Date of Story-09/06/2010
Scene of Story-Oswego Speedway
By Ben Roberts
Ben Roberts and Eddie Bellinger
It all started when I was not quite ten, some time between 1991 and 1993. My family and I were on a summer trip though the upstate New York area. We had been to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, Howe Caverns in Schoharie County, and seen the Finger Lakes Region. Friday night we even got to go see the dirt cars run at Canandaigua Speedway, then up to the Steel Palace in Oswego for Saturday. The Oswego Speedway, a 5/8th pavement Goddess that would start a long love of the most powerful short track cars in the world for me.
It was just a regular 45 lapper for the methanol fueled non-winged Wonders. But believe me at that age, the night is long enough to keep a young mind active. I remember looking at the track from the front gate and thinking, wow this place looks like a coliseum, with the grandstand roof raising high from East Albany Street. Mom, dad, my brother, sister and I all followed my grandfather into the track; he and my mother knew this place well. You see my mother and grandfather had been coming here for many years, they would make the weekly trips up to the Big “O” every summer, from about 1970 when the Supers stopped running regularly at local London, Ontario tracks Nilestown and Delaware, until I was born in 1984.
Sitting there under the front stretch grandstand roof snacking on the famous fried dough, or maybe a juicy Hoffman hotdog, I was in awe of the shear speed, ear-shattering roar, and the smell of those big block engines burning off that methanol fuel as they ran off the laps. Watching the likes of Doug Heveron, Eddie Bellinger Jr., and long time racer Bentley Warren. My mother and grandfather talked about the legends of the Speedway from years past, between breaks in the action. Legends like Jimmy Shampine, “Irish” Jack Murphy, ”Stormin” Norman” Mackereth, Harvey Lennox, Warren Coniam, and Kempton Dates.
Fast forward to 2010. I had just been married in June to my lovely wife Brianne, and was looking forward to spending a great summer enjoying some travelling and some trips to the local track Delaware Speedway with her for some Friday night races. I also planned to attend the yearly visit of the ISMA Winged Supers in August, since they came back in 2006 from a 22-year hiatus at the ½ mile Ontario Oval. As summer was coming to a close, I had been planning to attend the Fall 200 lap Classic at Oswego since the start of the year. I had got this crazy idea to make the 5½ hour trip to upstate New York from working on my Facebook fan page, “Worlds Fastest Short Track Cars”, a page dedicated to supermodified racing. While trying to find old supermodified photos, I stumbled across a live Internet radio show about supers, called Wailing with Wing Side Up. I had all the viewers of the show telling me to come on down and see the Classic you will love it. All the great stories my mother and grandfather had told me about the Classic made my decision easy too! We were on our way.
Friday September 3, 2010, my wife and I packed up the Jeep and headed out on the road. The weather reports for the weekend did not look very nice. I had my doubts on whether we were going to get any racing in or not. It had rain the whole way to Brewerton, NY where we were staying with our friends Jake and Mandy at the hotel. Saturday morning brought windy weather but no rain, at least not until the afternoon. Brianne and I headed out to Oswego, to the track for my two-seater supermodified ride along. I was so excited to race around the fast 5/8 mile with supermodified legend Eddie Bellinger Jr. that I could hardly eat my breakfast. In the big front gate we walked though the grandstands, and on to the track. It was so exciting to be standing on the track that I had seen years before as a small boy, I was finally home!
Putting on the fire suit, jumping in the car, having the belts tightened, and the helmet strapped on, I was still trying to collect my nerves. As we pushed off and started out on the track I finally got my nerves under control as we hit turn 4 on my first lap of 5. A smile came across my face as we were hitting speeds of 130mph, running on a rail around the track I knew this was not just Oswego Speedway, but it was heaven. The rest of Saturday was filled with shopping in Syracuse, and one TQ midget race before the whole weekends racing would have to be pushed off till Monday, as it continued to rain into Sunday.
Monday September 6, 2010 had finally come, after spending most of Sunday sitting in Tim Horton’s drinking coffee and knowing it would be late Monday night early Tuesday morning before we would get back to Ontario after all the weekends racing was pushed into one long day. Racing started early Monday morning at 7a.m., the ISMA cars had their heats and 50 lap Supernationals. My favourite hometown driver, Mark Sammut finished 4th in a high attrition, wild winged supermodified race. The Small Block (Limited’s) Supermodifieds’ 100 lap Classic feature was next. They put on a great show, as I munched on a Hoffman, and some fried dough. I think that’s all we had to eat all weekend long, but its just part of the tradition. During the break between the races I got a chance to meet my friend Bob Gangwer, his girlfriend Danette, and the rest of the Wing Side Up G-Squad. He even introduced me to his parents. Talking to his mom and dad made me realize that he was no different then me, he was also raised Supermodified Style from birth.
It was time for Classic! All these years I had waited, and in ten minutes time they would be ready to hit the track as raindrops started to fall. I remember saying, “Are you kidding me Mother Nature? I had come all this way to the grand old lady to see the biggest supermodified race of the year, and it might get rained out! But, she thought wiser of ruining my first Classic experience. The racing was fast and furious that Monday evening in September, with all of best dudes in supermodified racing looking to put their names in the history books. There was even an on track episode of fist-a-cuffs between Didero and Payne, as I watched it happen all I could think of was the 1979 Daytona 500 finish between Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison. The Classic was also full of attrition as super by super was breaking or running out of fuel towards the 200 Lap finish! Bob Bond from Mexico, NY came home with the big win. We just had to make a pit stop in the infield to see the cars even though it was getting late; I wasn’t going home without seeing those mighty machines close up. We met up with Jim Ferlito, a long time fan, supermodified owner, and family friend of Jake and Mandy. Finally we had to make one last stop before the weekend ended, the Oswego Sub Shop. There Jim, Jake, Mandy, Brianne and I met up with another friend Jim Liccardi. We talked Supermodified History for about half an hour while we ate some Delicious subs.
All in All it turned out to be a great weekend, I sure was tired Tuesday morning at work, however it was well worth it to see my first Classic! I plan to make more and more trips to the Big “O” in the future, I think I have to make up for lost time! WOW WHAT A WEEKEND!
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