From Camden Proud
OSWEGO, NY (December 30, 2017) – With the New Year just a day away, Oswego Speedway officials are ready to reveal the divisions and race distances for the track’s 2018 schedule set to begin with the speedway’s 68th season opener on Saturday, May 26.
To start the season, for the first time since 1972, the speedway will hold Jim Shampine Memorial Twin 50 events for the Novelis Supermodifieds alongside a 35-lap Tony White Memorial lid lifter for the Pathfinder Bank SBS division on Opening Day. These two races on Memorial Day Weekend will kick off the speedway’s 2018 ‘Road to the Championship’ points campaign on a rather exciting note.
Following one week off to start the month of June in observation of the International Supermodified Association show at Lancaster Speedway, the first month of the summer will be opened up by a regular Novelis Supermodified 50 and Pathfinder Bank SBS 30 event on June 9.
A week later on June 16, the speedway will return to action once again with twin features for the Novelis Supermodifieds, this time at a 35-lap distance alongside a regular Pathfinder Bank SBS 30-lap main. The first driver autograph session of the season is also planned as part of the Twin 35’s.
The track will go quiet once more on June 23 for high school graduation across the area, before entering the month of July with a bang on June 30, which this year will see the Independence Weekend ‘Grand Prix’ special added as another addition. An extra distance Novelis Supermodified 75 and Pathfinder Bank SBS 35 plus fireworks are all planned as part of the event.
Teams will then have a quick turn around for the busy month of July which will see three straight weeks of action leading up to one of the most highly anticipated events on the season’s schedule at the end of the month.
Two regular Novelis Supermodified 50 and Pathfinder Bank SBS 30 programs will be ran on July 7 and July 14, before the 32nd annual $10,000 to win Mr. Novelis Supermodified and 27th annual $1,500 to win Mr. Pathfinder Bank SBS feature events go green on July 21.
Back by popular demand in 2018, the Mr. Supermodified main will return to a 75-lap distance for the first time since August of 2015. The SBS portion of the event will remain at 30 laps.
As done for the past several years, the final week in July will be another week off for fans and teams to either enjoy Harborfest festivities in the City of Oswego, or head west to the Sandusky Speedway ‘Hy-Miler’ before a busy month of August kicks off at the ‘Steel Palace.’
August will see three special events at Oswego Speedway, beginning with ‘Retro Night’ on the 4th which will also be the same day as the 13th annual ‘Old Timer’s Reunion’ to be held at Lighthouse Lanes adjacent to the track. A ‘retro’ 45-lap Novelis Supermodified main event will return as part of the program joining a Pathfinder Bank SBS 30.
August 11 will mark the first ever ‘Family Night’ at Oswego and perhaps one of the most jam-packed programs on the 2018 schedule seeing a Novelis Supermodified 50, Twin 20 events for the Pathfinder Bank SBS, plus driver autographs, bounce houses, giveaways, face painting, balloon animals and more for families before and during the race program.
Fun in the month of August will continue one week later on the 18th when the speedway’s regular season comes to a close with the return of $5 Admission ‘Teal Palace’ Track Championship night featuring championship 50 and 30-lap events for the Novelis Supermodifieds and Pathfinder Bank SBS.
The 62nd running of Budweiser International Classic Weekend at Oswego will commence from Friday, August 31 through Sunday, September 2 this season featuring the Budweiser International Classic 200 for the Novelis Supermodifieds and Bud Light Classic 75 for the Pathfinder Bank SBS on Sunday plus the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour ‘Classic’ 150 and the ISMA Supernationals 60 for the Winged Supermodifieds the day prior. Friday, August 31 will serve as Classic Qualifying Night for the Supermodifieds and SBS plus the ‘Party in the Pits’ featuring another live band performance on the stage in turn 1.
The first track time at Oswego Speedway in 2018 will be the annual Open Practice session to be held from 1-5pm on Saturday, May 19 before the official start to the season gets underway on Memorial Day Weekend just seven days later.
All kids 16 and under will be admitted FREE with a paid adult for all speedway events in 2018 with the exception of Budweiser International Classic Weekend. Weekly general admission and reserved seat pricing plus season ticket and camping packages for the regular season as well as special events will be revealed after the first of the year.
To purchase tickets, stop in the speedway box office during winters hours of 11am-4pm on Saturdays, call (315)-342-0646, or email jreebel@oswegospeedway.com.
For more information and to view Oswego Speedway’s 2018 schedule in full, be sure to visit online at OswegoSpeedway.com. You can also FOLLOW on Twitter @OswegoSpeedway or LIKE on Facebook at Facebook.com/OswegoSpeedway.
About Oswego Speedway: Oswego Speedway, a sports entertainment company, is a 5/8 mile semi-banked pavement racing oval located off the shores of Lake Ontario in scenic Oswego, NY. Oswego 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 Oswego Speedway making Oswego the only weekly Supermodified racing venue in the world. The Small Block 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, arguably the greatest driver of all time, two-time Indy 500 champion Gordon Johncock, along with former International Classic Champions Bentley Warren, Joe Gosek, and Davey Hamilton.
Oswego Speedway’s 2018 Championship Schedule – Divisions and Laps (Subject to Change):
5/26 – 68th Annual Opening Day (Novelis Supermodified Jim Shampine Memorial Twin 50’s, Pathfinder Bank SBS Tony White Memorial 35)
6/09 – Novelis Supermodified 50, Pathfinder Bank SBS 30
6/16 – Novelis Supermodified Twin 35’s, Pathfinder Bank SBS 30
6/30 – Independence Weekend ‘Grand Prix’ (Novelis Supermodified 75, Pathfinder Bank SBS 35)
7/07 – Novelis Supermodified 50, Pathfinder Bank SBS 30
7/14 – Novelis Supermodified 50, Pathfinder Bank SBS 30
7/21 – $10,000 to Win Mr. Novelis Supermodified 75, $1,500 to Win Mr. Pathfinder Bank SBS 30
8/04 – ‘Retro Night’ (Novelis Supermodified 45, Pathfinder Bank SBS 30)
8/11 – ‘Family Night’ (Novelis Supermodified 50, Pathfinder Bank SBS Twin 20’s)
8/18 – $5 Admission ‘Teal Palace’ Track Championship Night (Novelis Supermodified 50, Pathfinder Bank SBS 30)