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"Up In The Marbles"
12/27/06

Once again it’s been a while since putting on the thinking cap and trying to get something put down in to words, but seeing it’s the last week of 2006, why not give it one more try? Santa was the last car on the track to take a lap this year, and once again, after hearing the stats that he had to make 800 pit stops a SECOND in his race around the world, I’d say he’s set fast time once again! Impound that sleigh! It’s gotta be illegal!! Hopefully though his reindeer weren’t on the throttle too much as they passed by your house and hope that you all got everything you wished for and hope everyone’s Christmas was a safe and happy one.

I’m not really sure where I’m going with this. The real writers do a great job every week and I apologize if this jumps all over the place as it usually does. It’s the end of another year. A season that saw Chris Perley in Victory Lane almost as many times as ISMA photographer Jim Feeney! I also believe it’s the first time that a car has flipped during a qualifying heat race and then went on to win the feature in the same night! We thought we saw everything with the wet and wacky happenings of Classic weekend and all the soggieness that went along with it, but Bentley Warren had one more trick up his sleeve late in the running of the ISMA Supernationals. Some people might look back and think it was business as usual in the super modified world in 2006, but after you look at it all as a whole, it just makes you wonder what the heck can be in store when the new season rolls around.

Before I get into a little more supermodified detail, another thing that’s amazing as the year comes to a close is…and I ask…this IS Oswego, NY, right? Home of not only the supermodifieds, but also the heart of lake effect snow country! Well the people on the Tug Hill will have some rebutal, but it’s the week between Christmas and New Year and the shovels and snow blowers have just as much time on them this year as the new cars that are being built for next year. When you want the weather to be nice for race season, it isn’t…and when you want the snow so the Rock Maple Sno-Cross race can go off without a hitch this year, it feels like July outside.
Well ok….July in the Artic! But you know what I’m saying. Mother Nature hasn’t being very kind this past racing season, and hopefully she’s just holding back for a couple big weeks of good ole Oswego snow…the way it used to be! The high flying, ground thumping sleds of the Rock Maple racers are scheduled to be in town in just a few weeks on the weekend of January 19 and 20th. Mark your calanders and keep thinking snow!

If you’re a warm weather racer and not into being out in the elements of old man winter, there is some indoor action once again at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall on the weekend of January 12th and 13th.
The Jersey Jet Joey Payne along with Lou Cicconi, Mike Lichty, Matt Seavey and Danny Shirey lead the super modified contingent into the weekend of TQ Midget racing against the likes of Teddy Christopher, Jeff Hoetzler, Billy Pauch, Stevie Smith and a bunch of TQ hot shoes as they take on the tight, unforgiving indoor circuit at Atlantic City. Joey Payne once described indoor TQ racing as “full contact” racing and the action at Boardwalk Hall every year sure lives up to the billing! If you’re stuck in your winter rut, take on either one of these winter time races…or both! It’ll sure help make the off season a lot more better

Lets shift gears here and get back on track as we move back to the “super” side of things. Usually during the off season, things are quiet for the most part and everyone just gets through the off season. But this year, things are a little different as “silly season” has now moved into the super modified division. All the super modified divisions have their tentative schedules out for the 2007 season and from the looks of things, it seems like it’ll be another exciting season both with and without the wings!

One new change for 2007 will be the Ohio based Midwest Supermodified Association straying a little bit farther from home with two scheduled dates at the Oswego Speedway this summer. We all know DJ Shullick, Charlie Schultz and drivers like Denny Fisher have some track time at Oswego, but it’ll be interesting seeing the rest of the MSA’ers come to town to take on the fast 5/8’s!
Hopefully there’ll be a bunch of Oswego regulars that strap on the wing as these dates have the potential to be a couple really big nights of racing. It won’t be your typical night at the track though, and should make for an interesting action. .The MSA has their own set of qualifying procedures with time trials in place and hopefully those who will be racing under the MSA sanction for the first time will get a good grip of their “break out rule” as I’ve been trying to understand it now for about 15 years and still don’t fully get it! The MSA supers also visit the Lorain and Dixie Speedways a couple times in 2007 with four shows on tap at Sandusky along with a trip to the high banks of Toledo making up the 11-race schedule.

The ISMA Supers also have a busy 17-race schedule kicking off at the Waterford Speedbowl on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. The winged warriors travel to many of the familiar speedways of recent years with the likes of Stafford, Mansfield, Jennerstown Speedway for a pair of 30 lap features. After being away for a year, ISMA returns to the Oxford Plains Speedway in Maine. The winged supers will also make a return visit in late September to Canada’s Delaware Speedway along with taking on the Johnny Benson’s Berlin Speedway in Michigan the very next day! Throw in the long standing traditions of the Sandusky Hy-Miler Nationals, the Oswego Supernationals on Classic Weekend, the Star Classic 200 and once again the season ending Thompson World Series and you’ve got a season chuck full of great racing all over the Northeast! There’s been rumors of Craig Rayvals taking his #94 team on the ISMA trail this coming season and will try to solidify that news as well as many other stories that fly around during the off season. The big question for the upcoming season is, will Chris Perley keep on the tear he was on in 2006? The Rowley Rocket is on a roll with the Vic Miller #11 and you know that everyone will be gunning for last years’ champs!

