After Years of Trying, Steve Callahan Finally Wins Terry Gibson Memorial at Sandusky
January 15, 2020…Always the brides maid, never the bride, Steve Callahan has been close to winning the one Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS), race he wanted most, only to have his hopes dashed while leading near the end of the race on multiple occasions. That all changed when he stood proudly in victory lane for the 12th Annual Terry Gibson Memorial Wednesday at Sandusky Speedway.
Honored to Win
Even after a win as big as this one, Steve Callahan remained his usual humble self, and while nearly speechless, was quick to say how honored he was to win the race. “This is just such an honor to win the Terry Gibson Memorial. The Gibson family have given their lives to this sport, it’s all just very humbling.”
The CPR Motorsports team member went on to say, “For CPR to finish 1, 2 is just awesome. I want to thank everyone, Cyndi at Icings on Top, BreezeGraphics.com, Kevin at Hairbag studios for making us look better than what we probably are on the broadcasts, Rob at 1st to Finish Race Servers for two flawless nights of racing, and SUPRS for everything they do.”
“Really, I don’t know what to say, I’m pretty speechless right now,” he said. “I went into this race differently than before. Normally, I’d lay back, take it easy, let the race sort out. Well, that obviously didn’t work, so I just decided to go for it, run every lap like it was the last one and it worked!”
Pressure Filled Race
From the drop the of the green flag, Callahan was in a pressure cooker trying to hold onto the lead while keeping his teammate Keith Powell and 2016 Terry Gibson Memorial winner Bob Gangwer behind him. For the first half of the race, the trio pulled away from the rest of the field lap after lap, until they had built up a five second gap to the fourth place running Rob Warren.
Between them though, there was never more than a car width separating the top three. Callahan said, “No matter what I tried, Keith and Bob were always right there, I just couldn’t get away from them, the really made me work for this one.”
Other Happenings
Earlier in the evening, Keith Powell set fast time in Time Trials with a lap of 14.422 with Callahan right behind him at 14.468. Rob Warren and Brad Keysor rounded out the Fast 4 drivers that were locked into the A-Main.
Bob Gangwer won the 15 lap B-Main, placing him in fifth starting place for the 100 lapper. The two-time Terry Gibson Memorial 100 winner Rob Warren, elected to go for the SUPRS Challenge, giving up his fourth place starting spot, and moving to the last row hoping to come to the front and win for 20 bonus points. Warren got as far as fourth in a spirited run that earned him the SUPRS Charger award for the second night in a row.
Callahan Flies to Fast 50 Win
In the companion Terry Gibson Fast 50, run on Tuesday January 14, Steve Callahan served notice that he’s as fast as ever, flying away from the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS), pack and into victory lane at Sandusky Speedway. For the second straight year, Rob Warren and Bob Gangwer finished second and third, albeit, a great distance behind the dominant winner.
Callahan was able to stretch his lead as positions two through five raced each other hard and ended up winning the race by almost a half a track and over eight seconds ahead of second place finisher Rob Warren.
“I’m just real happy I could be here tonight, and win this one. It’s not as easy as it seems, these guys are all just so fast and consistent. I had some luck starting up front and running in clean air,” Callahan commented after his second win of the SUPRS current season.
Moving to Mansfield
The SUPRS racers are hanging out in Ohio for another week to run the Buckeye 50 at Mansfield Motorsports Park. SUPRS LIVE! video streaming, track telemetry, statistics and standings will be available for this race beginning at 9:00pm est. on January 21, 2020.
Dig Deeper
Fans can learn more about the original online supermodified sim racing sanction, the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, when they visit 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. Tune in most Tuesday nights for live supermodified sim racing at it’s finest on SUPRS Twitch channel.
