Gangwer, Sears are Winners on First Night of NC Swing

Bob Gangwer Wins Dasera, Zach Sears Brings Home Orange County Victory on First Night of SUPRS North Carolina Swing

October 17, 2023 – Rougemont, NC…A double-header of 40 lap supermodified sim racing features got the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS) 20^th Annual North Carolina Swing rolling and when the checkered flags fell, Bob Gangwer was sitting in victory lane at Dasera Speedway, and Zach Sears had muscled his way to the win at Orange County Speedway.

Gangwer Grabs Dasera Win

Bob Gangwer took full advantage of his starting position to grab the first win of the North Carolina Swing. Taking the green flag from inside of the second row, Gangwer was quickly by Pole-Sitter Bobby Hayduk, and marched to straight-away win over Daniel Nans with Anthony Corsoniti finishing in third.

Gangwer, who is an avowed fan of the NASCAR Heat game used for the first two races of the 2023 North Carolina Swing, knew that he had to get off to a good start on the first night of the swing. “I knew I had to have a good showing on the first night with NASCAR Heat,” he said. “I didn’t expect to pull off a win, and was really just hoping to bring home a top five, but I’ll sure take it when I can get it with these guys.”

The RW Woodworking sponsored driver had one concern while leading and that was who was going to close the gap once he hit traffic. “I was lucky to get through the start clean, and heard all the banging going on behind me, but I know how fast things can unravel here at Dasera,” said the Hoosier native. “Without fail, the traffic is a real pain here and the gaps close up real fast when you get caught up trying to save the nose on the car. Plus, there’s always one or two guys that get hung up on the wall and it’s so hard to miss them if they do. I’ve lost plenty of NASCAR Heat races after getting caught up a deal like what Sears did, but not tonight.”

Gangwer was alluding to an incident where Dick Schuler got wide coming out of the second turn and climbed the wall. Schuler’s Gooby Beer machine shot skyward, then did a pirouette on it’s tail before coming to rest half-way down the backstretch facing the on-coming traffic.

Gangwer was the first to the scene, but easily missed the disabled Schuler supermodified, as did Anthony Corsoniti. Ryan Cloonan came close to clobbering Schuler, as did Daniel Nans who veered to the left and only slightly clipped Schuler’s right front wheel.

Zach Sears was caught off guard as Nans dove to the inside and made hard contact with Schuler resulting in a wild mid-air rotation which ended with his car sitting in the middle of the backstretch groove, also backwards. Sears, was able to continue and salvaged a fourth place finish. SUPRS veteran, and former North Carolina Swing Champion, Gary Waldron of Wyoming, MI came home fifth.

“It stinks for those involved,” said the winner, “But sometimes you’re the bug and sometimes you’re the windshield, tonight I was the windshield and let me tell you it feels pretty good. Thanks to all the guys that showed up to race tonight, and thanks to all of our sponsors like 1st to Finish Race Servers, BreezeGraphics.com, Icings on Top and of course special thanks to Ma and Pa.” he concluded.

Other Dasera Notes

Dick Schuler and Brad Keysor were the only drivers of the 11 starters to not finish the race. Schuler after the spectacular crash on the backstretch, and Keysor when his computer disconnected from the race server on the last lap while running in third place.

Earlier in the night, Anthony Corsoniti set fast time with a lap of 11.300 seconds.

Sears Wins at OCS for Second Year in a Row

After nearly recording a DNF at Dasera, Zach Sears drove from outside of the second row to partake in a spirited battle with leader Bobby Hayduk. That battle lasted for most of the first third of the race and resulted in several exchanges of nerf bar banging and a swap of the lead twice. Eventually the two “Buckeyes” parted ways with Sears in the lead for good on lap 25 at Orange County Speedway.

Sears, who also won at Orange County last year, and now has a total of three wins on the season, chalked his win up to just doing what needed to be done to get the lead. “Just the normal NASCAR Heat stuff,” he said. “You just have to hope you can get underneath them in the corner, and wash them up the track. I guess that’s what I did. Luckily I got around him and he couldn’t get back around me.”

