Joe Achzet and Bob Gangwer Winners of First Two North Carolina Swing Features
Caraway, NC – November 2, 2016…Joe Achzet and Bob Gangwer kicked off the first of three nights of racing with thrilling wins in the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS), 13th Annual North Carolina Swing Tuesday at Dasera Speedway and Caraway Speedway.
In the first race of the evening at Dasera Speedway, after qualifying fifth fastest, Achzet capitalized on his third place starting position to pressure pole-sitter and former North Carolina Swing Champion Carl Becker. Becker, of Lansing, MI drove a very skilful race holding Achzet at bay as they flew around the high-banked Dasera oval. Finally, with the race past the half-way point, Achzet pounced and stole the lead when Becker pushed high out of turn two and scrubbed the wall on lap 23.
“Carl had a great race car tonight,” began Achzet, “He made one mistake and that was the opportunity for me to slip on through. If he hadn’t of made that mistake he probably would have won this race.
Becker, who was looking for his third career win at Dasera said, “I just lost concentration and before I knew it I was into the wall and Joe went around me.”
Derrick Backus was fast qualifier at Dasera and fell right back into his groove at Dasera after not racing there for several years. He drove his car to a top three finish.
“I’ve always liked this track, it came right back to me and the learning curve was a lot quicker here. I’ll take a third here tonight,” he said.
Caraway Heartbreak for Gioia Leads to Victory for Gangwer
At Caraway Bob Gangwer set quick time with a lap of 14.143 seconds. Even so, because of the challenging handicap rules for the North Carolina Swing, he lined up for the 50 lap feature inside of row two while Domenic Gioia and Rob Warren started on the front row.
At the drop of the green Gioia gained an advantage and then began to stretch his lead over Warren. Gangwer used an inside move into turn one after Warren clipped the wall on the front stretch, stealing away second place from the Pulaski, NY driver before 10 laps had clicked off.
As Gioia and Gangwer worked to pull away from the field, the pack of racers behind them were driving like mad men around, through, and past each other in a wild display of wheel to wheel racing that left some racers with bruised egos and battered race cars when the night was through.
Leader Domenic Gioia continued to work his way through a myriad of lapped cars with second place runner Bob Gangwer glued to Oswego, NY racers rear nerf bar. Holding back repeated charges by Gangwer, Gioia had his sights set on a sure victory, when, with just one lap to go, he got caught up behind the lapped cars of Rob Warren and Carl Becker who were having a whale of a battle of their own.
Gioia looked to the high side, but the tricky wall of Caraway Speedway proved to be his undoing. After a solid hit, Gioia bounced across the track on the front stretch, nearly collecting Gangwer. As they came out of turn two, Gangwer had the lead and went on for his second Caraway win in two years.
“That race was all Domenic’s,” declared the driver of the Wing Side Up machine. “I showed him a wheel a few times, but I didn’t want to ruin his race, the lappers just kind of screwed him up and he got into the wall at the end.”
Gioia was rightfully upset, saying, “I’m not really sure what happened, this is a tough one to swallow right now. I should be happy with a good night, but I wanted this one, leading all that time. I’m just trying to compose my thoughts now.”
In a happier mood was Steve Callahan after a good run in both races that concluded with a podium finish at Caraway. “I had a solid car in both races and I had a lot of fun at Caraway, I’ve always loved that track.”
The SUPRS stars move on to Southern National Motorsports Park and Concord Motorsports Park tomorrow for the third and fourth legs of the challenging North Carolina Swing. Practice for both races begins at 8pm with racing slated to go at 9:oo.
The swing finishes off at Hickory Motor Speedway on Friday, November 4th where the winner of challenging “Hickory Hustle 75” will be crowned North Carolina Swing Champion and gain 20 bonus points in the SUPRS Gold Crest Wing Championship.
Supermodified and sim racing fans alike can view timing and scoring including track telemetry of races three and four as well as The Hickory Hustle during the 13th Annual North Carolina Swing with SUPRS LIVE! You’ll be able to keep up with your favorite SUPRS racer in an instant by going to www.SUPRS.net/site/live.
Learn more about the original supermodified sim racing sanction and read about real supermodified racing with a visit to www.SUPRS.net. Join SUPRS active and vibrant Social Media channels by “Liking” SUPRS on Facebook, Circling SUPRS on Google+, Following @SUPRSOnline on Twitter, and viewing SUPRS videos on YouTube.
