OSWEGO, NY (July 2, 2022) - Defending Speedway champion Dan Kapuscinski drove the Flack Racing No. 23 from the outside of the fifth row to the front for his eighth career Oswego Speedway victory and fourth win in five races during this past Saturday night’s Grand Prix 35.
Starting in the tenth position, Kapuscinski had to pass the best of the best; including Noah Ratcliff, Andrew Schartner, Jesse Bearup, Greg O’Connor, Griffin Miller and more to get the checkered, but made it look easy, eventually going underneath O’Connor to take over the top spot on lap 22.
“This car handles so well. Mike O’Connor, Steve Flack, and all the guys that put the work into this do a great job,” Kapuscinski said. “We are able to get back to the throttle two or three car lengths before some of these guys coming out of the second turn and that’s been making all of the difference. This was a great race to come from tenth. There are a lot of good guys out there. Greg (O’Connor) drove a great race and we had our work cut out for us. I need to thank all of my sponsors Burger Masonry, Premiere Landscaping, the Virgo Brothers, Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux, Burger Construction, Hedger Fabrication, Mohawk Northeast, Infinit Technology Solutions, and I want to say hi to my wife Liz, and Michael, and Maryn who are watching at home.”
Miller and O’Connor brought the field to the green with O’Connor inching out in front from the outside lane in his No. 90.
Settling in for second was Miller with rookie Ryan Gunther riding third in the early going.
Fourth starting DJ Shuman, fifth starting Robbie Wirth, and sixth starting Jude Parker; also rookies starting up front for the first time, would each lose position to Bearup, Schartner, Kapuscinski, and Ratcliff in the opening laps.
With ten complete, it was O’Connor building a healthy lead out front, Miller second, Kapuscinski in third, Bearup fourth, and Gunther fifth.
On lap 12, Kapuscinski got underneath Miller for the runner-up spot, with Griffin now left to fight off challenges from Bearup.
Hunting down O’Connor in no time, Danny K made his winning move on lap 20, diving underneath the race leader going into turn three.
The remaining 15 laps did not come easy, however, as O’Connor stayed hot on Kapuscinski’s heels through heavy lapped traffic.
This traffic allowed separation for Kapuscinski and O’Connor between themselves and third place Miller, fourth place Bearup, and fifth place Schartner.
With 8 laps to go, Miller, now stuck in the same lapped traffic that the top two had just cleared, lost third going into turn three, with Bearup and Schartner diving to the inside to send Griffin back to the five spot.
For the double file ‘choose’ restart, the new running order was now Kapuscinski, O’Connor, Bearup, Schartner, and Ratcliff.
At the drop of the green, O’Connor, who had elected to re-fire from third, nearly lost the handle down the front stretch, and gave up three positions to Bearup, Schartner, and Ratcliff.
One lap later, Ratcliff moved into a podium position, working to the inside of Schartner.
Back out in front, Kapuscinski had checked out for the win on Independence Day Weekend followed by Bearup, Ratcliff, Schartner, and O’Connor in the top five.
Gunther had a fine run bringing the No. 22 home in sixth, with Shuman seventh, Pascuzzi in eighth, Tony DeStevens in ninth, and Darrick Hilton rounded out the top ten.
The Pathfinder Bank SBS division will have the week off this Saturday, July 9 before resuming their 2022 season in the July 16 ‘Summer Championship’ alongside Novelis Supermodifieds and the J&S Paving 350 Supers.
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RESULTS
Best Western PLUS and Clarion Hotel & Suites Riverfront Night
Pathfinder Bank SBS Grand Prix 35
Saturday, July 2, 2022
Oswego Speedway
Oswego, NY ®
Feature (35-laps): 1. 23 DAN KAPUSCINSKI, 2. 37 Jesse Bearup, 3. 73 Noah Ratcliff, 4. 18 Andrew Schartner, 5. 90 Greg O’Connor, 6. 22 ® Ryan Gunther, 7. 62 ® DJ Shuman, 8. 72 Drew Pascuzzi, 9. 24 ® Tony DeStevens, 10. 66 Darrick Hilton, 11. 49 Josh Wallace, 12. 89 Tony Pisa, 13. 00 ® Jude Parker, 14. 01 ® Greg Richardson, 15. 2 ® Jordan Sullivan, 16. 04 ® Rob Wirth, 17. 9 Griffin Miller, 18. 14 Mark Denny Jr, 19. 27 ® Jon Carson, 20. 77 Cameron Rowe
Heat 1 (10-laps): 1. 90 Greg O’Connor, 2. 9 Griffin Miller, 3. 73 Noah Ratcliff, 4. 04 ® Rob Wirth, 5. 89 Tony Pisa, 6. 14 Mark Denny Jr, DNS 35 AJ Larkin
Heat 2 (10-laps): 1. 37 Jesse Bearup, 2. 62 ® DJ Shuman, 3. 72 ® Drew Pascuzzi, 4. 22 ® Ryan Gunther, 5. 66 Darrick Hilton, 6. 49 Josh Wallace, 7. 27 ® Jon Carson
Heat 3 (10-laps): 1. 23 Dan Kapuscinski, 2. 77 Cameron Rowe, 3. 18 Andrew Schartner, 4. 00 ® Jude Parker, 5. 24 ® Tony DeStevens, 6. 01 ® Greg Richardson, 7. 2 ® Jordan Sullivan
D&S Landscaping Hard Charger: #23 Dan Kapuscinski
Lighthouse Lanes Up & Comer: #73 Noah Ratcliff
White’s Car Care 4th Place Finisher: #18 Andrew Schartner
- OSWEGO ADMIN on Jul 03, 2022
- Article Date: 7/3/2022