First order of business: a small block supermodified driver will make his debut in a supermodified this weekend. It’s Brian Sobus, and he’ll be running both divisions this weekend! While the engine has been changed in the small block car and everything is almost ready to go as of Monday morning, I’m sure it will be a busy week prepping the super.

My prediction is that Brian will adapt very quickly to the supermodified, and won’t have much trouble making the show. If there are no problems, I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes the show through time trials. He’s that good. You watch.
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Pictures have been released of the new Mike Muldoon supermodified, which will be piloted in the Classic by the talented Bobby Santos III. Classic will be the first race on this brand new car, which sounds risky. But Mike Muldoon was known for his ability to have a car one hundred percent ready out of the box, and Santos is the type of driver who can jump in anything and be fast immediately. If anyone can pull off the near impossible, these are the guys.

Watch for Mike Muldoon to be the first driver behind the wheel of the new car at a Wednesday track rental. Santos will sit in the car on Friday for the first time. The beautiful car is number 50, which is also Dave Gruel’s number, so I’m not sure how that will work out. To see some shots of the beauty go to Pinner’s BNG Message Board at www.gosupers.com.

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Next: An addition to the ISMA field for Saturday night is JOEY PAYNE, in the Stout Racing #49. Payne will be teammates with Trent Stephens out of the Stout stables, and will surely give it a hell of a ride. It will be a busy week for Payne, as he will also compete in the Alan Mollot #51 TQ midget race on Saturday. Go JET!
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Small Block super addition: Danny Kapuscinski has secured the ride in the Dave Cliff backup #36 car. Kart race Nick Demling was going to race it, but had to back out for financial reasons after a minor truck accident. Danny K will give that car a heck of a ride, and this is some great equipment!
“Slick” Demling will drown his sorrows by racing in three different divisions of Karts Thursday and Friday.

I’m thinking 40 plus supers. Yes, last year was a down year. But I think this year is different. Some of the questions / rumors / stories:

Mike Muldoon’s new super is or will be ready. Who’s behind the wheel? Muldoon’s son? Bobby Santos III? Mike himself?

Randy Ritskes is back behind the wheel of a super, the Daratt Farms #88 that Keith Shampine is out of. He’s running Classic, the ISMA Classic, and this week’s twin 30’s.

What’s Shampine driving? I’m hearing a few things. Think he’ll be back in another ride?

I understand that Russ Wood will be behind the wheel of Jeff Holbrook’s crazy looking Allegresso car for Classic. He will be a formidable force in that fast car. But I like watching Jeff drive, especially in Classic. Which of the fleet will he drive, or will a guy that owns four supermodifieds watch from the pits?

Of course Bobby Bond will change his Xtreme car over for the Classic. Will he be running the winged Classic AND the 200 on Sunday?

What will happen with John Nicotra’s Xtreme Chassis car? Is it true that D.J. Shullick will be driving it, for a new owner?

If so, will Nicotra still field a third car, in addition to the Sitterly and Hamilton Hawk rides? For who?

And who will drive or buy the Torrese Hawk car that has been for sale all summer? It’s an almost new car, that is race ready, less motor.

Will Bentley Warren finally look respectable in the Ed LaPrade car? How about Mikey Barnes?

Will Shawn Muldoon really be back this weekend with his car after a whole season of rebuilding from a horrible wreck last year?

Will Craig Rayvals be back, after running a good part of the season before becoming “Craig Houdini” a few weeks ago? Just like Bobby Magner. What’s his deal?

Whassup with Kelly Miller, who I recently reported as the purchaser of the former Tim Gareau car from Tim Dewine?

Which ISMA / MSA drivers will take a stab at Classic? Chris Perley? Mike Lichty? Lou Cicconi? Stephens? Schultz? Sammut? Gibson? Anybody named Ordway?

Please click “comments” below, and answer as many of these questions as you can…
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Lee ISMA “Classic” News

Entered this year for the September 11th Twin 50’s are some pretty big names.

Biggest news is that Bobby Santos III will be behind the wheel of the Clyde Booth #61.

Chris Perley, Justin Belfiore, Ray Graham, and many others have been announced as entries for the ISMA sanctioned event.

