King of Wings V Takes Center Stage at the ‘Steel Palace’
OSWEGO, NY — The third round of the Shea Concrete ‘Steel Palace’ ISMA SuperSeries takes to Oswego Speedway on Saturday night with the running of Burke’s Home Centers/FleetPride ‘King of Wings V’ presented by Ponderosa Steakhouse.
With its inception in 2009, the ‘King of Wings’ event at Oswego Speedway continues to grow and has increasingly found a place on racing fans’ calendars from across the northeast and mid-west regions of the United States and into Canada.
Saturday’s action will crown the King of winged-Supermodified racing, as 30+ ISMA Supermodified winged racers embark upon the Port City to drive for the right to wear the coveted ‘King of Wings’ crown.
Charlie Schultz, Bob Bond, Mike Lichty, and Dave Gruel have been crowned King in year’s past, with Gruel the most recent winner in the Steve Miller Sweet 16.
Just last week Gruel drove to Turning Stone Resort Casino Victory Lane at Oswego in non-wing Novelis Supermodified competition, and he hopes it will serve as a pre-cursor for his return this weekend as he looks to become the first repeat King.
Schultz and Lichty are also expected to be in town on Saturday, joining Gruel on their quest to become two-time champions.
Schultz, the inaugural ‘King of Wings’, took third in last year’s 50-lap main event chasing Gruel and Johnny Benson to the line.
Lichty did not fare well in last year’s ‘King of Wings’ with a 20th place finish, but he is the most recent ISMA Supermodified feature winner in 2013, picking up a win at Stafford Speedway just two weeks ago.
With two ISMA Supermodified events already held at Oswego Speedway this season, Vic Miller’s duo of Chris Perley and Lou Cicconi has proved virtually un-stoppable.
Perley drove to victory lane back on May 4 at the ‘Steel Palace’ and currently holds a four point edge on Cicconi in the Shea Concrete ‘Steel Palace’ ISMA SuperSeries standings. A runner-up finish to Cicconi on June 8 has Perley hungry for an opportunity to be crowned King for the first time, the only honor remaining on the veteran’s mantle at Oswego in winged competition.
Cicconi’s victory at Oswego on June 8 was his first ever at the famed Speedway, putting him at the top of the odds makers list for this Saturday’s KoW crown. Currently the ISMA Supermodified point leader, Cicconi joins Perley as the only two drivers that have scored top five finishes in both Oswego ISMA Super races in 2013.
Canadian veteran Mark Sammut sits third in the Shea Concrete ‘Steel Palace’ ISMA SuperSeries standings at Oswego in his family owned No. 78 Supermodified. With finishes of third and eighth this season at Oswego, Sammut looks to continue his momentum and build upon his sixth place finish in the 2012 running of the ‘King of Wings’.
Ray Graham rides fourth in the ‘Steel Palace’ standings behind the wheel of the Clyde Booth owned and prepared No. 61. With two top ten finishes this season at Oswego, including a fourth place effort on May 4, Graham is only two points behind Sammut in the standings. Graham ran into issues before qualifying at last year’s ‘King of Wings’ in his own Supermodified and finished 21st back in 2011. Despite recent issues, Graham did drive to a fourth place finish in the inaugural ‘King of Wings’ in 2009.
Jon McKennedy rounds out the top five in the ‘Steel Palace’ ISMA SuperSeries point standings, just ahead of Bobby Dawson. McKennedy has two top ten finishes at Oswego this season and is currently the runner-up to Cicconi in the overall ISMA point battle. The driver of the Dunigan owned No. 79 will be a first time entrant into the ‘King of Wings’.
Dawson, Tim Ice, Bobby Magner, Dave McKnight, and Lichty currently complete the top ten order in the Shea Concrete Oswego standings for ISMA Supermodifieds.
The winged competition at Oswego this season has been stellar with top notch pilots Tim Jedrzejek, Ben Seitz, Jeff Locke, Moe Lilje, Ryan Coniam, Rob Summers, and Gruel among those outside the top ten in the Oswego standings.
After two events the highest Oswego Supermodified regular is currently Brandon Bellinger in the Daratt Farms No. 02 with Dan Connors Jr., Lou LeVea Sr., Gruel, Lou LeVea Jr., Shaun Gosselin, and Kody Graham behind.
The ‘King of Wings’ event schedule will see pit gates open at 1pm with hot laps beginning and grandstands opening at 3pm. ISMA Supermodified ‘King of Wings’ time trials will take place at 5pm with the night’s first heat race taking the green at 6:30pm.
Oswego Speedway’s Pathfinder Bank SBS will join the winged Supermodifieds on the racing card with a 35-lap main event.
The 8th annual Oswego Speedway Old Timer’s Reunion will also take place on Saturday morning beginning at 10am at Lighthouse Lanes in Oswego. For more information call (315) 342-5149 .
For more information on Oswego Speedway visit online at www.oswegospeedway.com, FOLLOW on Twitter @OswegoSpeedway, or LIKE on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OswegoSpeedway.
About Oswego Speedway: Oswego Speedway, a sports entertainment company, is a 5/8 mile semi-banked pavement racing oval located off the shores of Lake Ontario in scenic Oswego, NY. Oswego Speedway has been a continuously run weekly racing venue since August, 1951. The premier open-wheel pavement short track cars in the world, Supermodifieds, run weekly at Oswego Speedway making Oswego the only weekly Supermodified racing venue in the world. The Small Block Supermodifieds accompany the full blown Supers on a weekly Saturday night schedule which runs from May through September. Oswego Speedway is mentioned in racing circles as the “Indy of the East,” as no fewer than a dozen past and present competitors have competed at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway including Mario Andretti, arguably the greatest driver of all time, two-time Indy 500 champion Gordon Johncock, along with former International Classic Champions Bentley Warren, Joe Gosek, and Davey Hamilton.
Sources: Oswego Speedway PR