OSWEGO, N.Y. -- Pavement pilot Patrick Dupree made quick work of the field on Wednesday night as he needed just 10 minutes to claim the DIRTcar-sanctioned Big-Block/Small-Block special on August 22 at Oswego Speedway. Unlike his last lap pass for the lead made a year ago at the famed ‘Steel Palace,’ Dupree led flag-to-flag to cash in on the 25-lapper that was slowed by just one yellow flag.

“This is definitely my favorite track, with wide sweeping turns and the fact that its just so fast,” said Dupree, 26, who shared the two-race mini-series points title with third-place finisher Mike Bruno, winner of the July 24 opener at Airborne Speedway where Dupree finished third. “Glad I was hooked up on the inside tonight. I didn’t really know what was up top or what kind of grip I could get. Since nobody was running up high I figured there was a lot of loose stuff up there. Fortunately, I didn’t have to find out.”

As soon as the initial green flag waved, Dupree darted from fourth to first between turns one and two and the race for second was all that remained as he opened up a five car-length advantage after just one time around the spacious 5/8-miler. Outside front row starter Mike Perrotte swept past pole-sitter Matt Woodruff in the first corner, then drifted high in turn two leaving enough room for Dupree to dive low and make the winning move stick.

“I just went in a little too hard and that’s what happens at a place like this,” said Perrotte, who chased Dupree for the entire distance before settling for runner-up honors. Behind Bruno, Tom Kinsella steered the Roger Phelps owned and Pat ward prepared no. 99 Big Red Towing/Bicknell ride to a fourth-place tally while Frenchmen Pierre Berthiaume completed the front-five. “I think a few more cars out there would’ve created more traffic and probably made a better race out of it. Pat was just too strong tonight and had the whole field covered from the start.”

Second heat winner Berthiaume redrew after qualifying and selected “6” to invert the front three rows to start the feature event. Dupree filled in fourth on the starting grid after following Berthiaume across the line in his heat. But come feature time, Dupree was prepared to follow no one as he went from high to low in one quick maneuver and by 9 o’clock was celebrating his fifth win of the season.

The Saranac Lake, N.Y. driver joined Jimmy Horton as the only other DIRTcar winner at the Port City oval, with New Jersey invader Horton leading the ground-pounding Big-Blocks to victory lane in the 1992 showdown. Dupree was just as dominant this year aboard the Small-Block no. 24 Outback Steakhouse-Black Opal Wines/TEO entry powered by an AC Performance motor. With his first career DIRTcar Modified feature win, Dupree also received an automatic starting berth in the 358-Modified Championship race on Oct. 6 of Super DIRT Week XXXVI at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse.

While Dupree sped on in the early stages, Perrotte, Bruno, Kinsella and Berthiaume were already settled into top-five positions. It took only a half-dozen laps before Dupree hit on traffic and 12th-place starter Rick Rogala was the first to go under on lap six. The only caution period came three laps later as debris was discovered just beyond the second corner and officials removed the scrap before any damage could be done. On the ensuing restart, Perrotte tried to surprise the leader making a run on the top side. He was able to hold his line through turn three yet Dupree never flinched and remained ahead under the infield starter’s stand with nine laps complete. When the checkered flag flew all but three of the starters had completed the prescribed 25 lap distance.

SKIDMARKS

The Oswego race issued valuable points toward the Central Regional Championship that is up for grabs this season in the DIRTcar Big-Block Modified ranks. All 2007 Regional Champions will be determined on Monday, September 4…..Prior to last year’s Small-Block show also held on Wednesday at Oswego, the last time the Port City oval staged a mid-week event was during the early 1970s. The mighty Modified were led by all-time greats Richie Evans, Maynard Troyer, George Kent and Geoff Bodine in the Series 70 specials…..Along with last year’s winner Dupree, Andy Powell, Mike Perrotte, Leon Gonyo and Pierre Berthiaume also returned to Oswego this year in the their DIRT-style Modifieds…..Mike Bruno led the distance at Airborne to earn a guaranteed starting spot in the 150-lap Super DIRT Week 358-Modified Championship at Syracuse. “Can’t wait to get back to the Mile, its kind of like asphalt when it gets black and takes rubber.”…..Rick Rogala was the only driver not to make his heat as a blown motor pump seal curtailed the early efforts of the regular Brewerton Speedway campaigner on dirt…..Airborne Speedway feature winner Leon Gonyo opened up a big lead in his own qualifying heat before a broken rear panhard bar and broken right-rear radius rod dropped him off the pace and forced the Chazy, N.Y. pilot pitside for the remainder….

