London, Ontario’s Mark Sammut ended a four-year winless slump during the 2014 season at Waterford Speedbowl (CT); however, scoring a victory at the famed Oswego Speedway (NY) still eluded him. That would all change in one of the most strategic and thrilling ways as the veteran driver was able to use a lapped machine to catch and pass the lightning fast Mike Lichty coming to the checkered flag on Saturday night.
Eddie Witkum Jr. started the Jack Murphy Memorial ISMA Supermodified 50 from the pole, and was capable for numerous laps of fighting off challenges for the top spot in his effort to gain his first career series victory. It was Lichty though, who set a new track record in time trials earlier in the day, that had been saving his equipment and took the lead on lap 37.
Lichty began to pull away after it took more than a few laps for Sammut to get around Witkum, but once the pass for second occurred the race was on. Lichty approached the lapped car of Dave McKnight, a former winner at Oswego, carefully which allowed Sammut to catch him as the laps were winding down.
“All I could do is hold it down and see what happens, and I think (Lichty) had more,” Sammut told Speed51.com powered by JEGS. “He was just kind of waiting by himself and I snuck up on him at the end. I’m lucky the lapped car played it perfect for me, and I was able to get on the outside of him and I beat him to the line, but it wasn’t by much.”
For Lichty, he would have to wait for another day to claim another victory at the “Steel Palace”.
“I really had no idea where Mark was in comparison to me,” Lichty admitted. “I was just kind of cruising and it bit me. He came up on me and passed me. The car didn’t go away or anything. Sounds kind of odd being the last couple laps of the race, but with the lapped car there I didn’t want to push it and get run up real high. Lapped traffic is an issue. Always has been, especially at this place. But yeah, he snookered me.”
Delaware Speedway (ON) season opener winner Dave Shullick Jr. led both practices, but was disqualified from time trials after failing to go across the scales. The Ohio driver would charge from a starting position toward the back of the field to finish in third.
Witkum held on for fourth after leading the first 36 circuits, but due to his car’s handling the Massachusetts driver was unable to keep his challengers behind him any longer.
“Once the fuel load went away we just tightened up too much,” Witkum explained. “It’s kind of a backwards problem, but we just have to figure it out. This is a tough race. You’ve got to have a lot of motor. We actually borrowed this motor here. It yanks off the corner real good, but doesn’t have quite the top end that a lot of these guys have. When you come here you’ve got to bring your best piece, no question about it.”
For Sammut, the dream of putting his name on the historical list of race winners at the 5/8-mile has come true.
“It’s absolutely unbelievable. I’ve been coming here since I was less than a year old and watched all the legends make their names here. We won the Sandusky Hy-Miler a few years ago. That’s a huge race as well, but to win at Oswego Speedway I think that means more than any Supermodified track anywhere.”
– By Aaron Creed, Speed51.com Pennsylvania/Central New York Editor – Twitter: @aaron_creed
– Photo credit: ISMASupers.com
Jack Murphy Memorial ISMA 50 Results
1 3 78 Mark Sammut 50
2 6 84 Mike Lichty 50
3 15 95 Dave Shullick Jr. 50
4 2 21 Eddie Witkum Jr. 50
5 4 37 Jeff Locke 50
6 5 61 Jon McKennedy 50
7 12 1 Kyle Edwards 50
8 1 39 Alison Cumens 50
9 10 49 Danny Shirey 50
10 23 11 Chris Perley 50
11 18 65 Tim Ice 50
12 11 98 Justin Belfiore 50
13 17 27 Jamie Timmons 50
14 21 64 Jim Paller 50
15 19 70 Dave McKnight 49
16 16 74 Rob Summers 47
17 13 25 Dan Bowes 46
18 8 22 Mike McVetta 33
19 25 18 Howard Page 31
20 7 17 Ben Seitz 22
21 20 87 Keith Gilliam 22
22 24 5 Kevin Jaycox Jr. 21
23 22 97 Lou Cicconi 16
24 14 19 Trent Stephens 14
25 9 46 Ryan Coniam 9
DNS 7 Otto Sitterly
