0
0
OSWEGO, NY (August 16, 2023) – Following the inception of Oswego’s Pathfinder Bank SBS class in 1992, it has been long since used as a stepping stone for drivers to make their way up to the Novelis Supermodified ranks.
Three years ago, the J&S Paving 350 Super class was introduced on a full-time basis, and it too has proven to be equally as advantageous for drivers, with the true ‘Small Block Supers’ utilizing a top wing, and former Supermodified frames, providing an even closer ‘Supermodified’ feel.
Among the drivers who have now made every step up the ladder is Josh Sokolic of Fulton, NY. Sokolic, a 21 year old transportation mechanic originally from Camillus, won Rookie of the Year honors in the SBS class in 2018.
In his rookie campaign, at just 16 years old, Sokolic finished second on only his fifth night out to eventual track champion Anthony Losurdo. He backed that up, timing fifth for the Bud Light SBS Classic 75, at a lap of 18.787 seconds.
2019 was another season to remember for Sokolic, as the driver of the No. 26 would rack up six more top five finishes in the SBS class, pursuing his first feature win to the tune of three second place finishes, including two in a row in July.
After knocking on the door for two years, Sokolic opened up the 2021 season with four more top fives including another pair of back to back second place runs on June 19th and July 3rd, before sweeping the SBS Twin 20’s one week later for the first two wins of his career.
Once Sokolic got his first pair of win(s) out of the way, he had no problem continuing the trend, returning with another second to Griffin Miller on August 14, before besting Dan Kapuscinski to become the 29th annual Mr. Pathfinder Bank SBS on August 21.
Although Sokolic won the ‘battle,’ Danny K won the ‘war’ for the SBS track championship, just barely beating the teenage Sokolic out by seven points for his first track title.
Sokolic’s fourth career victory would come in none other than the 30th annual Bud Light SBS Classic 75-lapper two weeks later, when he ran second on the track to the king of the Classic, Mike Bond, who would eventually fail post race tech inspection, handing the victory to Sokolic.
Having clearly proving himself in an SBS, the Sokolics, with the help of longtime car owner Ed Horne, decided it was time to make the move up to the new 350 Supermodified class for 2022, but the car wasn’t quite ready for Opening Night, so Josh began by delivering another second, again to Kapuscinski in the SBS class.
Now at age 20, Sokolic was ready to make his (350) Super debut. After finishes of 10th, 6th, and 4th to begin the year, Sokolic was then runner-up to Chase Locke in the Mr. J&S Paving 350 Super event on July 23.
Keeping his momentum, Josh managed two more fourth place finishes to close out the regular season on August 13th and August 20, and then qualified for his first Classic at a lap of 16.809 seconds, bested only by Brian Sobus.
While a heavy crash in the Classic called a disappointing end to an otherwise solid first season in the 350 Super, the Sokolic Racing team came out of the gate swinging to start off 2023, with Josh proving himself right away as the clear-cut championship favorite.
Sokolic started off with a sixth place on Opening Night, but has been the car to beat by a long shot ever since, racking up three feature wins in the first half of the year, including two in a row on June 24 on July 1. Notably, all were won in dominating fashion by margins of nine seconds, four seconds, and a staggering 11 seconds, respectively.
On July 22nd, a big field of cars rolled into town for the 3rd annual Mr. J&S Paving 350 Super event, including New England invaders Jeffrey Battle, brother Ryan, Eddie Witkum Jr, Novelis Supermodified veteran Dave Danzer, and more.
Starting in sixth, Sokolic, passed Jeff Battle; the multi-time Star Speedway champion, for the lead on lap 17, and from there was able to cruise comfortably to his fourth victory of the season, good for his eighth overall at Oswego Speedway.
Another podium finish (3rd) to open the month of August two weeks back allowed Sokolic to expand the healthy championship lead he had built even further over second and third place Dave Cliff and Kyle Perry.
Although his 350 Super efforts were marred by electrical issues forcing the No. 26 to start and park and allowing feature winner Cliff to close in on the track title this past weekend, Sokolic’s success story at the Steel Palace led to the opportunity of a lifetime for the 50-lap ISMA / MSS Winged Super Challenge finale; Josh was called upon to drive the Soule Racing No. 32 as the team’s regular driver Moe Lilje headed back to Ohio for work, unable to compete in the postponed feature event on Sunday afternoon.
“Basically this all started with Eddie Horne. He has helped me so much throughout my racing career and is pretty close with Steve Byrnes, who houses the 32 Super,” Sokolic explained. “I knew Ed was helping Danny (Soule) and his guys out and he introduced us to Steve, Dan, and everyone a couple weeks ago. When it rained out Saturday and Moe had to go home for work, Danny texted me and asked if I would like to start and park the car.”
While this was originally supposed to be a start and park ‘only’ deal, Sokolic had still graciously accepted the offer, but come Sunday morning when Josh got behind the wheel for his hot laps, everything changed.
After regular ISMA / MSS hot laps, the No. 32 rolled out onto the track with Sokolic given the full surface to himself, and it didn’t take long for Josh to prove that he was ready to do far more than just start and park the car.
