OSWEGO, NY (April 27, 2020) - AJ Bernys, former Oswego feature winner and ‘Mr. Pathfinder Bank SBS,’ drove under the defending Classic champion, Tyler Thompson, to win last night’s Xtreme Short Track Sim Racing Driver’s Showdown 25.
Bernys started in the 11th spot, and after early contact with the Mike Netishen No. 55, had to make two charges from the back to the front for a hard fought victory behind the wheel of the Byrne Dairy sponsored No. 24.
“It’s awesome to win,” Bernys said. “It’s been a long week of testing. Thanks to Derrick Backus for the setup help and I appreciate everyone putting the show on. We took the fall early, but I knew I had to fight back for all I could. 25-laps wasn’t a lot of time, but I pushed and got there.”
The lone female Supermodified feature winner; Alison Sload, and former Bud Light SBS Classic 75 champion Bryan Haynes, brought the 25-lap Driver’s Showdown to green with Haynes able to prevail from outside the front row.
Almost immediately, the virtual caution lights were illuminated as Jeff West spun the IPC Indy No. 1 coming out of turn 2, leading to a single file restart with Haynes ahead of Sload, second generation driver Kyle Reuter, and Netishen on the restart.
Netishen wasted little time with Reuter and cut to his outside to take over the three spot, but the field was slowed a second time as Reuter would try to defend the bottom following the Netishen pass and in turn cut off Griffin Miller, collecting Mike Bruce and Jack Patrick in the process.
A now lap 3 restart saw Haynes, Sload, Netishen, and brothers AJ and Jonathan Lesiecki making up the top five, but the yellow flag was thrown almost immediately once again as this time it was Thompson and Aric Iosue together down the frontstretch. This ended Iosue’s day.
Finally, the leaders were able to get a lap in as Haynes would be forced to fend off Sload on a third restart. While the top two cars were able to take off, Thompson, who restarted fifth, dove under Jonathan Lesiecki to move into the top five.
Just as Haynes completed the fifth circuit, more madness ensued behind as computer issues for Sload surrendered her run for the second spot. Meanwhile, Camden Proud found himself spun down the front stretch off the bumper of Lesiecki, who crashed into the inside hub rail.
On the lap 5 restart, only Haynes, Netishen, AJ Lesiecki, Thompson, Miller, Bernys, Greg Furlong, Proud, and Reuter remained on the track in that order with Haynes, on yet another occasion, able to get out to a comfortable lead.
As Haynes tried to run away and hide, Thompson found the low side of Lesiecki into turn one, but Lesiecki got sideways and banged wheels with Miller, and this allowed Bernys to get by both of them for fourth.
On a mission, Bernys next went to the outside of Thompson to take third, and in the very same corner, got a monster run to the outside of Netishen down the back stretch, but was hooked into the outside wall on lap 7, damaging both cars and also sending both drivers to the tail.
With just 8 laps in, the top five had been shaken up once more with Haynes continuing to lead over Thompson, Miller, Furlong, and Lesiecki, while Proud, Bernys, Netishen, and Reuter remained on the outside looking in for the moment.
As soon as the green flagged dropped, Thompson made an exciting low side move on Haynes going into turn 1, dropping Haynes to second ahead of Miller in third. Behind them, Proud was on the charge, passing Lesiecki for fifth and eventually Furlong for fourth in the same circuit.
Less than a lap later, however, more misfortune would strike for several of the front runners as Miller passed Haynes for second going into turn 1. Haynes would then tag the tail of the Miller Sweet 16 off of turn two, and collect both Bernys and Proud, who made contact with the wall.
While the Proud No. 54 was damaged, the Bernys machine was able to escape unscathed and continue on in the third spot behind leaders Thompson and Miller, with Haynes falling back to fifth in the order. Furlong had meanwhile capitalized on the misuse to move into fourth.
For the next five circuits, Bernys stalked Miller in a side by side battle for the runner up position, before finally securing the spot once and for all off the exit of turn 2 with less than 10 remaining in the 25-lap Showdown.
It took Bernys just three laps to reel in the Thompson No. 98T, and in almost no time, AJ was all over the back bumper of the Jason Simmons Racing machine as time continued to slip away for a shot at the race win.
With less than three laps to go, it appeared for a moment that Bernys may not be able to get the job done, but he was able to dive low under Thompson off the apex of turn 2. The pair brushed wheels on lap 22, but it was no harm, no foul as Bernys kept it straight for the victory.
Behind him it was Thompson finishing in second, incoming Pathfinder Bank SBS rookie Miller third, six-time Classic champ Furlong fourth, and AJ Lesiecki rounded out the top five. Netishen finished up in sixth, Proud seventh, Reuter in eighth, and Haynes ninth.
Supermodified fans should stay tuned to Oswego Speedway’s website and social media for an announcement on the next sim racing event coming soon. Visit OswegoSpeedway.com, LIKE on Facebook at Facebook.com/OswegoSpeedway or FOLLOW on Twitter @OswegoSpeedway.
Learn more about Xtreme Short Track Sim Racing using the league website which can be found at XtremeSimRacing.us. You can also give the league a LIKE on Facebook at Facebook.com/XtremeSTSR.
About Xtreme Short Track Sim Racing: Xtreme Short Track Sim Racing was established in 2014 by a group of friends and sim racers. XSTSR features pavement rFactor Mods such as the newest 2020 Oswego Non-Winged Supermodifieds, 2020 Winged Supermodifieds, 2020 Sprint Cars, template Late Models, Outlaw Super Late Models, NEMA Midgets, and Tour Mods. None of this would be possible without the efforts of Shane Gott (Blackout Sim Products), who has propelled himself as one of the most detail oriented modelers in sim racing, and Perry Vance, who in short order has constructed some of the nation’s most popular short tracks for in-game use, including the famed Oswego Speedway.
QUICK RESULTS
Xtreme Short Track Sim Racing Supermodified Showdown presented by Skip’s Fish Fry
Sunday, April 26, 2020
Oswego Supermodified ‘Driver’s Showdown’ 25
Feature (25-laps): 1. AJ BERNYS, 2. Tyler Thompson, 3. Griffin Miller, 4. Greg Furlong, 5. AJ Lesiecki, 6. Mike Netishen, 7. Camden Proud, 8. Kyle Reuter, 9. Bryan Haynes, 10. Alison Sload, 11. Jonathan Lesiecki, 12. Aric Iosue, 13. Michael Bruce, 14. Jack Patrick, 15. Jeff West, 16. Doug Heveron, DNS - Addison Bowman
Qualifying (2-laps, single car): 1. AJ Bernys - 15.792, 2. Camden Proud - 15.886, 3. Aric Iosue - 15.929, 4. Tyler Thompson - 15.967, 5. Mike Netishen - 15.988, 6. Griffin Miller - 16.028, 7. Jonathan Lesiecki - 16.065, 8. Kyle Reuter - 16.074, 9. Addison Bowman - 16.075, 10. AJ Lesiecki - 16.111, 11. Bryan Haynes - 16.155, 12. Alison Sload - 16.248, 13. Michael Bruce - 16.256, 14. Jeff West - 16.314, 15. Jack Patrick - 16.519, 16. Greg Furlong - 17.045, 17. Doug Heveron - 17.383
- CAMDEN PROUD on Apr 27, 2020
- Article Date: 4/27/2020