“I was going to sell it at the end of the year”, explained Barbeau, “but when Chris quit driving it, it was kind of getting to be too much of a headache maintaining that car, also”. Barbeau currently sits 5th in points as the driver of the Steve Abt #58, but 4th in owner points for the #50 car. “Jim was kind of going to buy it anyway at the end of the year, but somebody else made me an offer on it, so I gave him first shot. It’ll be a good car for him to learn with”, added Barbeau.

Vern LaFave was tabbed to drive the car after Chris Proud decided to jump out of the ride, citing financial reasons. “Vern was having a good time driving it”, said Barbeau, and the guys split on good terms. “He said he’d like to drive for us in the future.” Barbeau’s plans for 2011 are to continue to pilot one of the two small block supers that Steve Abt owns. “Steve may get a super for next year, but he’s still going to keep both small blocks. That was the deal”, added Barbeau.

The new owner is Jim Bernys, who bought the car for his 15 year-old son A.J. Bernys to pilot. A.J. has extensive experience in quarter midgets and go-carts, and has been jonesing for awhile to get in a small block super. “Maybe I should be shot in the head”, Bernys joked. “I wasn’t really ready to buy it financially until the end of the year, but there were a few people looking at it. I’ve got a lot to do to get ready. We still have to get a new seat, Hans device, and some other stuff.”

The plan is to get him out a couple times this season, do some warm-ups, maybe a practice session. “We’re taking very small steps. He still has to learn how to use a clutch. The easy part is done - the car is ready. I’m happy to start with a great car”, said Bernys. But you won’t see a lot of hard racing from A.J. this year. “Our goal is to make Classic this year, then run for rookie of the year in 2011.” The car will definitely not be at the track this week (July 31st), but possibly after that. Jim’s on vacation next week, so he’ll have plenty of time to tinker and fuss with the car. “But we do both have season pit passes, so the only expense to take the car to the track (for rookie warm-ups) is fuel.”

As many people find out, buying a car is the easiest part of going racing. You still need a ton of other stuff like crew, tools, shop, hauler, knowledge, etc. Bernys is aware of this, and knows that he has a lot of work ahead of him building a team. The car is currently stored in Jim Losurdo’s garage.

“I’m happy to give my kid the opportunity to live his dream. But even though he’s the driver, I’m still the owner”, finished Bernys. “If he screws up, I can put somebody else in it.”

UPDATE on July 27th - One week before the schedule date, and still no official announcement either way, or publicity about the event. There is no way in hell that the track would bite off such a large purse with ZERO time to promote it. It would be crazy - almost as crazy as announcing a race, then floating some name drivers, then going silent on it. Dudes?

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE - July 28th - the “crawler” on the Oswego Speedway website today states that “USAC expected to announce the cancellation of “Steel Palace Classic". I guess that’s as official as we’re going to get. Maybe next year!

STEVE ABT DQ’d AGAIN - Steve Abt finished 3rd in both features, but an extended, closed door stay in the tech shed after a protest from another team may prove to be a change in the order of finish. I spoke with Steve on Sunday, and he confirmed that he was deemed illegal due to an illegally modified crankshaft. But he’s not cool with it.

“Sobus better bring a lot of tools this week! I’m protesting his engine. He’s pulling a piston out, and we’re checking the ring size”, promised Abt. Sobus’ sponsor is who put up the cash to protest the engine, and Steve’s not happy. “He’s mad because I beat him in the heat”, said Abt, who felt the protest was not done within the guidelines of the rules, which dictate that a protest must be filed previous to the qualifying heat, not after it. So he’s ready for some retribution this week. “We’re definitely protesting one car a week, every week, for the rest of the season. Sobus is first, and a lot of other people will follow”, said Abt. Steve told me that at press time he hadn’t been informed what the penalty will be for the transgression, but I’m sure it will be announced soon. Abt now has a new Morrison Engine being built for his car. The speedway’s website shows that Abt was moved to 24th position in the second feature, but was allowed to keep the third place finish from the first feature of the evening, prior to the protest.

BOB HENRY VS. CHRIS PROUD VS. TRACK SAFETY - Although I’ve covered this extensively (maybe too extensively) in my Gater News column, I’ll give you a thumbnail sketch of what happened.

