OSWEGO, N.Y. — Flawless isn’t an understatement to describe Matt Janczuk’s performance at Super DIRT Week 52.
Leading every lap of the Feature, the Oneida, NY native captured his second straight Chevrolet Performance 75 win to tie Dave Marcuccilli and Rocky Warner as the winningest driver of the DIRTcar Sportsman division at Super DIRT Week.
Starting from the SRI Performance/Stock Car Steel and Aluminum pole position, Janczuk and Alex Lajoie led the field of 36 cars to the drop of the green flag. Janczuk immediately went to work by creating a gap between himself and his competitors before approaching the lapped traffic.
Having to get creative with packs of cars crowding the preferred racing lines on a slick racetrack, Janczuk got creative by maneuvering through the packs by steering his car low into the turns, then using the speed to slide high up the track.
While Janczuk led, Lajoie had to fend off Richard Murtaugh for his second-place position. Murtaugh got the best of Lajoie to take over the spot, while Lajoie began to lose momentum.
That lost momentum came to a head with nine laps remaining, as Lajoie lost his right-rear tire and surrendered his chance to win.
The new cast of drivers to challenge Janczuk for the win included Murtaugh, 2022 Sportsman champion Cody McPherson, and a pair of hard-charging drivers in the form of Tyler Corcoran and Zach Sobotka.
McPherson challenged Murtaugh for the second spot, which gave Janczuk the opening to drive away with the $5,000 winner’s check and cement his place in Super DIRT Week history.
“This is just amazing,” Janczuk said. “We’ve been talking to a few people about moving up next year, and capping this year off with another win at Oswego is a testament to this team. This crowd is just amazing, and it’s amazing to showcase the talent that the field has to offer. It’s an awesome feeling.
“We looked at the track prep and hats off to this track crew for an amazing place to race. I looked at the track and said ‘I think we’re gonna be in trouble.’ Thank God we had a good starting position and made the best of it. It felt good all night and even through traffic, I was a little bit in trouble racing with the lapped cars, but it’s amazing to win at Oswego again.”
McPherson got by Murtaugh on the final lap of the Feature to take home the second-place result to Janczuk at the checkered flag.
“The track was a little greasy at the beginning and fell back to seventh,” McPherson said. “It was hammer down for the first 30 (laps) and the car kept getting better. I knew I just needed the track to dry out and by the end it was really good. Congrats to Matt, he was in a league of his own. To come home second, it’s great.”
Murtaugh earned his first career Chevrolet Performance 75 podium in his fourth attempt.
“It’s nice to get a podium this year after finishing fourth last year,” Murtaugh said. “My main goal was to finish better than fourth. (Janczuk and McPherson) are two of the best, so there’s nothing to hang my head on.
“I made too many adjustments on the car before we went out for the Feature. It paid off early to get to the front and have that drivability, but once I got out in clean air, the car was totally different. It wasn’t where it needed to be.”
Corcoran drove to a fourth-place finish from his 13th place starting spot for the feature.