Latest / BREAK/FIX the Motorsports & Vehicle Enthusiast Variety Show / Steel, Speed, and Storytelling: The Living Legacy of Oswego

Transcript

Steel, Speed, and Storytelling: The Living Legacy of Oswego · BREAK/FIX the Motorsports & Vehicle Enthusiast Variety Show

• 0:00
  Break fix podcast is all about capturing the living history of people from
• 0:04
  all over the auto sphere, from wrench turners and racers to artists, authors,
• 0:09
  designers, and everything in between.
• 0:11
  Our goal is to inspire a new generation of petrol heads that wonder.
• 0:16
  How did they get that job or become that person?
• 0:19
  The road to success is paved by all of us because everyone has a story.
• 0:27
  The Oswego Speedway located in Oswego, New York was built in 1951 when
• 0:33
  original owners, Harry George and William Caruso converted the one time
• 0:37
  Wine Creek horse track into a three eighth mile dirt auto racing facility.
• 0:42
  The track was then paved during the 1952 season and remained a three eighth mile
• 0:46
  track until 1961, when it was enlarged to its current five eighths mile size.
• 0:51
  The Oswego Speedway has been a continuously run weekly racetrack
• 0:55
  since it opened in August of 1951.
• 0:58
  And joining us tonight is Camden Proud, Public Relations Director
• 1:01
  from Oswego Speedway, to talk to us about its history, importance, and
• 1:05
  evolution in the world of motorsports, and especially super modified racing.
• 1:09
  And with that, let's welcome Camden to BreakFix.
• 1:11
  Thanks for having me, guys.
• 1:12
  Looking forward to being a part of it tonight.
• 1:13
  And joining me tonight is one of our regular co hosts on BreakFix.
• 1:17
  You know him well.
• 1:18
  It's Mountain Man Dan, who heads up our Mountain View division, all things
• 1:21
  dirt, off road, trucks, and bikes.
• 1:24
  Welcome back, Dan.
• 1:24
  Good to be here.
• 1:25
  We also have a special guest with us tonight.
• 1:28
  Let's welcome back Kip Zeider from IMRRC, who's been going to
• 1:31
  events at Oswego for over 50 years.
• 1:33
  Well, thanks, Dan.
• 1:34
  And God, does that make me feel old?
• 1:37
  Let's go back in time to when Kip was young and had long hair.
• 1:41
  And let's talk about the history of Oswego Speedway.
• 1:44
  It started out as a track for horses.
• 1:47
  Do you guys know how many years horses ran on it before it got transferred
• 1:50
  over to automobiles running on it?
• 1:52
  I do not.
• 1:53
  No, I've actually seen maybe one picture ever of horses up here on the track
• 1:58
  and I don't know when that started.
• 1:59
  All I know is when the Crusoe's bought it in 1951, that was when the
• 2:04
  conversion started and that was the reason that it was left dirt because
• 2:08
  that was the easiest thing for them to do in the first season was leave
• 2:11
  the dirt surface down because that's what it was used for with the horses.
• 2:14
  1952, they jumped right into asphalt racing and that's
• 2:18
  the way it is today still.
• 2:20
  I'm sure at that time, leaving a dirt wasn't uncommon because
• 2:23
  in the infancy of racing back then, a lot of tracks were dirt.
• 2:26
  I'm assuming that it wasn't out of the norm for it to be
• 2:28
  a dirt track at that time.
• 2:29
  Exactly.
• 2:30
  And what they did in 52, it took some time before the supers were brought
• 2:34
  into the speedway on a weekly basis.
• 2:36
  That was.
• 2:36
  In the early sixties.
• 2:37
  So for a while they were running a mods and B mods kind of older coops, things
• 2:42
  like that, that most of the dirt tracks around here, that was what was being
• 2:45
  run broadly across New York state.
• 2:47
  I think they did the easiest thing to kind of get their feet
• 2:49
  wet as track owners initially.
• 2:51
  So who won the inaugural season at Oswego?
• 2:53
  I know quite a few of the names back then.
• 2:56
  And one of them was John Treacy senior, who was the father of John Treacy jr.
• 3:00
  That still owns the track today.
• 3:02
  He raced in the first ever season here, but our records go all the way back to
• 3:06
  1951 and we do a good job updating those.
• 3:09
  It's always fun to take a trip down memory lane.
• 3:11
  Camden, you came to Oswego way later than Kip did, but Kip, you also came
• 3:15
  in during the asphalt generation.
• 3:17
  So do you know of a time or were you aware of when Oswego was run as a dirt circuit?
• 3:22
  Yeah, but only from the history books.
• 3:24
  I mean, it was only a dirt track for the first year and then it's been paved ever
• 3:28
  since and not to fast forward the story.
• 3:30
  Cause I'm sure we'll get into it.
• 3:32
  The interesting thing, and Cameron can talk about this after Oswego's normal
• 3:36
  season is over with the international classic Labor Day weekend, it becomes
• 3:39
  a dirt track again for super dirt week.
• 3:42
  The whole year is I've been there apart from going to super dirt week every year.
• 3:45
  It's asphalt.
• 3:46
  Keep in mind that back in those days, there were probably more dirt tracks,
• 3:49
  as you point out, but it was easier to convert and run a dirt track one
• 3:53
  night and an asphalt track the next.
• 3:55
  The first super dirt week, which was held on the Syracuse mile one
• 3:59
  mile dirt track in 1972, I think.
• 4:01
  The guy that qualified third was Jerry Cook, who was a multi time
• 4:04
  NASCAR asphalt modified champion.
• 4:06
  Basically, all you did in those days was switch tires, so it was
• 4:09
  easy to convert back and forth.
• 4:12
  Obviously, over the years, it's become much more specialized, and
• 4:14
  now a dirt car is a dirt car, and an asphalt car is an asphalt car,
• 4:18
  so there's not that changeover that there used to be in the early days.
• 4:21
  But that's a changeover in the car, but as you mentioned, the changeover of the
• 4:26
  track surface itself has got to be pretty.
• 4:28
  Difficult.
• 4:29
  That's not as easy as just changing tires on your car.
• 4:31
  So how do you bring in the dirt?
• 4:33
  How do you change the surface of the track?
• 4:35
  Does it mess up the asphalt?
• 4:36
  I've heard it happen a couple of years ago.
• 4:38
  They did that at Bristol.
• 4:39
  They were going to run NASCARs on the dirt surface.
• 4:41
  You guys are used to doing this, but how does exactly does that play out?
• 4:45
  They did do NASCAR on the dirt Bristol for a few years and.
• 4:48
  Basically same type of process here.
• 4:50
  They just truck in loads and loads of clay.
• 4:52
  Some of it is stored right behind the turn to wall here.
• 4:55
  And it's kind of just sits there all winter and track crew with dirt
• 4:59
  car does a phenomenal job getting the surface in shape every year.
• 5:02
  Not an easy task.
• 5:03
  The place is pretty beat after every super dirt week.
• 5:06
  And we've had to patch certain sections of the asphalt and repair the walls,
• 5:10
  paint, and just give the place a little love every year after super dirt week,
• 5:14
  usually more than that, what would be required, but it's a great event.
• 5:18
  It's honestly helped a lot to put this track on the map even more than it
• 5:22
  already was with the supermodel sites.
• 5:23
  Yeah, imagine clean up afterwards is an undertaking in itself because asphalt,
• 5:28
  you might get some debris from the tire and rubber kicking up to the sides, but
• 5:32
  dirt, we go out and have to wet it down or solvent so it doesn't get too dry.
• 5:35
  So it's coating the walls with mud and everything and then kicking
• 5:37
  it up into the stands as well.
• 5:38
  So I'm sure it's very interesting mess to clean up when it's done with.
• 5:41
  It is.
• 5:42
  We have a really hard working maintenance crew and They do a great job and I
• 5:45
  actually just walked the tracks the best that it's looked after Super
• 5:49
  Dirt Week that I can remember and they've been doing it since 2016 here.
• 5:52
  So I think we have a couple spots to patch, but the surface is in
• 5:55
  surprisingly good shape this year.
• 5:57
  It's just a lot of mud and all sorts of fun stuff to clean up.
• 6:00
  I think one of the pluses of Super Dirt Week coming to Oswego, Super
• 6:04
  Dirt Week ran on the Syracuse Mile from, I think, 1972 to 2015.
• 6:10
  Goofy politicians wanted to get rid of it, extend the midway and all
• 6:13
  that stuff, which still pains me.
• 6:15
  But they wanted to keep the event in upstate New York.
• 6:18
  But Oswego was the only track that really had seating capacity
• 6:21
  anywhere close to what Syracuse held.
• 6:23
  So they moved it to Oswego.
• 6:25
  There was a huge influx of money associated with it.
• 6:29
  And with that, they were able to basically get the rear grandstand, which was getting
• 6:33
  pretty shabby in a lot of sections.
• 6:35
  They basically redid the entire rear grandstand completely, made a lot
• 6:39
  of other, you know, improvements.
• 6:40
  Improvements to the track.
