OSWEGO, NY (May 31, 2021) - Mike Bond has raced at Oswego Speedway twice since the year 2018. He has won both times, and both victories have come in the Classic.
Saturday, the Hall of Famer captured a mind boggling fifth straight checkered in the SBS Classic 75; the eighth overall of his career, after yet another dominating performance with the No. 74.
Again driving for Four Sevens Motorsports, Bond began his afternoon by time trialing within less than a tenth of the track record at 18.520 seconds, securing the fast qualifier award, and lining up to start tenth after the inversion.
The 4-time Track Champion from Mexico, NY only needed 20 laps to get to the front, passing outside pole sitter Cameron Rowe to take the lead with 55 laps remaining.
Bond then proceeded to put on an all out clinic, lapping up to fifth in a 47-lap long green flag run and flat out destroying the field for another statement win.
“It got scary out there in traffic a few times, but the car ran great,” Bond said. “Hats off to the crew, my car owner Denise, and my brother Bobby. It was a fun race for us.”
Rowe; the 2012 Classic champion, had a strong day with a runner-up in his beautiful No. 77, which had also just won the Area Auto Racing News Best Appearing Car & Crew Award.
“It feels really good to be running up towards the front again,” Rowe commented.”We have put a lot of effort into our program this Spring and I am confident we have the car to beat when the 74 is not here. I just could not keep up with Mike on the restarts today.”
Opening Night winner Dan Kapuscinski started in the fifth position and chased Bond and Rowe for much of the race, but was not able to close enough ground to pressure for the win.
“It’s difficult when the right front ball joint is broken. I was trying to figure out why the car had a wicked bad vibration and was getting tighter and tighter the second half of the race. We picked the car up and the right front wheel just about fell right off, so we are lucky we are here and not plowed into the outside steel again.”
Two former Classic winners; Rowe and Bryan Haynes, lead the field to green for 75-laps with Rowe getting the advantage on the high side.
The three cars on the move in the opening five laps were AJ Bernys, Bond, and Kapuscinski.
Fourth starting Bernys was looking sporty in his return to SBS action piloting the Bartlett Racing No. 39, taking second away early on working to the outside of Bryan Haynes.
Kapuscinski followed Bernys around the outside, going by both the Haynes No. 86 and the No. 89 of third starting Tony Pisa to move into third behind Rowe and Bernys.
Bond started back in tenth, but only needed four laps to pass Andrew Schartner, Noah Ratcliff, Josh Sokolic, David LaTulip, Pisa, and Haynes to move into fourth with Kapuscinski just ahad.
Bernys, Kapuscinski, and Bond put on a tremendous battle for eight straight laps, with Danny K and Bond dueling side by side behind the Bernys No. 39.
On lap 63, Bond was able to use the outside of the Speedway to pin Kapuscinski behind Bernys, and get by both of them, now beginning his pursuit of race leader Rowe.
By lap 15, Bond had closed the gap on Rowe just as Kapuscinski was finally able to work to the inside of Bernys.
The top three were now Rowe, Bond, and Danny K.
With 20 laps complete, Rowe had to go to the outside of the slower car and gave a lane for Bond down low, leaving the No. 74 with just enough room to thread the needle and take the race lead down the front stretch.
Rowe did his best to keep up with Bond, but the gap that separated the top three cars widened significantly with about 35 laps in the books.
While Bond, Rowe, and Kapuscinski were way out in front, LaTulip, Schartner, Sokolic, and Bernys were engaged in a torrid battle for fourth through seventh.
Things got interesting with 30 laps remaining when LaTulip, Schartner, and Sokolic reeled in the Kapuscinski No. 23 through lapped traffic.
LaTulip was doing his best to keep Schartner and Sokolic behind him; and also at the same time bypass Kapuscinski.
In doing so, he pinched the car a bit too low trying to go under lapped cars off turn four, and brought out the first caution flag of the day on lap 47.
The No. 27 spun into the inside wall and this incident unfortunately ended LaTulip’s afternoon, after showing he was certainly a contender in his first return to SBS action.
A double file restart ensued shortly thereafter, but Rowe or Kapuscinski had their chance to take a stab at Bond as lapped cars were in between the leader and the remainder of the top five.
While Bond simply ran away on the restart, Kapuscinski was hung up on the outside behind a slower car and had Schartner slip beneath him to take over third.
When Pisa spun on lap 49, this led to yet another eventful double file restart, and this time it was Schartner pinned on the bottom part of the Speedway.