Airborne promoter Mike Perrotte turned racer on Wednesday after rebuilding his no. 35 Big-Block from the frame up the previous day using an old DIRT car that had been collecting dust for the past two years…..After competing in the Sportsman division a couple nights earlier at Black Rock (12th, Fri.) and Fulton (2nd, Sat.), Larry Wight buckled in to his father’s four-barrel crate-powered to challenge the Modified boys at their own game…..Airborne Speedway officials are expecting to mandate the exclusive use of Hoosier DIRT-type tires for weekly shows in 2008. Patrick Dupree was among the last drivers competing at the Plattsburgh oval to use the standard slicks commonly found around the asphalt circuit. The DIRT tires boast a harder compound allowing teams to use them for more races, while asphalt slicks sustain greater wear during the course of a race night. And according to racers that have used both, the smooth, slick tires also tend to pick up more debris left trackside which greatly affects the amount of stagger and thus the car’s ultimate set-up…..With dirt and dents still accenting Chad Phelps’ X car, the Mexico, N.Y. driver came a solid sixth. Previous experience on pavement was logged last year in a Limited Super, first at Spencer Speedway in Williamson , N.Y. and secondly during Oswego’s Classic Weekend…..Enjoying his 43rd season behind the microphone at Oswego Speedway, popular Public Address Announcer Roy Sova figured Wednesday’s show was one of the quickest in track history, starting at 7 o’clock and ending with Dupree pulling into the winner’s circle at exactly 9 p.m.

RESULTS

Oswego Speedway, August 22, 2007 Big-Block/Small-Block Modified Event Summary

FIN STR CAR# DRIVER

1 4 24 Patrick Dupree/Saranac Lake,NY

2 2 35 Mike Perrotte/Elizabethtown,NY

3 5 22 Mike Bruno/Bomoseen,VT

4 8 99 Tom Kinsella/Fayetteville,NY

5 6 20 Pierre Berthiaume/Quebec City,QUE

6 3 3 Andy Powell/Hannibal,NY

7 7 X Chad Phelps/Mexico,NY

8 10 4 Leon Gonyo/Chazy,NY

9 1 55 Matt Woodruff/Bloomingdale,NY

10 11 99L Larry Wight/Phoenix,NY

11 9 6 Francis McNeil/Ellenburg Depot,NY

12 12 8 Rick Rogala/Syracuse,NY

LAP LEADER: Dupree (1-25).

CAUTION: 1 (lap 9).

SYRACUSE 358-MODIFIED QUALIFIER: Patrick Dupree.

QUALIFYING

Heat Races (8 laps, top 6 inverted for feature line-up)

#1: Bruno, Powell, Woodruff, Phelps, McNeill, Wight.

#2: Berthiaume, Dupree, Perrotte, Kinsella, Gonyo, Rogala (DNS).

2007 358-MODIFIED SYRACUSE CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS

(+)-denotes Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified Championship Series event.

DAY-DATE TRACK LOCATION WINNER/QUALIFIER

Sat-Apr 21 Orange County Fair Speedway Middletown,NY Brett Hearn

Sat-Apr 28 Orange County Fair Speedway Middletown,NY Dom Roselli

Fri-May 25 Ransomville Speedway Ransomville,NY Scott Kerwin

Fri-May 25 Autodrome Granby Granby,QUE Sebastien Gougeon

Sat-May 26 Lebanon Valley Speedway West Lebanon,NY J.R. Heffner

Sat-May 26 Frogtown Int'l Speedway Hogansburg,NY Danny Johnson

Thr-May 31 Orange County Fair Speedway Middletown,NY Tim Hindley

Sat-Jun 2 Orange County Fair Speedway Middletown,NY Chuck McKee

Sat-Jun 2 Autodrome Drummond Drummondville,QUE Mario Clair

Sat-Jun 9 Orange County Fair Speedway Middletown,NY T.Hindley/Jeremy Markle-2nd

Sat-Jun 23 Orange County Fair Speedway Middletown,NY Kirk Horton

Sat-Jun 23 Lebanon Valley Speedway West Lebanon,NY Ray Hoard

Sat-Jun 23 Genesee Speedway Batavia,NY Tim Jones

Wed-Jun 27 Frogtown Int'l Speedway Hogansburg,NY Dale Planck

Wed-Jun 27 New Egypt Speedway New Egypt,NJ Jeff Strunk

Fri-Jun 29 Autodrome Edelweiss Hull,QUE Pierre Dagenais

Sat-Jun 30 Orange County Fair Speedway Middletown,NY Johnny Guarino

Fri-Jul 6 Ransomville Speedway Ransomville,NY D.Johnson/Pete Bicknell-8th

Tue-Jul 10 Brockville Ontario Speedway Brockville,ONT Pat O'Brien/Jeff Sykes-13th

