OSWEGO, N.Y. – Defending Oswego Speedway Pathfinder Bank Small Block Supermodified champion Mike Bond returned to his winning ways on Saturday night, claiming the division’s 30-lap feature win as part of King of Wings VIII weekend at the .625-mile oval.

Bond took the lead from Barry Kingsley on lap six and never relinquished it again, despite a caution flag with 12 circuits remaining that bunched up the field for a final restart.

He powered away once the green flag returned again, driving home to his record-extending 34th career SBS victory over young guns Dalton Doyle and Camden Proud.

“It was a pretty good race,” said Bond in victory lane. “Once we got out front the car was working good.  We’ve had some rough luck a few times, but hopefully this (win) makes up for it.”

“I really want to thank Mike DeCare, we put a lot of hours in this car this week, he was in the garage with me every night.  Thanks to Chip Wood too and Ronzo from Millennium Music.  I have to thank Denise (Merrill) for sticking with me and of course my wife (Debbie). She puts up with a lot of nights being in the house by herself while I’m in the garage.”

Cameron Rowe was the scheduled polesitter for the feature, but spun his tires coming to the initial green flag and nearly smacked the inside wall as he fought to save his machine. While the green was called off, Rowe was put to the rear for the restart, promoting Kingsley and Jesse Bearup to the front row.

The second start was cleaner than the first, and Kingsley rocketed away to the early lead as Bearup faded to sixth on the outside lane. Mark Castiglia and Bond followed him through, dropping into second and third as the field strung out into single-file formation.

Bond dispatched Castiglia for second on the third round, and three laps later was past Kingsley for the lead as he set sail into the New York night.

Doyle grabbed second on lap eight, but didn’t have enough room to make a charge on Bond until a caution at the 18th round, when a right front suspension piece broke on Kingsley’s No. 91 machine and sent the veteran hard into the turn one foam.

While Kingsley climbed out uninjured, his car went off on the hook for the second week in a row.

The restart left Doyle and Proud searching for an opening to get around Bond that never came. Bond simply rocketed away on the restart, running off to a 3.663-second win in the end.

Doyle admitted that Bond simply “had the field outgunned” after climbing from his car.

“I was thinking after the heat that me and him (Bond) starting next to each other in the feature was going to be a pretty good race,” said Doyle.  “He just beat me up to the front and I had absolutely nothing for him. We were just a bit off on speed, good nonetheless, but he was hooked up and gone. Congratulations to Mike and his team.”

Proud took his fourth career podium at Oswego, coming home third with a car that struggled with motor issues throughout hot laps on Saturday. It was his best finish since May 21, when he ended up second to Mike Bruce.

“I couldn’t ask for a better race car,” said Proud.  “Both of those guys were fast. The car seems to break up a bit on restarts so I couldn’t really get up behind Dalton there at the end, but another podium feels awesome. It’s a good point night for us, especially after this motor fought us all day in practice. It wasn’t right at all, so to rebound, win a heat and finish up here in third is a great feeling.”

Mike Bruce and Anthony Losurdo rounded out the top five ahead of Dave Cliff, who entered the night as the track points leader and rallied through the field from outside the top 10 to finish sixth.

North Carolina super late model hotshoe Lucas Jones ended the night ninth in his first-ever Oswego Speedway start, driving the famed No. 16 of multi-time track champion Russ Brown.

RESULTS: Pathfinder Bank Small Block Super Series; Oswego Speedway; July 9, 2016

Pathfinder Bank SBS (30 laps): 1. #74 – Mike Bond, 2. #01 – Dalton Doyle, 3. #54 – Camden Proud, 4. #22 – Mike Bruce, 5. #1 – Anthony Losurdo, 6. #50 – Dave Cliff, 7. #9 – Jack Patrick, 8. #04 – Kreig Heroth, 9. #16 – Lucas Jones, 10. #67 – Tyler Shullick, 11. #37 – Jesse Bearup, 12. #77 – Cameron Rowe, 13. #76 – Scott Shafer, 14. #15 – James Babcock, 15. #2 – Rob Pullen, 16. #90 – Greg O’Connor, 17. #91 – Barry Kingsley, 18. #23 – Cameron Black, 19. #69 – Mark Castiglia.

About the Writer

Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network.

Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.

The 22-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.

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