Kyle Clark Tromps Field to take Turkey Shoot and Burgers’ Smokehouse Thanksgiving Turkey
November 14, 2017 – Memphis, TN …Kyle Clark of Mexico, NY left no doubt that he was racing for his Thanksgiving dinner at the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS), 13th Annual Turkey Shoot Tuesday night at Memphis Motorsports Park. Clark’s first feature win of the season topped off a perfect night after setting fast time and winning the six-lap Turkey Trot which put him on the pole for the feature.
Elated Winner
Two early race cautions were the only thing to slow down the speedy Clark. The normally demure driver from the Disturbed Motorsports team, couldn’t contain his excitement knowing that he earned himself a Thanksgiving turkey from Burgers’ Smokehouse. “I’m really excited right now,” Clark exclaimed. “After hearing Carl, (Becker-2014 Turkey Shoot Winner), talk about how good these turkeys are from Burgers’, I really wanted to win one.”
Trimming Out for Turkey
Clark explained that he was able to get an advantage by studying what had happened during practice. “I worked on this track set up a bit,” he began. “I had watched what happened in practice. It was easy to get a run on someone, but when you pulled out to pass you lost momentum. So I just started working at trimming the car out little by little and I had pretty good balance all night long.”
Race-Long Battle for Second Place
While Clark was busy stretching his lead to nearly four seconds at some points, there was nary a half second separating second through fifth. After lap 12 restart to the checkered flag, Nelson Rodrigues fought to hold Keith Powell behind his Star Speedway sponsored machine. Meanwhile Bob Gangwer stayed glued to Powell’s rear nerf bar as fifth place runner, Steve Callahan, battled to get into the top three after starting scratch.
Lap after lap each driver, while driving on the ragged edge, watched for the slightest mistake by the other. Callahan and Gangwer swapped places more than once, and Powell made plenty of moves to the inside and outside of Rodrigues looking for a way around.
Last Lap Shootout
With just a lap to go, Powell tried a switch-over on Rodrigues down the front stretch, but Rodrigues drove it into turn one deep. Rodrigues kept Powell and his Icings on Top “Mayfield Missile” at bay to take second but not without some last lap thrills behind him. Powell narrowly escaped disaster after teammate, Callahan, clipped his left rear tire in turn three. Fighting for control of the car, somehow the Carrollton, OH racer got straightened out and came home third. Callahan’s last lap mistake was enough to allow Gangwer to slip by for fourth.
Time for T-Day Break
The SUPRS racers now take a break from the action to allow members to spend time with their families over the Thanksgiving holiday. After a week off, your favorite supermodified sim racing sanction fires up again on November 28 for the 14th Annual Wing Side Up Twin 25s at Bristol Motor Speedway. Full details are on the SUPRS schedule page.
Be Social with SUPRS
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 and don’t forget to show the love on our Instagram account!
SUPRS RACE RESULTS:
13th Annual Turkey Shoot
- Race 9 of 42
- November 14, 2017
- SUPRS rFactor W v7.2 mod
- Memphis Motorsports Park
Time Trials (showing car number, driver name, hometown, sponsors, lap 1, lap 2-best lap underlined)
- 38-Kyle Clark; Mexico, NY; Coors’ Light, Disturbed Motorsports: 18.307, 18.229
- 41-Keith Powell; Carrollton, OH; Icings on Top, CPR Motorsports: 18.537, 18.351
- 25-Bob Gangwer; Goshen, IN; RW Woodworking, B&G Racing Photos: 18.766, 18.398
- 7-Nelson Rodrigues; Stoneham, MA; Star Speedway: 18.401, 18.548
- 35-Rob Warren; Pulaski, NY; 1st to Finish Race Servers, Designs of Elegance: 18.942, 18.602
- 77-Kevin Timmins; Baldwinsville, NY; BreezeGraphics.com, Wesley Motorsports: 19.110, 18.849
- 42-Carl Becker; Lansing, MI; Wholesale Diamond Exchange, Michigan Hill Gang: 19.178, 18.858
- 55-Steve Callahan; Cuyahoga Falls, OH; Exide Battery, CPR Motorsports: NT
Turkey Trot-6 Laps (showing finish, car number, driver name)
- 38-Kyle Clark
- 7-Nelson Rodrigues
- 25-Bob Gangwer
- 41-Keith Powell
Heat Race-8 Laps (showing finish, car number, driver name)
- 35-Rob Warren
- 42-Carl Becker
- 77-Kevin Timmins
- 55-Steve Callahan (DNS)
Feature-40 Laps (showing car number, driver, name, bonus, starting place, fastest lap, distance behind winner)
- 38-Kyle Clark: * | ** | P1 | 18.310
- 7-Nelson Rodrigues: P2 | 18.345 | +3.598
- 41-Keith Powell: P4 | 18.362 | +3.993
- 25-Bob Gangwer: ! | P3 | 18.267 | +4.074
- 55-Steve Callahan: P8 | 18.299 | +6.325
- 35-Rob Warren: P5 | 18.624 | +9.680
- 42-Carl Becker: P6 | 18.677| +15.847
- 77-Kevin Timmins: P7 | 20.537 | DNF (Engine Failure)
Time of Race: 17:26.176
- * Denotes Lap Led
- ** Denotes Most Laps Led
- ! Denotes Fastest Lap of Race
