Callahan Dominates Old Dominion at New River Valley Speedway

Steve Callahan Dominates the Old Dominion 50 at New River Valley, Wins Second SUPRS Feature in a Row

October 16, 2018 – Radford, VA…Steve Callahan turned in a dominating performance in the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS), Old Dominion 50 Tuesday at New River Valley Speedway, for his second SUPRS feature in a row. Callahan’s win Tuesday marked the fifth time he has sat in New River Valley’s victory lane. His friend and teammate Keith Powell finished second with Bob Gangwer coming home a distant third.

Steve Callahan dominated the Old Dominion 50 at New River Valley and brought home his second SUPRS feature win in a row and fifth career win at NRV. (Victory Lane art by BreezeGraphics.com)

Focused Up Front

Callahan explained his winning strategy saying, “I just tried to get into the zone and look out the front and not worry about what I heard behind me,” And get out front he did. Taking off from the pole position and never looking back.

At one point Callahan held nearly a four-second lead and ended up over two and a half seconds second place finisher Powell  and lapped up to fourth place by the time the checkered flag fell.

The CPR Motorsports driver said that. “Winning the dash was the biggest thing, that was key tonight, to start up front and have clean air.”

Powell Pleased with P2

After a crash last week cost him the point lead, Keith Powell, who won the season opening Harvest of Speed was pleased to finish in second place behind his teammate. “I just love it for my teammate and I just love that CPR could get a one, two finish here tonight,” Powell joyfully stated. 

Powell’s finish puts him back to within five points of the championship lead and 

Bonzia Becker Back in Form

SUPRS veteran, Carl Becker of Lansing, MI, found his stride after a long period of struggles. Becker easily won the heat race in his Dowker Titanium Roadster,  then after starting in fifth, drove a fine feature race to put his Wholesale Diamond Exchange sponsored machine across the line in fourth just one lap down.

Becker gave a lot of credit for his good finish to the help he received from fellow racer and HeatFinder.net regular Jeff Bivens on Sunday night before the event . “This really does feel like a win because this race program was all screwed up,” he stated. “Jeff, spent about an hour with this and got me all straightened up so yeah this is a win for me because I haven’t had too many top five finishes in the last few years so I’m enjoying it.”

BlackKnight Rides Again

Rick “BlackKnight” Walls returned to SUPRS competition for the first time since 2016 and progressively got faster through the night even though he found himself riding the wall a couple of times in the feature. Walls ran competitively and had a good battle with Jeff Bivens at several points in the 50 lapper. He eventually finished seventh. 

North Carolina Swing Next

Next up on the SUPRS schedule is the 15th Annual North Carolina Swing taking place October 23-25, 2018. The three night extravaganza of supermodified sim racing takes place at five different tracks using two different sim racing platforms. Night one is all NASCAR Heat with 40 lap features at Dasera Speedway and Caraway Speedway, while night two is all rFactor racing and 50 lap features at Southern National Raceway Park and Concord Motorsports Park. The fifth and final night takes place at Hickory Motor Speedway and is a 75 lap affair called The Hickory Hustle. The winner of that race becomes the SUPRS 2018 North Carolina Swing Champion.

Practice beings at 8:00pm each night followed by Time Trials at 8:30pm. The green flag flies for the first feature at 9:05pm, with the projected time of the second feature around 9:30pm.  All five races  of the North Carolina Swing are scheduled to be broadcast on SUPRS LIVE! starting at 9:00pm.

Stay Up to Date

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:

• Old Dominion 50
• October 16, 2018
• SUPRS NASCAR Heat W v6.0 mod
• New River Valley Speedway
• Radford, VA

Time Trials – (showing car number, driver name, hometown, sponsors, fast lap underlined-Fast 4 eligible for Fast Car Dash)

1. 25-Bob Gangwer; Goshen, IN; B&G Racing Photos, Wing Side Up Enterprises: 12.130, 11.969
2. 35-Rob Warren; Pulaski, NY; 1st to Finish Race Servers, Designs of Elegance: 12.058, 12.002
3. 41-Keith Powell; Carrollton, OH; Icings on Top, CPR Motorsports: 12.372, 12.016
4. 55-Steve Callahan; Cuyahoga Falls, OH; Exide Battery, CPR Motorsports; 12.188, 12.060
5. 42-Carl Becker; Lansing, MI; Wholesale Diamond Exchange, Michigan Hill Gang; 12.449, 12.339
6. 38-Kyle Clark; Mexico, NY; Coors’ Light, Disturbed Motorsports: 12.467, 12.539
7. 92-Rick Walls; Warsaw, IN; NH Autosport: 12.469, 12.602
8. 15-Jeff Bivens, Fort Mills, SC; NH Autosport: 12.549, 12.791
9. 7-Nelson Rodrigues; Stoneham, MA; Star Speedway: 12.872, 12.631

Fast Car Dash– 8 Laps (showing car number, driver name)

1. 55-Steve Callahan
2. 35-Rob Warren
3. 41-Keith Powell
4. 25-Bob Gangwer

Heat Race-13 Laps (showing car number, driver name)

1. 42-Carl Becker
2. 38-Kyle Clark
3. 15-Jeff Bivens
4. 92-Rick Walls
5. 7-Nelson Rodrigues

Feature-50 Laps (showing car number, driver, name, bonus, fastest lap, distance behind winner)

1. 55-Steve Callahan !/*/**/1/11.973
2. 41-Keith Powell; 3/12.015/+2.543
3. 25-Bob Gangwer; 4/11.998/+7.845
4. 42-Carl Becker; 5/12.177/+1 Lap
5. 7-Nelson Rodrigues; 9/12.376/+2 Laps
6. 38-Kyle Clark; 6/12.325/+2 Laps
7. 92-Rick Walls; 8/12.369/+3 Laps
8. 15-Jeff Bivens; 7/12.427/+4 Laps
9. 35-Rob Warren; 2/11.988/DNF-Connection

Time of Race:  11:00.297

• * Denotes Lap Led
• ** Denotes Most Laps Led
• ! Denotes Fastest Lap of Race

NOTE: This story has been edited on 10.20.18 to show correct Time Trial lap times for to four qualifiers.