August 29, 1981
Oswego Syracuse Mile qualifier
The defending track champion, Warren Coniam, coming off a real poor season, finally put it all together to register the Syracuse Super National Qualifier win on August 29th at Oswego Speedway. It was the last event prior to the 25th Anniversary International Classic and a 40 car field of supermodifieds were on hand, including multi track champ Jimmy Shampine who had made only 1 appearance all season long.
From the outset Coniam was fast, turning in lap times of 17.8 seconds on the 5/8ths of a mile and he quickly put the Booth-Miller supermodified no. 6 into the lead. Doug Heveron who has completely dominated the supermodified scene, was blistering through traffic when he clipped the inside hub rail and had to pit for a new left side rubber. Heveron returned to the race and was able to get back to fourth before colliding with a lapped car and crashing into the second turn wall, eliminating him from his first feature race since early June.
Coniam meanwhile was long gone with Steve Gioia, Jr. filling in the second spot, Dave Thomas in the Bowley Flyin' 5 third, Brian Herb no. 11 fourth and Mike Rizzo no. 34 fifth. Ed Thompson 91, Chuck Ciprich 36, Joe Gosek 00, Mike Schoebertein 14, and Bobby Stelter, 35 rounded out the top ten.