• 6:41
  So the fact that you've got dirt money helping to keep the asphalt
• 6:46
  track alive and in and in fact increase a lot of the facilities,
• 6:50
  I think is kind of interesting.
• 6:51
  And we'd never seen Oswego as dirt, obviously.
• 6:54
  So the first time they announced super dirt or Week was moving to
• 6:57
  Oswego, it's like, oh my gosh, we gotta be there to see that.
• 6:59
  You already talked about putting the surface down, but it is a
• 7:02
  real science to keep a dirt track.
• 7:04
  Drivable regardless, but it's even more of a science to put dirt down on an
• 7:08
  asphalt track and basically have a month before you're going to run your big race.
• 7:12
  And so much is contingent on mother nature and all of that stuff.
• 7:15
  But they've done a remarkably good job most of the years and making it
• 7:19
  a very good competitive race, but a lot of money came in with that.
• 7:21
  And to their credit, I think they used it to improve the whole
• 7:24
  facility, which is a good thing.
• 7:26
  So as as we go has evolved and more high profile events.
• 7:30
  Have happened there.
• 7:31
  Dirt week happens, all these kinds of things.
• 7:32
  How has the track evolved?
• 7:34
  What has changed from a safety perspective?
• 7:37
  What has changed about the facilities itself?
• 7:40
  Just like the whole of motorsports, the Speedway is always working hard
• 7:43
  to improve the safety of the cars.
• 7:45
  And Of course, the phone blocks that started at Lancaster back in the 90s
• 7:49
  have been here ever since also, and we have a phenomenal track safety crew,
• 7:53
  in my opinion, best in the country, of course, I'm biased, but there's been
• 7:57
  accidents, fires, things like that, that have happened here that I firmly believe
• 8:00
  if they happen anywhere else, short track wise, be looking at a different outcome.
• 8:04
  Uh, our track safety crew consists of EMTs, Swiggle firefighters.
• 8:08
  They are really great group of guys.
• 8:10
  And I wouldn't want to race anywhere else on a weekly basis for that reason.
• 8:13
  And great tech crew as well.
• 8:15
  Safety officials, very thorough doing everything they can to
• 8:18
  continue to evolve these race cars.
• 8:20
  And as the speeds get higher, I think we improve our safety as well.
• 8:23
  Original owners, like we brought the opportunity for the current
• 8:27
  owners to buy it from the original owners bought it and converted it
• 8:29
  from a horse track to a car track.
• 8:31
  Yeah.
• 8:31
  The Crystal family.
• 8:32
  Owned it for a while, and then it was Pat Furlon and Steve Gioia.
• 8:37
  Pat being the father of Greg Furlon, who's won six classics here.
• 8:41
  One of the most successful drivers of all time.
• 8:44
  And Steve Gioia is one of the most successful drivers of all
• 8:47
  time here in his own right.
• 8:48
  So, The Tracy's same deal.
• 8:51
  They'd been involved in racing here for the longest time with Johnny and
• 8:55
  Eric's father being one of the original competitors here, Johnny and Eric,
• 8:58
  both race supers themselves, and once they heard that Pat and Steve wanted
• 9:02
  to sell the track, I think it was 2000.
• 9:05
  They're great businessmen.
• 9:07
  They're into farming, trucking, and they have a new concrete business.
• 9:10
  The opportunity presented itself and they took advantage of it.
• 9:13
  And when they first bought this place, they've put a lot of improvements into
• 9:16
  it, and certainly very appreciative of all they've done to keep the place alive.
• 9:20
  That tells me the fact that they've raced everything.
• 9:22
  Buying it wasn't just some purchase.
• 9:24
  I mean, they had, their heart was in it when they did that.
• 9:26
  So that's, that's awesome.
• 9:27
  Knowing the owners of it are into it.
• 9:29
  Exactly.
• 9:29
  As long as the Tracy's own at this track will not.
• 9:32
  Ever be anything other than a weekly super modified venue and
• 9:35
  kind of puts my mind at ease.
• 9:36
  Their hearts are very much invested into super modified racing and
• 9:40
  the history of this place and just preserving that for years to come.
• 9:43
  That's awesome to hear.
• 9:44
  So on another episode, we heard tidbits of the Oswego history through Roy Sova, who's
• 9:51
  been the voice of Oswego for many years.
• 9:53
  We're going to talk about him a little bit more as we go along.
• 9:55
  Oswego has this nickname, the Steel Palace, but it's also had a reputation
• 10:00
  over its long history of being one of the most violent tracks around, and
• 10:04
  even Roy said that during his interview.
• 10:06
  That's due in part to the steel walls that surround the circuit.
• 10:10
  So you mentioned some of the safety changes, but for those of us that
• 10:13
  are unfamiliar with that, can you kind of expand upon more about what
• 10:16
  that means and how Oswego is broken?
• 10:19
  It's reputation for being a violent track.
• 10:21
  I still think it can be very violent, but still steel walls down the straightaways.
• 10:26
  And once you get past the foam, I know all too well, the feeling of hitting
• 10:29
  the steel and it's not pleasant.
• 10:31
  It doesn't move.
• 10:31
  I can tell you that.
• 10:32
  I think it's more so the evolution in the race cars,
• 10:35
  seats, seat belts, Hans devices.
• 10:37
  The way the cars are built to withstand a wreck like that and impact like that.
• 10:41
  So steel walls haven't gone anywhere.
• 10:43
  I just think the cars have become that much stronger and that much safer.
• 10:47
  So how does, as we go compare it to other tracks, how are
• 10:49
  some other short tracks built?
• 10:52
  Are they using steel as well?
• 10:53
  Are they using cement?
• 10:54
  Do they have some sort of arm co something else?
• 10:56
  Depends on where you go.
• 10:58
  There's some.
• 10:58
  Tracks that Supermodified's race had out in New England that have only
• 11:02
  walls on the straightaway and just grass embankments in the corners.
• 11:05
  There's Evans Mills.
• 11:06
  We go and race our small black car up there and that's no walls in the corners,
• 11:09
  but concrete down the straightaways.
• 11:11
  So it really depends.
• 11:12
  Shangri La too, for example, which is reopening.
• 11:14
  Has concrete walls all the way around, but foam in the corners.
• 11:18
  Yeah, it depends on where you go, but the vast majority of short tracks
• 11:22
  don't have a NASCAR Safer Barrier.
• 11:24
  It's primarily concrete or steel.
• 11:27
  With Oswego, what sort of banking do you guys have at the track there?
• 11:30
  We've always just referred to it as semi banked.
• 11:32
  It depends on who you ask, what the angle of the banking is, is
• 11:35
  degree wise, but semi banked is probably the best way to describe it.
• 11:38
  There's a big debate on how long the track is too.
• 11:40
  We call it a five eighths.
• 11:41
  If you walk one way, it's a half.
• 11:43
  If you walk around the outside of the track, it's, it's the five eighths
• 11:46
  mile, so it's a debate between all of us Oswegonians up here, I guess.
• 11:51
  So we mentioned Super Dirt Week.
• 11:53
  Are there any other significant events or?
• 11:56
  events that people should recognize that are being held
• 11:58
  at Oswego throughout the year.
• 12:00
  You know, we said in the intro, weekly events, the track is always busy.
• 12:03
  How many events a year does the track hold?
• 12:05
  We're going to have 12 race weekends in 2024.
• 12:08
  It isn't what it used to be as far as the number of events, but I think what's
• 12:12
  really cool about Oswego now is that every weekend is A special event, so to speak.
• 12:18
  We have the classic in September Labor Day weekend, 68th season this year.
• 12:22
  Something I think is really cool is we're having what we're calling the
• 12:25
  Stock Car Spectacular on Friday night.
• 12:27
  That's the Dave London Memorial for the Super Stocks and then
• 12:29
  the New York State Compacts.
• 12:31
  On Saturday we do Modified Madness with the NASCAR Wheel and Modified
• 12:34
  Tour and the XMR Sportsman Modifieds.
• 12:36
  And then on Sunday is Super Sunday and we have the Big
• 12:39
  Block Swig of Super Modifieds.
• 12:41
  The SBS Small Block Super Modifieds and then the Wayne
• 12:44
  350 Small Block Super Modifieds.
• 12:46
  So if you don't want to hang out all weekend, if you only, you know, like
• 12:50
  one of those divisions, one of those days, you pay more than another, I
• 12:53
  think we have something for everybody variety wise on Classic Weekend.
• 12:56
  Coming from two different, let's say, generations of Oswego, Camden and Kip,
• 13:02
  can you guys agree on who the greatest of all time to turn laps at Oswego is?
• 13:07
  Oh, wow.
• 13:09
  Well, how about top three?
• 13:10
  Well, okay.
• 13:11
  So I'll take a shot at this first.
• 13:12
  And again, keep in mind, I'm viewing this from the grandstand now in
• 13:16
  recent years, Camden's viewing it from behind the steering wheel.
• 13:19
  So that may temper our feelings a little bit, but I guess I would say.
