OSWEGO, N.Y. – Mike Bond put on an absolute clinic in winning his record-extending sixth Bud Light SBS Classic on Sunday afternoon at Oswego Speedway, blowing away the Pathfinder Bank Small Block Super Series field.
Bond started from the pole after the top-eight redraw and never trailed, putting together a wire-to-wire performance that looked far more effortless than the driver said it actually was.
“People will say we were cruising, but I don’t know that we were. My car was getting really, really tight at the end,” noted Bond. “Those caution flags at the end played out and it wasn’t easy. We hung on, though, and I have to say a special thanks to my engine builder, Doug Holmes. He builds one heck of a motor and we proved that this weekend, even though every once in a while it was skipping just a bit.
“I’m worn out,” Bond added after his third-straight SBS Classic win. “I’m getting old for this stuff.”
Bond and Sokolic led the field away from the front row, with Bond jumping out to an early three car length advantage over Dalton Doyle, who immediately laid siege to the second position.
An early green-flag run saw Bond’s car running loose, but fast. He found himself a half-second clear of Doyle by the 11th circuit, maintaining a comfortable gap before the first caution flag of the race waved on lap 17 after Kyle Reuter spun in the middle of turns one and two.
The next restart saw Bond’s transponder resume operation, with Bond jetting out from Dave Cliff, who took up repose in the runner-up spot before issues for David LaTulip brought the yellow lights back on with 21 laps scored.
Yet again, Bond put together a brilliant restart when the green flag was displayed again, with both he and Cliff breaking away from the rest of the field and beginning to flex their muscle. However, the third caution of the afternoon came on lap 28, when Tyler Shullick came to a stop on the frontstretch.
It took just one more lap before yet another incident slowed the pace, with outside polesitter Sokolic smacking the foam in turns three and four to end his afternoon. After that, the second green-flag run of the day broke out, with Russ Brown moving up to fourth but Bond continuing to hold serve out front.
The halfway point saw Bond with his largest lead to that point, with six car lengths between himself and Cliff. Doyle, Brown and 2018 track champion Anthony Losurdo followed, but Cliff was ready to challenge.
A caution one lap after the crossed flags were displayed, for a three-car accident at the exit of turn two, gave Cliff his best chance to pressure Bond for the top spot. However, Bond got his best restart of the race to that point in response, pulling out to a six-tenth of a second lead before Cliff could close back in.
With 25 to go, Bond finally hit the button and took off. He opened up three-quarters of a second in two laps, but Cliff was saved by a trifecta of cautions with 22, 19 and 17 laps left, respectively.
Each time, however, Bond used the precision of a veteran to maintain command and never faltered.
That left Cliff to settle for the bridesmaid position, .271 of a second adrift at the checkered flag.
“I don’t know if I had anything for him,” admitted Cliff. “All those cautions hurt our car. It seemed like every time we’d have a restart, he’d pull out four or five car lengths ahead of us and we’d have to charge back to his bumper. I think we had a wheel bearing going bad right from the get-go, because at about lap 10 or 15 the front end of the car was chattering really bad going into the corners.
“I couldn’t be as aggressive as I wanted to be, but we made him (Bond) work for it this time.”
Brown completed the podium after a late charge up to the third spot, followed by Losurdo and Doyle.
Matt Magner finished sixth, with Andrew Schartner, Camden Proud, Brad Haynes and Mike Bruce completing the top 10. Bruce was the final car on the lead lap at the finish.
The finish:
Mike Bond, Dave Cliff, Russ Brown, Anthony Losurdo, Dalton Doyle, Matt Magner, Andrew Schartner, Camden Proud, Brad Haynes, Mike Bruce, Dave Danzer, Barry Kingsley, Jack Patrick, Russ Bartlett, Josh Kerr, Kyle Reuter, Cameron Black, Scott Schafer, David LaTulip, Cameron Rowe, Ray Sands Jr., Josh Sokolic, Tyler Shullick, Steve Flack, Ricky Pritchard, Greg O’Connor, Bryan Haynes.
