OSWEGO, NY (June 26, 2023) - Andrew Schartner flew in from Charlotte, NC on Friday night, started in seventh, inherited the race lead when Greg O’Connor tangled with a lapped car, and later outdueled Noah Ratcliff in a door banging battle for the ages to win the 30-lap Pathfinder Bank SBS main.
For the 33 year old Schartner, it was his 14th career win in the Small Block Super division, tying him with Bob Goutermout for sixth all-time. It was also the 2014 SBS Track Champion’s first trip to victory lane since Opening Day 2017 with his Schartner Racing Chassis No. 18, owned and built by his father Karl.
“It's been a long time since I’ve been here so this feels really good kind of coming back to where it started and getting one with my Dad and Scott here just the three of us,” said Schartner. “The car was awful. It was tight and then at the end of the race it was really, really loose. I just cannot say enough about Noah (Ratcliff). I had to drive a really defensive race and he did exactly what I would have done. He started working my rear bumper and did everything but wreck me which is just a testament to how good of a driver Noah is. He’s got one long overdo and coming, and I am proud of how he raced out there. The next generation will be him and some of these others that are coming up through and the class is in good hands with them. I have to give a shoutout to a lot of people who have been there for us through the beginning because I don’t know that there will be another one of these. Arnold’s Family Restaurant has been with us since the very beginning, East Coast Customs, Cameron’s Bakery, Scott and my Dad for all of the hard work over the years, Russ Brown, Tom Aaserud who I got my start with, Brian Sobus, MARDON PC has really supported us so be sure to go to them to get a SIM rig. I’m just really happy.”
While the No. 73 of Ratcliff would have to settle for second for the unfathomable seventh time of his career, this one was perhaps the biggest heartbreaker of them all for the teenage driver, who showed Schartner a nose several times, at one point brushing wheels with the race leader in the first turn. After a tenacious effort, the 2022 Mexico High School Graduate, who took home $250 in the ‘Graduation Day Dash’ earlier in the evening, only came up a foot or two short of his first feature win.
“Man, I really wanted that one. If I have to finish second again, it might as well be to be one of the best in the class, so we’ll take it,” Ratcliff commented. “I’ve got to apologize to Jude (Parker) for over in turn 4. I got into him a bit and didn’t think it would be enough to turn him around, but it did and we all saw that happened so I have to really apologize for that. Other than that, it was good racing. I just have to thank my sponsors Jake’s Automotive, Total Fire Protection, Mom, my brother, my sister, Travis, John, Will, my cousin Drew, and everyone else that helps out. I really appreciate it.”
Early leader O’Connor who started in sixth, took over the point, and checked out by lap 4, saw his potentially race-winning drive go by the wayside after tangling with a lapped car right at the halfway point.
O’Connor, who won on June 3 and has yet to finish outside of the top five so far this season, rebounded nicely for his second podium finish of the year after having to head to the pits for repairs, re-firing at the tail end of the line with the No. 90.
“The car was a lot better to start the race off,” Greg offered. “The guys made a good pit stop and got it all back together, but I think we just ran out of tire at the end there. I want to thank all my guys, the sponsors Munski’s Auto, Bodified, CME Electrical Supply for not only sponsoring me, but the program tonight, and Arts Parts n’ More jumped onboard this week so I appreciate that, as well as Ultimate QM, and PFG Designs. Without all those guys I couldn’t do this.”
Leading the field to the green for the 30-lap feature event were the front row of Cameron Rowe and Darrick Hilton, who grabbed his first ever Oswego checkered flag in heat race action earlier in the evening.
From the outside lane, Rowe quickly inherited the lead, with third starting AJ Larkin keeping up in second, and fourth starting Jake Brown falling in for third.
Sophomore driver Drew Pascuzzi was on the move early in the Ratcliff Racing No. 72, jumping his fifth starting dancing partner Jude Parker, before finding his way underneath both Hilton and Brown in the opening lap with Schartner hot on his heels from the row behind.
Meanwhile, Hilton got the fast shuffle in the No. 66, falling all the way back outside of the top 10 after being freight trained on the initial start, with the early top five consisting of Rowe, Larkin, Pascuzzi, Schartner and O’Connor, who had made some of the best moves of the race early on to clear Ratcliff, Tony DeStevens, teammate Parker, and finally Brown while giving chase to Schartner who was now up to fourth.
As Rowe started to run away and hide in the opening laps, the seventh and eighth place cars of Ratcliff and Parker got together in turn 3, resulting in Parker slapping the outside steel and thus ending the night for the No. 00.
During that lap 3 yellow flag, Rowe ran into problems with the No. 77 and headed pitside, handing the race lead over to Larkin for the choose-style restart, with Pascuzzi to his outside, Schartner now third, O’Connor fourth, and Brown fifth.
Pascuzzi got an excellent jump on the restart as the outside lane prevailed, with O’Connor now coming from fourth to second as he went around the outside of both Larkin and Schartner, soon closing in on Pascuzzi’s back bumper for the race lead.
Schartner was not far behind, though, as he was next to work the outside of the 35, with Ratcliff, who restarted in sixth, following suit as well, as Larkin had faded from first to sixth with the new top five now Pascuzzi, O’Connor, Schartner, Ratcliff, and a hard charging Griffin Miller, who had started all the way back in the fifteenth position.
Just a lap later, the caution lights were illuminated once again for a simple spin by DeStevens in turn 1.
This led to another early restart, with O’Connor selecting the outside and getting the jump on Pascuzzi. Just like that, the No. 90 had come from tenth to the race lead in under three laps.
