OSWEGO, NY (July 3, 2021) - Michael Barnes started on the outside pole in Saturday night’s 75-lap Jim Shampine Memorial for the Novelis Supermodifieds, took the lead from Lou LeVea Jr. going into the first corner, and never looked back.
Barnes, the Spring Classic Champion from Mexico, NY, led from flag to flag and earned $2,500 for his fifteenth career win at Oswego and thirteenth for car owners Syrell Racing.
“The caution (with one to go) was actually a savior for us,” offered Barnes. “I was just starting to buzz the tires so bad, and that cooled them off. The last two laps were actually the best the car ran of the previous 35 laps, but I did kind of get nervous because you never know what will end up happening on a restart, but I could tell there wasn’t really any passing tonight. I hate to say it, but our car was really not that good. If we started way in the back, we would have finished in the back so the starting spot is key, and we have to take advantage of it. You should win if you start on the front row, so we did that tonight.”
Finishing in second with the most impressive run of his career was the driver of the No. 83, LeVea Jr, who turned in his best finish ever in a Supermodified with a runner-up to Barnes.
“We had a pretty good night, I would have liked to have one more spot though,” LeVea said. “I would have liked to have one more spot. I feel like we had a little better car going on. Michael (Barnes) got really free and we were getting tight, but he just drove it better than me. I’m happy, but we were ‘that close.’ My step-father and I have been really grinding in the shop, we’ve been getting a better handle on it now, and hopefully we can squeak one out before the win is over.”
Brandon Bellinger came home third for his second top five finish of the season after benefiting from early-race moves to get by Jeff Abold, Danny Connors, and Tim Snyder to steal a podium position.
“It wasn’t a bad race for us,” Bellinger commented. “Much better than last week when we got all smashed up over there. We had a pretty good car, it was a different setup for the feature, and I didn’t know how it would go. We were probably a little on the loose side, but overall it ran pretty fast, so I can’t complain.”
With Barnes and LeVea Jr. settling in comfortably from the start, the action was further back in the field as Bellinger, Abold, Dave Shullick Jr, and more began to shuffle around.
Bellinger secured third by the second lap and was able to ride it out from there, but Abold fell backwards to sixth before re-taking the top five spot from third starting Snyder on lap 3.
Snyder had already fallen back to fifth on the first lap, and fell back eighth a few lap later with Tyler Thompson and Joe Gosek going by for sixth and seventh.
One of only three caution flags came out on lap 71 for a John Payne spin in turn 2.
On the restart, LeVea Jr. and Bellinger were able to keep pace with Barnes, but were not able to maneuver around the No. 68.
The top five cars of Barnes, LeVea Jr, Bellinger, Connors, and Abold settled in for a while, and the show was being put on by Shullick who was on a tear from 11th.
Shullick got by Max McLaughlin, Danzer, and Snyder to move into eighth with 13 laps complete.
An Otto Sitterly spin on lap 27 brought the field nose to nail, but on the restart, it was again the top five cars spreading out from one another.
On lap 29, Shullick went by Gosek for seventh, with the top ten now Barnes, LeVea Jr, Bellinger, Connors, Abold, Thompson, Shullick, Gosek, Snyder, and Dave Danzer.
This is how the field would ride out for the next 35 laps until Abold was finally able to get under Connors for fourth on lap 65.
As Shullick began to work over Thompson in lapped traffic, Thompson made a bid to the inside of the slower car of Alison Sload, and the pair touched, with Sload backing her No. 39 into the turn three foam.
This led to the green-white-checkered restart, but once again LeVea Jr. nor Bellinger were able to do anything with Barnes who simply walked away for the win.
Shullick, however, was able to pick up one more spot, working to the inside of Connors to steal fifth with a lap to go.
Barnes picked up the win with LeVea second, Bellinger third, Abold fourth, and Shullick fifth while Connors, Thompson, Gosek, Snyder, and Danzer rounded out the top ten.
