Harvest of Speed a Thriller as Bob Gangwer Hits Pay Dirt at LaPorte
October 10, 2017 – LaPorte, IN… After a thrilling three-car battle that lasted all 75 laps, Bob Gangwer hit pay dirt enroute to his second Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS), Harvest of Speed in a row Tuesday night at LaPorte Speedway. Domenic Gioia and Steve Callahan came to the checkers following closely behind the winner as SUPRS kicked off it’s 14th consecutive season of supermodified sim racing.
Bob Gangwer hauled in his second Harvest of Speed in a row after a torrid race-long, three-car battle. (Victory Lane art by BreezeGraphics.com)
“I love this track, I love being able to win in Indiana, but for the grace of God I never could have it done here tonight,” exclaimed the exhausted Hoosier native.
Fierce Racing on Tight Track
For the majority of the 75 lap feature, Gangwer battled with Domenic Gioia and Steve Callahan and all three had a shot at the win on this very challenging track. Each driver made calculating moves on the other with Gangwer and Callahan doing the most swapping of positions. As always happens at LaPorte Speedway, the winner wasn’t clear until the checkered flag fell.
It was only when Gioia scrubbed the wall, then caught two lapped cars at once, that Gangwer was able to squeeze his way through to the lead.”That had to be one of the hardest, coolest, cleanest, most fun, most intense races I’ve ever run at LaPorte,” Gangwer stated. “I think we must have been almost four wide at one point there when we went by Carl and Nelson.
Gangwer Apologizes and Remembers
“I have to apologize to Dom. I know we rubbed and bumped some, none of it was intentional, it was all just very hard racing. With this being the Harvest, I want to give a shout out to all of our American farmers because ya know farming isn’t easy, they bust their tails every day, the price of fuel goes up and the price of crops go down. We are losing more and more farmland every day.
“I’m dedicating this win to one of my early childhood heroes, Marvin Carmen. Marv recently passed away and I remember watching him race real supermodifieds in Indiana and Michigan, the Midwest ya know. He was smooth, clean, fast, and I never heard him bad-mouth another driver,” remembered Gangwer.
Gioia Giddy Over Second
Gioia was truly lived up to his nickname of “The Dominator” and was the man of the night, qualifying in the top four, winning the dash, and then leading 69 of the 75 feature laps. It was a big improvement for the second place finisher over last year’s race where he finished two laps down.
“Ya know something like that I would normally be disappointed, but ya know, I am just tickled pink because that was an awesome, awesome, awesome race out there,” exclaimed Gioia. “I think that’s the first top 5 I’ve ever gotten at this track.”
The second place finisher referred to the action in the last 10 laps that cost him the win saying, “We beat and banged out there, but that’s gonna happen at this track. I didn’t even get nerve wracked, I was having such a blast out there, I had so much fun out there. This was absolutely amazing the way we ran out there.
“Steady” Steve Happy with Third
For third place finisher Steve Callahan, challenging for the win and coming home on the podium was a great way to kick off a new season after a pretty dismal 2017 non-wing campaign. “That was a lot of fun. Big congrats to Bob, he was there at the end and he deserved that win,” declared the Ohio driver. “A top three to start the season is a good start and we’ll head to the North Carolina Swing.”
The defending North Carolina Swing Champion pointed out that when racing at LaPorte Speedway, a driver is always in the thick of the action. “It’s a tough place,” Callahan began. “We are all rubbing and crossing each other over. We are all logging laps, but still racing hard. I know we put on a good show.”
Coming Up
Next week the SUPRS racers embark on what most consider the toughest multi-race swing of the season. The 14th Annual North Carolina Swing features five different tracks in three nights of racing where racers will vie for the coveted North Carolina Swing Championship Crown. The series kicks off Tuesday, October 17 at Dasera Speedway and Caraway Speedway, moves to Southern National Motorsports Park for first race of night two with Concord Motorsports Park completing the qualifying races of the swing the same night.
The swing finishes off at Hickory Motor Speedway on Thursday, October 19th where the winner of challenging “Hickory Hustle 75” will be crowned North Carolina Swing Champion and gain 20 bonus points in the SUPRS Gold Crest Wing Championship.
Catch All the Action
Supermodified and sim racing fans alike can view timing and scoring including track telemetry of races three and four as well as The Hickory Hustle during the 14th Annual North Carolina Swing with SUPRS LIVE! You’ll be able to keep up with your favorite SUPRS racer in an instant by going to www.SUPRS.net/site/live.
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.
SUPRS RACE RESULTS:
- 14th Annual “”Harvest of Speed” Season Opener
- October 10, 2017
- SUPRS NASCAR Heat W v6 mod
- LaPorte Speedway
Time Trials – (showing car number, driver name,hometown, sponsors, fast lap underlined-top 4 eligible for Fast Car Dash)
- 25-Bob Gangwer; Goshen, IN; B&G Racing Photos, Wing Side Up Enterprises: 12.704, 12.700
- 35-Rob Warren; Pulaski, NY; 1st to Finish Race Servers, Designs of Elegance: 12.720, 14.969
- 55-Steve Callahan; Cuyahoga Falls, OH; Exide Battery, CPR Motorsports: 12.755, 12.775
- 9-Domenic Gioia; Oswego, NY; Genesee Beer, Team Domination Motorsports: 12.763, 12.788
- 42-Carl Becker; Lansing, MI; Wholesale Diamond Exchange, Michigan Hill Gang: 12.888, 12.904
- 41-Keith Powell; Carrollton, OH; Icings on Top, CPR Motorsports: 13.110, 12.974
- 7-Nelson Rodrigues; Stoneham, MA; Dunkin Donuts; Star Speedway: 13.593, 13.823
- 77-Kevin Timmins; Baldwinsville, NY; BreezeGraphics.com, Wesley Motorsports: NT
Fast Car Dash – 6 Laps (showing car number, driver name)
- 9-Domenic Gioia
- 35-Rob Warren
- 55-Steve Callahan
- 25-Bob Gangwer
Feature – 75 Laps (showing car number, driver, name, bonus, starting place/distance behind winner)
- 25-Bob Gangwer; */^/4
- 9-Domenic Gioia; */**/1/+.807
- 55-Steve Callahan; 5/+1.381
- 41-Keith Powell; 6/+5.056
- 35-Rob Warren; !/2/+5.607
- 42-Carl Becker; 5/ +1 Lap
- 7-Nelson Rodrigues; 7/+7 Laps
- 77-Kevin Timmins; DNS
Time of Race: 17:21.359
- * Denotes Lap Led
- ** Denotes Most Laps Led
- ! Denotes Fastest Lap of Race
- ^ Denotes SUPRSCharger