Running hard in the heat, Henry and Chris Proud came together on the front stretch. I saw the video, and talked to Chris about it. “We came together when I tried to get under him, and we brushed wheels. You know what happens sometimes when these cars hit wheels”, he said. The cars came together when Chris drifted into him coming off of turn four, and around they went. The 93 went hard into the front straight wall, wrecking the body on the left rear, bending a spindle, heims, rim, etc. The full extent of the damage will be assessed this week, but it looked a lot worse than it actually was. Bobby and Proud talked calmly about the incident later in the evening, but it wasn’t so calm at the time.

Some gesturing from Proud, jawing from Henry, and an 8 man show of force from track safety workers ignited the situation, which resulted in some pushing and shoving, before Henry was paraded across the front of the grandstands and removed from the premises. It got pretty intense.

“When I got out of the car, I saw dollar signs!”, said Henry, explaining his anger. Our deal is that Bobby is responsible for the car - not just the labor, but also replacing parts and repairing whatever happens. They’ve put a lot more money into that car than I have this year, and they are also competing Sundays at Utica-Rome Speedway with their dirt modified.

So was Bobby wrong to be angry? No. He’s an old school racer, and from the time I’ve spent around him and his Dad, they’re not the type of guys to take any crap. But you can’t return shove track safety workers, even if you feel that they shoved you first. Maybe he’d take that back. I didn’t see the whole exchange myself, but I wonder if maybe the scene could have been diffused with a little hug around the neck and calm talk. Yelling in someone’s face to calm down is not how you get someone to calm down. Adrenaline makes everything tricky in these instances, and a lot could be gained by just a couple of deep breaths, or maybe a count to ten. That didn’t happen. I wish it had, for the sake of everyone involved. And I don’t want any of these words to be taken negatively by the speedway officials. I still think Oswego has the best safety / security crew of any track, and I’m sure the same guys that flexed on Bobby will be the first ones there to help him if he’s injured in an accident.

Bobby came back after the races were over to get the car, and we hung out the rest of the night. I’m expecting that this thing will all blow over soon, and I assume that the one race suspension that he served that evening, and the ensuing loss of points will serve as his penalty, so hopefully he will be back this week. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen an incident that seems like a huge deal at the time calm down real soon, and I imagine this will too. I wish it hadn’t turned into such a big public scene. “He was really angry and upset, but that’s to be expected in a situation like this”, said track official Craig Tyrell. “He apologized after he got calmed down”. I’m sure some things were said that he wished he wouldn’t have said. “I just didn‘t think they had to treat me like that”, said Henry.

Bottom line, and this will be a controversial statement: incidents like these are not necessarily bad for the sport. It’s a very emotional sport, and you would never want to take that out of it. Fans want to see passionate drivers. Have you ever seen a guy win the feature, then be dragged out by his ear like the angry lunch lady in middle school? It’s a first for me. This drama gave people something to talk about all week. You can’t judge how you would react in this situation unless you had as much on the line as Bobby, or any driver does. Please don’t judge our guy until you’re in the same spot. And to the people on the message boards that are saying that Henry “punched” or “attacked” a safety official, please don’t spread that. No punches were thrown by either side, and nobody attacked anyone. Using those words makes it sound a lot worse than it was.

Two 45 lap supermodified features. Two 30 lap small block supermodified features. “Hoosier Mama” ladies race. Kids autograph session. Fireworks. And post-race party featuring the Domicolo & Barlow Band. Everything starts at 4:00.

But the best part? The price. You can see this entire show for just $7.00! If you have your rain ticket from the June 19th race, just show it at the gate for $5.00 off of the $12 admission. OR if you don’t, you can still get in for just ten clams if you pick up an advance sale ticket at a Price Chopper grocery store. How’s that for a deal? But even if you don’t take advantage of any of the discounts, this will still be an amazing show for just $12! Expect the speedway to be packed for this one!

