Keith Powell Leads All 25 Laps of Christmas Special, Goes Home with Burger’s Smokehouse Ham
December 11, 2018 – Rander, MI…Keith Powell’s feature win at the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS), 15th Christmas Special is especially savory because the Powell family are going to enjoy a Burgers’ Smokehouse Ozark Country Ham for Christmas dinner. Of course, pulling to within just 13 points of SUPRS Gold Crest Championship XIV leader Rob Warren helps too. Powell led all 25 laps of the last SUPRS race of 2018 to finish .785 seconds ahead of his CPR Motorsports teammate Steve Callahan and persistent rival Warren who finished a little further back in third place.
Keith Powell of Carrollton, OH won SUPRS 15th Christmas Special and a savory Christmas Ham from Burgers’ Smokehouse. (Victory Lane art by BreezeGraphics.com)
Like a Kid at Christmas
Powell has tried for many years to win either the SUPRS Turkey Shoot or the Christmas Special and the award from Burgers’ Smokehouse in California, MO. He’d been close many times, but had always fallen just shy of the win, until this year.
He was as happy as a kid on Christmas morning after his 2018 Christmas Special victory. “I’m pretty stoked about this one, I was finally able to get something from Burgers’ Smokehouse,” stated Powell. “I’ve looked forward to that. I’m pretty excited about this and pretty happy.”
Callahan, Warren, Lapped Traffic Keep Powell on His Toes
Powell’s win in the Reindeer Dash put him on the pole position for the 25 lap feature and from the time the green flag came out at Rander Speedway, the Icings on Top sponsored driver put the hammer down in his “Mayfield Missile” and kept it there for the next six minutes. Even so, he couldn’t shake teammate Steve Callahan and third place running Rob Warren.
“I couldn’t’ really shake Steve or Rob, and I could hear them the whole race right behind me,” Powell explained. The one time Powell had any concern about pulling down the win is when he came up on lapped traffic at the end of the race. “When we came up on the lapped traffic with about five to go, I knew we would probably have to pass them with about three to go and they were racing hard among each other too.”
“But they did a great job and they didn’t contest it too much and that was it. I though we’d catch lapped traffic a little earlier than we did, I’m kind of glad we didn’t.” “I really want to thank Burgers’ for what they do. Thanks to SUPRS, 1st to Finish Race Servers, Breeze Graphics, to Cyndi at Icings on Top. I’m just really, really happy I finally got this,” Powell concluded.
Enjoy the SUPRS 15th Christmas Special YouTube Playlist Below
Good Turnout Makes for Better Racing
Several of the best racers from HeatFinder.net showed up to keep the SUPRS regulars honest. For Dave Ohh, (aka SpeedyMan), and Rick Walls, (aka BlackKnight), the night was very good as they both won their heat races. Dave O. finished in the top five in the feature and even though he had the misfortune of crashing into the pit entrance, Walls was still competitive for most of the feature before his accident. Also, Henry Kay, (aka “Bandit”), made his SUPRS début, but was unable to race after time trialing into the top ten.
Keith Powell was thankful for having “Speedyman”, “Bandit” and “BlackKnight” saying “We had a great turnout. I really appreciate all the guys from HeatFinder.net coming in tonight. Hopefully everyone had fun and I hope we put on a good show.”
“A great turnout, a great bunch of guys,” said second place finisher Steve Callahan. Rob Warren added, “Thanks to all the HeatFinder guys for showing up and making this a better show than it would have been.”
Focusing on Family
After some great racing in the fall of 2018 to kick-off the 15th Anniversary of SUPRS, it’s time to take a two-week break to spend time with family, fiends, and loved ones as the year draws to a close. This annual break during the Christmas and New Year season gives everyone a chance to step back, shut down the computer and social media so that they can focus on the truly important things in life.
