Historical Sim Racing Mod is Focus of SUPRS Laurel Highlands Classic

June 23, 2024 – Goshen, IN…They say “You don’t know where you’re going if you don’t remember where you’ve been,” and for the fourth race of the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS), 2024 Gold Crest Non-Wing Supermodified Season Championship XX history will be the focus of the Laurel Highlands Classic. SUPRS is going back to where the first non-wing supermodified sim race in the world was run, Jennerstown Speedway, and they’ll use the very first non-wing supermodified ever built for sim racing.

Shaker Designs NASCAR Heat Built for SUPRS

The drivers will compete using the SUPRS “Oswego” modification for NASCAR Heat by Kevin Marine of Shaker Designs.

Shaker Designs began development of a Non-Winged supermodified for use to SUPRS in May of 2005. Testing began with the league running a short spring season at Jennerstown Speedway starting on May 25th. JP Curry, ironically of Pennsylvania, won the first ever Non-Wing event held for SUPRS.

Several real supermodified racers were part of the developmental team for the mod and gave valuable input to Marine as he built the car without ever having seen a non-wing supermodified race. It was Marine’s second NASCAR Heat mod built exclusively for SUPRS and underwent thorough testing in the spring of 2005 with the league running a short spring season at Jennerstown Speedway starting on May 25th. JP Curry who, ironically, was from Pennsylvania, took the win at his home track in the first ever non-wing supermodified event ever held.

Then in June, SUPRS began the non-wing supermodified racing in earnest with the “Oswego” mod. A 10 race schedule for the summer Season Points Championship began at Jennerstown Speedway with 19 drivers in attendance for first event, (The Independence Day Twin 25s). John Davidson and Sean Gibbs picked up the feature victories.

First Time Since 2014 for Non-Wing Supermodified Sim Racing at Jennerstown

It’s the first time since 2014 that the non-wing supermodifieds have run at Jennerstown when Bob Gangwer led all 40 laps of a feature race that took just a little over 12 minutes to run.  Of note is the fact that only two of the competitors with points in the 2024 non-wing season have ever sat behind the wheel of the SUPRS “Oswego” modification for NASCAR Heat. The last time the mod, (named for the famed Oswego Speedway in honor of the only track in the country that ran traditional non-wing supermodifieds weekly), was used in a points paying event at Jennerstown was clear back in 2007.

It would be 2008 before SUPRS would realize their goal of being the first sim racing sanction to bring Oswego Speedway online for sim racing. By then two more non-wing supermodifieds had been built in-house, and that would mark the end of weekly non-wing supermodified sim racing at Jennerstown. However, through the years, on a couple of occasions, the Laurel Highlands Classic name has been used when the non-wing supermodifieds would re-appear for a one-off summer event.

Regular Format, Same Historical Length

The SUPRS Laurel Highlands Classic at Jennerstown Speedway features SUPRS regular summer season format of setting up the heat race line-ups using the “Points Won Handicap” system, and drivers will have to race their way into a transfer spot for the feature which is scheduled for the same 40 lap length as the first one back in 2005.

As an added nod to the history of non-wing supermodified sim racing, the feature race points structure will be the same as the 2013 Laurel Highlands Classic event won by Rob Warren. 

“Supermodified Sim Racing for the Right Reasons” since 2004