• 13:23
  Probably Jimmy Champagne, the great Bentley Warren, who I'm, little plug
• 13:27
  here, I'm desperately hoping to have at the center a little bit later on
• 13:30
  this year with one of the more iconic cars that ever raced at Oswego.
• 13:33
  And from a longevity standpoint, and Cam may agree with me on this, I would
• 13:39
  say there's a fellow named Joe Gosek.
• 13:41
  Joe's been running at the Oswego Speedway for 40 years.
• 13:44
  And he's still getting it done.
• 13:45
  Those might be my top three.
• 13:47
  I would agree with you, statistically wise, at least on
• 13:49
  Jim Champagne and Bentley Warren.
• 13:51
  I think you have to say Jimmy's the best ever.
• 13:54
  Obviously, I never got to see him race.
• 13:55
  And when I started coming here, Bentley was towards the end of his career, right?
• 13:59
  So I know statistically, they're far and away ahead of everybody else.
• 14:02
  And then, I've always said from 3 to 10 or whatever, if you're ranking
• 14:07
  drivers, it's kind of an open debate.
• 14:09
  Eddie Ballinger Jr.
• 14:10
  sits at 52 wins.
• 14:12
  Joe Gozic has 45 and is still racing and competitive enough to win today.
• 14:17
  Otto Sitterly with 44.
• 14:19
  Nolan Swift with 41, Greg Furlan with 36, Doug Hevron and Doug
• 14:23
  Diderot at 33, and Mike Ordway at 30.
• 14:26
  And that's just your top 10.
• 14:28
  There's guys today that are still racing right now.
• 14:30
  You're Michael Barnes, Dave Danzers, people like that, who
• 14:33
  I think will continue to expand on their accomplishments so far.
• 14:37
  Dave just winning the International Classic for the first time this past
• 14:40
  season, and then went out and won the big Open Wheel Showdown in Las Vegas.
• 14:44
  I'm big on the history here, and it'll be interesting to see how the record
• 14:48
  books change here in the seasons to come.
• 14:50
  So other than drivers that you guys have raced there on a regular basis, are there
• 14:54
  any, like, NASCAR or Indy drivers that have come out there to run the track?
• 14:58
  Mario Andretti raced here back in the 60s in a USAC sprint
• 15:01
  car, which is pretty neat.
• 15:03
  We had Mark Martin come and run here in ASA competition back in the mid 80s.
• 15:08
  And there's also a super cool YouTube video where Daryl Waltrip
• 15:11
  got behind the wheel of one of the Bowley Flyin 5 Supers and did an
• 15:15
  exhibition lap with Bentley Warren.
• 15:17
  More recently, I think in 2011 or 12, we had Casey Kane come in and
• 15:22
  do an exhibition with Otto Sitterly in one of the Nocotra Supers.
• 15:26
  So there's been a lot of NASCAR, IndyCar guys that have come out.
• 15:29
  And one of the coolest parts about the history of this place is that it's sort
• 15:33
  of bridged the gap for some of these short track open wheel guys like Joe Gozic.
• 15:37
  Doug Diderot, Bentley Warren have all gone out and raced Indianapolis and
• 15:41
  been successful in IndyCar competition.
• 15:43
  So another reason they call it the Indy of the East.
• 15:46
  You've already mentioned a couple of different car types in here,
• 15:50
  but first Camden, tell us about your superhero origin story and
• 15:54
  how you got into motorsports.
• 15:55
  Well, I definitely have to thank my dad for that.
• 15:57
  He was racing supers in his rookie year, actually the year I was
• 16:01
  born back in 1998 and continued to race super modified through 2002.
• 16:05
  And then as soon as he sort of semi retired, I get in a quarter
• 16:08
  midget, ran that for a while.
• 16:10
  And first thing I wanted to do when I graduated to a full size car
• 16:13
  was get up racing here at Oswego.
• 16:15
  And Kip, what about you?
• 16:16
  How did you get tied up in Oswego?
• 16:18
  I've never been an actual racer, but I've been a race fan my entire life.
• 16:22
  We really started out at Shangri La Speedway in Owego, New York, not
• 16:27
  to confuse the two, but watching weekly asphalt modified races, the
• 16:31
  greats like Richie Evans and Dutch Hoag and Jerry Cook and Jeff Bodine.
• 16:34
  Shangri La was an every Saturday night for us for a couple of years.
• 16:37
  And then we discovered Oswego Speedway.
• 16:40
  And I, I remember the first time we went up there.
• 16:43
  We were sitting at the McDonald's, which is right at the entrance
• 16:45
  of International Drive.
• 16:46
  This is back when nobody had an enclosed trailer.
• 16:49
  Everything was out in the open and most of the Oswego Supers
• 16:52
  were cut down Indy Roadster cars.
• 16:54
  So we're sitting at McDonald's and we see Todd Gibson and the
• 16:57
  Flintstone Flyer from Ohio tow in, go by, headed up to the track.
• 17:02
  And we all looked at each other and said, Oh my goodness.
• 17:05
  Is that what a super looks like?
• 17:06
  And from then on, we were hooked.
• 17:07
  And that was probably in the.
• 17:09
  Very late 60s, early 70s.
• 17:11
  I've just been a fan ever since.
• 17:12
  Kind of interesting how oval track racing is different in
• 17:15
  different parts of the country.
• 17:17
  New England versus the Southeast versus out in California and things like that.
• 17:20
  And so for us here in what we would consider the DMV or the Mid Atlantic,
• 17:24
  I think we're most familiar with late models or World of Outlaws cars, right?
• 17:28
  The sprint cars.
• 17:29
  So you mentioned super modified and there's actually.
• 17:32
  A news article from a couple of years ago, where Proud Motorsports, your
• 17:37
  last name, you guys purchased the super modified operation at Oswego.
• 17:41
  So I wanted to pull that apart first, talking about the different types of
• 17:45
  cars, but also talking about how do you buy the super modified operation?
• 17:49
  And how does that work?
• 17:51
  Not easily.
• 17:51
  The car we have right now is a former Doug Diderot car.
• 17:55
  It was built in 2018.
• 17:57
  Doug raced it for a couple of seasons and then retired.
• 18:00
  And.
• 18:00
  Honestly, the operation we have right now is top notch and if it wasn't for Doug
• 18:05
  giving us such an outstanding deal on it, I wouldn't even have this opportunity.
• 18:08
  It's honestly always been my dream to race the super modified.
• 18:11
  And prior to that, I had run on the small block class here for five years and it has
• 18:16
  always just been a lot more affordable.
• 18:18
  And I didn't really feel like I'd ever be able to move up to the super
• 18:21
  modified class just due to lack of funding and things like that.
• 18:24
  And we have the best financial backing between the sponsors that I've ever had.
• 18:28
  And The deal that we got from Doug to go ahead and do this
• 18:31
  really made it all possible.
• 18:32
  So they're a unique race car, fastest short track car in the world.
• 18:36
  This is the only place they're run weekly anywhere in the world.
• 18:39
  It's very special to be able to be a part of that, but it's an
• 18:42
  enormous financial undertaking too.
• 18:44
  What is a super modified compared to some of these other cars?
• 18:48
  And there's different stages of super modified that come to understand as well.
• 18:51
  Maybe the best way to do it would sort of be explain what
• 18:54
  each class we have is here.
• 18:55
  It gets a bit confusing, but since 1992, we had what was formerly
• 18:59
  known as a limited super modified.
• 19:01
  Now they call it a small block super modified or SPS.
• 19:04
  And it's not a true super modified frame.
• 19:06
  It's more of like a IMCA modified frame, like on the dirt, but
• 19:10
  they've been a great feeder 92.
• 19:12
  That's when my dad started in and myself as well.
• 19:15
  So that's the small block super modified.
• 19:17
  They're run by a Chevy 602 crate motor.
• 19:19
  Independent front suspension, about 400 horsepower.
• 19:22
  Then we have the 350 super modified class, which just was introduced
• 19:26
  here on a weekly basis in 2019.
• 19:28
  Most of them are older big block, super modified frames with the big
• 19:32
  top wing over the top of the roll cage and thinner tires all the way around.
• 19:37
  Also using a Chevrolet crate engine, this one being a 604.
• 19:41
  So that's kind of one step down from the big block class and then
• 19:44
  the big block super modified.
• 19:46
  About 850, 900 horsepower, 18 inch right rear tire.
• 19:50
  We're averaging about 138, 140 mile an hour laps.
• 19:54
  Average speed goes around the track five eighths of a mile and 15,
• 19:58
  three seconds is the track record.
• 20:00
  So very fast, very powerful race car.
• 20:03
  Doing the laps there in the 15 second range and hitting speeds
• 20:05
  of like 150 miles an hour.
• 20:06
  I was reading online, they're saying you can generate up to like 4 G's
• 20:10
  of force in the turns up there.
• 20:11
  So that's, that's a good bit of force that the drivers are feeling
• 20:13
  going into the turns on that track.
• 20:15
  Yeah, it is.
• 20:15
  The G force is really something.
