With rain moving into the area and every nearby track cancelled, Oswego held tough with all preliminary action in the books and the Supermodified feature ready to go by 7:00pm.

It appeared a first time winner may be in the cards for the 50-lap main, with Lou LeVea Jr. and teenage sensation Tyler Thompson on the front row and it was Thompson who got the jump on the outside lane to take the lead going into turn one.

LeVea Jr, who lead until halfway in the second Twin 35 a week earlier, fell back to fourth, giving way to Thompson, third starting Dave Shullick Jr. and fourth starting Mike Barnes before the first lap was completed.

Just as the field had crossed the line to put lap 1 into the books, Tim Snyder and Alison Sload got together in turn one, causing Sload to go around. Snyder came to a stop off the exit of turn two. Both drivers were able to continue.

Right away, Thompson was out front, but was going to be tested with one of the best in Shullick starting just behind him on the restart over LeVea Jr, Barnes, and Brandon Bellinger inside the top five.

Thompson, who had never before lead a feature at Oswego, executed the restart perfectly as did the No. 02 of Bellinger, who immediately shot low under Barnes and later LeVea Jr. to move into the third position.

By lap 10, Bellinger had caught the front two cars of Thompson and Shullick, but it was still last season’s rookie of the year building a comfortable advantage on the No. 95 with plenty of racing left to go.

Shortly thereafter, misfortune struck LeVea Jr. for a second week as the No. 83 again dropped out of the event while running fourth. This moved Logan Rayvals, who had just gone by Barnes, into fourth.

On lap 19, Thompson and Shullick found lapped traffic and all it took was the slightest hesitation by the No. 98T for Shullick to shoot low in turn three with the halfway point quickly approaching.

With 22 laps complete, it was now Shullick out front ahead of Thompson, Bellinger, and Barnes, who had since swapped spots with Rayvals in a torrid side by side battle for the fourth position.

Less than a lap before halfway, the caution lights were illuminated once again as debris was on the race track. This threw out the comfortable lead Shullick had built, now bringing Thompson and Bellinger right to his back bumper.

For this restart, two lapped cars were left in between the third place car and the fourth place car, making for a very interesting scenario for the No. 68 of Barnes. The Hustler went outside and then inside to go by both Jack Patrick and Camden Proud while holding onto the spot.

With thirty laps in, it was still Shullick trying to run away and hide. Thompson remained second over Bellinger, Barnes, Rayvals, and Otto Sitterly, who had just gone by Dave Gruel and Joe Gosek to take over sixth.

On that thirtieth circuit, the yellow flag was put out again as Sload’s tough day continued when she came to a halt on the back straightaway, bringing the field right tight together on yet another occasion.

When the race was set to restart, the leaders jammed up down the backstretch, causing Aric Iosue to spin out and destroying the nose wing on Gosek’s No. 00. Just a few laps later, Gosek was forced to drop out of the event.

The second attempt at a restart went much smoother and Shullick again began to pull away ahead of Thompson, Bellinger, Barnes, Rayvals, and Sitterly who were nose to tail just behind him.

By lap 35, Sitterly had worked under both Rayvals and Barnes to move into fourth with his sights now set on Bellinger and Thompson in the closing laps. Meanwhile, the race leader was gone.

For the next ten circuits, Sitterly methodically worked over Bellinger until the No. 02 drifted high coming off turn two with five to go, giving the defending track champ the lane he was looking for underneath.

With four to go, Sitterly next went way high to the outside of Thompson in turns three and four to take over second, but it was too little too late as Shullick was nowhere in sight as laps continued to wind down.

The race for third, fourth and fifth was far from over, however. On the final corner, Bellinger dove to the inside of Thompson to look for third. It was nearly a dead head for the position, but the teenager held on for his first Supermodified podium over Bellinger and Barnes in the top five.

