Second Year for SUPRS St. Patrick’s Day Grab o’ the Green Race at Rocky Mountain Raceways
March, 8, 2019 – Dragon, UT…The Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS), St. Patrick’s Day “Grab o’ the Green” takes place on Tuesday March 12, 2019 for the second year in a row at Rocky Mountain Raceways. The race at the West Valley, UT track is the next to the last on the seven race SUPRS “Winter Western Swing” that started in February at Phoenix International Raceway.
SUPRS heads to UT for the St. Patrick’s Day Grab O’ the Green. (Poster by BreezeGraphics.com)
Callahan Only Two-Time Winner
In all the years that the St. Patrick’s Day Grab o’ the Green race has been run, (11 in all with a break from 2011-2013), only Steve Callahan has won the race more than once. Callahan found the gold in 2014 on the “Monster Mile” of Dover Downs International Speedway, then again last year in SUPRS first visit to Rocky Mountain Raceways, 3/8th mile paved oval.
St. Patrick’s Day Schedule
Practice begins at 8:00pm for the SUPRS St. Patrick’s Day Grab o’ the Green with a 15 minute open session for all drivers. After the Driver’s Meeting at 8:15pm, Time Trials take place at 8:30pm. The six lap Fast Car Dash follows at 8:45pm prior to the start of the SUPRS LIVE! broadcast. Two ten lap qualifying Heat Races go off at 9:05pm, and the 50 lap feature which should take the green flag around 9:20pm.
Get Social with SUPRS
Fans can learn more about the supermodified division and the original supermodified sim sanction, the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, by visiting www.SUPRS.net. Join the conversation on SUPRS active Social Media channels by “Liking” SUPRS on Facebook,Following @SUPRSOnline on Twitter, and viewing SUPRS videos on YouTube. On race nights, watch us live and join our chat on Twitch.
SUPRS St. Patrick’s Day Grab O’ the Green History:
2005: Kevin Marine-Dover Downs International Speedway*
2006: Randy Ritskes-Dover Downs International Speedway*
2007: Kris Heveron-Dover Downs International Speedway*
2008: Bud Flath-Stafford Mountain Raceway*
2009: Ray Sand, Jr.-Stafford Mountain Raceway*
2010: Jamie Hartley-Buckley Speedway*
2011-2013: No Race
2014: Steve Callahan-Dover Downs International Speedway*
2015: Rob Warren-Dover Downs International Speedway*
2016: Clinton Cyr-Mosport Speedway** (non-wing)
2017: Joe-Achzet-Dover Downs International Speedway**
March 2, 2019 – Carson City, NV…The Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS), is half-way through the “Winter Western Swing” and now begins to head back east with a stop at The Bullring in Las Vegas for the Jeff Russell Special 85. This supermodified sim race will help raise awareness about it’s namesake, who continues to recover from injuries in a 2010 supermodified crash at this track. SUPRS Wants You to Know It is the… Keep Reading
SUPRS Remembers Rising Star of Open Wheel Dynasty with Supermodified Sim Race February 22, 2019 – Fresno, CA…The Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS), racers have begun their preparation for the 15th Annual running of the Billy Vukovich III Classic 100 supermodified sim race to be held February 26, 2019 at Mesa Marin Raceway presented by Supermodified Scorecard. Four Former Winners Entered This year’s race has four former winners entered to compete for the win… Keep Reading
February 9, 2019 – Goshen, IN…The Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS), racers are set to start their month long “Winter Western Swing” with the SUPRS Copper World Classic XV presented by Kern Motorsports on Tuesday, February 12, 2019 at Phoenix International Raceway.
SUPRS Copper World Classic XV presented by Kern Motorsports is the first race of SUPRS Winter Western Swing (Poster by BreezeGraphics.com)
Copper World Classic Has Rich History
This event is modeled after the popular Copper World Classic held annually at PIR, (now called ISM Raceway), from 1977-2009. With Phoenix International Raceway, (now known as ISM Raceway), being built specifically to be the home of open-wheel racing in the west, it was only natural that the mighty supermodifieds would eventually find a home there.
The supermodifieds were a part of the Copper World Classic from 1984
to 2002 with one year off in 1991. On a couple of occasions the
supermodifieds ran without wings, and on others both wing and non-wing
supers could be seen on track at the same time. So the SUPRS version
tries to give fans the best of both worlds by running both types of cars
on the same night.
Davey Hamilton has the most Copper World Classic wins with five and
Troy Regier has the record for most wins in a row at three. Doug Saunier
was the very first winner and Lonnie Adamson was the last supermodified
winner of the Copper World Classic.
Curt Kern’s Deep Roots in Supermodified
Involved as an official for many years, Curt Kern of Kern Motorsports, has sponsored the SUPRS Copper World Classic since 2007.
In 1987, Kern and Ed Williams started the Northwest Supermodified Racing Association, (NSRA), after the United States Auto Club, (USAC), unexpectedly pulled out of sanctioning regional racing.
In 1992, Curt Kern formed the Western States Supermodified Tour,
separating the supermodifieds from sprint cars, which continued to race
under the Northwest Supermodified/Sprintcar Racing Association.
Copper World Stressful for Kern
Eventually Kern also found himself working in an official capacity
during the Copper World Classic. “Some years I was on the ground in the
pit area and a couple of years in the tower running race control for the
supers,” explained the Washington state native.
“For me, then, it was a pretty stressful position, but I looked
forward to the five days in Phoenix every year. I also dreaded it at the
same time,” he said.
Second Year for Kern’s Supermodified Reunion
While Kern’s active involvement with the real supermodified division wound down to an end in the late 1990’s, he has stayed involved, albeit from a distance and has never completely walked away from the division.
