Bond Wins 6th SBS Classic, Helliwell Dominates 1st 350 Super Event

Mexico’s Mike Bond led the small block supermodified Classic green to checkered en route to his sixth SBS Classic win on Sunday at the Oswego Speedway. The all-time division leader in feature and Classic wins started on the pole and never saw the wheel of another challenger during the 75-lap caution-plagued season finale. It was Bond’s third SBS Classic win in a row.

Bond and rookie, Josh Sokolic started on the front row, with Bond gaining control at the drop of the green flag. Dalton Doyle, Sokolic, Dave Cliff and Anthony Losurdo chased Bond across the line to complete lap No. 1. Sokolic would find himself stuck in the outside lane and quickly fell prey to field.

The top five began easing away from the rest of the pack – led by Tyler Shullick. Cliff would find room under Doyle’s No. 01 on the 17th lap, moving into second place. This would end up being the longest stretch of green in the race. They would get one lap in before Kyle Reuter spun in the first turn.

Bond had no challenge on the restart. Only a few laps later, David LaTulip looped his No. 00 and tagged the third-turn wall. Seven laps after that spin, Tyler Shullick’s No. 67 shut down on the front straightaway.

The caution bug would continue as Josh Sokolic’s No. 26 suffered a head-on collision with the fourth-turn wall. He would be OK, but his SBS racer was done for the night.

On the restart, Losurdo would fall to fourth as Russ Brown’s No.13 managed its way around the No. 1. Just a few laps into the next green flag run, the caution flag would fly for a spinning trio of small blocks in turn No. 2.

Bond and Cliff would ease away from Doyle on the restart, leaving his No. 01 to fend off challenges from the No. 13 and No. 1. The Ray Hedger-owned No. 13 would finally make its way under Doyle on the 52nd lap.

Bond and Cliff’s advantage would be erased after Reuter’s No. 15 spun again in the first turn. The field was reset and Bond would soon bring it back to green flag racing – though, only for four laps. Scott Schafer and LaTulip tangled together on the 57th circuit, slowing the pace. Again, only a few laps went by before a yellow flag was drawn. This time, it was Cameron Black’s stalled No. 23.

Bond continued to benefit from the abbreviated green flag runs. His car appeared to be better than those his chasers campaigned on restarts, but would begin to fade the longer the run would go. The short green stints also allowed him to avoid navigating heavy lapped traffic. For the way his No. 74 was behaving on Sunday, the race was playing out well.

With just 17 trips to go, Bond took off with another solid restart. Cliff would be pressed from behind but would eventually pick up the pace and begin to move in on the race leader. Behind the lead trio, Losurdo would slide under Doyle to take away fourth. He would trail the leaders by a dozen lengths, but be unable to run them down.

With seven laps to go, Cliff would reel Bond back in. Traffic was on the horizon and Cliff appeared to be getting better the longer the track stayed green. However, time ran out. Bond would hold on, avoid all of the race carnage and become the race’s first back-to-back-to-back champion.

Driving the Tim Barbeau-owned No. 50, Cliff would settle for a second-place finish.

Backing up his first track title with a fourth-place SBS Classic run, Losurdo landed the Mark Castiglia-owned No. 1 in fourth.

Finishing behind Doyle, Matt Magner returned to action to drive the Denise Bond-owned No. 87 to a sixth-place finish.

Pathfinder Bank SBS Bud Light Classic 75: 1. Mike Bond (74), 2. Dave Cliff (50), 3. Russ Brown (13), 4. Anthony Losurdo (1), 5. Dalton Doyle (01), 6. Matt Magner (87), 7. Andrew Schartner (18), 8. Camden Proud (54), 9. Dave Danzer (37), 10. Brad Haynes (86), 11. Mike Bruce (22), 12. Barry Kingsley (91), 13. Jack Patrick (9), 14. Russ Bartlett (62), 15. Josh Kerr (8). 16. Kyle Reuter (15), 17. Cameron Black (23), 18. Scott Schafer (76), 19. Dave LaTulip (00), 20. Cameron Rowe (77), 21. Ray Sand, Jr. (71), 22. Josh Sokolic (26), 23. Tyler Shullick (67), 24. Steve Flack (32), 25. Ricky Pritchard (27), 26. Greg O’Conner (90), 27. Brian Haynes (88)

Dave Helliwell Takes the 350 SMAC Main Event

In the 35-lap Super Modified Atlantic Charter (SMAC) Series event, Dave Helliwell dominated the field to win the first 350 supermodified race ever held at the Oswego Speedway. Starting 11th on the grid, Helliwell would fly through the middle of the field, eventually taking the lead away from Michael Scott on a double-file restart 12 laps into the race. He would cruise the rest of the way unchallenged, taking the checkered flag with a 20-length advantage.

Scott would take the lead at the drop of the green. Matt Seavey would take the runner-up position away from Bill Osborn and begin to press the race leader. Mike Keddy and Helliwell would slip under Osborn on the fifth lap, moving into the fourth and fifth positions. Continuing his march forward, Helliwell’s No .21 quickly ducked under Keddy’s No. 77 on the ninth lap.

10 laps in, Scott and Seavey had built themselves a decent lead. Helliwell would best the Watts No. 20 on the 11th lap and set sail for the lead duo. Before he would have a chance to run them down, second-place running Seavey dropped off the pace and stalled.

The yellow would fly and the field would reset for a double-file restart. Helliwell sidled up to Scott and the 350 supers took the green flag. Helliwell was quick to pounce on the top spot, taking the lead away from Scott on the 13th lap.

He began to pull away until Sparky Maciver summoned the caution lights with a spin on the 19th lap. While under caution a brief shower sent the cars to the infield.

Eventually, Helliwell would bring them back to racing. Again, it would take a yellow flag to cease his growing lead. Keddy spun his No. 77 on the backstretch and was promptly tagged by the Bobby Timmons No. 31. Considerable damage to both put an end to their day.

Helliwell would take the ensuing green flag and coast the remaining laps to earn the win.

350 SMAC 35: 1. Dave Helliwell (21), 2. Michael Scott (01), 3. Stephen Duphily (11), 4. Scott Watts (20), 5. Mike Spurling (61), 6. Bill Osborn (08), 7, Dave Sanborn (24), 8. Matt Seavey (91), 9. Jim Baker (38), 10. Bobby Timmons (31), 11. Mike Keddy (77), 12. John Leonard (12), 13. Sparky Maciver (22), 14. Justin Storace (10), 15. Dan Martineau (3), 16. Rich Eaton (4)