Archive for the ‘Keith Shampine’ Category

Johnny Pickard was two-for-two in August ERA action

Photo courtesy of Joe Starr, www.bigwestracing.com

DACONO, Colo. – Johnny Pickard won his second Englewood Supermodified Ass’n feature in a row Saturday at Colorado Nat’l Speedway.  Pickard’s win made him the first repeat ERA winner of the season.

The Pueblo, Colo., shoe started on the pole and was never challenged in the 25-lap main, which went green to checkered and was completed in less than 10 minutes.  The race marked the second-consecutive ERA feature that went off without a caution.

Harold Evans started sixth and finished second for the second-consecutive race.  Richie Castor passed point leader Harry Stone late in the race to take third. Castor ran almost the entire race with a slightly damaged front end. On lap two, Kevin Day bobbled off turn two and Castor made contact with Day’s super.  The contact resulted in damage to Castor’s fiberglass nose and bent nose wings on the No. 2.  The defending ERA champion is still yet to win a feature this season.

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Jim Feeney Photo

OSWEGO, N.Y. – With his seventh-place finish in Saturday’s shortened 30-lap feature, Otto Sitterly joined Greg Furlong as the only supermodified drivers to win four track championships at Oswego Speedway. In an equally astounding accomplishment, Sitterly joined Doug Didero, Mike Muldoon and the late Jim Shampine as the only drivers to win the title three years in succession.  Didero and Muldoon did it during their dominant years in the 1990s, while Shampine accomplished the feat from 1972 to ’74.

Sitterly built a formidable point lead with four straight feature wins to start the season. With Oswego’s tight point system and Sitterly’s ability to finish races, and usually in the top three, a serious challenge to Otto’s title was doubtful as the season hit mid-June.
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Johnny Pickard (Joe Starr Photo)

DACONO, Colo. – Johnny Pickard became the fifth different winner in five Englewood Supermodified Association features this year with his win Saturday night at Colorado Nat’l Speedway.

The Pueblo, Colo., driver started on the pole for the 25-lap main and out-raced Craig Moore into turn one. Pickard proceeded to open up a sizeable advantage over the rest of the nine-car field, and by the halfway point of the race he had caught the tail of the field.

As the race continued green, Pickard relied on his 32 years of racing experience while negotiating lap traffic.  His ability proved worthy; the caution never came and Pickard raced to a comfortable green-to-checkered win over Harold Evans. The fast-paced race took only nine minutes to run off.

“The car ran good,” Pickard said. “I didn’t have to work too hard for it – starting on the front row and all. I’d rather start from the back and race my way through the field, but they lined us up by points and I haven’t run much this year so I got the pole. We were strong and I think with a little bit of time, we could have made our way to the front if we started toward the back.”
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Joe Starr Photo, www.bigwestracing.com

by Keith Shampine

DACONO, Colo. – Chris Sheil started third and held off veteran Joe Priselac to record his first-ever Englewood Supermodified Association feature win Saturday night at Colorado Nat’l Speedway. Sheil’s triumph made him the fourth different winner in as many races on the 2010 ERA tour.

Sheil recorded the triumph after a record-breaking day for temperatures in the Denver area. The official high was 102 degrees, breaking a record from 1971. Track temperatures were said to be about 140 degrees when Sheil and 11 other winged ERA supermodifieds lapped CNS’s three-eighths-mile oval during practice.
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First-time 2010 winner Rich Castor Jr.

Photo courtesy of Joe Starr, www.bigwestracing.com

DACONO, Colo. – Rich Castor Jr. started shotgun on the 11-car Englewood Racing Association main Saturday at Colorado National Speedway and drove to his first feature victory of the season at the three-eighths-mile oval in a competitive 25-lap feature.  

Castor, who is the ERA president and defending point champion, quickly worked his way through the field of winged supers, taking the lead from a strong running Chris Sheil on lap 11.  Castor was never headed as he cruised to the victory, his first of 2010 in the ERA’s third event of the season.
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Sitterly at speed out of Oswego’s fast turn four

Mike “Pinner” Johnson photo.  www.gosupers.com

OSWEGO, N.Y. – Otto Sitterly drove his Nicotra Racing No. 7 to a fourth-place finish in Saturday night’s first of two 45-lap features at Oswego Speedway.  The top-five finish did little to negate Sitterly’s commanding point lead over the Oswego supermodified field, but it did end an impressive four-race winning streak that Otto had laid down to open the 2010 season.

Sitterly finished a disappointing ninth in the second 45-lapper and admitted the night never developed into what he had hoped.  The Canajoharie, N.Y., shoe spoke of tire issues that he felt clearly hindered his chances at a fifth victory on the 2010 season.
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Pueblo, Colo. – Colorado supermodified veteran Harold Evans took the lead at the halfway point of the Englewood Racing Association’s main event Saturday night at I-25 Speedway and proceeded to pull away for his first win of the 2010 season. 

After 12 cars made the May 29 ERA opener at Colorado National Speedway, eight winged supermodifieds made the trek to I-25, a tight quarter-mile oval located about two hours south of Denver.  The supermodified event was a part of I-25’s Open Wheel Clash, a special event that featured Grand American modifieds, legends cars and supers.
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Otto Sitterly (Pinner Photo)

Oswego, N.Y. – Otto Sitterly drove his blue G&I Homes No. 7 to his fourth win in as many weeks Saturday night with another win at Oswego Speedway.  

But Sitterly didn’t dominate this supermodified feature.  In fact, at one point a fourth win to start the season was very much in doubt.  

Sitterly ran in the bottom half of the top five for most of 45-lap affair.  A strong-running Dan Connors Jr. paced the field until the closing stages of the race, and pulled away from former Classic winners Joe Gosek and Tim Snyder in the process.  
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Joe Starr Photo

by Keith Shampine

Dacono, Colo. – Sixty-one-year-old Harry Stone proved experience pays Saturday night when he drove his 1985 Masterman chassis to victory in the Englewood Supermodified Association opener at Colorado National Speedway.

Stone started sixth in the 25-lapper and caught pole-sitter Chris Sheil by lap seven.  Stone worked the bottom on Sheil’s No. 33 for a handful of laps before sticking the inside groove on lap 10.  The Denver driver pulled his black No. 40 out to a full straightaway advantage, and was never headed on his way to the triumph.

Nick Haygood started 10th and moved into fifth by the second circuit.  Haygood passed Sheil just past halfway to move into second, but needed a caution to catch Stone.  The yellow never came, and Stone maneuvered through lap traffic like an old pro to garner his first feature win since 2008. 
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By Keith Shampine

Oswego, N.Y. – The blue G&I Homes Nicotra No. 7 is fast becoming a fixture at the front of the supermodified pack at Oswego Speedway.

Otto Sitterly drove to another convincing win Saturday at the fast five-eighths-mile speedway, this time starting from seventh and taking the lead from Canadian Dave McKnight Jr. on lap 36 of the Speedway Press / 2 Xtreme Towing 45-lap main.  After the pass, Sitterly wheeled his quick Hawk Jr. chassis to a 3.6-second lead in just nine laps to win his second feature in as many weeks.  McKnight finished second and Joey Payne third.

Including last season’s International Classic triumph, Sitterly has won three super mains in a row at Oswego.

Mike “Pinner” Johnson Photo

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