Rob Warren Wins ESS Blind Date Night, Fifth SUPRS Feature in a Row
January 17, 2017 – Akron, NY…Rob Warren was able to hold off a hard charging Joe Achzet to secure victory in the opening round of the 2016-17 Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS), Empire State Super Series Tour Tuesday evening at Akron Speedway.
Rob Warren picked up his fifth feature win in a row on SUPRS Blind Date Night at Akron Int’l Speedway.
Starting from the pole, Warren got the jump on Derrick Backus but had little time to relax as Achzet, from inside row two, also took advantage of Backus’ poor start and quickly moved into second place before turn one.
“That was a crazy race from the get go, I’m wicked glad we ran at Akron. I had a horrible time trial but great result in the end,” stated the winner.
Lapped traffic came into play and at one point Warren nearly lost the lead when he got into a slower car leaving the inside open. Warren picks up the story, “I tried to make a break out and couldn’t’ break away from Joe. We caught lapped traffic and I had to let one car know I was there, so I gave him a pretty good shot.”
“I got by that one and then we came up on another one and I was following around and couldn’t’ figure out how to get by. But then I did and all the sudden at the next corner I heard some contact and Joe fell back,” he explained.
It was the first time that the SUPRS racers had run a race at Akron Speedway since 2008, and the first time that Achzet had ever laid eyes on the place. His lack of experience didn’t keep him from having a great run and his enthusiasm showed afterward.
“I’m pretty good with it,” said Achzet. “Rob ran a great race I had one good shot at him in lapped traffic when he pushed up a bit and I got in there but he shut the fingers in the door when I went low.”
Although he had his work cut out gathering the car back up, Achzet was still pleased with how the car ran saying, “I was really happy with the car though. I was happy to turn the fast lap in the feature and it was a good run, you can’t ask for much more than that but the win. We were the car to beat, but Rob just beat us.”
Powell Gets Lucky
The battle for the last spot on the podium wasn’t any less intense than the one for the win, but after Derrick Backus and Bob Gangwer got together, they handed third place to Keith Powell.
Bob Gangwer(25), Derrick Backus(3), and Keith Powell(41) were fighting for their Blind Date at Akron and a podium finish.
“I was actually pretty lucky to get third place,” Powell stated. “There was a heckuva battle between Bob and Derrick for the whole feature and I was just following them. I could keep up with them, but couldn’t get the car to turn to get a run off and get by them.”
Powell explained his good fortune by saying, “I think they got into each other a little at the end and they both pushed up and I just went under them. I got lucky.” Then he jokingly added, “I was glad to have this track for the Blind Date and I thought “she’s the pretty one for the blind date,” but she turned out to be a real psycho. Congrats to Rob on the win.”
Backus and Gangwer battled to the line to finish fourth and fifth. Prior to the feature, Rob Warren and Joe Achzet won their heat races. Gangwer set fast time, but it wasn’t enough to topple Bud Flath’s ten-year old record of 11.224.
Calling All Bounty Hunters
With the win, Warren now has five feature victories in a row and because of that will have the SUPRS Bounty placed on his head. The first driver to beat Warren will collect the SUPRS Bounty and will “take” ten points from Warren’s total.
If Warren can keep the streak alive, he will get five championship points added to his total for the night and the Bounty will increase by five points up to a total of 25 points for the bounty hunters.
Even with a decent lead in the SUPRS Gold Crest Championship XII, Warren will be looking over his shoulder as the SUPRS racers head into the next race.
“I was going to give this race up because I knew we were headed to the Mid-Season Championship twin features and with double points,then I got racy and forgot all about it.” he said. When asked if he was nervous about losing the points to a bounty hunter he said, “And now a bounty. Nervous? Yeah, I’m wicked nervous.”
Coming Next Week:
The SUPRS competitors continue their trek through New York again next week at “The Home of the Supermodifieds” for the Mid-Season Championship.
Oswego Speedway will be the site of Twin 35 lap features that are also part of the 2016-17 Empire State Super Series. Both features pay double SUPRS Gold Crest Wing Championship points. Practice for the rFactor supermodified sim race starts at 8pm.
The SUPRS Mid-Season Championship will be streaming live timing, scoring and track telemetry via the SUPRS LIVE! page where fans can follow their favorite racers progress throughout the night.
Fans can learn more about the original and oldest online supermodified sim 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, Circling SUPRS on Google+, Following @SUPRSOnline on Twitter, and viewing SUPRS videos on YouTube.
RACE RESULTS
- Empire State Super Series 2016-17 Race 1
- Blind Date Night
- Race 17 of 42
- January 17, 2017
- SUPRS NASCAR Heat W v6 mod
- Akron Speedway
- 50 Laps
Time Trials (showing car number, driver name, hometown, sponsors, lap 1, lap 2-best lap underlined)
- 25-Bob Gangwer; Goshen, IN; RW Woodworking, Wing Side Up Enterprises: 11.325, 11.235
- 41-Keith Powell; Carrollton, OH; Icings on Top, CPR Motorsports: 11.341, 11.239
- 14-Joe Achzet; Yorkville, NY; Cottontail Designs, GraphX: 11.276, 11.283
- 61-Derrick Backus; Mexico, NY; Disturbed Motorsports: 11.358, 11.346
- 35-Rob Warren; Pulaski, NY; 1st to Finish Race Servers, Designs of Elegance: 11.349, 11.363
- 42-Carl Becker; Lansing, MI; Wholesale Diamond Exchange, Michigan Hill Gang: 11.418, 11.360
- 55-Steve Callahan; Cuyahoga Falls, OH; Exide Battery, CPR Motorsports: 11.417, 11.368
- 38-Kyle Clark; Mexico, NY; Coors’ Light, Disturbed Motorsports: 11.561, 11.484
- 52-Dave Brigandi; Syracuse, NY; Brigandi Tile and Carpet, Terry: 11.888, 11.724
- X-Chad Phelps; Fair Haven, NY; Haun Welding Supply, Disturbed Motorsports: 12.292, 11.991
Heat Race 1-10 Laps (showing finish, car number, driver name-top two get time back)
- 35-Rob Warren
- 25-Bob Gangwer
- 41-Keith Powell
- 38-Kyle Clark
- 52-Dave Brigandi
Heat Race 2-10 Laps (showing finish, car number, driver name-top two get time back)
- 14-Joe Achzet
- 61-Derrick Backus
- 55-Steve Callahan
- X-Chad Phelps
- 42-Carl Becker
Feature-50 Laps (showing car number, driver, name, bonus, starting position, fastest lap, distance behind winner)
- 35-Rob Warren; * | ** | P1 | 11.252
- 14-Joe Achzet; ! | P3 | 11.202 | +0.498
- 41-Keith Powell; P5 | 11.263 | +4.314
- 61-Derrick Backus; P2 | 11.227 | +4.784
- 25-Bob Gangwer; P4 | 11.211 | +4.922
- 55-Steve Callahan; P6 | 11.226 | +10.999
- 42-Carl Becker; P10 | 11.325 | +13.338
- X-Chad Phelps; P8 | 11.452 | +1 Lap
- 38-Kyle Clark; P7 | 11.452 | +3 Laps
- 52-Dave Brigandi; P9 | 11.367 | DNF
Time of Race: 10:42.321
- * Denotes Lap Led
- ** Denotes Most Laps Led
- ! Denotes Fastest Lap of Race
