OSWEGO, NY (March 1, 2022) - The second rookie to announce a full-time commitment to the Pathfinder Bank SBS division in 2022, 29 year-old Jon Carson of Oswego will chase Speedway Rookie of the Year honors this season piloting his FFB Chassis as the No. 27.
A raw rookie to full-sized race cars of any kind, Carson’s experience only includes a mere dozen starts at Oswego Kartway. However, he is a lifelong race fan, and being a competitor at Oswego is something Jon says he has always wanted to do.
“I’ve always played sports growing up; basketball, hockey, and baseball, and the more physical sports have started to take a toll on me,” Carson said. “I’m getting a little older, I got a job over at Novelis, and figured that now being in a good place financially and the class being a bit more affordable made it the perfect time to do this. It is something I have hoped to do for a long time.”
Despite not ever driving a race car, Carson’s family ties to Oswego Speedway are significant, with both his father Jeff Carson and uncle Robbie Gunther having owned Supermodifieds for several years.
His cousin Ryan Gunther, another Oswego Kartway graduate, also has plans to move up to the SBS division this season.
“I really started getting into Oswego Speedway racing in 2004 when Joe Gosek was driving for my Dad,” mentioned Carson. “Joe was with my Dad from 2004 to 2005 and then he teamed up with my uncle Rob and Al Archer in 2006 when they bought the first Xtreme car for him, so I was hooked on it from there. Now it sounds like both Ryan and I will race this year at Oswego.”
Carson says the goals for his rookie year are to keep his nose clean, avoid any major accidents, and give himself time to get acclimated to the car; all very important pieces to the learning curve for any Speedway rookie. Carson did have one prior start at Evans Mills Raceway Park last Fall.
“I drove the car once at Evans Mills and it went alright,” Jon said. “I obviously need to get some experience, and the big goals for this year are to finish every race with the car in one piece and not keep sticking it in the foam. I honestly have very little mechanical skills and I am working on getting some help on all of that, but I’m definitely looking forward to giving this a shot weekly for the season and seeing how it goes.”
Carson’s early sponsors for the year include Scotty’s Towing and Ryan’s Mowing and Plowing.
Oswego Speedway’s 71st Season Opener is Saturday, May 28 with the return of the ‘Port City 150’ featuring a 75-lap Jim Shampine Memorial for Novelis Supermodifieds, 40-lap Tony White Memorial for Pathfinder Bank SBS, and a 35-lap special for J&S Paving 350 Supers.
2022 season ticket, individual race ticket, and camping pricing will be released in the coming weeks.
A date for camping renewals will also be announced in the near future.
For information on Oswego Speedway, visit OswegoSpeedway.com, LIKE on Facebook at Facebook.com/OswegoSpeedway or FOLLOW on Twitter @OswegoSpeedway or Instagram @OfficialOswegoSpeedway.
About Oswego Speedway: Oswego Speedway is a 5/8 mile semi-banked pavement racing oval located off the shores of Lake Ontario in scenic Oswego, NY. The 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 the Oswego Speedway making it the only weekly Supermodified racing venue in the world. The Small Block Supermodifieds and 350 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, two-time Indy 500 champion Gordon Johncock, and former International Classic Champions Bentley Warren, Joe Gosek, and Davey Hamilton.
- CAMDEN PROUD on Mar 01, 2022
- Article Date: 3/1/2022