The next scheduled race is the always zany Cray Canuck Snowball Derby and Can-Am Challenge. This rFactor supermodified sim race at SUPRS Mosport Speedway by NegB Track Designs is where everyone will meet after the New Year on Tuesday January 2, 2019. Practice gets underway at 8:00pm with racing set for 9:05pm.
Fans can learn more about the original supermodified sim racing sanction, the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, when they visit www.SUPRS.net. Join SUPRS active and vibrant Social Media channels by “Liking” SUPRS on Facebook, Following @SUPRSOnline on Twitter, and viewing SUPRS videos on YouTube.
SUPRS RACE RESULTS:
15th Christmas Special
- Race 16 of 46
- December 11, 2018
- SUPRS NASCAR Heat W v6.0 mod
- Rander Speedway
Time Trials (showing car number, driver name, hometown, sponsors, lap 1, lap 2-best lap underlined)
- 35-Rob Warren; Pulaski, NY; 1st to Finish Race Servers, Designs of Elegance: 11.550, 11.663
- 25-Bob Gangwer; Goshen, IN; RW Woodworking, Wing Side Up Enterprises: 11.565, 11.724
- 55-Steve Callahan; Cuyahoga Falls, OH; Exide Battery, CPR Motorsports: 11.574, 11.570
- 41-Keith Powell; Carrollton, OH; Icings on Top, CPR Motorsports: 11.660, 11.594
- 11-Dave Ohh; Union, CT; TMS Wolfpack: 11.679, 11.608
- 92-Rick Walls; Warsaw, IN; NH Autosport: 11.859, 11.698
- 52-Dave Brigandi; Syracuse, NY; Brigandi & Sons Carpet and Tile, Terry: 11.676, 12.307
- 3-Brad Keysor; Liverpool, MY; Southern Hills Storm Football, Justice League: 12.158, 11.778
- 43-Henry Kay; Anytown, USA; TMS Wolfpack: 11.794, 11.855
- 38-Kyle Clark; Mexico, NY; Coors’ Light, Disturbed Motorsports: 11.811, 11.980
- 42-Carl Becker; Lansing, MI; Wholesale Diamond Exchange, Michigan Hill Gang: 11.962, 11.894
- 61-Chad Phelps; Mexico, NY; Disturbed Motorsports: NT
Reindeer Dash-8 Laps (showing finish, car number, driver name)
- 41-Keith Powell
- 35-Rob Warren
- 55-Steve Callahan
- 25-Bob Gangwer
Heat Race-13 Laps (showing finish, car number, driver name)
- 11-Dave Ohh
- 52-Dave Brigandi
- 42-Carl Becker
- 43-Henry Kay -DNS
Heat Race-13 Laps (showing finish, car number, driver name)
- 92-Rick Walls
- 61-Derrick Backus
- 38-Kyle Clark
- 3-Brad Keysor
Feature – 25 Laps (showing car number, driver, name, bonus, starting position, fastest lap, distance behind winner)
- 41-Keith Powell: * | ** | P1 | 13.085
- 55-Steve Callahan; P3 | 13.124 | +0.785
- 35-Rob Warren; P2 | 11.533 | +0.947
- 25-Bob Gangwer; ! | P4 | 11.511 | +1.807
- 11-Dave Ohh; P5 | 11.569 | +2.340
- 61-Derrick Backus; P8 | 11.713 | +5.951
- 42-Carl Becker; P9 | 11.694 | +10.304
- 3-Brad Keysor; P11 | 11.707 | 10.803
- 38-Kyle Clark: P10 | 11.754 | +11.025
- 52-Dave Brigandi; P7 | 11.713 | +1Lap
- 92-Rick Walls; P6 | 11.825 | +2Laps
- 43-Henry Kay; DNS
Time of Race: 6:22.372
- * Denotes Lap Led
- ** Denotes Most Laps Led
- ! Denotes Fastest Lap of Race
Notes:
- Derrick Backus and Carl Becker both advanced two places from their starting place.
- This was third highest car count for this race.