SUPRS RACE RESULTS:
13th Annual North Carolina Swing
- Race 1 of 5
- November 2, 2016
- SUPRS NASCAR Heat W v6 mod
- Dasera Speedway
Time Trials (showing car number, driver name, hometown, sponsors, lap 1, lap 2-best lap underlined)
- 61-Derrick Backus; Mexico, NY; Disturbed Motorsports: 11.426, 11.261
- 55-Steve Callahan; Cuyahoga Falls, OH; Exide Battery, CPR Motorsports: 11.275, 11.315
- 25-Bob Gangwer; Goshen, IN; RW Woodworking, Wing Side Up Enterprises: 11.308, 11.279
- 9-Domenic Gioia; Oswego, NY; Lizard Lick Towing, Team Domination Motorsports: 11.355, 11.483
- 41-Keith Powell; Carrollton, OH; Icings on Top, CPR Motorsports: 11.376, 11.366
- 14-Joe Achzet; Yorkville, NY; Cottontail Designs, GraphX: 11.566, 11.456
- 42-Carl Becker; Lansing, MI; Wholesale Diamond Exchange, Michigan Hill Gang: 11.486, 11.459
- 35-Rob Warren; Pulaski, NY; 1st to Finish Race Servers, Designs of Elegance: 11.503, 11.566
- X-Chad Phelps, New Haven, NY; Haun Welding Supply, Disturbed Motorsports: 11.692, 11.539
- 38-Kyle Clark; Mexico, NY; Coors’ Light, Disturbed Motorsports: 11.781, 11.563
- 52-Dave Brigandi; Syracuse, NY; Buffalo Bio-Diesel, Terry: 11.508, 11.712
- 77-Kevin Timmins; Baldwinsville, NY; BreezeGraphics.com, Wesley Motorsports: 12.017, 12.793
Feature-40 Laps (showing car number, driver, name, bonus, fastest lap, distance behind winner)
- 14-Joe Achzet; */3/11.230
- 42-Carl Becker; */**/1/11.262/ +0.763
- 61-Derrick Backus; 5/11.233/+3.626
- 55-Steve Callahan; 4/11.276/+3.988
- 41-Keith Powell; 7/11.253/+4.835
- 25-Bob Gangwer; !/8/11.215/+4.899
- 35-Rob Warren; 6/11.293/+7.977
- 9-Domenic Gioia; 2/11.279/+10.432
- X-Chad Phelps; 9/11.329/+1 Lap
- 52-Dave Brigandi; 11/11.384 /+1 Lap
- 77-Kevin Timmins; 12/11.694/DNF (pulled off)
- 38-Kyle Clark; 10/11.485/DNF (pulled off)
Time of Race: 08:55.279
- * Denotes Lap Led
- ** Denotes Most Laps Led
- ! Denotes Fastest Lap of Race
13th Annual North Carolina Swing
- Race 2 of 5
- November 2, 2016
- SUPRS NASCAR Heat W v6 mod
- Caraway Speedway
Time Trials (showing car number, driver name, hometown, sponsors, lap 1, lap 2-best lap underlined)
- 25-Bob Gangwer; Goshen, IN; B&G Racing Photos, Wing Side Up Enterprises: 14.143, 14.170
- 9-Domenic Gioia; Oswego, NY; Pabst Blue Ribbon, Team Domination Motorsports: 14.281 14.231
- 35-Rob Warren; Pulaski, NY; 1st to Finish Race Servers, Designs of Elegance: 14.255, 14.421
- 42-Carl Becker; Lansing, MI; Wholesale Diamond Exchange, Michigan Hill Gang: 14.361, 14.265
- 55-Steve Callahan; Cuyahoga Falls, OH; Exide Battery, CPR Motorsports: 14.339, 14.737
- 41-Keith Powell; Carrollton, OH; Icings on Top, CPR Motorsports: 14.374, 14.551
- 14-Joe Achzet; Yorkville, NY; Cottontail Designs, GraphX: 14.475, 14.458
- 61-Derrick Backus; Mexico, NY; Disturbed Motorsports: 14.587, 14.551
- X-Chad Phelps, New Haven, NY; Haun Welding Supply, Disturbed Motorsports: 14.589, 14.575
- 38-Kyle Clark; Mexico, NY; Coors’ Light, Disturbed Motorsports: 14.845, 14.730
- 52-Dave Brigandi; Syracuse, NY; Buffalo Bio-Diesel, Terry: 14.951, 14.913
- 77-Kevin Timmins; Baldwinsville, NY; BreezeGraphics.com, Wesley Motorsports: 15.068, 15.266
Feature-50 Laps (showing car number, driver, name, bonus, fastest lap, distance behind winner)
- 25-Bob Gangwer; */!/3/14.110
- 9-Domenic Gioia; */**/1/14.171/+0.477
- 55-Steve Callahan; 5/14.229/+1.124
- 41-Keith Powell; 4/14.199/+7.571
- 14-Joe Achzet; 8/14.297/+10.651
- 61-Derrick Backus; 6/14.251/+10.974
- 42-Carl Becker; 7/14.313/ +14.205
- 35-Rob Warren; 2/14.365/+1 Lap
- X-Chad Phelps; 9/14.440/+1 Lap
- 52-Dave Brigandi; 11/14.472 /DNF (pulled off)
- 77-Kevin Timmins; 12/14.831/DNF (pulled off)
- 38-Kyle Clark; 10/14.491/DNF (pulled off)
Time of Race: 13:09.499
- * Denotes Lap Led
- ** Denotes Most Laps Led
- ! Denotes Fastest Lap of Race
SUPRS-
“Supermodified Sim Racing for the Right Reasons” since 2004