• 20:17
  I actually wasted my first couple races in a big black super because
• 20:21
  I was uncomfortable in the seat.
• 20:22
  The G force was throwing me around so much I couldn't even drive the
• 20:25
  car until I got more comfortable.
• 20:26
  So yeah, it's, it's really impressive.
• 20:28
  When I get in the grandstands and sit back and look at those cars, I
• 20:31
  look at the people around me and say, I can't believe I actually do that.
• 20:34
  They're just an incredible machine.
• 20:36
  So when you look at them in picture and you take away that sort of World
• 20:40
  of Outlaws style wing on top, they really look like a late 60s, early
• 20:44
  70s era Formula car, Indy car.
• 20:47
  So is that about right?
• 20:48
  Yeah, they do have very similar suspension to Indy car, Formula 1
• 20:52
  cars with the independent front now.
• 20:54
  That was.
• 20:55
  Illegal for a while.
• 20:56
  And then I think 2012, they allowed the independent front suspension.
• 20:59
  They are sort of like an Indy car.
• 21:01
  And we also call it the Indy of the East.
• 21:03
  That's not for nothing either.
• 21:04
  For your listeners who really can conceptualize it,
• 21:07
  it's all open wheel stuff.
• 21:08
  It's not a closed cockpit, like an asphalt modified.
• 21:11
  The cars are just wicked looking.
• 21:13
  Sitting still and they're even more wicked looking when they're going
• 21:16
  140 miles an hour around the track.
• 21:17
  Big block, methanol, every year I go there I sit under the big covered
• 21:21
  grandstand because after about two laps all that methanol fumes comes wafting
• 21:25
  up into the grandstand and I'm telling you guys if I get home at one o'clock in
• 21:29
  the morning and I still smell methanol and my ears are still ringing from the
• 21:33
  sound it's been a good night at Oswego.
• 21:35
  So what are they like to drive?
• 21:36
  I mean you said 130, 140 miles an hour.
• 21:38
  Are they Pretty well planted.
• 21:40
  Are you sliding them the whole time?
• 21:42
  What's the driving style like, and how do you manage a machine like this?
• 21:45
  Just all depends on the handling of the car, obviously.
• 21:48
  And I think the track here changes so much, but right now we have more
• 21:52
  downforce in the super modified than we've probably ever had with the rear
• 21:56
  wing behind the roll cage, they were shoveled tails for a while, just a lot
• 22:00
  of sheet metal around the roll cage.
• 22:01
  Then we moved to tell sections, which was again, just kind of a
• 22:04
  big wing wrapped in sheet metal.
• 22:06
  And now we have the tail wing, which sort of looks like a copper classic
• 22:09
  Phoenix wing back on the supers of the nineties that they had running out west.
• 22:13
  So there is a lot of downforce right now.
• 22:15
  We're going to be taking some of that away this season, actually,
• 22:17
  but they are very planted compared to what the tail section cars were
• 22:21
  when I first started racing supers.
• 22:23
  Kip, you have a obviously longer vantage point when it comes to super
• 22:27
  modifieds and you've seen them change.
• 22:30
  a ton over 50 years.
• 22:31
  So tell us about some of the older cars and the improvements you've seen
• 22:35
  and changes that you've witnessed.
• 22:36
  For the longest time that we went during our early days there was simply
• 22:40
  one class of car and it was the super modified and you'd run heats and semis
• 22:46
  and a feature and there weren't three different classes of cars like there
• 22:49
  are now which is great because it does offer a lot of variety and I enjoy that.
• 22:54
  But there was just one class of car.
• 22:55
  So it started when we were there with the Indianapolis roadster bodies,
• 23:00
  which were cut down and all cobbled up.
• 23:02
  The cars look totally awesome.
• 23:03
  They got a little bit more aerodynamic just hearing Camden
• 23:07
  say they're going to take a little of the downforce away this year.
• 23:09
  I'm wondering how they're doing that.
• 23:10
  Are they going to make the rear wing smaller or what they're going to do there?
• 23:13
  Well, we've been part of that whole evolution and for a period of time, the.
• 23:18
  Rulebook at Oswego was almost microscopically thin because
• 23:22
  we went through the era of actual rear engine cars.
• 23:25
  I remember one season when Jeff Bodine raced a rear engine
• 23:29
  car, and pretty successfully.
• 23:30
  Jimmy Champagne, who was probably one of the most Innovative drivers and
• 23:35
  competitors ever in the history of the Speedway was the first guy to come
• 23:38
  out with the offset approach where the engine and the drivetrain is all hung
• 23:42
  out on the left because all the car does obviously is turn left and Jimmy
• 23:46
  made a rear engine super modified that was banned I think after one season
• 23:51
  because it was just so dominant.
• 23:52
  So we've seen the evolution of the cars, the evolution of the design of the cars,
• 23:56
  at least from those of us that sit in the stands, when they went to the fixed
• 24:00
  wing that Camden's explaining now here, four or five years ago, there was mixed
• 24:05
  feelings on that because it didn't look like the traditional super modified
• 24:09
  that we had all become used to watching.
• 24:11
  My thought was, I don't want to be the last guy sittin in the grandstand watchin
• 24:15
  the last super modified race at Oswego.
• 24:17
  So if this is what it takes to keep the class going, I'm all for it.
• 24:20
  It's been fun seeing that whole evolution from the indie
• 24:23
  roadsters to the open body work.
• 24:26
  With these cars being so specialized, where do the chassis come from?
• 24:31
  Where do the parts come from?
• 24:32
  You know, if you're in the NASCAR world, everything comes
• 24:34
  out of like, Morrisville, right?
• 24:36
  I mean, it's all based in one sort of area.
• 24:39
  So how does it work for supermodifieds?
• 24:41
  Where's all this stuff coming from?
• 24:42
  Or are people still building these things in their barns and their sheds?
• 24:46
  I'll let Kip talk about how that was back in the 60s, 70s, 80s.
• 24:50
  That's probably a better question for him more so than me, but now the cars
• 24:54
  are mass produced by Joey Hawksby at Hawk Junior Chassis here in Oswego.
• 24:58
  But I'll let Kip jump into what it was like back in those days.
• 25:03
  It was much, much more backyard pull parts out of the junkyard,
• 25:07
  all that kind of stuff.
• 25:08
  I mean, when we first started asphalt modified spectating, I dare say
• 25:13
  that almost every car that rolled in there was built by the owner
• 25:16
  out of his garage, out of the local garage downtown, something like that.
• 25:20
  The first guy to get into mass production.
• 25:23
  Of asphalt modified chassis and stuff was a guy by the name of Mayer
• 25:28
  Troyer, who is one of my favorite modified drivers of all time.
• 25:30
  I had a friend who was modified racing, and depends on how you look at this,
• 25:34
  either Troyer destroyed the sport or opened it up to more people, because once
• 25:39
  Troyer came out with his cars, if you needed one of those to be competitive,
• 25:43
  and if you crashed it, you had to call Troyer by a front clip or a rear clip
• 25:46
  or something like that, instead of going to the local, Junkyard and finding
• 25:50
  parts so racing in general obviously has become much more specialized regardless
• 25:54
  of what kind of class you're talking about Be it grassroots or the top of the
• 25:59
  thing But yeah back in the early days when I was there Everybody built their
• 26:03
  own car for the most part and like cam says now Hawk builds all of the chassis
• 26:08
  or at least the vast majority of the chassis that run at the speedway The vast
• 26:13
  majority are Hawk Chassis, Joey Hawksby, and then Paul Kaloka of Oswego built
• 26:18
  several Extreme Chassis, he calls them.
• 26:20
  There's not as many of them left racing at Oswego anymore.
• 26:24
  If you go through the field, it is mostly Hawk Chassis and Extreme Chassis.
• 26:27
  And then there's a couple of One off cars.
• 26:29
  Chris Ick, who actually works at the Aerodyne Wind Tunnel down
• 26:33
  in Morrisville, North Carolina, designed and built the defending
• 26:36
  track champion Dave Shul Jr's car.
• 26:38
  His brother Brian Oeck also races the team car to that.
• 26:42
  And my car was designed by Doug Dro and built by John Kka Wiggo.
• 26:47
  So there's a couple cars that won last year that weren't Hawk chassis.
• 26:51
  Then again, every other car in the field that was victorious this past season.
• 26:55
  Was a hot car.
• 26:56
  Another one that stands out to me is the Ableds.
• 26:58
  Pat Ableds still built his own piece for his son, Jeff.
• 27:02
  And they've been very competitive with that car as well, winning
• 27:04
  the classic a few years ago.
• 27:06
  And this year winning the Sandusky Speedway High Miler Nationals
• 27:09
  as well as the Evans Mills.
• 27:11
  Classic.
• 27:11
  So there are a few home built one off cars that can very much still get the job done.
• 27:16
  Although the Hawk chassis is taken over locally when people
• 27:19
  decide to build them on their own.
• 27:21
  Is there like a template that's used?
• 27:22
  Cause like NASCAR, for the most part, there's like the template where the
• 27:25
  outline of the car is the same, no matter what the manufacturer is.
