Oswego, N.Y.—I try to get up to Oswego Speedway at least once every year. I'm not very successful meeting that self imposed quota. This year, I was able to do so early as the calendar turned to June.

Oswego Speedway is known throughout it's 62-year history for running the Supermodifieds, an ultra-quick methanol burning semi-open wheel brand of short track oval racing. Back in the heyday it had been used as a good alternative or addition to the sprint car ranks in developing drivers for the Indianapolis 500 and the Big Car circuit.

Drivers such as Gordon Johncock, Mario Andretti, Bentley Warren, Davey Hamilton, and Joe Gosek ran and won at Oswego before competing at Indy. In fact, Oswego was once referred to as the Indy of the East. NASCAR drivers Geoff Bodine, Brett Bodine, Greg Sachs, Jimmy Spencer, and of course modified legend and NASCAR Hall of Famer, Richie Evans, have also run at the 5/8-mile paved track near Lake Ontario.

If you take away all the nerf bars which surround the chassis and the barge board like bodywork on the side which seemingly are there to display sponsors, you have a car that looks very much like an Indy car -- pointed nose, front wing, and wedged-shape. That's where the similarity ends. The big block V8s are mounted on the left side of the car, the right suspension is elongated from the center of the car compared to the left side, and a massive wing sits on the back.

The 800 horsepower, massive tires, and big balls from the drivers can propel these cars at Oswego at average speeds of nearly 150 mph with upwards of 4 G's in the corners. When the green flag is waved to unleash approximately two dozen racers for the feature event, it's the closest thing to Indy cars on a short track you'll experience. The noise, vibration, and wind created by the field attacks all your senses.

Making his debut this night was Jarett Andretti, the 19-year-old son of John Andretti. He finished fourth in his heat race, the last spot for a feature spot. Though, with a number of cars breaking and crashing in the prelims, there was no need to run a consolation race, as all the remaining cars were moved into the final.

Supermodifieds do not have starters, so push trucks are needed to get them going. For the feature race, the cars line up on the front straight. As many trucks are assembled to push them away. Sometimes, there aren't as many trucks as cars. Therefore, the trucks have to come around to get the remaining cars. Thus, the first couple of warm up laps are taken at an extremely slow speed since push trucks are still on course and some cars haven't even gotten going on the front straight.

At the completion of the first warm up lap, with one car still needing a push, a car coming out of four lit up its tires, realized there was a push truck in front of him lining up behind the stationary car, locked up his brakes in avoidance, and swerved to the right, clobbering the outside boiler plate wall.

It just so happens the car came to a stop directly in front of where I was sitting, but the wall was high enough to obscure my view of the car. I said to my friend, "I wonder if it's a rookie."

The driver got out of the car, with his helmet already off, as the right front suspension was too damaged to continue. It was a very young driver, prompting me to say, "Yep, a newbie."

Next, the car was lifted by a tow truck, and for the first time I could see it was Jarett Andretti's car.

What is with the Andretti's and trucks on course? Who can forget the hilarious scene of first Mario Andretti running into the back of a safety truck at the Detroit Grand Prix, followed by his son Michael running into the back of Mario, while everyone else managed to avoid it all. Is it in their genes to be completely oblivious to trucks on course during yellow flag conditions? Is it like a color blindness gene? A truck on course blindness gene?

After the race, Jarett could be heard explaining to fans his throttle stuck. So, he also has the Andretti "blame it on everything and everyone else" gene. After all, it can never, ever be an Andretti's fault.

As for the feature race, let's give the proper mention to the winner, Joe Gosek. It was his 41st Oswego feature win, tying him for fourth on the all-time track list. He started fourth, quickly moving to second. It was obvious he had a faster car than the leader, but it took him awhile to get by. He finally did on the 24th lap, coming out of the fourth turn high, and then passing for the lead around the outside through turn one.

Once in the lead, Gosek was able to pull away with ease, having no problems on any of the restarts in the 50-lap race. The only issue was a smoking engine throughout the race which turned out to be spilled brake fluid which got onto the header.

As for Jarett Andretti, he will be competing at Oswego for the remainder of the season except for a mid-September event. Hopefully, he will find a cure for the Andretti gene.

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