Otto Sitterly and the John Nicotra Racing team closed out the 2016 Oswego Speedway Novelis Supermodified regular season Saturday night with a strong third-place finish in the final 50-lap feature of the year. Otto’s P3 run was enough to jump the Royal Purple / G&I Homes / Riccelli Northern-sponsored No. 7 past Michael Muldoon into third-place in the final Oswego Supermodified point standings.
Sitterly started P9 in the 21-car field and settled into P8 early in the race while battling with rivals Dave Gruel, Muldoon and Michael Barnes. Sitterly moved solid into P7 on lap 15 when Muldoon spun on a restart. He’d follow Jeff Abold until lap 34, when the blue 7 shot past Abold’s No. 05 and quickly went to work on Kody Graham and Keith Shampine.
Otto made quick work of the pair, moving past Shampine into P4 with 11 laps remaining. With less than 10 laps to go, Sitterly joined a fierce battle for the lead among Dan Connors, Barnes and Joe Gosek. Otto would move past a fading Connors for third on lap 45, and worked on Gosek to the finish, but wasn’t able to overtake the Oswego driver.
Sitterly would settle for P3 behind winner Barnes and runner-up Gosek.
“It has just been a hard year,” said Sitterly. “Good for Mike Barnes and the Syrell’s, that’s awesome. I wish we could do something with passing points. It’s amazing to pass so many cars in a season, and have nothing to show for it. But, we’ll take it and move onto the Classic. Thanks to Royal Purple, G&I Homes, Riccelli Northern and all these great sponsors for the support. Of course, thanks to John Nicotra and all my crew and fans.”
The Nicotra Racing 7 finishes the regular season with very good statistics despite not winning a feature:
- 7 Top-Five Finishes (second to Barnes)
- 9 Top-Ten Finishes (third to Gruel and Muldoon)
- 3 Heat Race Wins (second to Muldoon)
- 2 Hard Charger Awards
Only one race remains for the Novelis Supermodifieds in 2016. The Budweiser International Classic 200 takes place Sunday, Sept. 4. Otto will be looking for Classic win No. 5 against the best supermodified drivers in the country.
Joining Sitterly in the Royal Purple / Nicotra Racing stable will be Dave Shullick Jr. in the Nicotra No. 2 and Indianapolis 500 veteran Davey Hamilton in the Nicotra No. 6.
The team will qualify Friday, Sept. 2 before taking Saturday off and returning to the speedway Sunday for the final race day of the season.
CARMEN P GUGLIOTTO
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BIGEST PROBLEM THIS YEAR AS FAR AS WINNING FEATURES???