For the second year in a row Curt Kern is heading up the Supermodified Reunion at Meridian Speedway for western states supermodified racers young and old May 31-June 1, 2019.
“I posted on Facebook about a potential supermodified reunion to be held at Meridian Speedway on May 26, 2018,” began Kern. “The response was pretty good so I decided to take the next step and brought it up to Adam Nelson at Meridian to see if we were on the same page.”
“We’ve lost a lot of supermodified greats since I got out and I thought it was time to remember them and get everyone else back together. Adam was all for it and now we’ve got it scheduled for then end of May, first of June this year,” stated Kern.
Many States Represented at Reunion
The west coast supermodified sanction list reads like an alphabet soup and stretches from British Columbia through Washington down to California over Idaho and includes Colorado and Utah. With all those states and sanctions represented, this reunion could be one of the largest ever organized for supermodified racing.
A gathering of this size and magnitude deservers to be remembered and a poster and t-shirts are planned as well as an owner/drivers only social gathering. For more information and to be added to the supermodified reunion Facebook Group, former drivers, owners, crew members and fans should contact Curt Kern via email curtkern@yahoo.com or Adam Nelson via the Meridian Speedway contact page.
Kern’s Continued Support of SUPRS
It was only natural for Kern to gravitate to the online version of
supermodified racing. After hanging up his sim racing helmet Kern was
the SUPRS Race Director for a couple of years and since 2007 Kern
Motorsports has been a sponsor of the SUPRS Copper World Classic.
“I’m honored to still be involved with SUPRS and their version of the
Copper World Classic and consider Bobby and John both good friends,” he
said. “I only wish I could get set up and come back and get in
everyone’s way again,” joked Kern. “The event at the time was the
supermodified communities version of the Indy 500 and to have SUPRS
continue to run that event is pretty cool. Good luck to all and thank
you for allowing me to be a part of the show.”
SUPRS Copper World Classic Details
Practice for the SUPRS Copper World Classic XV presented by Kern Motorsports begins at 7:30pm with non-wing supermodifieds. The wing supermodifieds practice from 7:45 to 8:00pm before the Drivers Meeting. Time Trials for the wing supers are at 8:15pm and non-wing Time Trials follow at 8:30pm.
The format for SUPRS Copper World Classic XV presented by Kern Motorsports is nearly identical to the old WSST, NSRA formats and has been used at Kern’s request since coming on board as a race sponsor. Racing on “The Desert Mile”begins with the eight lap, inverted wing supermodified heat races at 9:05pm and the the wing supers run their 25 lap feature first at 9:05. The non-wing 25 lapper follows.
Points for both feature finishes are added up to determine the overall SUPRS Copper World Classic XV presented by Kern Motorsports Champion.
Supermodifieds at Phoenix Shown Live
Cheer on your favorite SUPRS racers while you view timing, scoring, track telemetry , stats and live streaming video of all the racing from the SUPRS Copper World Classic XV presented by Kern Motorsports at Phoenix International Raceway when we go “Live @ 9pm est via the SUPRS LIVE! page.
Get Social with SUPRS
Fans can learn more about the supermodified division and the original supermodified sim sanction, the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, by visiting www.SUPRS.net. Join SUPRS active and vibrant Social Media channels by “Liking” SUPRS on Facebook, Following @SUPRSOnline on Twitter, and viewing SUPRS videos on YouTube. See us live and join our chat on Twitch.
SUPRS Copper World Classic-Wing Winners/Champions-Phoenix International Raceway
2005 SUPRS Copper World Classic Champion: JP Curry-PA
2006 SUPRS Copper World Classic Champion: John Davidson-CA
2007 SUPRS Copper World Classic Champion: Chuck Russell-MO
2008 SUPRS Copper World Classic Champion: Kris Heveron-FL
2009 SUPRS Copper World Classic Champion: Bobby Gangwer-IN
2010 SUPRS Copper World Classic Champion: Chad Phelps-NY
2011 SUPRS Copper World Classic Champion: Jeff Weber-IN
2012 SUPRS Copper World Classic Champion: Ray Sand, Jr.-NY
2013 SUPRS Copper World Classic Champion: John Davidson-CA
2014 SUPRS Copper World Classic Champion: Ray Sand, Jr.-NY
2015 SUPRS Copper World Classic Champion: Steve Callahan-OH
2016 SUPRS Copper World Classic Winner: Bobby Gangwer-IN
2017 SUPRS Copper World Classic Winner: Nelson Rodrigues-MA
2018 SUPRS Copper World Classic Winner: Nelson Rodrigues-MA
SUPRS Copper World Classic-Non-Winged Winners – Phoenix International Raceway
2014 SUPRS Copper World Classic Winner: Steve Callahan-OH
2015 SUPRS Copper World Classic Winner: Myles Maxon-NY
2016 SUPRS Copper World Classic Winner: Ray Sand, Jr.-NY
2017 SUPRS Copper World Classic Winner: Joe Achzet-NY
2018 SUPRS Copper World Classic Winner: Rob Warren-NY
SUPRS Copper World Classic Wing/Non-Wing Combined Champions
2016 SUPRS Copper World Classic Champion: Ray Sand, Jr.
2017 SUPRS Copper World Classic Champion: Joe Achzet
2018 SUPRS Copper World Classic Champion: Nelson Rodrigues
(Note: Before 2016, the winner of the wing supermodified race was the SUPRS Copper World Classic Champion)
-SUPRS-
“Supermodified Sim Racing for the Right Reasons”
since 2004
Real Supermodified Racing Videos
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