OSWEGO, N.Y. – With Friday bringing another Chamber of Commerce day during Super DIRT Week, big block and 358 modifieds teams spent the day prepping for Friday night’s qualifying program while the Pro Stock and Sportsman divisions practiced and qualified.
Tony Markou took qualifying honors in the Pro Stocks while Kevin Root topped the Sportsman.
– While there were 40 Pro Stock entries, a solid turnout for the division, the Sportsman field topped the century mark with some 104 cars taking time and splitting into four qualifiers for the Friday Night Lights program.
– The perfect weather had campers out in the open by mid-morning, with some sipping coffee and others getting an early start on the quota of beer for the day. Cornhole games were set up in numerous campsites while other spectators, more attuned to the cars and drivers, toured the pits and watched the crews work.
– The scene resembled an NHRA national event, where fans can get up close to the cars. By evening, fans were moving from their campsite or the parking lots to the grandstands, with what looked like the largest Friday night crowd on hand since Super DIRT Week moved to Oswego from the Syracuse mile.
– Saturday morning would turn out to be another matter, with skies dark and threatening, a brisk wind, intermittent rain drops and a dire forecast. A lot of the verve was gone, including among the DIRTcar staff, with Chris Dolack reporting that he only had an hour and a half of sleep before returning to his duties in the media headquarters.
– To a man, those we spoke with agreed that Friday night’s program was too much of a good thing, with the Pro Stocks starting the night’s events at 7:30 p.m., followed by the small block modifieds, the big blocks and finally the four Sportsman qualifiers, which hit the track after midnight.
– Kyle Inman, Robert Delormier, Chris Mackey and Andrew Buff shared wins in the late night Sportsman qualifiers, which whittled the field slightly but still left some 75 cars for Saturday’s trio of Last Chance Qualifiers.
– Top names in Saturday’s twin LCQ’s for the big block modifieds include Peter Britten, Alan Johnson, Keith Flach, Rich Laubach, Ryan Watt, race sponsor Billy Whitttaker and Jeff Strunk, illustrating the quality of entrants in 2019.
– One of the most impressive performances Friday night was that of Brett Hearn, who failed to take time Thursday after suffering engine woes and had to start at the tail of his 30-lap qualifier. A trip to Kevin Enders’ nearby machine shop got him back in action and Hearn immediately went to the outside and marched all the way to ninth, earning him the 27th starting position in Sunday’s 200.
– Many fans, having heard rumors that Hearn will retire at the end of the season, were glad to have him in the field of a race that he once dominated on the Syracuse mile. Traditionally, he has drawn a huge round of boos when introduced, so it will be interesting to see what Sunday’s driver introductions bring.
– Ten spots remain to be filled for Sunday, with 30 cars taken from the three qualifiers, Stewart Friesen placed 31st as a guaranteed starter and the remainder to come from the LCQ’s and Saturday night’s Win and You’re In show at nearby Fulton Speedway, which at the moment appears tenuous due to the weather.