Buff, Janczuk, Fink, Stone and Mackey also locked into the big show Sunday
With a lap of 22.206 around the clay-covered Oswego Speedway, Chad Edwards will bring the DIRTcar Sportsman Modified Chevy Performance 75 to green from the pole on Sunday afternoon.
The top-six fastest drivers from the 102-car field have automatically locked themselves into the Chevy Performance 75. Edwards, of Gloversville, NY, joins Andrew Buff, Matt Janczuk, Alan Fink, Nick Stone and Chris Mackey in the first three rows of the Feature starting grid for a shot at the $4,000 grand prize on Sunday. Everyone else will try and punch their ticket in through a Heat Race in the Friday Night Lights program.
This is Edwards’ first career SRI Performance Pole Award at NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week. He becomes only the third driver in the last five editions of the event to win it, joining present-day DIRTcar Big Block Modified drivers Dave Marcuccilli and Kevin Root as polesitters at Oswego.
The top-six qualifiers of the Sportsman Modified Chevy Performance 75 (Michael Fry Photo)
“It hasn’t really hit me yet,” Edwards said. “Later on, when we’re having a few, we’ll probably enjoy it.”
Later in the evening, Edwards “The Lunchbox” has the choice of competing in a 15-lap Heat Race, which will transfer another 20 cars into Sunday’s Feature. Since he’s already locked into the Feature, his participation isn’t required, but could serve as some extra practice time.
“I’m not really sure yet,” Edwards said of his decision to race the Heat. “We’re probably gonna mount up some new tires and at least go out in the back maybe and try to break them in. Probably won’t be chancing it, to be honest.”
Edwards also had the luck of the draw on his side, pill drawing in the first five spots of the Qualifying lineup earlier in the program. This put him among the first five cars on the track to take time, which gave him a fresher racetrack to work with.
“On my quick lap, I kinda felt like I messed up in Turn 3,” Edwards said. “I got a little higher than the bottom groove and I think it helped roll through that corner smooth and straight.”
Buff poses in Oswego Victory Lane (Matt Sullivan Photo)
Hoosier Racing Tire Weekly Points champion of the division, Andrew Buff, clocked-in second-quick with a lap of 22.262. He collected the $250 Low-E Insulation Outside Pole Award and will take the green on Sunday alongside Edwards.
“The lap was great,” said Buff, of Latham, NY. “Glad that we can start on the front row for this race on Sunday, it means a lot going into the race. Definitely a lot of stress off of the week we have.”
Seventy-five trips around the five-eighths-mile oval is significantly more demanding than the 20-30-lap Features a typical Sportsman Modified driver tackles on any given weekend during the regular season. Buff finished fifth in the 2018 edition of the Chevy Performance 75, proving his capability to get it done in the big races.
“You have to have a balanced racecar throughout the whole race,” Buff said. “Seventy-five laps is a long time, and the track’s definitely going to have a lot of changes in it. Lapped traffic’s going to come into play. Just as long as we keep our nose clean and stay up front, we’ll give it our best shot.”
Matt Janczuk, of Oneida, NY, laid down a lap of 22.266 to secure his third-place spot on Sunday’s starting grid. He finished third in the 2019 Chevy Performance 75 and wasn’t shy about discussing his love for the big, fast nature of Oswego.
Janczuk heading into Turn 3 (Tom Morris Photo)
“That’s kinda where I shine, that’s my wheelhouse – big tracks like this here at Oswego,” Janczuk said.
After competing Wednesday and Thursday night at Weedsport Speedway and Brewerton Speedway, Janczuk and his crew made their final preparations and made the trip out to Oswego, where they turned their fastest laps with very few practice laps beforehand.
“This Billy Whittaker Cars & Trucks #33 has been good right off the trailer,” Janczuk said. “After last night, we went home and we just worked so hard on this thing to get this Teo Pro Car going, and right out of the box it was good.”
UP NEXT
The Sportsman Modifieds take to the track for five Heat Races as part of Oswego’s Friday Night Lights program, locking in another 20 cars to Sunday’s Chevy Performance 75. Catch all the action live on DIRTVision presented by Drydene.