• 27:27
  Is it similar with these cars or is it kind of.
• 27:31
  More open to interpretation of the builder to design it how they
• 27:34
  want it a little bit of both.
• 27:35
  Obviously, there's a rule book you have to follow and anybody can bring that up
• 27:39
  online on our website and check that out.
• 27:41
  But my car, Doug sent the blueprints of the car that he
• 27:44
  designed on a computer program.
• 27:46
  to John Koloka, who built my car.
• 27:49
  And then John took a look at the blueprints and just kind of made
• 27:52
  that come to life from there.
• 27:53
  So it depends on the design of the car.
• 27:56
  My car actually has a tip roll cage.
• 27:58
  Not every car here has that.
• 27:59
  That's for aerodynamics.
• 28:01
  It is pretty cool that when you see these one off cars still nowadays, the.
• 28:05
  The modern day interpretation of what one's own creation would look like.
• 28:10
  And I, I wish we could get back to more guys that have the knowledge and the
• 28:13
  resources to be able to build these cars out of their own shops, because
• 28:17
  unfortunately, I think a lot of that has to do with the price and the cost
• 28:20
  of things nowadays that we've gotten further and further away from that.
• 28:23
  There's the other argument to be made that that's where the real racing is.
• 28:27
  It's that ingenuity, it's that stick to it iveness and it's.
• 28:30
  That perseverance of somebody trying something new, or at least, you know, in
• 28:33
  the ways of Lotus until you get caught.
• 28:35
  So you keep pushing in a lot of other racing, you see balance of performance.
• 28:40
  You see more spec series.
• 28:42
  And basically as Dan said, templated chassis.
• 28:45
  And what I like about this and what's exciting about this is you still
• 28:48
  have room for that dark horse and you kind of laugh at that guy going, man,
• 28:52
  he's never going to stand a chance.
• 28:54
  You know, Hey, maybe he made his body out of bailing wire and cardboard,
• 28:57
  but you know, he's the fastest guy on the track as long as he met the rules.
• 29:00
  And that's still for me, that homage to classic racing.
• 29:04
  And I think that's fantastic talking about the different things, vehicles.
• 29:07
  You mentioned independent suspension wasn't allowed for a
• 29:10
  while that caught my attention.
• 29:11
  I was curious as to why that was.
• 29:13
  You know, somebody did that and the car was performing better.
• 29:15
  So it was decided that that wasn't allowed.
• 29:18
  Or was it for safety reasons?
• 29:19
  What was the reason for the independent suspension not being allowed for a while?
• 29:22
  Both more so that some of the independent front suspension cars had
• 29:26
  an advantage over some of the ones that were not, I had a straight axle car.
• 29:30
  To start my super career a few years ago, I know just from experience
• 29:34
  that driving an independent front suspension car, I think that that's a
• 29:37
  lot easier, a much bigger advantage.
• 29:39
  And I don't know, there might only be one or two straight axle cars left.
• 29:43
  One of them being Jeff Abels.
• 29:44
  So straight axle cars can work very well too.
• 29:47
  Jeff's one of the top guys.
• 29:49
  I certainly prefer the independent and I know a lot of other guys do as well.
• 29:53
  Again, the problem with that is it costs more money to get that installed.
• 29:56
  And I do think, unfortunately, over the last decade, it has made things even more
• 29:59
  expensive because everybody's been sort of racing over to Joey Hawksby shop or
• 30:04
  whoever building their independent front suspension that they didn't have before.
• 30:07
  So with every upgrade or rule change.
• 30:10
  Comes more cost.
• 30:11
  Unfortunately, do you think any of that comes down to like driver purpose?
• 30:14
  Cause you said the one guy is still running solid front axle.
• 30:17
  Cause a lot of the older guys, I mean, you look back in the forties,
• 30:19
  fifties, sixties, where that independent front suspension wasn't very common
• 30:22
  throughout various types of racing.
• 30:24
  So those guys got used to that.
• 30:25
  Like power steering wasn't an option for most of those things and
• 30:28
  stuff like that's where they had to learn how to manhandle the cars.
• 30:31
  Do you think it comes down to them?
• 30:33
  They spent some years driving it that way, and it's harder for
• 30:35
  them to adapt to the newer style.
• 30:37
  I think that's part of it, uh, definitely drive for preference, and
• 30:40
  also just finding the right balance in your car, like any race car.
• 30:43
  The Ables struggled terribly with this car.
• 30:46
  There's still a straight axle for the first few seasons they had it.
• 30:49
  I think we're ready to throw it out and just Kept testing and
• 30:52
  running the track and logging laps.
• 30:53
  And they finally found the perfect balance with the straight axles.
• 30:57
  I also think it's about just building your notebook and figuring out what
• 31:01
  the answers are between balancing the aerodynamics on the front or rear of
• 31:04
  the car, that's a lot of it as well.
• 31:06
  The biggest thing is getting the car to turn and turn smoothly.
• 31:09
  And I think the independent, it kind of tricks you because it makes you feel
• 31:12
  like your car is handling better once you switch from a straight axle to an
• 31:15
  independent car, but you also need to be able to get the car to turn and cut
• 31:19
  the corner as best as it possibly can.
• 31:21
  So there's advantages and disadvantages to both sides of that, I think.
• 31:25
  If you've been doing short track for a long time, running super modifieds,
• 31:29
  and you decide, you know what, I want to do something different.
• 31:31
  Where do you go from here?
• 31:33
  And I know some people take some drastic left turns, pun intended, maybe
• 31:36
  to other disciplines of motorsport, but if you want to continue along
• 31:40
  this path, where do you go from here?
• 31:42
  For me, that's a tough question because this has always been a ceiling
• 31:46
  for me as far as what I personally would like to accomplish in racing
• 31:49
  is getting here back in the day.
• 31:51
  I think it would be easier for people like the guys I mentioned to catch
• 31:55
  the eye of an IndyCar owner and get themselves an opportunity at one of the
• 31:59
  top echelons in motorsports at this point.
• 32:02
  Financially, I think that's next to impossible for most
• 32:05
  of the guys who race here.
• 32:07
  So.
• 32:08
  I think that pretty much every guy in the Supermodified class here would
• 32:11
  tell you that this is what they've always wanted to race and this is the
• 32:15
  class for them that they've always wanted to work their way up to.
• 32:18
  There really isn't anywhere to go from here.
• 32:20
  I think everybody feels that when you're racing a Supermodified at Oswego Speedway.
• 32:24
  It's one of the coolest opportunities that anybody who loves racing and
• 32:28
  motor sports could ever ask for to get behind the wheel of one of these cars.
• 32:31
  Camden's totally on point, and he would know this better than I would.
• 32:34
  I think when I first started going to Oswego, there were competitors that would
• 32:38
  tow in on a weekly basis from Michigan and Ohio and you know, all over the place.
• 32:42
  I mean, they would never call a show because of rain.
• 32:44
  We'd stay there till one o'clock in the morning and they'd get the tractor
• 32:47
  ride and they'd run because all these guys had to tow back to Michigan
• 32:50
  and Ohio and wherever the next day.
• 32:52
  Gordon Johncock, Nolan Johncock ran there.
• 32:54
  It was a much easier progression to go from Oswego to Indy.
• 32:59
  Everything is all relative, obviously, but money has become such a factor now
• 33:03
  that you can have all the talent in the world, but unless you're bringing
• 33:08
  half a million bucks with you, they're going to look at the guy standing
• 33:11
  beside you who maybe doesn't have the talent you do, but does have the
• 33:14
  half a million bucks in his pocket.
• 33:16
  From Camden's standpoint, it has become a bit more regionalized now.
• 33:19
  Most of the guys that run there on a weekly basis are from
• 33:22
  Oswego and upstate New York area.
• 33:24
  Classic still draws in guys like Davey Hamilton, who's run Indy
• 33:27
  any number of different times.
• 33:29
  So it still has a draw.
• 33:30
  I totally agree with Camden that if your goal all along was to race
• 33:33
  a super modified, because it's such a unique Car, they don't run
• 33:37
  these things all over the country.
• 33:38
  They run some out in the West coast and they run it out.
• 33:40
  So we go and a couple of tracks in the Midwest, but not on a regular basis.
• 33:44
  This is the pinnacle of your sport.
• 33:47
  If you're a super modified racer.
• 33:49
  And I think it's a shame that I'm sure there are guys that could get it done.
• 33:53
  At Indy or, you know, other tracks like that.
• 33:55
  It's just such a money game now.
• 33:57
  It's just priced guys out, unfortunately.
• 33:59
  And that's fair.
• 34:00
  And I think it's interesting that Supermodified was seen in
• 34:03
  the past as a feeder series into IndyCar and other disciplines.
• 34:07
  But it also makes me wonder, what's the feeder series into supermodifieds.
• 34:11
  I know there are people out there to just sort of start in disciplines and they just
• 34:15
  full send and they go for it, but that's not usually everybody's progression path.
