Joe Achzet Wins Second SUPRS Race in a Row and Closes Gap to Points Leader
March 14, 2017 – Dover, Delaware…Joe Achzet of Utica, NY won his second Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS), race in a row Tuesday night at the St. Patrick’s Day Grab o’ the Green win on the “Monster Mile” of Dover Downs International Speedway and in so doing took 30 points off of Rob Warren’s championship total.
Joe Achzet easily won the St. Patrick’s Day Grab o’ the Green at Dover, and took a 30 point chunk out of Rob Warren’s point lead. (SUPRS Victory Lane art by BreezeGraphics.com)
Driving the GraphX sponsored “Black Bandit”, Achzet led the first four laps but then was passed dropped to second behind Rob Warren after a lap five restart. He stayed close to the leader and capitolized on Warren when his rival in the SUPRS championship lost control and spun on lap 14. Achzet was unchallenged for the remainder of the 25 lap feature.
“First off I want to dedicate this one to Jeff Tabor, he was a long-time sponsor of the pro-stock I work on. I found out after Time Trials and before our heat races that he passed away today of a heart attack. This one’s for him,” Achzet solemnly said.
“I just got lucky, me and Rob were pretty evenly matched and I was just trying to stay on him and get him make a mistake,” explained the winner. “We caught the lapped traffic and that was the mistake I needed and used all the “Irish luck” in the world to miss getting caught up in that. Achzet quickly noted that the driver he is battling for the SUPRS Championship, is the one that actually helped him win the race. “If there’s an award for sportsmanship, I have to give it to Rob Warren tonight. He gave me a set up that I used to beat him, I was out to lunch before that and without Rob’s help I don’t know if I could have won.”
Kyle Clark made his way back through the field after a scary incident just a few laps into the race that saw him sideways and hard on the brakes to avoid an out of control Steve Callahan. Somehow both drivers kept their supermodifieds off of the wall and each other, but both dropped to the back as the race stayed green and the field flew by.
Clark explained the situation saying, “Steve almost lost it and I just slammed on the brakes and most of the field got by me early in the race. I don’t know how we both saved it, but we did.” Clark was philosophical about salvaging a podium. “Second place, I’m obviously happy with that, but I would have rather been up front the whole race battling for a win. I spent a lot of time on a set-up for this track and really thought I had a shot at a win, but I can’t be upset with a second place, I’m happy with that.”
Keith Powell was part of a four car, white knuckle, last lap slugfest for the podium that he ended up winning which keeps his championship hopes alive for another week.
“I guess I was just lucky,” began the Icings on Top. “I think we were just all into a clump and there was all kinds of dirty air going on so I’m sure everyone had their hands full at the end.” Luck may have played a small part in his good finish, but Powell’s skill and patience paid off in one last effort to get through the gaggle. “On the last lap I was able to get to the bottom and it stuck and it was just enough to come out on top on the other side.”
Kyle Clark and Joe Achzet were heat race winners after Derrick Backus of Mexico, NY set a new track record at Dover after turning in a 17.668 second lap in time trials.
Powell, Achzet, and Warren will resume their SUPRS championship points battle in Connecticut next week at Stafford Motor Speedway. Steve Callahan has been the dominant driver at Stafford winning the last two races in a row, and a five of the seven total races SUPRS has run at this iconic venue.
The SUPRS “New England 50 at Stafford Motor Speedway is an rFactor supermodified sim racing event and that means fans, friends, and family can cheer on their favorite with SUPRS LIVE! Timing, scoring and live track telemetry begins at 7pm with Systems Checks. Official Practice is at 8pm followed by Time Trials at 8:30 and Racing at 9pm.
Fans of supermodified racing and online sim racers alike can learn more about the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series by visiting www.SUPRS.net, “Liking” SUPRS on Facebook, Circling SUPRS on Google+, Following @SUPRSOnline on Twitter, and Viewing SUPRS videos on YouTube.
RACE RESULTS
- St. Patrick’s Day Grab o’ the Green
- Race 33 of 42
- March 14, 2017
- SUPRS NASCAR Heat W v6 mod
- Dover Downs International Speedway
- 25 Laps
Supermodified Time Trials (showing car number, driver name, hometown, sponsors, lap 1, lap 2-best lap underlined)
- 61-Derrick Backus; Mexico, NY; Disturbed Motorsports: 17.668, 17.709
- 35-Rob Warren; Pulaski, NY; 1st to Finish Race Servers, Designs of Elegance: 17.702, 17.844
- 14-Joe Achzet; Yorkville, NY; Cottontail Designs, GraphX: 17.748, 17.910
- 38-Kyle Clark; Mexico, NY; Coors’ Light, Disturbed Motorsports: 17.805, 17.808
- 41-Keith Powell; Carrollton, OH; Icings on Top, CPR Motorsports: 18.469, 18.338
- 55-Steve Callahan; Cuyahoga Falls, OH; Exide Battery, CPR Motorsports: 18.666, 18.427
- X-Chad Phelps; New Haven, NY; Haun Welding Supply, Disturbed Motorsports: 18.701, 18.627
- 25-Bob Gangwer; Goshen, IN; Wing Side Up Enterprises, RW Woodworking: 18.707, 18.767
- 7-Nelson Rodrigues; Stoneham, MA; Star Speedway: 19.009, 18.976
- 77-Kevin Timmins; Baldwinsville, NY; BreezeGraphics.com, Wesley Motorsports: 18.878, 19.120
- 42-Carl Becker; Lansing, MI; Wholesale Diamond Exchange, Michigan Hill Gang: 20.507, 20.025
- 52-Dave Brigandi; Syracuse, NY; Brigandi’s Carpet & Tile, Terry: 20.232, 20.731
Supermodified Heat Race 8 Laps (showing car number, driver name-top two get time back)
- 14-Joe Achzet
- 61-Derrick Backus
- 41-Keith Powell
- 7-Nelson Rodrigues
- 42-Carl Becker
- X-Chad Phelps
Supermodified Heat Race 8 Laps (showing car number, driver name-top two get time back)
- 38-Kyle Clark
- 35-Rob Warren
- 25-Bob Gangwer
- 55-Steve Callahan
- 52-Dave Brigandi
- 77-Kevin Timmins
Supermodified Feature 25 Laps (showing car number, driver name, bonus, starting place, fastest lap, distance behind winner)
- 14-Joe Achzet: * | ** | P4 | 17.832
- 38-Kyle Clark: P3 | 18.042 | +3.864
- 41-Keith Powell: P2 | 18.487 | +7.929
- 61-Derrick Backus: ! | P6 | 17.811 | +8.178
- 35-Rob Warren: P5 | 17.868 | +8.245
- 25-Bob Gangwer: P7 | 18.670 | +8.838
- 55-Steve Callahan: P1 | 18.505 | +9.615
- 7-Nelson Rodrigues: P8 | 18.857 | +11.091
- 77-Kevin Timmins: P12 | 20.056 | +1 Lap
- 52-Dave Brigandi: P10 | 20.029 | +3 Laps
- X-Chad Phelps: P11 | 18.968 | +3 Laps
- 42-Carl Becker: P9 | 20.259 | +6 Laps
Time of Race: 14:08.565
- * Denotes Lap Led
- ** Denotes Most Laps Led
- ! Denotes Fastest Lap of Race
- ^ Denotes SUPRSCharger