Danny K was able to go back around the outside of the No. 18 in turns one and two, moving back into a podium position once again.
Bernys; who restarted in sixth, gave Schartner the quick shuffle as well, passing both he and Sokolic to sneak into fourth, only to have both drivers get back by just a handful of laps later.
Back up front, Bond was long gone, while Rowe, Kapuscinski, and Schartner were just about nose to tail for positions two through four.
Eventually, Sokolic was able to reel them in and threw his hat in the ring with five laps to go.
With only lap remaining, the race was all but over when Bernys’ good day came to a screeching halt with a hard shot into the first turn foam after a parts failure on the No. 39.
The race was not over, although the green-checkered restart did not even make Bond flinch, getting the win over Rowe, Kapuscinski, Schartner, and Sokolic in the top five.
Bernys, Ratcliff, Dennis Rupert, Pisa, and Haynes filled in the top ten.
Darrick Hilton, Mark Denny Jr, and James Babcock completed the on track running order.
LaTulip, rookies Griffin Miller, AJ Larkin, and Robbie Bruce, along with Greg O’Connor and rookie Josh Wallace also had their afternoons end early in the pits.
Bond and Schartner were the Joe’s Jerky In Memory of Mikayla Guile fast qualifiers, picking up a combined $300 in bonus money.
Bond was also the D&S Landscaping Hard Charger, Sokolic grabbed the Lighthouse Lanes Up & Comer Award, Schartner was the White's Car Care 4th Place Finisher, and Ratcliff took home Mike Kapuscinski Memorial Rookie of the Race Award honors.
Oswego Speedway returns to action on Saturday, June 12 with a double header for the Novelis Supermodifieds and NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour presented by JDV Productions. Tickets are available at JDVProductions.com.
The Pathfinder Bank SBS and J&S Paving 350 Supermodifieds will be back on the racing card on Saturday, June 19 alongside Twin 35’s for the Novelis Supermodifieds.
RESULTS
29th SBS Classic 75
Oswego Speedway
Oswego, NY
Saturday, May 29, 2021
Pathfinder Bank SBS
Feature (75-laps): 1. 74 MIKE BOND, 2. 77 Cameron Rowe, 3. 23 Dan Kapuscinski, 4. 18 Andrew Schartner, 5. 26 Joshua Sokolic, 6. 39 AJ Bernys, 7. 73 ® Noah Ratcliff, 8. 99 Dennis Rupert, 9. 89 Tony Pisa, 10. 86 Bryan Hyanes, 11. 66 ® Darrick Hilton, 12. 14 ® Mark Denny Jr, 13. 15 James Babcock, 14. 27 David LaTulip, 15. 9 ® Griffin Miller, 16. 35 ® AJ Larkin, 17. 32 ® Robbie Bruce, 18. 90 Greg O’Connor, 19. 49 ® Josh Wallace
Time Trials: 1. 74 Mike Bond - 18.520, 2. 18 Andrew Schartner - 18.771, 3. 73 ® Noah Ratcliff - 18.793, 4. 26 Joshua Sokolic - 18.836, 5. 27 David LaTulip - 18.866, 6. 23 Dan Kapuscinski - 18.895, 7. 39 AJ Bernys - 18.974, 8. 89 Tony Pisa - 19.051, 9. 77 Cameron Rowe - 19.079, 10. 86 Bryan Haynes - 19.311, 11. 90 Greg O’Connor - 19.447, 12. 9 ® Griffin Miller - 19.450, 13. 32 ® Robbie Bruce - 19.643, 14. 99 Dennis Rupert - 19.681, 15. 15 James Babcock - 19.711, 16. 14 ® Mark Denny Jr. - 20.197, 17. 66 ® Darrick Hilton - 20.421, 18. 35 ® AJ Larkin - 21.018, 19. 49 ® Josh Wallace - 21.369
Joe’s Jerky Fastest Qualifier In Memory of Mikayla Guile ($200): #74 Mike Bond
Joe’s Jerky Second Fastest Qualifier In Memory of Mikayla Guile ($100): #18 Andrew Schartner
D&S Landscaping Hard Charger ($125): #74 Mike Bond
Lighthouse Lanes Up and Comer: #26 Joshua Sokolic
White’s Car Care 4th Place Finisher ($50): #18 Andrew Schartner
Mike Kapuscinski Memorial Rookie of the Race Award ($125): #73 Noah Ratcliff
Area Auto Racing News Best Car & Crew Award: #77 Cameron Rowe
- CAMDEN PROUD on May 31, 2021
- Article Date: 5/31/2021