Qualifying Results
- 10%-Chad Edwards, 00:22.206[3]; 2. 92-Andrew Buff, 00:22.262[11]; 3. 33X-Matt Janczuk, 00:22.266[7]; 4. 8-Alan Fink, 00:22.317[22]; 5. 1X-Justin Stone, 00:22.401[29]; 6. 3M-Chris Mackey, 00:22.565[6]; 7. 41-Dalton Rombough, 00:22.575[24]; 8. 12G-Matt Guererri, 00:22.598[71]; 9. 1F-AJ Lloyd, 00:22.620[93]; 10. 42-Daryl Nutting, 00:22.637[66]; 11. 410-Mike Fowler, 00:22.657[64]; 12. 6V-Tanner VanDoren, 00:22.668[25]; 13. 31B-Ryan Dolbear, 00:22.676[75]; 14. 1-David Rogers, 00:22.681[38]; 15. 3H-Cole Hentschel, 00:22.689[62]; 16. 6-Robert Bublak, 00:22.709[50]; 17. 00-Beau Reeves, 00:22.711[2]; 18. 38-Zach Sobotka, 00:22.723[44]; 19. 10G-Austin Germinio, 00:22.738[18]; 20. 33O-Cody Ochs, 00:22.745[69]; 21. 26-Ryan Godown, 00:22.753[61]; 22. 1D-Robert Delormier, 00:22.761[95]; 23. 21C-Brian Calabrese, 00:22.767[9]; 24. 09-Connor Cleveland, 00:22.768[98]; 25. 18-Chris Cayea, 00:22.769[16]; 26. 64-Tyler Corcoran, 00:22.781[35]; 27. 70A-Alex Payne, 00:22.802[99]; 28. R19-Dale Caswell, 00:22.807[36]; 29. B24-Brendan Gibbons, 00:22.811[1]; 30. 22W-Noah Walker, 00:22.813[14]; 31. 7Z-Zachary Payne, 00:22.814[41]; 32. 1XD-Willy Decker Jr, 00:22.819[86]; 33. 29-Nick Heywood, 00:22.842[26]; 34. 14X-Scott Duell, 00:22.864[45]; 35. 14-Zach Arquiett, 00:22.868[54]; 36. 19C-Brandon Carvey, 00:22.877[15]; 37. 7-Michael Sabia, 00:22.883[83]; 38. 63-Teddy Clayton Jr, 00:22.890[12]; 39. 5S-Tanner Siemons, 00:22.891[97]; 40. 51-Tim Lafler, 00:22.911[70]; 41. 33-Ryan Murtaugh, 00:22.919[88]; 42. 69-Brian Borst, 00:22.920[56]; 43. 42B-Justin Buff, 00:22.927[100]; 44. 35T-Cameron Tuttle, 00:22.935[90]; 45. 19-Jamy Begor, 00:22.939[60]; 46. 72-A Jay Potrzebowski, 00:22.962[80]; 47. 427-Carter Gibbons, 00:22.962[10]; 48. 3-Justin McKay, 00:22.965[82]; 49. 113JR-Frank Guererri, 00:22.969[21]; 50. 22B-Mike Bruno, 00:22.994[30]; 51. 17Z-Seth Zacharias, 00:23.006[5]; 52. 49-Chris Jakubiak, 00:23.015[57]; 53. 22S-Dylan Swinehart, 00:23.037[13]; 54. 1S-Andrew Smith, 00:23.039[68]; 55. 72H-Kasey Hufcut, 00:23.045[96]; 56. 01R-Robert Gage, 00:23.077[32]; 57. 79-Jeffrey Prentice, 00:23.103[47]; 58. 2-Tyler Doxtater, 00:23.103[20]; 59. 17J-Brenton Joy, 00:23.134[76]; 60. 21K-Randy Chrysler, 00:23.142[53]; 61. 75-AJ Custodi, 00:23.157[17]; 62. 01-Zach Buff, 00:23.166[39]; 63. 284-Jamie Kamrowski, 00:23.167[8]; 64. T69-Travis Green, 00:23.204[37]; 65. 38S-Kevin Stevens, 00:23.219[94]; 66. 28-Jordan Moden, 00:23.234[27]; 67. 52-Ron Proctor, 00:23.250[23]; 68. 20-Bucko Branham, 00:23.257[77]; 69. FOX28-Tyler Stevenson, 00:23.260[19]; 70. 10-Michael Delormier, 00:23.311[87]; 71. Z4-JJ Courcy, 00:23.314[91]; 72. 22-Nick Plumstead, 00:23.315[89]; 73. 32RS-Ryan Shanahan, 00:23.353[101]; 74. 99-Griffen Mansmith, 00:23.366[43]; 75. 5D-Tim Devendorf, 00:23.370[81]; 76. R1-Riley Rogala, 00:23.378[102]; 77. 5B-Brock Pinkerous, 00:23.428[79]; 78. 04-Dale Gonyo Jr, 00:23.445[78]; 79. 33XM-Rick Miller, 00:23.450[31]; 80. 54-Fred Proctor, 00:23.470[42]; 81. 96-Robert Maxon, 00:23.604[74]; 82. 1M-Tyler Murray, 00:23.642[4]; 83. 12-Jonathan Miller, 00:23.675[63]; 84. 5-Ryan Neiger, 00:23.756[65]; 85. 48-Kearra Backus, 00:23.763[85]; 86. 27-Jason Reome, 00:23.768[72]; 87. 99M-Brett Martin, 00:23.803[84]; 88. 9-Steve Schrader, 00:23.899[46]; 89. 96JS-John Stowell, 00:23.912[49]; 90. 13-Teddy Starr, 00:23.961[92]; 91. 74-Kelly Smith, 00:23.969[59]; 92. 11-Jeffrey Lutes, 00:24.013[58]; 93. 51B-Matthew Bourey, 00:24.091[67]; 94. 00G-Joe Gosek, 00:24.188[55]; 95. 44C-Ed Downing, 00:24.542[28]; 96. 111-Henry Desmoreau, 00:25.349[52]; 97. (DQ) 02-David Boisclair, 00:22.724[51]; 98. (DQ) 5KD-Kyle Devendorf, 00:23.019[40]; 99. (DQ) 57H-Remington Hamm, 00:23.186[34]; 100. (DQ) 50-William August, 00:23.268[48]; 101. 42A-Colby Adamczak[33]; 102. 1R-Ricky Thompson[73]
