OSWEGO, N.Y. — The stage is set for a Saturday night throwdown in the DIRTcar Sportsman division for the Chevrolet Performance 75 at Oswego Speedway.
Beginning Thursday’s program of the Super DIRT Week 52, Super Six Time Trials solidified the first three rows that will roll off the grid for the Feature at the five-eighths-mile facility.
Reigning Chevrolet Performance 75 champion Matt Janczuk will lead the field to the green flag on Saturday night. The Oneida, N.Y., driver broke the track record with a 21.338 second lap, earning him the SRI Performance/Stock Car Steel & Aluminum Pole Award.
Janczuk took that speed into heat one, where he led all 15 circuits to help solidify his chances to win back-to-back Features at Racing’s Biggest Party.
“It’s a testament to this team,” Janczuk said. “I gotta thank Whittaker Ford, Velocita, and this 33X team. We worked hard all Winter trying different stuff in testing on the spring smasher, and we haven’t raced this car since last year. So, it’s been sitting in the shop collecting dust. We put in some of the stuff we learned this year, made some adjustments between the groups of Hot Laps, and we just got better from there. To turn a quicker lap in Time Trials than we did in Hot Laps kind of surprised me even.”
Alex Lajoie joins Janczuk on the front row of the feature.
Like Janczuk, Lajoie flexed his muscles aboard his No.33J by leading every lap of heat two.
“It’s a very good thing to start out on the front row,” Lajoie said. “We were a bit stressed when we came here. We needed and really wanted to be in the top six, get locked in, and have a good chance for the Feature. Normally, it’s pretty slick, so if you’re not in the front, it’s hard to work your way from the back.
“I saw the track, it had a nice outside line, and that’s where I like to go. So, when we went out for Time Trials, I went in there early and it all worked out, so I’m really happy about it and can’t wait to see what we can do on Saturday night.”
Making up the full Sportsman Super Six from Thursday night included Payton Talbot, Cody McPherson, Donovan Lussier and Hunter Hollenbeck.
The only non-Super Six driver to win a Heat race on Thursday night was Richard Murtaugh. After taking the lead on Lap 5 of heat three, Murtaugh never looked back as he set himself up for a top-10 starting spot in Saturday night’s feature.
“I’m pretty excited,” Murtaugh said. “We haven’t brought this car (to Oswego) before. We had a different one last year and finished fourth with it, but we’ve been really good with this car. We’ve got to win and haven’t really raced all that much, but I feel a lot better than I did last year, so we’ll see what we can do.”
McPherson, the 2022 Chevrolet Performance 75 champion, and the winningest DIRTcar Sportsman driver, drove his way toward the win in heat four while learning what he could do to adjust and go after a second Super DIRT Week feature.
“It took a couple of laps to fire off,” McPherson said. “It didn’t come to me on the first lap, but it did on the second lap. We got a good piece, we got to go back to work, see how the track changes over the next couple of days, and we’ll see what we can do on Saturday night.”