• 34:19
  Even in road racing, it's like, well, I started in dirt or I started in go
• 34:22
  karts and then I did some autocross and then I did some club racing.
• 34:25
  And then, you know, you kind of worked your way up through the system.
• 34:28
  What's the system like to get into supermodifieds?
• 34:31
  Small Block Super, then the 350 Super, and then you go up to the Super Modified,
• 34:35
  but I'll, I'll let him discuss that.
• 34:37
  Exactly.
• 34:38
  We have a good feeder system here with the Oswego Cartway, which is
• 34:41
  right behind the big track here.
• 34:42
  And also the Oswego County Quarter Midget Club, the Syracuse Quarter
• 34:46
  Midget Club are all close by.
• 34:48
  I'm kind of looking at the point standings in the Super
• 34:50
  Modified class this past season.
• 34:52
  And almost every single driver raced either a quarter midget or a go kart.
• 34:56
  Most started in the SBS or 350 class, or it's very generational.
• 35:01
  And there were guys like Dave Schulich Jr, Brandon Bellinger, Daniel Connors,
• 35:06
  Jeff Abeld, who all had their dad's racing supers at one point or another.
• 35:10
  So that helps as well when the family ties are so deep here.
• 35:14
  And like I said, the generational aspect of super modified racing,
• 35:18
  that sort of helps a lot for guys that haven't been around the car.
• 35:21
  Cars too much or wouldn't normally have the experience to be able to rely on their
• 35:25
  dad or their uncle or their grandfather's experience to get in a car and sort
• 35:30
  of have a mentor right from the jump.
• 35:32
  We have a special system in place here with all that stuff
• 35:34
  being said, as well as the local quarter midget and carting tracks.
• 35:38
  So you mentioned they were coming out there like log and laps.
• 35:40
  Do you guys have practice nights throughout the week before
• 35:43
  the events on the weekends?
• 35:44
  Every week during the season, we have what we call fast Friday and it's 200
• 35:49
  a car capped at 10 or 12 cars for any driver in any division to come up and
• 35:54
  practice single car, 10 laps at a time.
• 35:57
  And I guess the running joke is us asphalt guys, especially super
• 36:00
  modified guys always need our practice.
• 36:02
  And we get plenty of that around here.
• 36:04
  Do you guys have any sort of like youth bracket where you guys allow youth racing
• 36:08
  there, or is that something that the cars are too fast for kids that age?
• 36:12
  And you guys.
• 36:12
  So, yeah, we do have an age limit in order to race a super, you have to be 16.
• 36:19
  You can practice at 15, the SBS, they allowed 15 year olds to get
• 36:23
  behind the wheel of those cars.
• 36:24
  And I actually got special permission to practice mine when I was 14.
• 36:29
  So if you have extensive go kart or quarter midget experience,
• 36:33
  things like that, the owners have been willing to work with.
• 36:35
  certain drivers about at least getting seat time by themselves.
• 36:39
  They are pretty strict on the 15 year old age for the SPS and
• 36:43
  16 for the big black supers.
• 36:45
  Makes sense.
• 36:45
  You know, we mentioned earlier in the conversation, there's probably very few
• 36:49
  people still hanging around Oswego that have been there longer than Kip has.
• 36:53
  And one of those is Roy Sova, the voice.
• 36:56
  He's been there for over 50 years.
• 36:59
  So I want to talk about how he's helped to grow the track.
• 37:02
  And I hear that he's still announcing there today.
• 37:05
  I hope so.
• 37:05
  I mean, Cam, he's going to be there this coming season, right?
• 37:08
  As far as you know.
• 37:08
  Yep.
• 37:09
  Guys, I will tell you, honest to God, the first time we went to Oswego, which
• 37:12
  as we've all determined was a long time ago, Roy Sova sounds the same today.
• 37:17
  That he did the very first time I went to Oswego 50 some odd years ago.
• 37:22
  And my understanding for a very long period of time, Roy Silva
• 37:25
  lived in North Carolina, flew up or drove up every Saturday night.
• 37:28
  I would dare say Roy Silva has probably not missed five races at best in the whole
• 37:33
  50 year plus career he's had up there.
• 37:36
  He gets excited.
• 37:37
  Obviously he's extremely knowledgeable.
• 37:39
  I think he's a tremendous representative for the sport and his sidekick, Joe Murata
• 37:45
  has been there almost as long as Roy has.
• 37:47
  We all have tracks that we go to and you have announcers that just have a
• 37:51
  rhythm and they work well together.
• 37:53
  That's Joe and Roy at Oswego.
• 37:54
  But honestly, Roy has not missed a beat in 50 years.
• 37:58
  He's just tremendous ambassador for the sport.
• 38:00
  Roy Sova and Super Modified Racing are synonymous.
• 38:04
  I think that he has the best voice out of any announcer in the country.
• 38:07
  And to be able to continue to hold that title as the lead track announcer,
• 38:13
  he moved up to the booth in 1980.
• 38:15
  And he's been the super modified announcer ever since.
• 38:18
  So that's 43 years going on 44 this season, but he started as a pit reporter
• 38:23
  here in 1966, 58 total seasons this year.
• 38:27
  That's just remarkable.
• 38:28
  That means Oswego might be headed to the Guinness book of world records, right?
• 38:32
  Do you know who's ahead of him?
• 38:33
  I can't imagine anybody is.
• 38:34
  I've had that conversation with him a few times and.
• 38:37
  Yeah, I just think the world of him.
• 38:38
  Listen to him growing up, obviously.
• 38:40
  And when he does decide to retire, which I hope he never decides to
• 38:43
  retire, this place will not be the same.
• 38:46
  I can't imagine sitting in the grandstands here or strapped into the car on the
• 38:49
  front straightaway and not hearing Roy Silva announced the starting lineup.
• 38:53
  Phenomenal ambassador for the sport.
• 38:54
  And.
• 38:55
  People don't realize how lucky we are to have him here for us.
• 38:57
  We go.
• 38:58
  Do you guys have future plans to build like a area for visitors?
• 39:02
  Come see the history of it, such as a museum to be able to have
• 39:04
  some of the older cars and stuff on display or anything like that.
• 39:07
  It's been talked about for a long time.
• 39:10
  I wouldn't say there's any active plans right now, but.
• 39:13
  I will say the history here is so rich.
• 39:15
  We have a lot of restored race cars from the seventies, eighties,
• 39:19
  more in the works, and few of them are displayed at the Weed Sport
• 39:23
  Museum out by Weed Sport Speedway.
• 39:25
  You know, I think that there's certainly a interest in that for the track
• 39:29
  owners, the fans, a lot of people.
• 39:31
  It's just, again, coming up with the funding.
• 39:33
  It's something I would like to see happen for sure.
• 39:36
  And there's plenty of memorabilia, photos, trophies, race cars to
• 39:41
  put in there from over the years.
• 39:42
  That's something that I would love to see happen for the
• 39:45
  Swiggle community down the road.
• 39:47
  Does that mean that maybe Roy's announcements are being captured?
• 39:51
  Videos?
• 39:52
  Is the track already kind of stacking up that sort of, not just
• 39:55
  memorabilia, but those archives?
• 39:57
  Yeah, again, I'm a crazy history buff, so I spent my winters and my
• 40:01
  downtime going back and watching races from the 70s and 80s and.
• 40:05
  In nineties, we actually just had our former pit reporter, uh, Norris
• 40:09
  McDonald passed away, unfortunately here recently, we went back and grab
• 40:13
  some video from Norris announcing in the eighties and Roy working with him.
• 40:18
  And if there's anything I want, as far as video audio between Mike Gibson and county
• 40:24
  video, uh, Thomas video productions, and then way back to Don Bartlett when he
• 40:28
  started in the sixties and seventies, and he's still filming for Thomas video today.
• 40:32
  I can get my hands on.
• 40:33
  Pretty much whatever I want.
• 40:35
  We have great record keeping and statistics here.
• 40:37
  Thanks to Dave Rice and some others.
• 40:39
  And I try my best to keep those updated today.
• 40:42
  Awesome track photographers that have been here since the sixties
• 40:45
  and are still shooting today.
• 40:46
  The vast majority of them, actually, they're all fantastic.
• 40:49
  If there's anything I need or anything we wanted to put in a
• 40:52
  museum or something like that.
• 40:53
  They would be all for it.
• 40:54
  And I agree it would be awesome to have a Oswego Speedway Museum there
• 40:58
  because of the length and breadth of the number of years the track has
• 41:01
  run and the number of famous people that have been on that surface.
• 41:04
  But in the interim, we have the IMRRC and Watkins Glen that's always
• 41:08
  looking to add to our archives.
• 41:10
  I mean, we have a tremendous program collection, and while I do not have
• 41:14
  every Oswego program ever printed, I've probably got 60 or 70 percent
• 41:18
  of them that was ever printed.
• 41:20
  Wow.
• 41:21
  Keep us in mind for that until you guys break ground on a museum.
• 41:24
  We'd love to.
• 41:25
  And you guys had the Sweet Sixteen down there, I think, too, and
• 41:27
  maybe one of the Champagne cars?
