{"id":15106,"date":"2024-09-05T11:49:34","date_gmt":"2024-09-05T15:49:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/superdirtweek.com\/?p=15106"},"modified":"2024-09-05T11:50:45","modified_gmt":"2024-09-05T15:50:45","slug":"matt-janczuk-qa-what-it-takes-to-win-super-dirt-weeks-chevrolet-performance-75","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/superdirtweek.com\/news\/matt-janczuk-qa-what-it-takes-to-win-super-dirt-weeks-chevrolet-performance-75\/","title":{"rendered":"MATT JANCZUK Q+A: What it takes to win Super DIRT Week\u2019s Chevrolet Performance 75"},"content":{"rendered":"
Matt Janczuk crossed off one of the biggest items on his bucket list last year by winning his first Chevrolet Performance 75<\/em> title during Super DIRT Week 51 at Oswego Speedway.<\/p>\n Already pre-entered for the prestigious DIRTcar Sportsman event during Super DIRT Week 52 (Oct. 7-12), the Oneida, NY native will try to become the second driver to win the event in back-to-back years \u2013 the first to do so was Dave Marcuccilli, picking up wins in 2016 and 2017.<\/p>\n Janczuk talked about what it meant to win the Chevrolet Performance 75<\/em> in his fifth try and what it will take to win it again.<\/p>\n What did it mean to get your first Chevrolet Performance 75 title?<\/strong><\/em> You were the sixth consecutive different winner of the Chevrolet Performance 75. Do you think the unknowns about the track created that diversity of winners?<\/strong><\/em> What worked for you last year to finally win the Chevrolet Performance 75?<\/em><\/strong> That car, just double-checking things with that car. We\u2019re already preparing for Oswego.<\/p>\n Is that car exclusively for Oswego?<\/strong><\/em> What goes into your prep for Oswego?<\/strong><\/em> It’s a long week of not being in the shop to have your stuff with you. You need to make sure the stuff is there with you if you need it. And making the list of stuff so when you do leave to go up \u2013 I think I usually go up on Tuesday morning \u2013 that you have everything that you need. Then, you can just focus on racing and not, \u2018Did I forget something? Or I need this.\u2019 Just everything to make your life easier when you\u2019re at the track for the week.<\/p>\n Does having success at longer Sportsman races, like the 200-lap Vermont 200,<\/em> help you for the Chevrolet Performance 75<\/em>?<\/strong> What do you take away from the longer races that you can use for Super DIRT Week?<\/strong><\/em> With the way the scheduled is stagger for each division, does that help knowing you have a day to work on your car before the final night?<\/strong><\/em> With this being the only track all year where the dirt is on top of asphalt, and the conditions always changing, how do you prepare for that? Do your notes work year to year?<\/strong><\/em> One of your sponsors is Billy Whittaker, who is, obviously, a big part of the event, being the title sponsor of the Billy Whittaker Cars 200<\/em>. How cool was it to bring him to Victory Lane?<\/strong> How do you feel going into Super DIRT Week 52?<\/strong><\/em> CLICK HERE<\/a> to get your tickets for Super DIRT Week 52. And make sure to download the Super DIRT Week<\/a> App for the full schedule of events, latest news, stats and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Matt Janczuk crossed off one of the biggest items on his bucket list last year by winning his first Chevrolet Performance 75 title during Super DIRT Week 51 at Oswego Speedway. Already pre-entered for the prestigious DIRTcar Sportsman event during Super DIRT Week 52 (Oct. 7-12), the Oneida, NY native will try to become the … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":15107,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,155],"tags":[375,276,37,41,50,64,80],"class_list":["post-15106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-sportsman-modifieds","tag-billy-whittaker","tag-chevrolet-performance-75","tag-dirtcar-sportsman","tag-featured","tag-matt-janczuk","tag-oswego-speedway","tag-super-dirt-week","resize-featured-image"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nJANCZUK: It was definitely a big bucket list\u2026 I raced Syracuse once in 2006 and I wasn\u2019t as competitive back then when we raced there, and I never got the opportunity to get back. They\u2019ve done a job, DIRTcar has, with Oswego and making sure it has that big event feel. I think it is just a prestigious race to win and that you can have on your resume of racing, that you\u2019ve checked it off the list, that you\u2019ve done something not a lot of people have. It is a tough place. We\u2019re only there once a year. Everybody is still trying to figure the place out and figure out what it needs. Oswego will also be another place in the history books.<\/p>\n
\nJANCZUK: I think so. The weather has played a little bit of a role in it too, throwing curveballs. Your time trialing and Heat racing on a slippery track and then it rains, and the track is heavy, or you\u2019re pushed back a different day or they start off the day with leftover stuff from the day before, so it is slicker than it normally would\u2019ve. It\u2019s just always different. There are so many variables for what makes it different each year. I don\u2019t know that I can pinpoint one, but that\u2019s probably why there have been different winners. It’s just a unique place, you know?<\/p>\n
