After winning back-to-back DIRTcar Sportsman Great Lakes 75’s at Super DIRT Week, Matt Janczuk will take on a new challenge this Fall.
The Oneida driver will return to “Racing’s Biggest Party” on Oct. 6-11, at Oswego Speedway. But this time, it’s behind the wheel of a DIRTcar 358 Modified.
“I’m just excited to get back to Oswego,” Janczuk said. “This is an awesome facility and a great atmosphere. We get around there great in a Sportsman, so I’m anxious to see how well we do with the 358.”
While an uphill climb awaits Janczuk, he already knows what it takes to win at the “Clay Palace. He said it comes down to one thing. Preparation.
“You look at the caliber of cars and the quality of cars and some of the history of drivers who’ve moved up, there’s just so much talent in all of the divisions,” Janczuk said. “(The Great Lakes 75) was one of the bucket list items on my racing career. I ran Syracuse in 2006, but I was a lot younger and nowhere near as prepared as I needed to be.
“But I knew what it would take to win Oswego. There was a little luck involved. But we were able to get into the (Super) six, which sets the stage for the rest of the week. We were doing whatever we needed to stay prepared and focused on winning that race.”
Along with his preparation will come an adjustment. While he’s used to running a crate engine around the 5/8-mile track, he’ll have more horsepower in the 358. However, Janczuk said his knowledge of the track should be helpful.
“I think adjusting to the 358 has been easier than the big Small Block stuff that we’ve been running,” Janczuk said. “I think the competition level is going to be a lot harder. But as far as driving the track, I don’t think it’s going to be that much different. Just a lot more competition for sure.”
Even with more competition, including drivers like Sheppard and defending winner Mat Williamson, Janczuk will take the same approach when he arrives at Oswego this fall.
“We’re going in trying to do the best we can and have the best prepared race cars that we can,” Janczuk said. “Same as we did with our Sportsman stuff, and it showed. The Sportsman division is competitive as well. And the 358 is just a lot of guys who race more times a week than I am right now.
“I just have so much going on in my life that I’m not putting the time into it that I really need to, to really excel as well as some of these other teams. But we’ve been steady all year. I can’t really complain.”
Janczuk and the DIRTcar 358 Modifieds will battle at Super DIRT Week 53 at Oswego Speedway Oct. 6-11, culminating in the Salute to the Troops 150 on Friday, Oct. 10.
If you can’t make it to a Super DIRT Week event, watch all the action live on DIRTVision, either online or with the DIRTVision app.