Lapped traffic, which is usually an issue at OCS like it is at Dasera, didn’t seem to bother Sears. “Luckily it was kind of easier to get through lapped traffic compared to my last win at Kalamazoo,” said the Elyria, OH sim racer. “It was lucky that when I caught Hayduk, and got him at the right time, I had a clean track to get in front of him and run my own race.”

The only concern Sears had after taking the lead away from Hayduk, was seeing another driver dispose of Hayduk as well. “I saw Anthony, (Corsoniti), get past Hayduk,” explained Sears. “I was kind of concerned that I would get more nose damage when I was passing lapped cars, so i was trying to be conservative around the lapped cars.

Sears won over Anthony Corsoniti and Hayduk, beating Corsoniti to the finish line by 0.473 seconds with Hayduk behind the leader by 0.775 seconds. Bob Gangwer overcame his eight place start to finish fourth, while Ryan Cloonan, who started on the front row, dropped to fifth at the finish.

Sears was the fastest qualifier at Orange County Speedway with a lap time of 11.075 seconds.

Two Qualifying Races Left

The 2023 North Carolina Swing continues tomorrow with qualifying races three and four. The first stop of the night is at Southern National Motorsports Park in Kenly, followed by the 1/2 mile tri-oval at Concord Motorsports Park in Midland.

Both tracks will host 50 lap rFactor supermodified sim racing features for the SUPRS racers as they try hard to stay in the top eight in NC Swing points. Last year, Dave Ohh swept both races. Practice for both races begins at 7:30pm with racing slated to go at 9:05.

Hickory Hustle on Thursday

The swing finishes off at Hickory Motor Speedway on Thursday, October 19. The top eight in points after the four qualifying races will be invited to “The Hickory Hustle” where the driver sitting in victory lane after 75 challenging laps, will be crowned North Carolina Swing Champion.

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 20^th 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.

Time Trials (showing car number, driver name, hometown, sponsors, lap 1, lap 2-best lap underlined)

1. 22-Zach Sears; Elyria, OH; Midwest Supermodified Series, Perfection Fabricators: 11.075, 11.122
2. 10-Gary Waldron; Wyoming, MI; Kenowa Auto Supply, Michigan Hill Gang: 11.487, 11.146
3. 25-Bob Gangwer; Goshen, IN; B&G Racing Photos, RW Woodworking: 11.315, 11.152
4. 14-Bobby Hayduk; Brook Park, OH; Gannon Auto Sales, Bronx Country: 11.236, 11.164
5. 9-Brad Keysor; Liverpool, NY; BMK Logistics, Chasing Cameras: 11.183, 11.228
6. 2-Daniel Nans; Baldwinsville, NY; Haun Welding Supply, Nans Bros Racing: 11.209, 11.320
7. 12-Anthony Corsoniti; N. Syracuse, NY; TsForecast.com: 11.243, 11.310
8. 13-Ryan Cloonan; Oswego, NY; Simability: 11.200, 11.249
9. 4-Steven Vincent; Cicero, NY; Creative Assistant: 11.520, 11.292
10. 08-Danny Ray; Goshen, IN; Smokie Bone’s Downhome Kitchen, White Lightnin’ Transportation: 11.296, 11.423
11. 56-Dick Schuler; Chisago City, MN; Gooby Beer, Schu Racing: 11.619, 11.354

Feature – 40 Laps (showing car number, driver, name, bonus, starting place/best lap time/distance behind winner)

1. 22-Zach Sears;  !  /  *  / P4 / 11.057
2. 12-Anthony Corsonit; P6 / 11.085 / +0.473
3. 14-Bobby Hayduk; P1 / *  / ** / 11.077 / +0.775
4. 25-Bob Gangwer; P8 / 11.057 / +0.907
5. 13-Ryan Cloonan; P2 / 11.138 / +1.884
6. 9-Brad Keysor; P5 / 11.157 / +2.955
7. 2-Daniel Nans; P7 / 11.181 / +4.905
8. 4-Steven Vincent; P9 / 11.132 / +5.429
9. 10-Gary Waldron; P3 / 11.269 / +9.129
10. 08-Danny Ray; P10 / 11.167 / +1 Laps
11. 56-Dick Schuler; P11 / 11.314 / DNF-Pulled Off

Time of Race: 08:36.719

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• * Denotes Lap Led
• ** Denotes Most Laps Led
• ! Denotes Fastest Lap of Race