Sand, Brigandi Snowball Derby Challenge Team Winners Again
Nelles Corners, Ontario, CAN – January 5, 2016…Ray Sand, Jr. kicked off the new year with his fourth career win at the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS), 12th Annual Crazy Canuck Snowball Derby Tuesday night at Cayuga Speedway. Bob Gangwer and Rob Warren finished second and third.
Sand, Jr. and Dave Brigandi teamed up once again to claim The Crazy Canuck Snowball Derby Team Challenge which consists of two-man teams that battle not only for personal success during the night, but work to gain team points for the overall team challenge bonus. The two-man combo of Sand/Brigandi bested their 2014 Challenge score by 11 points with a tally of 151. It was the third time overall that Sand, Jr. has been on the winning team.
After being a back to back winner in 2008-09, and again in 2014, Sand, Jr. as a four-time winner of this race, has set the bar high at Cayuga. He has once again increased his point lead over Rob Warren in the ongoing SUPRS Gold Crest Wing Championship where Sand, Jr. is looking for his sixth crown.
“You gotta drive like there’s an egg under the pedal, its my style track for sure,” stated Sand, Jr. “I got the wall pretty good and lost a lot of ground on Bob, then he got into Domenic and I was able to get up to him and could tell his car was pretty bad.”
Of his Crazy Canuck Snowball Challenge teammate Brigandi he said, “It’s cool to team up with Dave Brigandi again for this Challenge win. He looked as good as I’ve ever seen him here so it’s pretty cool to be able to do this with him again. I’m just glad to be apart of SUPRS.”
Bob Gangwer, a three-time Snowball Derby Team Challenge winner, capitalized on his pole-position and after a brief side-by-side battle with Sand, Jr. took over the top spot by the end of the second lap. Gangwer held the lead for 47 laps, stretching it to as much as 3 seconds over Sand, Jr. and third place runner Rob Warren.
With the laps quickly winding down, Gangwer came out of turn two and prepared to put a lap on the fifth place car of Oswego, New York’s Domenic Gioia on lap 39.
Gangwer picks up the story, “I had watched Dom for a few laps and could see he was struggling off turn two with a big push and then bringing the car down low in the middle of the backstretch, so by the time I had gotten to him I had it planned to go around the high side down the backstretch.
“I had no idea how close anyone was but didn’t want to waste time so when he hit the outside wall, I was already committed to the top when he ricocheted low but then he came back up the track and I walloped him.”
Gioia quickly commented, “I was trying to stay out of the way, then all of the sudden I got donkey punched.”
The contact between Gangwer and Gioa was all Sand, Jr. needed to reel Gangwer in from a deficit of over one second. By lap 47, Gangwer had his hands full not only trying to make the car turn, but also trying to keep “The Sandman” behind him.
“Ray was just fantastic again tonight, he raced me clean and put a textbook pass on me when I couldn’t keep the car down, he deserved this win and I just want to say that I’m not upset with Dom or anything, it was just racing and it was more me than him. I got impatient,” finished Gangwer.
Third place finisher Rob Warren wasn’t just chasing Sand, Jr. and Gangwer around the Cayuga track, he is also chasing Sand, Jr. and trying to stay in front of Gangwer in the Gold Crest Championship point standings. He said, “Here’s where the rubber band stretches because Ray is so good with this mod.” He then added “I just watched the 25,(Gangwer), and 18, (Sand, Jr.), sail away and had nothing for the top two.”
“I thought I may have had a chance when I saw a big puff of smoke on lap 20 when Ray got into the wall. I thought he was done and I could catch him when he took it easy for a few laps, but then he just took off again.” said the driver of the 1st to Finish Docks & Hoists roadster.
Dave Brigandi joining Sand, Jr. as part of the Snowball Derby Challenge winning team and said, “I’m very happy with the race. Practicing helped a lot and I was pretty consistent even if I wasn’t the fastest.” He went on to say, “I had a lot of fun racing with Dom tonight. Congrats to Ray, it’s cool to get the Challenge bonus again with him.”
Warren won the heat race and Gangwer took the Canadian Pursuit earlier in the evening.
Team USA was once again crowned Can-Am Challenge Champions after no Canadian racers made the race.
Next week SUPRS will honor a supermodified racer that lost his life while racing a supermodified. The 8th Annual Terry Gibson Memorial gets underway Tuesday, January 12 with the Fast 50 at Sandusky Speedway. Then on Wednesday the prestigious Terry Gibson Memorial 100 takes place with the winner becoming a guaranteed starter for the 12th Annual Summit Classic 125. Practice starts at 8pm both nights.
Fans can learn more about the original and oldest online supermodified sim 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, Circling SUPRS on Google+, Following @SUPRSOnline on Twitter, and viewing SUPRS videos on YouTube.
SUPRS RACE RESULTS:
12th Annual Crazy Canuck Snowball Derby
- January 5, 2016
- Cayuga Speedway
- SUPRS NASCAR Heat V6 mod
Time Trials (showing car number, driver name, hometown, sponsors, lap 1, lap 2-best lap underlined)
- 18-Ray Sand, Jr.; Rochester, NY; RPM, SandmanRacing.com: 16.442, 16.801
- 25-Bob Gangwer; Goshen, IN; Wing Side Up Enterprises, B&G Racing Photos: 16.511, 16.552
- 35-Rob Warren; Pulaski, NY; 1st to Finish Docks & Hoists, Designs of Elegance: 16.561, 16.653
- 9-Domenic Gioia; Oswego, NY; Genesee Beer, Lizard Lick Towing: 16.656, 16.969
- 52-Dave Brigandi; Syracuse, NY; Buffalo Bio-Diesel, Terry: 16.803, 16.861
Heat Race-13 Laps (showing car number, driver name)
- 35-Rob Warren
- 18-Ray Sand, Jr.
- 25-Bob Gangwer
- 52-Dave Brigandi
- 9-Domenic Gioia
Canadian Pursuit-8 Laps (showing car number, driver, name)
- 25-Bob Gangwer
- 18-Ray Sand, Jr.
- 52-Dave Brigandi
- 35-Rob Warren
- 9-Domenic Gioia
Feature-50 Laps (showing car number, driver, name, bonus, fastest lap, distance behind winner)
- 18-Ray Sand, Jr;* | 16.403
- 25-Bob Gangwer; *|**|!| 16.374 | +0.541
- 35-Rob Warren; 16.486 | +2.253
- 52-Dave Brigandi; 16.665 | +13.861
- 9-Domenic Gioia; 16.559 | +1 Lap
Time of Race: 14:39.581
- * Denotes Lap Led
- ** Denotes Most Laps Led
- ! Denotes Fastest Lap of Race