Back here at Oswego, the news has been buzzing all around after the banquet at the Turning Stone Casino. There for a while, it looked like the 2006 champ was going to be taking his driving skills to some dirt track racing after selling his #79 to Bob Hoefer and Billy Samuels. After picking up his first Oswego super modified win last year, look for Michael Barnes to become an instant contender for next years’ track title in the new Lighthouse Lanes #22
In the meantime, Otto Sitterley has been announced the driver for a brand new team at Oswego. Otto has been named the driver for a team with some monsterous names out of the open wheel ranks! John Nicotra, former IRL standout Davey Hamilton and NASCARS’ Andy Graves have teamed up with a brand new Hawk Chassis on order during the off season and will also be a force to be reckoned with right out of the box! There’s been talks of Davey Hamilton getting back behind the wheel once again after his horrifying crash in the IRL series, and word has been flying around of this being a 2-car team. But you know how those off season rumors go….it’s probably a possibility, but for now, I’d only count on Otto being a sure thing for this new team until more announcements come forth. There’s also word that some other teams have a second, third, fourth or fifth new car on order with Snyder Racing and the Graham/Torrese duo also looking forward to aquiring a new frame or two.

These new aged supers seem to be the wave of the future as Shawn Muldoon and Jerry Curran also have new Hawk Chassis in the works while Bobby Bond and 2006 Rookie of the Year Travis Bartlett are looking forward to the success that Doug Didero had during the Classic with their two new Xtreme Chassis in the works. Speaking of the Xtreme Chassis, I’m not sure if things have changed, but last word was that the #3 that Doug Didero piloted to a great Classic run before being sidelined with mechanical problems was for sale.
As usual, rumors run rampid with hearing that atleast three different drivers will be behind the wheel of this hot rod next season, but I’m sure as the winter rolls along, these rumors will turn into facts and we’ll have word as soon as it comes out. The very same goes with the rumors of Doug Didero now supposedly inheriting the wheel of the Clyde Booth #61 after Clyde and Mike Ordway parted ways. It seems like a really solid deal, but without hearing from the horses mouth, we’ll leave them just as rumors for now until it’s officially announced. After a couple years in the supermodifieds, Andy Noto has sold the complete #19 inventory as he moves onto getting down and dirty with some sprint car racing in his future. See what I meant about silly season? Where’s Jayski when you need him!

Before I grab the Advil after getting this writing stuff done, I’d like to take a second and send out my deepest sympathy to the Santos family on the recent loss of Bob Santos. I never had the honor of meeting the man, but it’s easy to see that he was a great man with the racing family that we have gotten to know here at Oswego! They are all a class act. Both on and off the track! I also want to send some get well wishes out to Johnny Payne after the scare he had a couple weeks ago. It just goes to show you that yes, we’re all a racing family, but in real life…you just never know! Glad to hear that Johnny’s doing better and hope that we’ll all see him behind the wheel, or if not, at the track here real soon!

And now I know why I don’t do this much! It hurts to think! I’ll get back to keeping my fingers shut here for a while and let the real writers continue doing what comes so naturally to them. But as the last weekend of 2006 approaches, I want to take time and thank everyone who helped out over the past year. People think there’s a lot to this webpage stuff, and yes, there is, but it would be absolutely nothing without the help of SO many others! Carol Haynes, my brother Dan, Steve Pryor from the Oswego Speedway and Chris Meyers from the MSA are the best writers out there and I want to send them a big thanks for providing press releases and results over the course of the year! Without them…well you’d have to get my write ups which would probably be incorrect and unfactual. There’s also a ton of people throughout the course of the year that have come forward to help out with calls from the tracks all over to provide live updates for us all who can’t be there. I know I’m going to miss someone and I apologize in advance, but I also want to thank Chris Meyers, John Tebbets, Sandy Timmons, Bob Gangwer, Jim Liccardi, Kathy Harrington and everyone else I might have forgotten, with either calling or posting the updates. It’s so cool to be able to find out the results quickly as they happen and without these people, none of it would have been possible. I also want to thank everyone for sharing their contributions, photos, racing stories and insight on the message board over the course of 2006! Yeah, sometimes things get wild and out of hand, but it’s still a lot of fun! And without you all helping out, the B & G would be nothing but this cluttered up bar in my basement covered with racing programs from the past! Thanks for a fun 2006 season and here’s to an even better 2007 with lots of hope of even more better things to come! J

Just one more final note and I’ll shut up already! To those going out celebrating the new year, of course have fun! But make sure you use your head and don’t be having too much fun if you’re driving! If you’re drinking, leave the driving to someone else. And if you’re the designated driver, keep ‘er between the ditches! I know there’s not a lot of snow out there, but it could be slippery! If they put down salt on New Years Eve, keep things close to the curb cause if you get out of the groove, getting in that salt would be just like being “Up In The Marbles”…..and ya don’t wanna be there!

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