09/01/2025
Oswego Speedway…the steel palace….the DLM…
The most prestigious event for super stocks in the north east.
This race takes extra effort to get it done. The field is full of some of the best teams and drivers around. Wise veterans, fast young guns and everyone in between. Everyone pours everything they have into this race.
Brad Julicher and Brian Porebski spent 8 straight nights in the shop working on perfecting the race car and setup. Donny, Ed, Charles, Dan, Maddie and Viv, amongst others, helped at the shop as well through out the the weeks leading up to the race.
The weekend started Thursday with open practice. We had struggled and didn’t live up to our standards the previous race weekends and knew we had to get things right.
First laps off the trailer were the best the car has been all season. I jokingly told Brad after 4 laps to load it up and go home, the car was that good. The guys worked hard all morning Thursday and got the car to a point where we could run lap record speed lap after lap.
Then Friday came….race day. 30+ cars showed up for the big show. We ran the first practice and the car was just as good as the day before. It quickly became apparent that there were some heavy hitters that came to play. Steffenhagen, Zacharias, Bennett, Kocher, Gullow just to name a few….
We won our heat with Steffenhagen hot on our heels.
Pull draw time and Vivian pulled 3rd. Great starting spot. After a few laps of battling, we took the lead and set sail. Things can’t be that easy though. While in the lead, the shift linkage broke…Brad, Brian, Vivian and Maddie got to work and after multiple pit stops, they were able to not only fix the linkage but keep us on the lead lap. We had our work cut out for us restarting 28th.
Methodically, we worked our way back towards the front. Having plenty of luck along the way. We eventually got up to 5th place when the big one happened on the backstretch. A lap car blew up in front of the leaders and the top 3 cars got taken out as well as a few lap cars as well. We were able to maneuver through and avoid the carnage.
We restarted in 2nd place behind Gullo. After a few laps battle, we were able to take the lead. Steffenhagen followed through and then battled side by side, lap after lap, until a caution came out. Jimmy had beaten me to the line by .008 sec so he was able to be in the lead on the restart. Jimmy had short run speed on me. Our car really kicked in after 4-5 laps but there was only 12 laps left. Jimmy got a great jump and we had to chase him back down. We started reeling him in and had cut the lead from 1 second down to .3 second when more luck kicked in…Jimmy over heated and had to pull off as we were within a couple car lengths.
It would have been a great race to the end but that’s how things play out sometimes.
Our guys deserved this. The work in the shop, at the track and in the pits is what it takes to win this race. Everything has to go your way and it did. It’s rare that days like these happen so when they do, you cherish them. This one is something I will always be proud of.
Many thanks need to go out for this one. Thank God for the safety. My wife Erica and my boys Hudson and Weston for being my biggest fans. Premcom and Don Irving for the primary sponsorship. Tom’s Performance for the power, RJP Motorsport for the drivetrain help, Patrick and Roy Emerling for putting us in the car as well as Emerling Ford as well as the entire crew.
We will see you all at Lancaster at the end of the season for the US Open at the end of September.
Photo Credits: Richard Nelsonsg For
