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THE GREAT SEPTEMBER CONTINUES FOR JAN LEATY AT OSWEGO AS HE WINS THE 57^TH SUNOCO RACE OF CHAMPIONS

BY JR KENNERUP ( RoC MEDIA )

            Oswego, NY…After winning back here on Labor Day weekend Jan Leaty of Williamson, NY made himself the favorite to win the 57^th Sunoco Race of Champions on Saturday night at the Oswego Speedway. Leaty made the pre race odds makers look like geniuses as Jan’s game plan of how to win this race worked to perfection.

            Leaty who started on the pole pitted for tires on lap 134 and used the late pit stop strategy to perfection as he took the lead from Wilbur Hebing with an outside turn three pass coming down to complete 183. Then Leaty had to hold off the relentless challenges of Matt Hirschman over the final eight laps to secure the $10,000 win. Hebing slipped back to third with JR Kent coming home in fourth and Chuck Hossfeld ending up in fifth.

            “ This is a nice little place to have 50 miles from home “ said Jan who also won the first RoC race at Oswego in 1996 when it was moved to here from Flemington. “ We’re really lucky as I have a good group around me, my team they gave me a great pit stop and that was the difference in the race. If Matt would have gotten out in front of me things would have been totally different. We’re a team as we all work hard together and I’m fortunate. “

            Jan started on the pole but never got the lead as outside pole sitter Pete Brittain got the jump on Jan and he followed Pete for the first 133 laps. “ I was probably being too honest on the start as I wanted a good fair side by side start “ said Jan. “ He ( Brittain ) got a jump on me by a few feet and that was all it took. I ran him a little harder than I normally would run a guy because of all the lap money this race pays. I think if the race would have stayed green I would have wrestled the lead from him. But the yellow came out on lap one and he was just ahead of me at the line. That translated into about thirteen grand ( in lap money ) for him. “

            Jan followed Brittain for the lead for the first 133 laps and at times it seemed that Jan was using his strategy. “ I tried him but not all the time. But there were times I was watching him and he looked a little more vulnerable. I would pull up and take a look to just keep the pressure on him. The cars were just too even and I had Matt sniffing my tailpipe so I had to be careful about making a bold outside move. So it kind of boiled down to an inside move and I couldn’t get him so I had to be a little careful not to wear out my stuff as I really didn’t know when I would be pitting. “

            Jan spoke about his race strategy going into the race. “ Our race strategy going into the race was to pit at halfway. But what happened was that a whole big group of cars pitted on lap 72 and also on lap 80. There was another caution on lap 106 and we decided not to pit then because it was only 23 laps after they all pitted. My hope was that we could get another 20 to 25 hard laps out of the tires before I had to pit and the pit like at lap 140. That is where I was blessed as I got a caution right when I needed it. At that time I was starting to fade and the guys who already pitted had a significant running time on their tires that they pitted for. Plus the field was thinned out pretty good at that time too. I tried the same exact pit strategy a few years ago and we didn’t get a caution until very late in the race. This time we got a caution when we needed it and they guys put me in a position to get to the front. “