cut a right rear tire and lose a lot of track position with only a few laps remaining. The 44 car would finish in 19th after trying to rebound from the issue.

Max McLaughlin drove from 14th to the runner up position by the time the checkered flag fell. The 8H machine from HBR racing showed speed after slowly working his way through the field. McLaughlin was also finished second in his first ever time competing in this event.

“We were good early,” McLaughlin said. “We fired off really tight after we changed the stagger that did not end up where we wanted to. We were really tight on the bottom and could not roll with good speed.”

Rounding out the podium was Tim Fuller of Watertown. Fuller started in the 18th position and found speed over the course of the race. The driver was able to crack the top 10 earlier in the contest and continued to improve once some drivers had problems in the later stages of the race.

“We had a lot of fun in the beginning,” Fuller said. “We came in and got tires. We were able to drive back up through the field.

Marc Johnson showed a lot of speed throughout the race. The 3J started on the outside of the front row and had more speed than Friesen during certain points of the race. Johnson would elect to stay out during the competition caution and not take fuel. Danny Johnson, Peter Britten, Billy Dunn and Lance Willix also stayed out to gain track position. The 3J ran out of gas late in the race after not being able to save enough fuel for the complete race. Britten also ran out of fuel and was forced to retire on Lap 135.

DIRTcar Pro Stock 50

After waiting around for their opportunity, the drivers in the DIRTcar Pro Stock 50 took the track to complete their weekend. The race featured some cautions but Nick Stone would take the victory after starting in the fourth position.

The 8N car would take over the top spot from Chucky Dumblewski on Lap 12 and never look back. Stone was able to find his first victory in the feature of the Pro Stock division during Super DIRT Week. The driver touched on his race.

“Finally…we have been trying since back in Syracuse,” Stone said. “Pretty much wanted to keep getting good restarts and stick to the bottom. At the beginning of the race, I was trying anything. Getting out front early was the way to do it.”

Dumblewski would finish in the runner-up position for the third time in his career in this race. The driver of the 7D spoke on the abundance of restarts.

“The restarts were definitely tough but once we got rolling I was real good,” Dumblewski said. “The longer runs were really where I felt like I was much better. I am having issues after restarts with the car cutting out. That definitely hurt us but we were able to hold on at the end.”

Pete Stefanski started farther back than the top two finishers but was able to work his way through the field to secure the last spot on the podium. Stefanski brought the 2 car home in third and touched on his race overall.

“We started a little farther back than these guys so we had a lot of really good cars to pass,” Stefanski said. “I shuffled back in the beginning and figured it we bought our time we would get back to the front.”

This is Stefanski’s fourth race of the season in the Pro Stock division due to the driver being a regular in the Street Stock division at Ramsonville Speedway.

Racing continues on Oct. 9 at Oswego Speedway for the DIRTcar Sportsman and Super DIRTcar Series. The Sportsman drivers will compete in the Chevrolet Performance 75. The Super DIRTcar drivers will finish off the week with the Billy Whittakers Cars 200.

Photo Provided By Nicole Hube