Brad Keysor Victorious at Delaware, Teams with Carl Becker for Snowball Derby Challenge Championship
January 7, 2020 – Delaware, ON, Canada… Like a gold prospector in the Yukon, Brad Keysor of Liverpool, NY has staked his claim in Canada after sweeping all contests and winning his first Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS), Crazy Canuck Snowball Derby at Delaware Speedway.
Keysor was joined by veteran Carl Becker, and the two were able to steal the Snowball Derby Team Challenge away from second and third place finishers Keith Powell and Bob Gangwer with Keysor’s tie-breaking win. The Keysor/Becker duo tallied up 172 points as did the Powell/Gangwer team. For Becker it is the second time in his career that he’s been a part of the winning team.
Team USA was once again crowned Can-Am Challenge Champions after no Canadian racers made the race.
Winner Glad Excitement Behind
Able to keep the lead through a myriad of restarts, Keysor won his fourth race in six starts and has a long on all the rFactor events going back to November. Still, he wasn’t sure until the checkered flag flew that the race was his. “It was different tonight,” said the winner. “It was a tight interesting track, and thankfully I missed most of the excitement in the feature because it was all behind me.” Keysor chalked up the five caution periods to a new and challenge, as it was the first time SUPRS had visited Delaware. “I was surprised that we had as many cautions as we did, but it was a new track for us.”
Keysor was proud and grateful to his Snowball Derby Challenge Teammate and said, “Great night, great race. My teammate, Carl, did a really good job. He was very reliable and did what he does best, keeping it out of trouble and bringing it home in one piece.”
Close Calls Can’t Stop Carl
For Carl Becker, several close calls had him diving for cover, but he was able to stay out of trouble and bring the Dowker Titanium Roadster home for a fourth place finish. “I probably came within about a half a foot of hitting Bob once,” stated the cagey veteran. “I was standing on the brakes with both feet to miss him. It all occurred in front of me.”
Becker’s main concern throughout all the cautions was that his teammate Brad Keysor was still up front leading. “Everytime, I just wanted to make sure Brad was still up front, being the faster teammate you don’t want to see him taken out.”
“I just kept thinking that if anything went wrong, and I could just keep moving up, I might get that team championship again,” said the Lansing, MI racer. “I’m glad that I could do 50 laps. I had a great teammate.”
Near Perfect Night
Brad Keysor’s nearly perfect night at Delaware started when he established a track record for the winged supermodifieds in time trials. Keysor stopped the Canadian clocks with a 16.804 second run placing him just a thousandth of a second ahead of Rob Warren for the five championship bonus points that go with a SUPRS track record.
Keysor then came from the back of his heat race to take the win driving the Southern Hills Storm Football Team #3. The win locked him into the six lap Canadian Pursuit which he also won after disposing of Bob Gangwer on the last lap.
The win in the Pursuit put him on the pole for the feature which he took full advantage of, leading all 50 laps enroute to the win. The only thing Keysor didn’t accomplish was setting the fastest lap of the race, which Rob Warren did, prior to a flip that put him out. Warren turned a lap of 16.774 seconds.
Spectacular End to Defending Winner’s Night
Defending Crazy Canuck Snowball Derby winner, Rob Warren, was going for his fourth straight victory in the race north of the border, a feat that would have propelled him past Ray Sand, Jr. as the all-time winner of the race. Warren looked to have a very good race car under him as he battled into second place early in the race after starting in fourth.
Setting his sites on leader, Brad Keysor, and seeking to find his friend’s weak spot, Warren was working the second groove out of turn two when he got a little loose then shot towards the wall. The 1st to Finish roadster made hard contact then rolled over onto it’s side and slid the entire length of the backstretch, with the engine grinding the asphalt, before finally coming to an abrupt stop after hitting the third turn wall and flipping upside down.
Warren’s spectacular end, to what could have been a big points night and another SUPRS record in his belt, allowed second place finisher Keith Powell to pull to within 42 points of the top spot of the 2019-20 Gold Crest Wing Supermodified Championship standings.
Terry Gibson Memorial Next
SUPRS travels to Sandusky Speedway for the two-day 12th Annual Terry Gibson Memorial next week. The Terry Gibson Fast 50 will be held on Tuesday, January 14, 2020, and practice gets underway at 8:00 pm with racing set for 8:45 pm. The winner of the Fast 50 becomes a guaranteed starter for the Terry Gibson Memorial.