\nJANCZUK: I don\u2019t know. We\u2019ve just had some misfortunes. A couple years past I drove Tom Juno\u2019s car in 2019 and clipped the inside wall and popped the tire. I think I was leading, actually. I finished second to Zach Sobotka (in 2021). I don\u2019t know if it was our time, but it was our time. I don\u2019t know, it\u2019s just all the preparation in the shop. Just making sure everything is right to go there so you\u2019re not battling break issues. There are just so many different things and hard work\u2026 We\u2019re already working on things for Oswego with tires. I actually have the same car that we ran last year. It has been on the track since Oswego.<\/p>\n
\nJANCZUK: No, it just worked out that way. I didn\u2019t get to race as much this year. I decided to spend a lot of time with my family, going camping. We bought a camper and have done a lot of camping. Last night (at Devil\u2019s Bowl Speedway) was my first night all year on Hoosiers. The car just sat there because I haven\u2019t raced enough to really need a second car for anything. I certainly wasn\u2019t going to use it last week to go to Utica (Rome Speedway) because it\u2019s all ready for Oswego.<\/p>\n
\nJANCZUK: Obviously, making sure the car is set to go, everything is tight and ready to go there. U-joints and all that stuff. Making sure everything under the hood is taken care of, the belts are all good on it. Freshen everything up, which that car only has three races on it. It\u2019s basically brand new. Aside from that, it\u2019s getting tires ready, all figured out, mounted up on wheels. Figure out what we\u2019re going to need for tires, different stagger options. Then, really it is just getting stuff in the trailer.<\/p>\n
\nJANCZUK: I think so. I think any time you can race it helps. The Sportsman Classic<\/em> at Weedsport (Speedway on Saturday, Sept. 7) is the next longest race after Oswego (at 75 laps). So, that will help having more laps.<\/p>\n
\nJANCZUK: Just getting in the rhythm of pacing yourself for the distance races, making sure your car is still there at the end. I think Devil\u2019s Bowl (Speedway in Vermont, which hosted the Vermont 200), it\u2019s so slippery there it certainly helps for Oswego like track conditions too.<\/p>\n
\nJANCZUK: It is nice to have that day in between of stuff, I think. It essentially creates some downtime when you\u2019re not doing a whole lot. Like, I can go wash my tires if I want to wash them. I can prepare for the next day. Or if I want to try something, I can just go over everything again. There is so much going on there. Like I said, it is one of those tracks you only race once a year. There are lots of things going through your mind when you\u2019re looking at the track. What is it going to do? Trying to read it. There\u2019s asphalt underneath it, so the track changes different than most other racetracks over time because there is not the ground moisture coming up through the blacktop, essentially, like your normal Saturday night racetrack, per say. So, there are a lot of different things playing out when you\u2019re preparing for Oswego.<\/p>\n
\nJANCZUK: I spend a lot of time at the Turn 3 fence, the gate. You have to watch. That\u2019s what I\u2019ve done. I think that\u2019s what most people have to do is just watch and see what the track does the day before. They tend to, obviously, prep it every day, so you get a pretty good idea of how wet it was. Just kind of watch it and read it the best you can throughout that day. See what it might lead for you and what cars are on the track that day versus when you\u2019re going to be on it. I think that\u2019s probably the best way I would do it.<\/p>\n
\nJANCZUK: I know it was exciting for him. I actually called him this morning. After the congratulations (for winning the Vermont 200 this year), it was instantly talking about Oswego. It\u2019s just cool because he is the headline sponsor for that event for the Modifieds. He, obviously, has a whole bunch of family and friends and employees, people that are around him in his life that are there at that event. So, to be on that stage last year was really, really cool. Kind of puts a little more pressure on me to do better, to represent him. I like that too. It works out good for me.<\/p>\n
\nJANCZUK: I feel good. There is some more racing before getting to there. Weedsport\u2019s Sportsman Classic<\/em> is coming up. I\u2019m really looking forward to that. Another one of my bucket list races that I haven\u2019t won. I want to win that. We\u2019ve been close, so looking forward to getting back to Weedsport. And possibly some other races, like the Gerald Haers Memorial<\/em> at [Land of Legends Raceway on Saturday, Sept. 14]. Trying to finish out the year before getting overly focused on Oswego, other than the prep in the shop.<\/p>\n