Completing the top ten in the A&P Auto Parts 50 were Rayvals, Gruel, Danny Connors Jr, Jeff Abold and Sload. Dave Danzer, Iosue, Proud, Patrick, and Gosek were the top fifteen finishers.

Ending their evening in the pit area were Dan Bowes, LeVea Jr, Snyder, Keith Shampine, and Hal LaTulip. The team car to Shullick, Shampine was only able to take the green flag due to ongoing mechanical issues with the No. 55.

After a tremendous run, Thompson was awarded the Lighthouse Lanes ‘Up & Comer’ prize for his career best effort in a Supermodified at Oswego Speedway.

Once again, Sitterly was clearly the D&S Landscaping Hard Charger as he put on a show to drive from eleventh all the way up to the second spot.

Oswego Speedway’s 2019 season will continue next Saturday, June 22 with another ‘Road to the Championship’ event for the Novelis Supermodifieds, Pathfinder Bank SBS and 350 Supers plus the rescheduled driver autograph session presented by Helena Agri-Enterprises.

For more information on Oswego Speedway, you can visit the track’s website online at OswegoSpeedway.com. Fans can also FOLLOW on Twitter @OswegoSpeedway or LIKE on Facebook at Facebook.com/OswegoSpeedway.

About Oswego Speedway: Oswego Speedway is a 5/8 mile semi-banked pavement racing oval located off the shores of Lake Ontario in scenic Oswego, NY. The speedway has been a continuously run weekly racing venue since August 1951. The premier open-wheel pavement short track cars in the world, Supermodifieds, run weekly at the Oswego Speedway making it the only weekly Supermodified racing venue in the world. The Small Block Supermodifieds and 350 Supermodifieds accompany the full blown Supers on a weekly Saturday night schedule which runs from May through September. Oswego Speedway is mentioned in racing circles as the “Indy of the East,” as no fewer than a dozen past and present competitors have competed at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway including Mario Andretti, two-time Indy 500 champion Gordon Johncock, and former International Classic Champions Bentley Warren, Joe Gosek, and Davey Hamilton.

BOX SCORE

• A&P Auto Parts Night
• Oswego Speedway
• Oswego, NY
• Saturday, June 15, 2019
• Novelis Supermodifieds

Feature (50-laps): 1. 95 DAVE SHULLICK JR, 2. 7 Otto Sitterly, 3. 98T Tyler Thompson, 4. 02 Brandon Bellinger, 5. 68 Michael Barnes, 6. 94 Logan Rayvals, 7. 50 Dave Gruel, 8. 01 Dan Connors Jr, 9. 05 Jeff Abold, 10. 39 ® Alison Sload, 11. 52 Dave Danzer, 12. 11 Aric Iosue, 13. 54 ® Camden Proud, 14. 90 ® Jack Patrick, 15. 00 Joe Gosek, 16. 25 ® Dan Bowes, 17. 83 Lou LeVea Jr, 18. 0 Tim Snyder, 19. 55 Keith Shampine, 20. 56 Hal LaTulip

Heat 1 (12-laps): 1. 95 Dave Shullick Jr, 2. 01 Dan Connors Jr, 3. 83 Lou LeVea Jr, 4. 68 Michael Barnes, 5. 05 Jeff Abold, 6. 39 ® Alison Sload, 7. 90 ® Jack Patrick

Heat 2 (12-laps): 1. 98T Tyler Thompson, 2. 25 Dan Bowes, 3. 94 Logan Rayvals, 4. 00 Joe Gosek, 5. 11 Aric Iosue, 6. 54 ® Camden Proud

Heat 3 (12-laps): 1. 52 Dave Danzer, 2. 02 Brandon Bellinger, 3. 50 Dave Gruel, 4. 7 Otto Sitterly, 5. 0 Tim Snyder, 6. 55 Keith Shampine

D&S Landscaping Hard Charger: #7 Otto Sitterly

Lighthouse Lanes Up and Comer: #98T Tyler Thompson