SUPRS Rookie Clinton Cyr Wins St. Patrick’s Day Grab O’ the Green at Mosport
Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada – March 15, 2016…Floridian Clinton Cyr may not have been a Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS), member for long, but that didn’t stop him from holding off two SUPRS Champions to win the St. Patrick’s Day Grab O’ the Green sim supermodified race Tuesday after a thrilling first ever run at Mosport Speedway.
Clinton Cyr was the class of the field, picking up his first ever SUPRS feature win at the St. Patrick’s Day Grab O’ the Green at Mosport Speedway.
In a race that went 37 laps before a caution flag was seen, then had a string of simple spins toward the end of the race, Joe Achzet somehow had enough car left to finish second and Ray Sand, Jr. held on for a ragged third.
“It feels very good. Thanks for having me,” said the soft-spoken Cyr. “I was wondering what was going on behind me with a few laps to go and I definitely got worried with that yellow 18 behind me the last few restarts so I was just trying to protect the inside.
Cyr moved to second place on lap four then took the lead from pole-sitter Achzet on lap 29. Even so, Cyr said the car got better towards the end of the race when a rash of cautions happened. “The car felt the best it had felt it had the entire race at the end,” he stated. “It feels like it’s got a pretty good long run set up.”
Joe Achzet went forward and backward, sideways and just about every other way you can possibly drive a sim racing supermodified except upside-down. Somehow, even with two spins, he was able to finish second.
“After the first spin, I went to the top side and got a few cars and I thought I had a pretty good shot at it,” explained Achzet. “Then I spun the second time and I cranked a ton of rear brake into it and threw it to the top side like a dirt car.”
The SUPRS racers follow the pace car for the first ever race at Mosport Speedway.
“This was a tough track,” Achzet continued. “It was challenging and it was a blast running with Bobby and Ray. It was a ton of fun trying to go to the outside of people and then sliding under them hoping they saw you.”
Ray Sand, Jr. set a track record in qualifying and finished second in his heat. He ran in the top three most of the race, but slipped as low as fifth after the midway point as he struggled with a loose race car. He said, “I’ll tell you I’m not tired at all but what a struggle I had. I can’t say I didn’t like the track because I really did like the track. The car, well it was just the most uncomfortable race I’ve been in. The rear end wasn’t anywhere underneath me. I got some work to do in the setup department.”
The 9-Time SUPRS Champion then quickly added, “Congrats to Clinton. I knew after the last couple weeks that it was just a matter of time until he’d put a hurtin’ on us. He ran a great race tonight and it’s good to see a first-time winner.”
Heat race wins went to Bob Gangwer and Clinton Cyr. There were three different leaders and three lead changes with five cautions totalling 15 laps. All of the racers enjoyed their first ever visit to Mosport Speedway with sixth place finisher Domenic Gioia stating, “This was a real fun place to race, I was finally able to go racing. Congratulations to Clint, he ran great tonight.”
Fourth place finisher Rob Warren said, “This was a great track tonight, a lot of challenges out there that made it a lot of fun. Congrats to Clinton on his first win.”
The SUPRS racers head to Jack Arute’s Stafford Motor Speedway for the Xtreme Tuesday 50 on March 22 using the wing NASCAR Heat supermodifieds.
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:
- St. Patrick’s Day Grab O’ the Green
- March 15, 2016
Mosport Speedway
Time Trials (showing car number, driver name, hometown, sponsors, lap 1, lap 2-best lap underlined)
- 18-Ray Sand, Jr.; Rochester, NY; SandmanRacing.com: 16.785♦, 16.906
- 35-Rob Warren; Pulaski, NY; 1st to Finish Docks & Hoists, Designs of Elegance: 16.878, 16.989
- 55-Steve Callahan; Cuyahoga Falls, OH; Exide Battery, CPR Motorsports: 16.955, 17.415
- 3-Clinton Cyr; Inverness, FL; None: 17.075, 17.141
- 25-Bob Gangwer; Goshen, IN; Wing Side Up Enterprises, RW Woodworking: 17.117, 17.283
- 50-Brian Potvin; Hudson, FL; None: 17.238, 17.238
- 9-Domenic Gioia; Oswego, NY; Genesee Beer: 17.283, 17.395
- 14-Joe Achzet; Utica, NY; Cottontail Designs, GraphX: 17.392, 17.591
Heat Race 1-12 Laps (top three get time back for feature inversion)
- 25-Bob Gangwer
- 18-Ray Sand, Jr.
- 55-Steve Callahan
- 9-Domenic Gioia
Heat Race 2-12 Laps (top three get time back for feature inversion)
- 3-Clinton Cyr
- 50-Brian Potvin
- 14-Joe Achzet
- 35-Rob Warren
Race checkered due to to many cautions
Feature – 50 Laps (showing car number, driver, name, bonus, fastest lap, distance behind winner)
- 3-Clinton Cyr; * ** | 16.818
- 14-Joe Achzet * | 16.797 | +1.930
- 18-Ray Sand, Jr.; 16.810 | +2.416
- 35-Rob Warren; * | 16.782 | +2.538
- 50-Brian Potvin; 17.117 | +2.571
- 9-Domenic Gioia; 17.021 | +2.970
- 55-Steve Callahan; 16.930 | +1Lap
- 25-Bob Gangwer; 16.812 | DNF (fuel)
Time of Race: 23:08.357
- ♦ Denotes New Track Record
- * Denotes Lap Led
- ** Denotes Most Laps Led
- ! Denotes Fastest Lap of Race
