Shampine Blisters Oswego to Sit on Pole for 61st Budweiser International Classic 200

Shampine Blisters Oswego to Sit on Pole for 61st Budweiser International Classic 200

Story By: Camden Proud/Oswego Speedway

Photos By: Robert J. Clark/Oswego Speedway

OSWEGO, NY (September 1, 2017) – North Carolina’s Keith Shampine made history on Friday night at Oswego Speedway, becoming the first Shampine on the pole of the Budweiser International Classic 200 since his Uncle Jim in 1979. Shampine and the Syrell Racing No. 68 of Michael Barnes will sit on the front row for the 61st annual ‘Classic.’

Not even a season removed from his first Oswego victory, which came this past May, fittingly in the Jim Shampine Memorial, Shampine showed all day long that the TJ Toyota No. 55 built by Chris Osetek was the car to beat on Central New York Chevy Dealers Qualifying Night as Shampine brought the crowd to it’s feet by putting the legendary Shampine name back on the front row of the Classic for the first time since 1981, when Jim qualified on the outside pole.

“The car was outstanding,” Shampine said. “It’s a real pleasure to drive such a great piece and all the credit goes to Chris Osetek for designing and building it. I thought we had a good shot at the pole this year. The weekly time trials helped us gain experience in qualifying trim. I think we have a good shot at winning the Classic. Thanks to Chris, Brian Osetek, John Coe, TJ Toyota, and all my crew and fans.”

Starting on the outside of Shampine in the front row will be 2016 Track Champion Michael Barnes, as the two will split over $1,000 in cash from Central New York Chevy Dealers. The second row will be all Nicotra blue as teammates Otto Sitterly and Dave Shullick Jr. will fire alongside each other while Aric Iosue, Jeff Abold, last year’s polesitter Michael Muldoon, Tim Devendorf, Kody Graham and Joey Payne were the remaining top ten qualifiers.

Perhaps one of the most competitive International Classics we’ve seen in the past several years, every driver who qualified twentieth or higher was under the 17 second bracket. Locking in with the top ten were Joey Moriarty, Chris Perley, Bobby Bond, Brandon Bellinger, Tim Snyder, Bobby Santos, Tim Jedrzejek and Pat Lavery who qualified from eleventh to eighteenth.

With only top the top eighteen cars advancing directly into the the Classic to take place on Sunday, September 3, drivers who qualified from nineteenth on back will be forced to race their way into the big dance with Sunday’s semi-finals.

Classic Weekend action continues on Saturday with the second annual Toyota ‘Mod Classic’ 150 presented by McDonald’s plus the ‘Supernationals’ 60 for the winged warriors of the ISMA Supermodifieds. Tickets remain available and can be purchased at the track or by phoning a box office representative at (315)-342-0646.

For more information on Oswego Speedway, be sure to visit online at OswegoSpeedway.com. You can also FOLLOW on Twitter @OswegoSpeedway or LIKE on Facebook at Facebook.com/OswegoSpeedway.

Novelis Supermodified Budweiser International Classic 200 Time Trials: 1. 55 Keith Shampine – 16.104, 2. 68 Michael Barnes – 16.241, 3. 7 Otto Sitterly – 16.348, 4. 2 Dave Shullick Jr – 16.349, 5. 11 Aric Iosue – 16.357, 6. 05 Jeff Abold – 16.422, 7. 15 Michael Muldoon – 16.551, 8. 5 Tim Devendorf – 16.485, 9. 91 Kody Graham – 16.601, 10. 14 Joey Payne – 16.625, 11. 51 Joey Moriarty – 16.647, 12. 44 Chris Perley – 16.664, 13. 47 Bobby Bond – 16.680, 14. 02 Brandon Bellinger – 16.707, 15. 0 Tim Snyder – 16.731, 16. 21 Bobby Santos – 16.657, 17. 72 Tim Jedrzejek – 16.862, 18. 6 Pat Lavery – 16.876, 19. 00 Joe Gosek – 16.891, 20. 01 Dan Connors – 16.975, 21. 50 Dave Gruel – 17.001, 22. 70 Dave McKnight – 17.118, 23. 79 Brian Sobus – 17.192, 24. 94 Logan Rayvals – 17.264, 25. 83 Lou LeVea Jr – 17.799, 26. 69 Brian Osetek – 17.874, 27. 71 Bill Sharkey – 17.890, 28. 77 Shaun Gosselin – 17.905, 29. 24 Jerry Curran – 17.916, 30. 56 Hal LaTulip – 18.334, 31. 66 Lou LeVea Sr – 18.611, 32. 1 Jeff West – NT

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.