• 41:29
  Am I right?
• 41:30
  We did.
• 41:30
  We had Steve Miller's car that had won the King of Wings.
• 41:33
  It was really early in my tenure there, so it's got to be about ten years ago.
• 41:37
  I hope this isn't the kiss of death, but Camden knows what I'm talking about.
• 41:40
  There was a very iconic car that ran there in the early seventies called
• 41:43
  the Purdy Deuce because it was number two, kind of a short wheelbase car.
• 41:47
  Looked really pretty different from everything else that was running.
• 41:50
  The cool thing about that car is almost everybody that got in the car won in the
• 41:54
  car, Bentley, almost more than anybody.
• 41:57
  There was another guy, Jimmy Winks, who actually won more features.
• 41:59
  For years, it had disappeared.
• 42:01
  It was in a warehouse in Buffalo.
• 42:02
  Everybody thought it was just going to rust away.
• 42:03
  Nobody's ever going to see it again.
• 42:05
  Through a series of whatever happened, it has been restored and Camden
• 42:09
  can speak to this better than I can because it was on the track.
• 42:12
  Bentley Warren was behind the wheel, but I'm hopeful that we get the
• 42:15
  pretty deuce on display at the center.
• 42:17
  Cause I'd love to do a program before the Speedway opens up like first or
• 42:20
  second weekend of May before Oswego opens up on the whole history of the
• 42:23
  pretty deuce and have Bentley there and Dick O'Brien and Roy Sova, and just talk
• 42:29
  about the whole history of this race.
• 42:30
  Truly, truly iconic car.
• 42:33
  That would be very cool.
• 42:34
  And just kind of a moment that just gave everybody here goosebumps.
• 42:37
  I think when Bentley took that car out on the track at classic weekend here back
• 42:41
  in September, and that won the classic in 1966 and to have it back on the track,
• 42:47
  classic weekend, After sitting in a barn for 40 years, I think that's how
• 42:51
  long it was, still in the hands of the Purdy family who owned it originally.
• 42:55
  An incredible job done by Doug Holmes and everybody involved
• 42:58
  in the restoration of that.
• 42:59
  It was done in a very short time too, less than a year, and they modernized
• 43:03
  it, did the research, got all the right parts that they needed to make this
• 43:06
  happen, and To see Bentley come down the front straightaway in that car,
• 43:10
  I'm still pretty speechless about it.
• 43:12
  It's something I'll never forget.
• 43:13
  Well, and keep in mind, Bentley Warren is what, 82 or 83 years old, I think?
• 43:19
  Yeah.
• 43:19
  I mean, Bentley was running and running competitively at Oswego well into his 60s.
• 43:24
  If you were to see Bentley now, I mean, Bentley was lapping that thing pretty good
• 43:28
  when he had it there for Classic Weekend.
• 43:30
  Yeah, he was.
• 43:31
  I still think that he could get in a car and be competitive.
• 43:34
  It's just certain things that it.
• 43:36
  Kept him shied away from that, but to think that he started out in that car
• 43:40
  and then drove the Indy Roadsters and the first offset cars and then got
• 43:44
  into an Aero Super there with Extreme Chassis at the end of his career.
• 43:48
  Actually won his first and last wins at Oswego Speedway
• 43:51
  are 40 years to the very day.
• 43:53
  Uh, he last won here with a Top Wing in 2006 and his first
• 43:57
  win was September 17th of 1966.
• 44:01
  So he's had his story.
• 44:02
  It's amazing.
• 44:03
  Yep.
• 44:03
  So for events such as this that you mentioned, do you guys record
• 44:06
  them and put them online afterwards or have an option for viewing live
• 44:10
  for people that aren't in the area?
• 44:12
  Yeah, we have an agreement with flow racing going into, I believe
• 44:15
  our 4th season with flow now for a 150 yearly subscription.
• 44:21
  You can watch.
• 44:22
  All of our events live and then play back the full evening replay for
• 44:26
  many of our shows from 2021 forward.
• 44:30
  They do a great job.
• 44:31
  I think it's the best value in motorsports pay per view, that's for sure.
• 44:34
  I've always felt this in recent years, especially as it's
• 44:37
  become more of a presence.
• 44:38
  Does being able to have access to things like Flow Racing and Race Vision or Dirt
• 44:44
  Vision, whatever, Does that keep more people home or does that entice people
• 44:49
  to actually go to the track and hear it and feel it and smell it in person?
• 44:52
  I think you can make arguments on both.
• 44:55
  I agree with Cam that it's 150 bucks for the whole season is
• 44:58
  cheaper to go in there, but you don't get that methanol smell.
• 45:01
  Yeah.
• 45:01
  There's nothing like that.
• 45:02
  That's for sure, man.
• 45:03
  If I go to bed after watching a night of flow racing, I don't smell methanol and
• 45:07
  my ears aren't ringing and I need that.
• 45:10
  That's a fix.
• 45:11
  I need it.
• 45:11
  I'm sorry.
• 45:12
  Years later, I still need it.
• 45:14
  You gotta turn the volume up on the TV.
• 45:15
  It gets louder.
• 45:16
  He just puts the subwoofer under the bed.
• 45:18
  That's all.
• 45:19
  Honestly, if I could bottle that methanol smell up on nights like this,
• 45:23
  just kind of uncork it a little bit and just get a couple breaths of it.
• 45:26
  It's a great smell.
• 45:27
  See, we talked about this on the flying tiger motorcycles episode.
• 45:31
  He needs some of their candles.
• 45:33
  I have to put them in touch with them and see if they can
• 45:36
  do a meth long cause they do.
• 45:37
  Was it the two stroke one?
• 45:39
  Yeah.
• 45:39
  The Motul one.
• 45:40
  They got a bunch of them.
• 45:41
  I've got to do a meth and I'll send a candle now, but anyway,
• 45:43
  getting back on track, unintended.
• 45:45
  Okay.
• 45:45
  So you guys have any intentions to like repave in the future or just
• 45:49
  leave it as it is because it's holding up well, or, you know, expanding it.
• 45:52
  What plans are there?
• 45:53
  I don't think there's going to be any plans to repave the entire surface.
• 45:58
  Everyone here is in agreement that if we do that, it would
• 46:00
  just end up a bit too fast.
• 46:02
  I've always been curious as to when the last time the track was entirely repaved.
• 46:07
  The drivers say it's better when the track is older and there's
• 46:10
  more age and grippier and all that stuff, but do you have any idea when
• 46:13
  the entire track was last repaved?
• 46:16
  I've been told the early 70s.
• 46:18
  So it's been a long, long time.
• 46:20
  It's got a lot of patina.
• 46:23
  So that's kind of interesting because tracks don't stay static.
• 46:27
  I mean, even road courses go through evolutions.
• 46:29
  The IR just got repaid.
• 46:31
  New Jersey motorsports getting repaid.
• 46:32
  Watkins Glen got repaved a couple of years ago.
• 46:35
  Eventually it just all sort of breaks down and with repays come changes.
• 46:39
  Sometimes in the configuration of the track, the IR specifically when Oak
• 46:43
  tree came down, they decided to widen the turns because it made it more
• 46:46
  inviting for IMSA to come there and run.
• 46:48
  That being said, if super dirt week continues to be held here for many years
• 46:52
  to come, we've laid down so many patches at this point that before it's over
• 46:57
  with the entire track, Is going to be repaved over time and not all at once.
• 47:01
  So I think the good thing is our new patches that we have put down, and
• 47:05
  there's been some really large areas of the track that have been repaved,
• 47:09
  they've held up perfectly and some of the older pavement continues to come up.
• 47:13
  And again, some of the patches are really big.
• 47:15
  A half of the front straightaway is completely repaved.
• 47:18
  I don't know if people realize that, but it's funny how it's worked out
• 47:21
  with super dirt week and everything.
• 47:23
  I think it's actually worked out in the best way possible because I don't know if.
• 47:27
  There was any other answer as far as repaving it, other than to patch
• 47:31
  it, because I just think if you did it all at once, it would be quite
• 47:34
  frankly, deadly fast, just too fast.
• 47:37
  So it's kind of working itself out.
• 47:38
  So if someone's planning to come visit us, we go for a race or a tour, what
• 47:43
  are some things they should know before coming like fees, amenities, restrictions?
• 47:47
  One of the coolest things that we do here and have done for a long time is that
• 47:50
  kids 16 and under free with paid adult.
• 47:53
  I think that's great.
• 47:54
  We need to continue to get the younger audience involved
• 47:57
  and interested in these cars.
• 47:59
  I think it's amazing you guys allow 16 and younger and free with an adult
• 48:02
  because most places they have to be like 8 or 10 to get in for free.
• 48:06
  So I really commend you guys for doing that to allow the teenagers and We
• 48:09
  have camping available every weekend.
• 48:12
  You can pay a weekend fee or a season fee, full electric hookup down, right
• 48:16
  on Albany street in front of the track.
• 48:17
  And other than that, no crazy fees or restrictions.
