Steve Callahan Sails to Second SUPRS All-Star Classic 200
Epping, NH – March 29, 2016…Steve Callahan dominated the competition to win the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS), All-Star Classic 200 for the second year in a row. Callahan led all 200 laps Tuesday night at All-Star Speedway to become only the second driver in SUPRS history to have more than one win in this Triple Crown event.
Steve Callahan takes the checkered flag to win his second SUPRS All-Star Classic 200 in a row.
Three-time SUPRS All-Star Classic 200 winner Ray Sand, Jr. held off Rob Warren for second. Warren improved his finishing position one place over last year and was third.
“That car was awesome,” Callahan exclaimed. “Hats off to my CPR crew man, they tuned me up good tonight. The car was just perfect, in fact that was the best car I think I’ve driven-ever.”
Callahan wasted no time from the drop of the green, easily moving into the lead by turn one as his front row companion, Carl “Bonzai” Becker had issues keeping the car in gear.
With such an easy start, the Cuyahoga Falls, OH veteran quickly changed his strategy. “I tried to get into a rhythm in the first part and save tires but the car was just too darned good I decided to go for it, so I let it all hang out I didn’t save anything, ” he said.
That change was a good move for the Exide Battery sponsored driver considering he had three-time winner Ray Sand, Jr. sitting in second place.
Last year Sand, Jr. followed Callahan across the line in the closest SUPRS All-Star Classic finish ever and was left exhausted after 200 laps. This year wasn’t much different as he worked stay within striking distance of the winner.
“I’m shaking my way to the fridge for another beer I’ll tell ya that,” began Sand, Jr. “Steve showed what was up tonight man. Let me tell ya I gave him everything and I got to him once and I thought well maybe, but he was just that good tonight. I couldn’t keep up with his pace.”
Sand, Jr. then acknowledged the battle that developed between himself and third place runner Rob Warren saying, “The whole time I was trying to get to Steve, Rob was right there. He was probably a little quicker than me tonight, but I knew it would be hard to pass here tonight. Congrats to steve and hopefully Dave (Brigandi) gets better we missed him tonight.”
Rob Warren, (35), had one shot at getting by Ray Sand, Jr., (18), but came up short.
For third place finisher Rob Warren, the race was fun, but somewhat disappointing as he felt he had a car that could have put him into victory lane for his first SUPRS All-Star Classic 200 win.
“I thought we were gonna have a win here tonight,” Warren said. “Congrats to Steve though on an amazing race run and an amazing race won.”
“The first 100 laps I thought I would just ride around knowing that it was a long race,” explained Warren. “Ray came back to me. I got under him once and only once but I just wasn’t in a good enough position to get the job done.”
Lansing, MI resident Carl Becker was fifth and upset with himself as he chose the wrong gear. “I’m upset with myself, I’m having trouble with my screen and I didn’t know what gear I was in,” he said. “I was running 10.3’s and 4’s and I thought to myself, well you can’t do this in that gear, but I had a good time. Congratulations to Steve.”
As the season winds to a close, the SUPRS racers start their trek west out of New England and will be stopping next Tuesday in “The Circle City” for last race of the 2016 Indyana Supermod Challenge.
Again this year, the race will feature both wing and non-wing sim supermodifieds, but, the drivers will use rFactor for the non-wing part after they race their NASCAR Heat wing cars. Practice begins at 8:00pm with the green flag for the first heat race dropping at 9:00pm.
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.
SUPRS RACE RESULTS:
- 6th Annual SUPRS All-Star Classic 200
- March 29, 2016
- All-Star Speedway
- Epping, NH
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: 9.632, 9.569
- 18-Ray Sand, Jr.; Rochester, NY; SandmanRacing.com, The Tint Shop: 9.617, 9.617
- 55-Steve Callahan; Cuyahoga Falls, OH; Exide Battery, CPR Motorsports: 9.971, 9.641
- 25-Bob Gangwer; Goshen, IN; Wing Side Up Enterprises, RW Woodworking: 10.122, 9.742
- 42-Carl Becker; Lansing, MI; Wholesale Diamond Exchange, Michigan Hill Gang: 9.931, 9.748
Feature – 200 Laps (showing car number, driver, name, bonus, fastest lap, distance behind winner)
- 55-Steve Callahan; * ** | 9.559
- 18-Ray Sand, Jr.; ! | 9.486 | +3.059
- 35-Rob Warren; 9.561 | +3.472
- 25-Bob Gangwer; 9.532 | +4 Laps
- 42-Carl Becker; 9.733 | DNF(pulled off)
Time of Race: 33:51.728
- * Denotes Lap Led
- ** Denotes Most Laps Led
- ! Denotes Fastest Lap of Race
SUPRS-Supermodified Sim Racing for the Right Reasons