All that happiness at my favorite speedway. So why do I look so sad? Because I have to MISS it! A long ago planned trip to Ohio for that weekend will cause me to miss one of the most exciting nights of the season. Not to mention that my own car, driven by Bobby Henry, will be starting on the pole for the event, and will probably win just because I’m not there. Maybe it’ll rain out again…

“Tell everyone in the pits that there are only two metering block numbers that are legal on the Holley 0-4412 carburetor. They should make sure that they have either a 5924 or 5925 metering block on the carb that they are running, and if it has anything other than that, then it’s not legal”, Abt warned. “No place in the rule book online does it say anything about these numbers, and I don’t want anyone else to make the same mistake.”

I’ll try to explain how I think this happened, although I am not an expert myself. Some carburetor companies will mix and match different carburetor components to find the best parts that match up together, and “flow” the best. While all parts are box stock and unaltered, a lot of effort is made to maximize the “stock” components, and sell the best carburetor. So do they modify these parts to make them illegal? Not necessarily, but it obviously creates a gray area, which is what made this an illegal part - and got him bounced.

“This should have been better clarified after the Sobus DQ, so this wouldn’t have happened again”, said Abt, referring to a carburetor disqualification after last year’s Classic that cost Brian Sobus a 2nd place finish.

But isn’t the burden of proof on the driver/owner, not the tech crew? That’s the question that the competition may be asking. It’s not the tech crew’s job to approve your parts - it’s your job to make sure the tech crew approves your parts.

“It’s the responsibility of the car owner to know the rules. The track’s position is that the metering block numbers didn’t match with the carburetor housing number, so we had to disqualify”. When I asked if this was the exact same circumstance that got Sobus disqualified last year, Gioia said, “that is one thing that we found with Brian last year”. Apparently there were some other questions, but that in itself was enough to warrant the DQ. “Any part that leaves the premises can technically be determined illegal”, is track owner Steve Gioia’s reply when asked why that carburetor may have been deemed legal at a different time in the past

“It’s too bad that we had to disqualify Steve. He was understandably upset, but as I told him, how would you like someone to beat you with an illegal part?, said Gioia. Gioia does appreciate all that Abt has done for the division, and looks forward to putting this issue in the past. “I’ve had the same thing happen to me“, said Gioia, referring to past disqualifications from his own family racing team. “You don’t like it, but it happens.” No lasting hard feelings should come from either side in this matter.

“I’m all done if they let this go. It’s not right - I won‘t be back”, said Brian Sobus on race night. At the time, no official ruling had been made, in favor of calling a carburetor manufacturer to confirm. But many people were very upset at the thought that maybe Abt wouldn’t be penalized. “I just heard that they’re letting him go with an illegal carburetor, just because he has three cars here”, said another driver, concerned with the rumor that politics would make this go away.

Everyone can calm down now.

“I actually feel bad for Sobus now”, said Abt, familiar with the exact feeling of being disqualified for having an illegal part - that he didn’t know was illegal. “I hope the track is consistent now about these calls. It‘s a good start. We just need better clarification of the rules.”

Steve has done a ton to support this sport, and if someone deserved a “mulligan”, maybe it would be him. He does bring three fast cars and drivers to the track weekly, and is elevating the division this year through hard work and dedication. But track tech stood strong, and made the call that had to be made.

Important note: drivers were told at the Driver’s meeting that carbs would be checked in post-race tech. If Steve knew he had an illegal carburetor, you can bet he would have swapped it out with a different piece before the feature. And he was declared LEGAL on everything that was checked when he won on opening night. (Apparently carbs weren’t checked on opening night.)

I’d be willing to bet that this bump in the road won’t slow the #85 down very much. Instead of being in or near the lead, Abt now sits 7th in points, 51 markers behind leader Mike Bond. Not insurmountable numbers this early in the season.

Understandably upset, Steve is taking it in stride, and was a lot calmer at the end of our conversation than he was at the beginning. While he wasn’t happy that he had to be the one that will clarify this situation, he did want to make sure the word got out, and have other people not be caught the same way. “There I go - helping everybody out again”, Steve chuckled.

“Wait’ll they see what I do this week, since I won’t be starting in the back now”, Abt enthused. “I predict a one and two finish for Timmy (Barbeau) and I this week”, Steve joked. “I love this @$&%”.

He sure came around quick.