SUPRS RACE RESULTS
- 12th Annual Terry Gibson Memorial
- Race 19 of 42
- January 15, 2020
- Sandusky Speedway
- Sandusky, OH
- SUPRS NASCAR Heat W v6 mod
- 100 Laps
Time Trials (showing car number, driver name, hometown, sponsors, lap 1, lap 2, fastest lap highlighted, Fast 4 eligible for redraw)
- 41-Keith Powell; Carrollton, OH; Icings on Top, CPR Motorsports: 14.481, 14.422
- 55-Steve Callahan; Cuyahoga Falls, OH; Exide Battery, CPR Motorsports: 14.515, 14.468
- 35-Rob Warren; Pulaski, NY; 1st to Finish Race Servers, Designs of Elegance: 14.494, 14.471
- 3-Brad Keysor; Liverpool, NY; Southern Hills Storm Football; Nebraska Corn Huskers: 14.736, 14.474
- 25-Bob Gangwer; Goshen, IN; RW Woodworking, Wing Side Up Enterprises: 14.694, 14.500
- 22-Zach SearsR; Round Lake Beach, IL; Midwest Supermodified Series, Adkin’s Glass: 14.639, 14.704
- 42-Carl Becker; Lansing, MI; Wholesale Diamond Exchange, Michigan Hill Gang: 14.702, 14.708
- 7-Nelson Rodrigues; Stoneham, MA; Star Speedway, Dunkin Donuts: 15.447, 14.810
B-Main-10 Laps (showing car number, driver, name)
- 25-Bob Gangwer
- 42-Carl Becker
- 22-Zach SearsR
- 7-Nelson Rodrigues
Time of Race: 4:28.000
Feature-100 Laps (showing car number, driver, name, bonus, starting position, fastest lap, distance behind winner)
- 55-Steve Callahan; * | ** | P1 | 14.404
- 41-Keith Powell; P2 | 14.391 | +0.131
- 25- Bob Gangwer; ! | P4 | 14.384 | +0.358
- 35-Rob Warren; ^ | P8 | 14.456 | +5.606
- 3-Brad Keysor; P3 | 14.503 | +1 Lap
- 22-Zach Sears; P6 | 14.493 | +3 Laps
- 7-Nelson Rodrigues; P7 | 14.580 | +3 Laps
- 42-Carl Becker; P5 | 14.404 | DNF ( Pulled Off)
Time of Race: 25:32.719
- * Denotes Lap Led
- ** Denotes Most Laps Led
- ! Denotes Fastest Lap of Race
- ^ Denotes SUPRSCharger
SUPRS RACE RESULTS
- Terry Gibson Fast 50
- Race 18 of 42
- January 15, 2020
- Sandusky Speedway
- Sandusky, OH
- SUPRS NASCAR Heat W v6 mod
- 50 Laps
Heat Race 1 – 10 Laps (showing finish, car number, driver name, hometown, sponsors-top 2, eligible for invert)
- 7-Nelson Rodrigues; Stoneham, MA; Star Speedway, Dunkin Donuts
- 55-Steve Callahan; Cuyahoga Falls, OH; Exide Battery; CPR Motorsports
- 41-Keith Powell; Carrolton, OH; Icings on Top, CPR Motorsports
- 22-Zach Sears; Round Lake Beach, IL; Midwest Supermodified Series, Adkin’s Glass
Time of Race: 3:18.616
Heat Race 2 – 10 Laps (showing finish, car number, driver name, hometown, sponsors-top 2, eligible for invert)
- 42-Carl Becker; Lansing, MI; Wholesale Diamond Exchange, Michigan Hill Gang
- 25-Bob Gangwer; Goshen, IN; RW Woodworking, WAG’s Machine Shop
- 35-Rob Warren; Pulaski, NY; 1st to Finish Race Servers; Designs of Elegance
- 3-Brad Keysor; Liverpool, NY; Southern Hills Storm Football, Justice League
Time of Race: 3:30.997
Feature-50 Laps (showing car number, driver name, bonus, starting position, fastest lap, distance behind winner)
- 55-Steve Callahan: * | ** | ! | P1 | 14.416
- 35-Rob Warren: ^ | P5 | 14.534 | +8.197
- 25-Bob Gangwer: P4 | 14.488 | +9.764
- 41-Keith Powell: P6 | 14.492 | +9.954
- 42-Carl Becker: P2 | 14.488 | +13.763
- 3-Brad Keysor: P8 | 14.554 | +13.966
- 22-Zach Sears: P7 | 14.483 | +1 Laps
- 7-Nelson Rodrigues: P1 | 14.640 | +12 Laps
Time of Race: 13:12.049
- * Denotes Lap Led
- ** Denotes Most Laps Led
- ! Denotes Fastest Lap of Race
- ^ Denotes SUPRSCharger
