By Camden Proud
Alex Borland photo
OSWEGO, NY (May 29, 2017) – 35 years. That’s how long it has been since a Shampine was in victory lane at Oswego Speedway until this past Saturday night.
In his first career triumph, Keith Shampine drove the Chris Osetek Racing Technologies Supermodified to victory lane at the Steel Palace, the very first victory for both driver and team after holding off seven time Novelis Supermodified champion Otto Sitterly.
But, that wasn’t all. Fittingly, Shampine’s first Oswego victory came on Memorial Day Weekend in the Jim Shampine Memorial 75. Keith, who is the nephew of the legendary driver of the ‘8-Ball’ Supermodifieds, has garnered several podium finishes and heat race victories dating back to his Oswego beginnings in 2005 but had never quite been able to get that all too important first victory despite being close on multiple occasions.
Jumping onboard with Osetek Racing after several stints with Pat and Terry Strong, a family owned ride, and Darratt Racing, Keith’s original Osetek Racing machine was built in a one car garage. After a fair amount of success, Osetek, a brilliant Rochester Institute of Technology graduate who now works at A2 Wind Tunnel and Aerodyn Technologies in North Carolina, decided it was time to build an updated ride for Keith.
Debuting the new racer last year, Shampine and Ostek impressed and Keith was among the favorites to win this past weekend’s events behind the wheel of the TJ Toyota sponsored No. 55 machine.
Shampine, 33, and now living in Concord, NC, makes the weekly commute to the speedway with his team. There’s no doubt his ride home on Sunday was his best yet and after leading several laps of the 2016 Budweiser International Classic 200, to finally get his win, not to mention have the opportunity to dedicate it to his uncle Jim, victory was oh so sweet for Keith and his team
“I wanted to win this so bad tonight and I knew we had a good shot,” Shampine stated. “We struggled in practice but I was able to get out front early and get it done. This will take awhile to sink in. Hopefully Jimmy (Shampine) was looking down on us tonight.”
Grabbing the lead early from polesitter Dave Gruel, Shampine lead a near caution free 75-lap event, which only went yellow on a couple of occasions, both for spinning race cars.
Shampine worked his way through traffic with ease, right up until he caught the 18 of Howard Page just past the halfway point. Page was attempting to go pitside and when this happened, Shampine got into the back of the No. 18, which resulted in nose damage for the race leader.
Shortly thereafter, Shullick was able to take advantage of a restart and get by Shampine as the laps winded down, making his move on the highside off of turn four and completing the pass coming out of turn two.
“I got together with Howard and that was on me,” Shampine commented. “I thought maybe we just picked up a push but I later realized it was a nose wing. We had our work cut out for us.”
Shullick, the points leader heading into the Shampine Memorial, walked away from Shampine and his teammate Sitterly until the caution flag flew once more with 5 to go for a spinning Gruel off the exit of turn two.
This was when the drama started as the Nicotra Racing No. 2 was stopped on the frontstretch under yellow and then taken pitside after it was determined that the Shoe 2 had a broken torque plate on the Royal Purple Supermodified.
When this happened, Shampine re-inherited the lead and would have to hold off Sitterly for the remaining 5 circuits. Keith did so without issue, bringing the electric Oswego crowd to its feet as fans celebrated a Shampine win for the first time since 1982.
“When DJ got me, I thought my chances of winning were over. I figured we’d be settling for second and that would have been okay with me after we had motor issues in practice,” Shampine commented. “But fortunately, we had a little luck on our side and a strong car so we were able to get it done. Obviously this is a special victory for me. I can’t thank Chris and the Oseteks, my crew, family, friends, former car owners and everyone who was supported me to get me to this point. I am so very happy.”
Shampine picked up the win, while Sitterly notched another podium finish. Joe Gosek, a week removed from a nasty crash in turn one, charged from last to third and was declared Lighthouse Lanes Hard Charger recipient on the evening.
Defending champion Michael Barnes and defending Classic Champion Jeff Abold rounded out the top five while Brandon Bellinger, Tim Snyder, rookie Logan Rayvals, Gruel, and Shullick filled in the top ten.
Heat races were won by Michael Muldoon and Dan Connors.
Heading into June 10 action at the speedway, Sitterly and Barnes are tied atop the Novelis Supermodified point standings while Shampine moved up over five spots to fourth in the Road to the Championship.
Oswego Speedway
May 27, 2017
Novelis Supermodifieds
Heat 1 (12-laps): 1. 15 Michael Muldoon, 2. 55 Keith Shampine, 3. 2 Dave Shullick, 4. 0 Tim Snyder, 5. 05 Jeff Abold, 6. 14 Joey Payne, 7. 56 Hal LaTulip
Heat 2 (12-laps): 1. 01 Dan Connors, 2. 02 Brandon Bellinger, 3. 7 Otto Sitterly, 4. 68 Michael Barnes, 5. 50 David Gruel, 6. 83 Lou LeVea Jr, 7. 94 Logan Rayvals
Feature (75-laps): 1. 55 Keith Shampine, 2. 7 Otto Sitterly, 3. 00 Joe Gosek, 4. 68 Michael Barnes, 5. 05 Jeff Abold, 6. 02 Brandon Bellinger, 7. 0 Tim Snyder, 8. 94 Logan Rayvals, 9. 50 Dave Gruel, 10. 2 Dave Shullick, 11. 15 Michael Muldoon, 12. 01 Dan Connors, 13. Lou LeVea Jr, 14. 18 Howard Page, 15. 56 Hal LaTulip, 16. 40 Bob Magner, 17. 14 Joey Payne
For more information on Oswego Speedway be sure to visit www.oswegospeedway.com. You can also FOLLOW on Twitter @OswegoSpeedway and LIKE on Facebook at www.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