By Cameron Proud
OSWEGO, NY (August 3, 2025) – Some nights just feel meant to be – and for Dave Danzer, Saturday’s second Novelis Supermodified Twin 40 presented by JP Jewelers and East Coast Sealcoat at the Oswego Speedway was one of them.
Running the No. 57 in honor of the late Danny Abt, the 2013 Mr. Pathfinder Bank SBS winner and a beloved Oswego competitor and crew member who passed away just days earlier after a courageous battle with cancer, Danzer overcame early struggles to deliver a dominant and emotional victory – his 15th career Novelis Supermodified feature win and his first since capturing the 2023 Budweiser International Classic.
After a difficult week and some early struggles that included a broken rear end in warmups, Danzer and his team made repairs just in time for the first Twin 40, where he managed to salvage a ninth-place finish. By the second feature, the car came to life. Lining up on the front row next to 350 Supermodified points leader Kyle Perry – who scored the ride in the John Colloca-owned No. 41 just the night before – Danzer jumped out to the early lead and never looked back.
Behind him, Perry held strong in second, fending off third-starting Tyler Thompson in the early going. Josh Sokolic quickly moved into fourth, with Dave Shullick Jr. climbing into the top five by the end of lap 1, both getting underneath fourth-starting Jeff Abold. Shullick then slipped by Sokolic for fourth on lap 4, as Perry continued to impress early, holding off Thompson’s repeated bids for second.
Meanwhile, 12th-starting Michael Barnes – winner of the first Twin 40 – and 13th-starting Otto Sitterly were slicing through the field, picking off Dan Connors Jr., Brandon Bellinger, Camden Proud, and Joe Gosek to crack spots well into the top ten by lap 5.
Lap 13 saw the running order shuffle as Perry slipped high off turn 2, allowing Thompson, Shullick, and Sokolic to drive by. Just two laps later, Thompson suffered a mechanical issue while running second, moving Shullick and Sokolic into podium spots.
On lap 16, Sitterly made the move of the night – storming around the outside of both Barnes and Perry in a three-wide move off turn four, then jumping from sixth to fourth. Barnes cleared Perry a moment later to settle into fifth as the field reached halfway.
Danzer was out front, still building up a huge lead over Shullick, Sokolic, Sitterly, and Barnes. With 26 laps down, lapped traffic came into play, and on lap 30, disaster nearly struck when Shullick and Sokolic came together trying to work through the slower cars. Shullick spun off turn 2 and made contact into the foam, damaging his rear wing. After a 360 to keep the car going despite a decent trip into the outside wall, he was able to pit and then rejoin the field at the tail without the wing.
On the restart, Danzer resumed control while Sokolic – now struggling with front nose wing damage from the earlier incident – fell into the clutches of Sitterly and Barnes. When Sitterly went high to challenge for second, Barnes rolled the bottom and cleared both of them to move into the runner-up spot. Soon after, Sitterly, Rayvals, Connors, and Gosek also slipped by the wounded No. 6 before Sokolic pulled off with eight laps remaining.
Despite the hard charges from Barnes and Sitterly, no one had anything for Danzer. The driver of the tribute No. 57 ran a flawless final 10 laps and crossed under the checkered to a popular victory. Barnes finished second, with Sitterly third, Rayvals fourth, and Connors completing the top five. Gosek, Proud, Jack Patrick, Bellinger and Shullick rounded out the top 10.
In a heartfelt and emotional victory lane, Danzer dedicated the win to the Abt family and to his own family, who had suffered a loss just the night before.
“This one is for Danny Abt,” Danzer said. “And then also last night, my other brother-in-law’s father passed around midnight, so this is for Dave VonHoltz as well. We’ve had a real crap week and didn’t start off too well tonight either. We broke the rear end and luckily the Speedway gave us a couple laps before the first feature. It was actually really good. We made some changes this week, got it better, and I just knew clean air means everything here with this package.”