Sat-Jul 14 Lebanon Valley Speedway West Lebanon,NY Andy Bachetti

Sat-Jul 21 Canandaigua Speedway Canandaigua,NY D.Johnson/Bob Henry Jr.-9th

Sat-Jul 21 Orange County Fair Speedway Middletown,NY Chris Shultz

Sun-Jul 22 Lebanon Valley Speedway West Lebanon,NY A.Bachetti/Jeff Trombley-3rd

Sun-Jul 22 Humberstone Speedway Port Colborne,ONT P.Bicknell/Chris Steele-2nd

Sun-Jul 22 Cornwall Motor Speedway Cornwall,ONT Billy Decker/Clement Therrien-5th

Mon-Jul 23 Autodrome Drummond Drummondville,QUE B.Hearn/Kayle Robidoux-11th

Tue-Jul 24 Airborne Speedway Plattsburgh,NY Mike Bruno

Fri-Jul 27 Autodrome Edelweiss Hull,QUE Laurent Ladouceur

Sat-Jul 28 Brockville Ontario Speedway Brockville,ONT Pat O'Brien

Sat-Jul 28 Merrittville Speedway Thorold,ONT Chad Brachmann

Sun-Jul 29 Cornwall Motor Speedway Cornwall,ONT P.O'Brien/Yan Bussiere-2nd

Fri-Aug 3 Ohsweken Speedway Ohsweken,ONT P.Bicknell/Scott Wood-3rd

Sat-Aug 4 Orange County Fair Speedway Middletown,NY B.Hearn/Brian Krummel-4th

Sat-Aug 4 Lebanon Valley Speedway West Lebanon,NY Kenny Tremont

Mon-Aug 6 Merrittville Speedway Thorold,ONT D.Johnson/Larry Lampman Jr.-9th

Mon-Aug 6 Autodrome Drummond Drummondville,QUE Y.Bussiere/Stephane LaFrance-4th

Tue-Aug 7 Autodrome Granby Granby,QUE Martin Roy

Tue-Aug 14 Ransomville Speedway Ransomville,NY Pat Ward/Jeff McGinnis-4th

Sat-Aug 18 Orange County Fair Speedway Middletown,NY J.Markle/Craig Mitchell-2nd

Sat-Aug 18 Lebanon Valley Speedway West Lebanon,NY A.Bachetti/Matt Quinn-3rd

Sun-Aug 19 Cayuga County Fair Speedway Weedsport,NY D.Johnson-T.Fuller/Tom Juhl

Mon-Aug 20+ Autodrome Drummond Drummondville,QUE B.Hearn/David Hebert-2nd

Tue-Aug 21+ Autodrome Granby Granby,QUE K. Robidoux/Alain Boisvert-2nd

Wed-Aug 22 Oswego Speedway Oswego,NY Patrick Dupree

Fri-Aug 31 Ransomville Speedway Ransomville,NY

Sat-Sep 1 Orange County Fair Speedway Middletown,NY

Sat-Sep 1 Frogtown Int'l Speedway Hogansburg,NY

Sat-Sep 1 Merrittville Speedway Thorold,ONT

Sat-Sep 1 Autodrome Drummond Drummondville,QUE

Sun-Sep 2+ Cornwall Motor Speedway Cornwall,ONT

Sun-Sep 2 Northern Region Champion DIRT NorthEast

Sun-Sep 2 Eastern Region Champion DIRT NorthEast

Sun-Sep 2 Western Region Champion DIRT NorthEast

Fri-Sep 7+ Autodrome Edelweiss Hull,QUE

Sat-Sep 8+ Lebanon Valley Speedway(4) West Lebanon,NY

Fri-Sep 14+ Can-Am Motorsports Park,Ltd. LaFargeville,NY

Sat-Sep 15+ Brockville Ontario Speedway Brockville,ONT

Fri-Sep 21+ Rolling Wheels Raceway(4) Elbridge,NY

Sat-Sep 29 Fulton Speedway Fulton,NY

Wed-Oct 3+ Can-Am Motorsports Park,Ltd. LaFargeville,NY

Thr-Oct 4+ Brewerton Speedway Brewerton,NY

Fri-Oct 5+ Rolling Wheels Raceway Elbridge,NY

Sat-Oct 6+ New York State Fairgrounds Syracuse,NY