By Dan Kapuscinski
OSWEGO, NY (June 21, 2015) – In his fourth season behind the wheel of a Pathfinder Bank Small Block Super, Josh Kerr is now a feature winner at Oswego Speedway.
Starting from the pole position, Kerr held off the advances of Mark Castiglia, Dave Cliff, and JJ Andrews to eventually pull away in Saturday’s 30-lap SBS main presented by Burke’s Do-It-Best Home Centers and A&P Auto Parts.
With a tough start to the season now behind him, Kerr relied on 30 consecutive steady circuits around the fast 5/8 mile oval, coasting to a 1.5 second victory over Andrews, Jason Simmons, Mike Bruce, and Dalton Doyle in the front five positions.
“We’ve had some bad breaks the past few weeks, but it finally came together tonight,” said Kerr, in Turning Stone Resort Casino Victory Lane. “I knew everyone was back there and I was waiting for someone to dive under me, but they never did. I have to thank my dad and all my sponsors; we would not be here without them.”
Jack Patrick, Kreig Heroth, Anthony Losurdo, AJ Bernys, and Camden Proud completed the top ten positions in Saturday’s main event.
Kerr and Castiglia brought the field to green on Saturday night, with Kerr gaining the early edge in his No. 8 machine.
Cliff, in the Tim Barbeau owned No. 50, was the car on the move early making moves on Simmons, Matt Magner, Andrews, and Castiglia before the 10-lap mark of the main event.
However on lap 11, Cliff’s run came to an abrupt end as the No. 50 slid into the outside turn one foam as he was trying to make a run to the lead. Damage to the No. 50 was considerable, dropping Cliff out of the event.
The restart order showed Kerr leading Castiglia, Andrews, Magner, Simmons, Andrew Schartner, Bruce, Mike Bond, Doyle, and Jack Patrick.
Back to green, Kerr again began to pull away and further behind both Castiglia and Magner ran into issues, dropping them out of the event. As a result Andrews and Simmons would now move into the top three as they began to try and give chase to Kerr out front.
Yellow lights would come on again at lap 17 as Schartner and Bond tangled in turn three. Bond would continue on, but Schartner took on damage to his left front wheel, knocking him out of the event.
Once back to action, Kerr went on uncontested over the race’s final 13 circuits to take his first career Speedway win over Andrews and Simmons.
Shell Shock Custom Helmet Paint Heat Race Challenge victories went to Kerr, Castiglia, and Cliff.
The D&S Landscaping Hard Charger was Heroth with Kerr collecting the Nice Price Auto Sales Up and Comer Award.
The White’s Car Care 4th Place finisher was Bruce.
Kerr went away with the Sherwood Racing Wheels Lap Leader Award while Castiglia took the Bacc-Off Hard Luck Award.
Matt Magner was drawn as the $50 bonus recipient in Memory of Rosemary Myers.
Pathfinder Bank SBS
Pathfinder Bank SBS (30-laps): 1. 8 – Josh Kerr, 2. 93 – JJ Andrews, 3. 98 – Jason Simmons, 4. 22 – Mike Bruce, 5. 01 – Dalton Doyle, 6. 9 – Jack Patrick, 7. 04 – Kreig Heroth, 8. 1 – Anthony Losurdo, 9. 24 – AJ Bernys, 10. 54 – Camden Proud, 11. 74 – Mike Bond, 12. 76 – Scott Shafer, 13. 28 – Shad Gates, 14. 87 – Matt Magner, 15. 91 – Barry Kingsley, 16. 14 – Alex McRae, 17. 18 – Andrew Schartner, 18. 99 – Dennis Rupert, 19. 97 – Jeremy Pitcher, 20. 69 – Mark Castiglia, 21. 50 – Dave Cliff, 22. 88 – Ron Pratt, 23. 90 – Greg O’Connor
D&S Landscaping Hard Charger: #04 Kreig Heroth
Nice Price Auto Sales Up and Comer: #8 Josh Kerr
White’s Car Care 4th Place: #22 Mike Bruce
Sherwood Racing Wheels Lap Leader: #8 Josh Kerr
Bacc-Off Hard Luck Award: #69 Mark Castiglia
Heat #1 (10-laps): 1. 8 – Josh Kerr, 2. 93 – JJ Andrews, 3. 22 – Mike Bruce, 4. 98 – Jason Simmons, 5. 1 – Anthony Losurdo, 6. 04 – Kreig Heroth, 7. 14 – Alex McRae, 8. 28 – Shad Gates
Heat #2 (10-laps): 1. 69 – Mark Castiglia, 2. 9 – Jack Patrick, 3. 99 – Dennis Rupert, 4. 18 – Andrew Schartner, 5. 54 – Camden Proud, 6. 24 – AJ Bernys, 7. 76 – Scott Shafer
Heat #3 (10-laps): 1, 50 – Dave Cliff, 2. 74 – Mike Bond, 3. 87 – Matt Magner, 4. 01 – Dalton Doyle, 5. 97 – Jeremy Pitcher, 6. 88 – Ron Pratt