“I’ve got to thank all my guys – Steve, Chris, my father, family, girlfriend – they work their butts off all week. First win for my daughter Quinn, so that’s very cool too, but this one is all for the Abt family. It’s a cool scheme, and I’m glad to get it back in victory lane. Also have to thank Mardon, Chris Burgess, Russ Marsden – this is actually an old piece we had sitting around. We broke the motor a couple weeks ago, and this thing just loves running here.”
Next week, August 9, C’s Beverage Center and Novelis present the 38th Annual $10,000-to-win Mr. Novelis Supermodified – also serving as Challenge Race #3 (75 laps), along with the 33rd Annual $1,500-to-win Mr. Pathfinder Bank SBS (35 laps), and the 5th Annual $2,000-to-win Mr. Oswego County Tourism 350 Supermodified (30 laps). One of the biggest nights of the year is on tap at the Steel Palace.
RESULTS
JP Jewelers and East Coast Sealcoat Retro Night
Novelis Supermodifieds
Saturday, August 2, 2025
Oswego Speedway
Oswego, NY
Twin #1 (40-laps): 1. 68 – MICHAEL BARNES, 2. O2 – Brandon Bellinger, 3. O1 – Dan Connors Jr, 4. OO – Joe Gosek, 5. 54 – Camden Proud, 6. 94 – Logan Rayvals, 7. 98 – Tyler Thompson, 8. 95 – Dave Shullick Jr, 9. 57 – Dave Danzer, 10. 6 – Josh Sokolic, 11. O5 – Jeff Abold, 12. 41 – Kyle Perry, 13. 7 – Otto Sitterly, 14. 90 – Jack Patrick, 15. 83 – Lou LeVea Jr, 16. O9 – Bob Bogwicz (DNS), 17. 5 – Brian Osetek (DNS)
Twin #2 (40-laps): 1. 57 – DAVE DANZER, 2. 68 – Michael Barnes, 3. 7 – Otto Sitterly, 4. 94 – Logan Rayvals, 5. O1 – Dan Connors Jr, 6. OO – Joe Gosek, 7. 54 – Camden Proud, 8. 90 – Jack Patrick, 9. O2 – Brandon Bellinger, 10. 95 – Dave Shullick Jr, 11. 6 – Josh Sokolic, 12. 41 – Kyle Perry, 13. O5 – Jeff Abold, 14. 98 – Tyler Thompson, 15. 5 – Brian Osetek, 16. 83 – Lou LeVea Jr, 17. O9 – Bob Bogwicz (DNS)
Heat 1 (12-laps): 1. O1 – Dan Connors Jr, 2. 6 – Josh Sokolic, 3. O2 – Brandon Bellinger, 4. 94 – Logan Rayvals, 5. 95 – Dave Shullick Jr, 6. OO – Joe Gosek, 7. 41 – Kyle Perry, 8. 90 – Jack Patrick
Heat 2 (12-laps): 1. 68 – Michael Barnes, 2. 54 – Camden Proud, 3. 7 – Otto Sitterly, 4. 98 – Tyler Thompson, 5. 83 – Lou LeVea Jr, 6. O5 – Jeff Abold, 7. O9 – Bob Bogwicz, 8. 57 – Dave Danzer (DNS)
JP Jewelers Halfway Leader Twin #1 ($100 bonus to the leader of lap 20): #68 Michael Barnes
Lighthouse Lanes Up & Comer Twin #1 ($50 bonus to the highest finishing driver who has never won a feature at Oswego Speedway): #41 Kyle Perry
D&S Landscaping Hard Charger Twin #1 ($25 to the driver advancing the most positions): #57 Dave Danzer
JP Jewelers Halfway Leader Twin #2 ($100 bonus to the leader of lap 20): #57 Dave Danzer
Lighthouse Lanes Up & Comer Twin #2 ($50 bonus to the highest finishing driver who has never won a feature at Oswego Speedway): #90 Jack Patrick
D&S Landscaping Hard Charger Twin #2 ($25 to the driver advancing the most positions): #68 Michael Barnes