In three laps, Sokolic had already turned a 15.8. By lap 6, his 15.590 was fifth quick, and on lap 11, Josh clocked in a 15.574, good enough for third quick to only Trent Stephens and Mike Ordway Jr. He otherwise bested the entire 24 car field of veteran Supermodified drivers in attendance.
“I was just going out to take those laps and then after that kind of come up with a plan,” Sokolic mentioned. “To be honest, I didn’t see the 15.5 out there. I was only looking on the right side of the board. Only 15 numbers were lit up and I didn’t think we had made it to the top 15. When I pulled in the pits, someone said to me ‘hey, third quick,’ so Danny and Steve I think were pretty happy with me being able to keep pace with those guys and keep the car under control. It did have a lot more power than the 350, but it was actually a bit smoother than I thought. The 350 races pretty snappy on the wheel, but the big block, I found I could get away with driving loose some more.”
From there, Soule; who has owned the iconic No. 32 for decades and is a former Speedway feature winner himself, gave his driver the choice of whether to start and park the car, or to try and get some experience during the 50-lap feature.
Sokolic’s answer was clear, he wanted to race, but only if he could “stay on the lead lap, stay comfortable, and stay out of the way.” Josh said, “If I was uncomfortable at all, I told myself I was going to pull in,” and he did after an early yellow, but only to make some changes.
Starting scratch in the 23rd position, Josh found the car to be too free out of the gate. “I saw a car get into the wall and I knew we’d have time to adjust some stuff,” he explained. “I came in to tighten it. I knew I wouldn’t be able to throw it to the outside. That’s kind of where I like to be and it’s just more comfortable for me, especially in the Super. I could have gone inside, but I just like that there’s more room to pass up there and in a car I’m not familiar with, if I did drive up and get in too hard, I’m not going to run into the car outside of me. Everyone in front of me was keeping it low anyway, so I realized I wasn’t going to get any passes in by just following the guys in front of us. So, we made the changes to tighten it up, moved the wing back a hole and a couple other things, and went back out.”
From there, Josh certainly showed he has what it takes to not only turn fast laps in a big block, but to drive one to the front. Sokolic was the show throughout the main event, as he consistently made use of the high side of turns three and four to work his way from 21st, all the way into the 11th position, just missing out on a top 10.
During his march through the field, Sokolic soared past the likes of Supermodified veterans, track champions, Classic and feature winners, AJ Lesiecki, Brandon Bellinger, Tyler Shullick, Tim Snyder, Aric Iosue, Russ Wood, Lou LeVea Jr. and Dan Connors, bringing a whole new meaning to the word “impressive.”
In the closing laps, he was closing in on Mark Sammut, Michael Barnes, and Dave Danzer to fight for spots in the top ten, but an issue with the front nose wing may have slowed Sokolic’s momentum just a little bit.
“I was happy with how we did after the pit stop,” Sokolic commented. “I think everyone’s goal at the Speedway is to get into a big block car and those guys made it comfortable for me despite it being a ‘hey do you want to drive it’ type of thing 12 hours before. I just would have liked to see what happened if we didn’t bend the nose wing. With 20 laps to go I knocked the left side board off and the car was pushing like a dump truck at first, but then started getting a little better over the course. I must have just clipped somebody’s right rear, but the guys were pretty excited and that is all that matters. I don’t know if I surprised them, but I’m guessing they were pretty ok with how it went.”
The Sokolic Family; dad John, mom Tina, and sister Olivia, are longtime Speedway fans and Josh knew full well the history of the Soule 32 machine before climbing behind the wheel on Sunday afternoon, an opportunity that clearly meant the world to him.
“To be honest, it means a lot that they even thought to let me get in it,” Sokolic said. “The 32 is a pretty iconic and historic car at Oswego Speedway. I remember growing up it always being that special blue and there are some big names that have driven it. Timmy Jedrzejek comes to mind, when he dominated with it in the Classic race a while back. It was a really cool opportunity and I can’t thank Danny, Steve, and the rest of the crew enough for letting me wheel it. Also my sister, parents, and Ed Horne for helping to keep my racing career progressing. I would love to drive a Super again and hope this leads to more opportunities.”
After a superb debut showing, it is certainly safe to say that Sokolic has made a number of new fans, and caught the eye of Supermodified car owners a plenty.
While priority number one will be to put the wraps on his first Speedway championship this weekend in the 350 Super, there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that Josh’s career in big block Supermodified racing is just getting started.
Josh has a Facebook page that fans can visit to keep up with all things Joshua Sokolic Racing. Simply click the link HERE: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057402492338.
Its Best Western PLUS / Clarion Hotel & Suites Riverfront and LaGraf’s Pub & Grill ‘TEAL PALACE’ Track Championship Night at the Speedway this Saturday, August 19, with track titles being decided for the Novelis Supermodifieds, Pathfinder Bank SBS, and J&S Paving 350 Supers. A driver autograph session will take place at 5:30pm on the front stretch and a gigantic fireworks display will conclude the program.
Adult admission tickets for the Speedway’s regular season finale are just $20 with kids 16 and under admitted FREE with a paid adult.
For more information on this weekend’s event, visit the track website at OswegoSpeedway.com. You can also LIKE the Oswego Speedway on Facebook at Facebook.com/OswegoSpeedway or FOLLOW on Twitter @OswegoSpeedway or Instagram @OfficialOswegoSpeedway.