On Wednesday, January 15, SUPRS remembers Terry Gibson, a supermodified racer that lost his life at Toledo Speedway while racing his real supermodifed, with the 12th Annual Terry Gibson Memorial 100. This NASCAR Heat race at Sandusky gets underway with practice at 8:00 pm, followed by the driver’s meeting at 8:15 pm.
The cars take to the track for time trials at 8:30 pm with racing slated to begin with heats at 8:40 pm. The green flag drops on the main event at 9:15 pm after driver introductions and pre-race festivities.
Both races are part of the SUPRS/HeatFinder.net NASCAR Heat Supermodified Challenge Series and are open to all drivers that have registered at SUPRS.net and downloaded the proper car and track files within 24 hours of race time. The winner of the race becomes a guaranteed starter for the season ending 16th Annual Summit Classic 125 at Madera Speedway in April.
Social Graces
Learn more about the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series and real supermodified racing by visiting www.SUPRS.net, “Liking” SUPRS on Facebook, Following @SUPRSOnline on Twitter, and Viewing SUPRS videos on YouTube. SUPRS is also found on Instagram and of course Twitch.
SUPRS Race Results:
16th Annual Crazy Canuck Snowball Derby
- Race 17 of 42
- January 7, 2020
- Delaware Speedway
- Delaware, ON, Canada
- SUPRS rFactor W v7.3 modification
Time Trials (showing car number, driver name, hometown, sponsors, fastest lap highlighted)
- 3-Brad Keysor; Liverpool, NY; Southern Hills Storm Football, Nebraska Corn Huskers: 16.931, 16.804 TR
- 35-Rob Warren; Pulaski, NY; 1st to Finish Race Servers, Designs of Elegance: 16.805, 16.901
- 41-Keith Powell; Carrollton, OH; Icings on Top, CPR Motorsports: 16.913, 16.973
- 25-Bob Gangwer; Goshen, IN; RW Woodworking, Wing Side Up Enterprises: 17.022, 17.142
- 7-Nelson Rodrigues; Stoneham, MA; Star Speedway: 17.572, 20.520
- 42-Carl Becker; Lansing, MI; Wholesale Diamond Exchange, Michigan Hill Gang: 17.912, 17.972
Heat Race-10 Laps (showing finish, car number, driver name, top two transfer to Canadian Pursuit)
- 3-Brad Keysor
- 41-Keith Powell
- 7-Nelson Rodrigues
Time of Race: 2:53.875
Heat Race-10 Laps (showing finish, car number, driver name, top two transfer to Canadian Pursuit)
- 35-Rob Warren
- 25-Bob Gangwer
- 42-Carl Becker
Time of Race: 2:54.464
Canadian Pursuit-6 Laps (showing finish, car number, driver name)
- 3-Brad Keysor
- 25-Bob Gangwer
- 41-Keith Powell
- 35-Rob Warren
Time of Race: 2:22.629
Feature-50 Laps (showing car number, driver, name, bonus, starting position, fastest lap, distance behind winner)
- 3-Brad Keysor; * | ** | P1 | 16.491
- 41-Keith Powell; P3 |16.648 | +3.541
- 25-Bob Gangwer; P2 | 16.844 | +4.293
- 42-Carl Becker; P6 | 17.320 | +14.245
- 7-Nelson Rodrigues P5 | 16.680 | DNF (retired)
- 35-Rob Warren; ! | P4 | 16.774| DNF (crash)
Time of Race: 23:17.388
- * Denotes Lap Led
- ** Denotes Most Laps Led
- ! Denotes Fastest Lap of Race
Final Snowball Derby Team Challenge Points
| Team | Points |
| 3-Brad Keysor/42-Carl Becker | 172 |
| 25-Bob Gangwer/41-Keith Powell | 172 |
| 35-Rob Warren/7-Nelson Rodrigues | 138 |
RACE NOTES:
- Brad Keysor led all 50 laps of the race
- Brad Keysor had the top speed of the race of 148 mph
- Rob Warren had the fastest lap of the race of 16.774
- Bob Gangwer had the best lap consistency of the race at 72.60%
- Carl Becker advanced the most places at 2
- Brad Keysor had the least incidents at 0
- Keith Powell had the most incidents at 14
More stats on our LIVE RACERS page.