Pascuzzi held strong in second for quite a while, keeping Schartner at bay for the first 10 laps, while teammate Ratcliff worked over the No. 18, eventually making a low side pass for third on lap 11, and stealing second from his cousin on the next circuit with Schartner filling the gap for third and Pascuzzi falling to fourth.
By then, O’Connor had built a sizeable near full straightaway lead on Ratcliff as he approached heavy lapped traffic nearing the halfway point.
Also in major traffic were the second and third place cars of Ratcliff and Schartner, who thread the needle between a pack of lapped cars down the front stretch as Schartner used the slower traffic as a pick to take over second.
One lap later, disaster struck for the race leader as he came together with the lapped car of DeStevens. This turned DeStevens into the outside wall with tremendous force; sending the No. 24 airborne and up on its side, before coming back down the track and striking the inside steel.
Fortunately, Tony was not injured in the heavy hit, but the car did suffer extensive damage. The O’Connor No. 90 was also damaged as a result of the contact, leading to the aforementioned pit stop from the race lead.
With O’Connor restarting at the tail, this meant the double file restart would see a drag race for the lead between Schartner and Ratcliff, with Pascuzzi now running third, Miller fourth, and DJ Shuman up to fifth.
From the inside part of the Speedway, Schartner won the race to the first corner, holding the lead over Ratcliff, but the caution came back out immediately as Miller slowed out of fourth in the No. 9, eventually being pushed off and tagging the tail end of the field.
On the ensuing restart, Schartner stuck to what worked the first time, again jumping out in front of Ratcliff from the low side of the Speedway. Ratcliff would not go away quietly in second, still working patiently on the leader until he saw the opening that he needed off the exit of the fourth corner with 12 laps to go, diving underneath Schartner to take the race lead in turn 1.
Unfortunately for Ratcliff, it was all for naught, as Shuman went spinning out of fourth and into the first turn foam before a lap was complete, handing the lead back to Schartner, which would also allow Andrew the lane of choice for the restart.
This time, Schartner selected the outside, and once again, his experience proved beneficial on the restart as he snuck back into the lead from the high road.
Throughout the next five laps, the top two dueled in a tremendous battle for the lead and it was with 7 to go when Ratcliff showed Schartner a wheel on the inside that the two touched headed into turn 1. It appeared that both cars may be headed for the outside wall, with the duo fortunate enough to straighten things out before a rebounding O’Connor could capitalize from third.
The excitement would not stop there, however, as Hilton and Jordan Sullivan got into a little jingle further back in the field, with both cars finding the first turn foam. This gave Ratcliff one last shot at restart redemption, and despite a valiant effort from the outside, it was once more Schartner who got the jump from the inside lane.
Ratcliff threw everything but the kitchen sink at Schartner, using the bumper, looking high, low, and in between, trying to find away back to the front, but the 2-time Classic champion did all he needed to do to protect his lead, riding onto the win, despite a last ditch effort by Ratcliff out of turn four coming to the checkers.
In a photo finish, Schartner secured the victory by only a mere 0.044 seconds ahead of Ratcliff, O’Connor, Pascuzzi, and rookie Mike Fowler, who found the top five for the first time in his SBS career.
Miller, Larkin, Sullivan, Hilton, and rookie Steven Brashaw made up the remainder of the top 10.
Oswego Speedway is back in action this Saturday night, July 1, with the second of three ISMA / MSS Oswego Winged Super Challenge events presented by Oswego County and NBT Bank. A gigantic fireworks display will cap the ‘Independence Spectacular,’ also set to feature action for the Pathfinder Bank SBS and J&S Paving 350 Supers.
For more information, please visit the track website online at OswegoSpeedway.com or LIKE on Facebook at Facebook.com/OswegoSpeedway or FOLLOW on Twitter @OswegoSpeedway or Instagram @OfficialOswegoSpeedway.
RESULTS
CME Electrical Supply Autograph Night
Pathfinder Bank SBS 30
Saturday, June 24, 2023
Oswego Speedway
Oswego, NY
Feature (30-laps): 1. 18 ANDREW SCHARTNER, 2. 73 Noah Ratcliff, 3. 90 Greg O’Connor, 4. 72 Drew Pascuzzi, 5. 10 ® Mike Fowler, 6. 9 Griffin Miller, 7. 35 AJ Larkin, DNF 8. 2 Jordan Sullivan, 9. 66 Darrick Hilton, 10. 27 ® Steven Bradshaw, 11. 62 DJ Shuman, 12. 89 Tony Pisa, 13. 88 Brad Haynes, 14. 26 ® Jake Brown, 15. 24 Tony DeStevens, 16. 55 ® Carter Gates, 17. 77 Cameron Rowe, 18. 00 Jude Parker
Heat 1 (10-laps): 1. 73 Noah Ratcliff, 2. 90 Greg O’Connor, 3. 18 Andrew Schartner, 4. 88 Brad Haynes, 5. 10 Mike Fowler, 6. 55 ® Carter Gates
Heat 2 (10-laps): 1. 66 Darrick Hilton, 2. 89 Tony Pisa, 3. 35 AJ Larkin, 4. 26 ® Jake Brown, 5. 62 DJ Shuman, 6. 27 ® Steven Bradshaw
Heat 3 (10-laps): 1. 77 Cameron Rowe, 2. 72 Drew Pascuzzi, 3. 00 Jude Parker, 4. 24 Tony DeStevens, 5. 9 Griffin Miller, 6. 2 Jordan Sullivan
D&S Landscaping Hard Charger ($25): #9 Griffin Miller
White’s Car Care 4th Place Finisher ($25): #72 Drew Pascuzzi
Lighthouse Lanes Up & Comer (Pizza & Wings): #73 Noah Ratcliff
- CAMDEN PROUD on Jun 27, 2023
- Article Date: 6/27/2023