• 48:21
  We do have a lot of cool amenities.
• 48:22
  I feel like here at the racetrack, we have a tiki bar where you can sit inside
• 48:26
  there and enjoy the live broadcasts of the race, all of our concessions are.
• 48:32
  leased out to local restaurants.
• 48:34
  We try to go with the local favorites and food here is great.
• 48:37
  It's very affordable for regular race night admissions anywhere from 15 to 20.
• 48:43
  We also had a 5 night last year.
• 48:45
  We're working on some specials perhaps with some of the local businesses that are
• 48:50
  going to offer discount tickets for 2024.
• 48:52
  All good stuff to keep in mind there.
• 48:54
  So Kip, how are the hot dogs?
• 48:55
  It's been Hoffman hot dogs since day eight.
• 48:58
  Started going up there, and mercifully, they're still there.
• 49:01
  Love Hoffman hot dogs, and tremendous Haddock sandwiches,
• 49:05
  which are my new favorite.
• 49:07
  You don't go to the races looking to cut calories, but I agree with Canada.
• 49:11
  The food's great, very reasonably priced.
• 49:13
  Gotta get a Hoffman hot dog.
• 49:15
  That's part of the whole thing.
• 49:16
  You sit there, watch a couple heats, watch practice, watch qualifying, whatever.
• 49:19
  Go down, get your food, come back up, watch the features.
• 49:22
  That's the whole evening.
• 49:23
  People got to go.
• 49:24
  How many people can you guys see for an event?
• 49:26
  Probably somewhere between 10 I wanted to say grandstands are full?
• 49:31
  If both grandstands are full, I do believe it's around 10, but I don't
• 49:35
  want to just throw a number out there.
• 49:37
  We've never been at capacity for Super Dirt Week yet.
• 49:39
  We've had very good crowds front and especially the background stands have been
• 49:44
  nearly completely full back in the old days when I was going for classic weekend,
• 49:48
  the Canadians all set in the background stand us folks at the front grandstand,
• 49:53
  they play the Canadian national anthem.
• 49:55
  Everybody would sing.
• 49:55
  Obviously, the background there was louder than the front.
• 49:57
  Same thing when they play the US national anthem, great days racing
• 50:01
  in general, doesn't draw those.
• 50:03
  Crowds because there's many more things for people to do now, but in those early
• 50:07
  days, when we were going, the place was more times than not, especially
• 50:10
  for classic week on the, which is the big final event, the place was packed.
• 50:14
  It was so exciting.
• 50:15
  They'd run a 200 lap modified race on Saturday night and then
• 50:18
  the 200 lap super race on Sunday.
• 50:20
  And it was just, I mean, for the race fan like me, it was just heaven.
• 50:24
  Just great.
• 50:25
  You mentioned like the heats and then the main event.
• 50:26
  For those are of our listeners that aren't familiar with it, that are used
• 50:29
  to other disciplines, like how many laps is a normal heat race, and then
• 50:33
  what does your main event last For?
• 50:35
  For the SBS Small Block super class, we typically do 10 lap heat
• 50:39
  races and a 30 or 35 lap feature.
• 50:42
  The three 50 wing super heats are also 10 laps and then a 30 lap feature.
• 50:46
  The super modified 12 lap heat races and a 50 or 75 lap feature
• 50:52
  depending on the program.
• 50:54
  And then our international classic on Labor Day weekend is actually 200 laps.
• 50:57
  So that's our big long distance race.
• 51:00
  Camden and Kip, we've reached that part of the episode where I like
• 51:03
  to ask our guests any shout outs, promotions, or anything else you'd like
• 51:06
  to share that we didn't cover thus far.
• 51:09
  Just to show you how much I love this track, when I first met my now wife,
• 51:13
  I had tickets for the classic, she was in Hawaii, she was going to come home,
• 51:16
  but her plane was going to arrive in time so we could go to the classic.
• 51:19
  Well, things got messed up, six hour time difference, her plane wasn't going
• 51:22
  to arrive until after the classic, so I found myself standing in front of the,
• 51:26
  uh, Grandstand as they're warming up for the classic selling my classic tickets.
• 51:30
  And I'm thinking to myself, gosh, I've never gone with anybody I
• 51:33
  would have sold classic tickets for.
• 51:35
  So I guess I really must be in love with this woman and
• 51:37
  it'll be 44 years this year.
• 51:39
  Congratulations.
• 51:40
  That shows you how much I love my wife.
• 51:43
  Does that show you how much I love us?
• 51:44
  We go.
• 51:44
  That's kind of a weird thing, but anyway, so for all of our listeners, that's
• 51:48
  a sign when it's the right for you.
• 51:52
  I appreciate you guys having me on and, and giving us the opportunity to talk
• 51:57
  all things of Swiggo Speedway and Super Modifieds and just the Tracy family
• 52:01
  for continuing to keep this place alive and allowing me to come here and Do the
• 52:07
  PR stuff and have fun with that, but also very fortunate to be able to race
• 52:11
  here on a weekly basis and love to come back on any time and do this again.
• 52:15
  I'm so happy that you gave us the time to do this.
• 52:17
  I'm really not kidding here.
• 52:19
  I loved Oswego the very first time I went.
• 52:21
  I've been going there for 50 some odd years.
• 52:23
  I still get excited on the drive up and I have a two hour drive each
• 52:28
  way to get there and come back.
• 52:29
  It's just one of my favorite places and For your listeners or viewers,
• 52:33
  if you are a road racing fan, you got to come to Oswego and try a short
• 52:37
  track super modified race sometime.
• 52:39
  If you're a short track fan who has never been to Oswego, then
• 52:43
  you can't call yourself a short track fan until you come to Oswego.
• 52:46
  I just think the place is magical.
• 52:49
  I say that in all.
• 52:50
  Candor.
• 52:51
  And I'm just very happy that you guys are giving us the time to talk about it.
• 52:55
  Camden, thanks so much for carving out the time to do this.
• 52:58
  So happy we had a great representative like yourself for the Speedway.
• 53:02
  Thanks, Kip.
• 53:02
  I appreciate it.
• 53:03
  We want to see those grandstands filled every week.
• 53:04
  Yes, sir.
• 53:05
  Absolutely.
• 53:06
  Oswego Speedway is now in the hands of the Tories family, which have a long
• 53:10
  history of both owners and drivers.
• 53:12
  The biggest weekend of racing during the year at Oswego is the
• 53:15
  Budweiser International Classic held annually on Labor Day weekend,
• 53:19
  arguably the most famous open wheel short track event in the country.
• 53:23
  The race began in 1957 and annually brings together the best in open wheel
• 53:27
  asphalt racing to compete for thousands of dollars in prize money and the
• 53:31
  right to be called classic champion.
• 53:33
  To learn more about or plan your visit to Oswego Speedway,
• 53:35
  be sure to log on to oswego.
• 53:37
  com.
• 53:37
  OswegoSpeedway.
• 53:38
  com or follow them on social media at Oswego Speedway on Facebook and X.
• 53:43
  Camden and Kip, I can't thank you guys enough for coming on Brake Fix
• 53:47
  and sharing your stories of Oswego Speedway, educating us on the history.
• 53:53
  And you know, what's gotten me so excited about this is I love learning
• 53:56
  about new disciplines of motorsport.
• 53:58
  And this is another stone that we've turned over.
• 54:01
  And now I'm going to have to do a deeper dive on, but like Kip said
• 54:03
  earlier, I got to get me some of this methanol and ear ringing and
• 54:07
  hot dogs and all sorts of stuff.
• 54:09
  So next time I'm in the area, Kip, we're going to Oswego, man.
• 54:12
  This is going to be fun.
• 54:13
  I'm going to take you up on that.
• 54:15
  I'd love to take you up there for Saturday night.
• 54:16
  Seriously.
• 54:17
  I think that's a plan.
• 54:18
  With that guys, thank you so much.
• 54:20
  Thank you.
• 54:20
  Thank you guys.
• 54:26
  We hope you enjoyed another awesome episode of brake fix podcast brought
• 54:30
  to you by Grand Touring Motorsports.
• 54:33
  If you'd like to be a guest on the show or get involved, be sure
• 54:35
  to follow us on all social media platforms at Grand Touring Motorsports.
• 54:40
  And if you'd like to learn more about the content of this episode,
• 54:43
  be sure to check out the follow on article at gtmotorsports.
• 54:46
  org.
• 54:48
  We remain a commercial free and no annual fees organization through
• 54:52
  our sponsors, but also through the generous support of our fans,
• 54:55
  families, and friends through Patreon.
• 54:58
  For as little as 2.
• 55:00
  50 a month, you can get access to more behind the scenes action, additional Pit
• 55:05
  Stop minisodes, and other VIP goodies.
• 55:07
  As well as keeping our team of creators fed on their strict diet of fig
• 55:12
  Newtons, gummy bears, and monster.
• 55:14
  So consider signing up for Patreon today at www.
• 55:18
  patreon.
• 55:18
  com forward slash GT motorsports, and remember without you, none
• 55:23
  of this would be possible.