OSWEGO, N.Y. — Audio, photo and recap by Managing Editor Jacob Seelman for Speed77 Radio and Race Chaser Online — Any night where a first-time winner is crowned at the Oswego Speedway is a special one.
For Alex Hoag, that night finally came on Saturday.
Hoag started the night from pole position and drove away from the field despite a late race caution with nine laps to go, gapping Jon Tesorerio over the final stretch for the breakthrough victory, his first career win in the Pathfinder Bank Small Block Super Series class.
Hoag was near speechless in victory lane, trying to take in the sheer emotion of the biggest moment to date in his career as he joined his Hall of Fame father Dean Hoag on Oswego Speedway’s win list.
“You know we’ve been struggling a lot, but my dad is probably the smartest guy to ever work on a Limited Super,” said Hoag in Turning Stone Resort Casino Victory Lane. “He did a really good job with his career and now I am fortunate to be able to drive. It’s just me, my dad, my in-laws, and my wife, and these little ones here, and that is all we’ve got. This is Oswego, I grew up in turn one grandstands, and I have dreamt about this victory for a long time.”
With the victory, Hoag becomes the 82nd different Small Block Super winner at the Speedway.
Hoag darted away from the point on the start while class points leader Andrew Schartner started the night in 18th after struggling with the handling of his car in heat race action. Schartner methodically cut a swath through the field, moving up four spots by lap 7 and climbing just inside the top 10 to tenth position by lap 15.
With Abt, Tesoriero, and Losurdo in lock-step behind Hoag, Schartner continued his charge through the pack, taking eighth from Kreig Heroth on lap 21 and then going around rookie Camden Proud for seventh on lap 22.
Hoad’s charge to victory would be stalled as the caution waved on lap 26 to bunch the field up after Dalton Doyle’s No. 01 stopped in between turns three and four.
Once the green went back in the air however, Hoag continued to pull away in dominant fashion as Schartner used the high side of the Oswego Speedway, moving inside the top five with eight to go.
No one was any match for Hoag at the checkers, but Tesoriero was finally able to slide by his teammate Danny Abt in the final corner, bringing young gun Anthony Losurdo with him to round out the podium.
Tesoriero, who battled Abt for 35 straight laps, talked after the event about his final lap move to take the runner-up position.
“Enough was enough,” said Tesoriero. “I was all over Danny (Abt) all night, I was trying everything I could to get by him, and I didn’t want to push it too hard being my teammate, but at the end I said enough is enough, I have to go for this. It was too little too late for the win, I thought I may have been able to have something for Alex (Hoag), but you’ll never know now.”
Losurdo, who won his first career SBS main as well earlier in the year, charged hard for a third place run.
“We were overheating real bad, and I don’t know whether the fan quit or we were just racing so tight,” said Losurdo. “I finally got it cooled down to about 230 and I just went for it. Jon was under him just about every lap out of turn two and turn four and he finally got it to stick, so I just followed him through.”
Hoag, Andrews, and Abt collected Shell Shock Custom Helmet Paint Heat Race Challenge victories.
Hoag was the Nice Price Auto Sales Up and Comer as well as the Sherwood Racing Wheels Lap Leader. Point leader Schartner was the D&S Landscaping Hard Charger coming from 18th to 5th on the grid.
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RESULTS: Pathfinder Bank Small Block Supers; ISMA Supermodified ‘King of Wings VI’ Night presented by Shea Concrete and B104.7FM; Oswego Speedway; Oswego, NY; Saturday, July 12th, 2014
Heat #1 (10-laps, all qualify): 1. 73 – Alex Hoag, 2. 47 – Jon Tesoriero, 3. 01 – Dalton Doyle, 4. 54 – Camden Proud, 5. 69 – Dave Cliff, 6. 8 – Josh Kerr, 7. 18 – Andrew Schartner, 8. 98 – Jason Simmons
Heat #2 (10-laps, all qualify): 1. 93 – JJ Andrews, 2. 91 – Barry Kingsley, 3. 27 – David LaTulip, 4. 21 – Rob Pullen, 5. 2 – Matt Magner, 6. 77 – Cameron Rowe, 7. 02 – Jesse Bearup
Heat #3 (10-laps, all qualify): 1. 57 – Danny Abt, 2. 1 – Anthony Losurdo, 3. 04 – Kreig Heroth, 4. 22 – Mike Bruce, 5. 9 – Jack Patrick, 6. 99 – Dennis Rupert, 7. 28 – Shad Gates
Pathfinder Bank Small Block Super Main (35-laps): 1. 73 – Alex Hoag, 2. 47 – Jon Tesoriero, 3. 1 – Anthony Losurdo, 4. 57 – Danny Abt, 5. 18 – Andrew Schartner, 6. 93 – JJ Andrews, 7. 54 – Camden Proud, 8. 04 – Kreig Heroth, 9. 91 – Barry Kingsley, 10. 21 – Rob Pullen, 11. 9 – Jack Patrick, 12. 22 – Mike Bruce, 13. 2 – Matt Magner, 14. 8 – Josh Kerr, 15. 01 – Dalton Doyle, 16. 69 – Dave Cliff, 17. 27 – David LaTulip, 18. 28 – Shad Gates, 19. 98 – Jason Simmons, 20. 99 – Dennis Rupert DNS
Audio with race winner Alex Hoag:
Audio with runner-up Jon Tesoriero:
Audio with 3rd-place Anthony Losurdo:
Audio with points leader and 5th-place finisher Andrew Schartner:
Audio with 7th-place Camden Proud:
D&S Landscaping Hard Charger: #18 Andrew Schartner
Nice Price Auto Sales Up & Comer: #73 Alex Hoag
Sherwood Racing Wheels Lap Leader: #73 Alex Hoag
White’s Car Care 4th Place Award: #57 Danny Abt