Joey Payne was the last car running and finished in eleventh, while Sload, Mike Bruce, Sitterly, McLaughlin, Hal LaTulip, Johnny Payne, and Jerry Curran finished in positions twelve through eighteen, ending their evenings pitside in the early going.
Shullick was the obvious recipient of the D&S Landscaping Hard Charger Award for advancing six spots from eleventh to fith, while LeVea Jr. brought home the Lighthouse Lanes Up & Comer Award for his career best second place run.
The Novelis Supermodifieds have another big night on tap set for this Saturday, July 10, as CME Electrical Supply presents double Supermodified and Pathfinder Bank SBS features.
Supermodifieds will run their regular scheduled ‘Summer Championship’ 50-lapper in addition to the rescheduled Twin 35 from June 19.
Tickets for July 10, Mr Supermodified, and King of Wings are now available at OswegoSpeedway.com.
RESULTS
Century 21 Galloway Realty
Novelis Supermodified Jim Shampine Memorial 75
Saturday, July 3, 2021
Oswego Speedway
Oswego, NY
Feature (75-laps): 1. 68 MICHAEL BARNES, 2. 83 Lou LeVea Jr, 3. 02 Brandon Bellinger, 4. 05 Jeff Abold, 5. 95 Dave Shullick Jr, 6. 01 Dan Connors Jr, 7. 98T Tyler Thompson, 8. 00 Joe Gosek, 9. 0 Tim Snyder, 10. 52 Dave Danzer, 11. 14 Joey Payne, 12. 39 Alison Sload, 13. 22 ® Mike Bruce, 14. 7 Otto Sitterly, 15. Craz8 ® Max McLaughlin, 16. 56 Hal LaTulip, 17. 78 Johnny Payne, 18. 99 Jerry Curran, DNS - 90 Jack Patrick, 66 Lou LeVea Sr.
Heat 1 (12-laps): 1. 95 Dave Shullick Jr, 2. 98T Tyler Thompson, 3. 0 Tim Snyder, 4. 83 Lou LeVea Jr, 5. 78 Johnny Payne, 6. 22 ® Mike Bruce
Heat 2 (12-laps): 1. 02 Brandon Bellinger, 2. 05 Jeff Abold, 3. 01 Dan Connors Jr, 4. 52 Dave Danzer, 5. 14 Joey Payne, 6. 56 Hal LaTulip, 7. 99 Jerry Curran
Heat 3 (12-laps): 1. 68 Michael Barnes, 2. 7 Otto Sitterly, 3. Craz8 ® Max McLaughlin, 4. 00 Joe Gosek, 5. 39 Alison Sload, 6. 90 Jack Patrick, DNS - 66 Lou LeVea Sr.
Group Time Trials: 1. 98T Tyler Thompson - 16.004, 2. 02 Brandon Bellinger - 16.035, 3. 7 Otto Sitterly - 16.079, 4. 95 Dave Shullick Jr. - 16.088, 5. 05 Jeff Abold - 16.113, 6. 68 Michael Barnes - 16.171, 7. 83 Lou LeVea Jr. - 16.193, 8. 01 Dan Connors Jr. - 16.207, 9. 00 Joe Gosek - 16.217, 10. 22 ® Mike Bruce - 16.303, 11. 52 Dave Danzer - 16.330, 12. 39 Alison Sload - 16.396, 13. 0 Tim Snyder - 16.526, 14. 14 Joey Payne - 16.606, 15. 66 Lou LeVea Sr. - 17.072, 16. 78 Johnny Payne - 17.155, 17. 99 Jerry Curran - 17.440, 18. 90 Jack Patrick - 17.659, DNS - 56 Hal LaTulip, Craz8 ® Max McLaughlin
D&S Landscaping Hard Charger: #95 Dave Shullick Jr.
Lighthouse Lanes Up & Comer: #83 Lou LeVea Jr.
- CAMDEN PROUD on Jul 04, 2021
- Article Date: 7/4/2021