Keysor USA Strong, Wins Third Year in a Row

Brad Keysor Ties Ray Sand, Jr. for Most SUPRS Speedweeks Wins at USA International Speedway

February 9, 2023 – Lakeland, FL…Brad Keysor of Liverpool, NY was USA strong for the third straight year on the fourth night of the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS) 2023 Florida Speedweeks Thursday at USA International Speedway. His win came on a night that saw one of the best car counts in the history of SUPRS racing at USA, and ties him with Ray Sand, Jr. for the most all-time in SUPRS competition at the big Lakeland oval. After setting a new track record in time trials, Keysor led all but one of the laps, then narrowly held off Dave Ohh to win by just 0.065 hundredths of a second after a restart late in the race. Zach Sears was third just three-tenths back from the winner in one of the closest top-three finishes ever at this track.

Found Something

Since 2020, Brad Keysor has never finished outside of the top two at USA. Some of that may have something to do with a solid baseline set up that he keeps massaging. “I had a good race car tonight,” Keysor stated. “I found something in practice and the car really rotated better, but I didn’t want to test it in the feature so I left the same set up in that I’ve run the last two years, and one that other than some minor changes, hasn’t changed a lot.”

“I want to say thanks to BMK Logistics and Chasing Cameras for letting me do this and also 1st to Finish Race Servers, they were flawless and have been all week, Icings on Top, it’s good to have Keith back running with us, and BreezeGraphics.com for all the work they are doing this week”

Humble by Happy

Brad Keysor is never one to brag about his accomplishments, and after being told that he had tied Ray Sand, Jr., SUPRS All-Time Speedweeks Champion, for the most career wins at USA International Speedway, Keysor was his usual self saying, “Three in a row, and to tie Ray is just too good, it’s special to do that.” Before the race it was mentioned that he had a shot at something special. He jokingly said, “Great, now I’m going to wreck it, I’m jinxed!”

The Liverpool, NY driver quickly reflected on the rest of the racers, making note of how happy he was to see others do well. “This was a good race, a good car count and it was good to see Greg, (Breen), back and he ran really well coming from the back to something like eighth. And how it’s really cool to have two guys running for the Icings on Top Rookie of the Year award this year in Daniel, (Nans), and Eric, (Merkley), and I’m just happy to see the competition and guys like Danny, (Ray), and Carl, (Becker) finish the race.”

Keysor is one of the four drivers to have multiple supermodified wins at USA International Speedway that includes the aforementioned Sand, Jr., as well as fellow Florida Speedweeks Champions, Myles Maxon and Keith Powell who each have two USA wins. Keysor has now moved to fifth on the All-Time Speedweeks win list and is tied with Kris Heveron with four total, and gives him homestate of New York 32 wins during “The Gator Grind.”

The Race

As is often the case at USA, the race was quick, smooth and competitive. While not the fastest recorded race ever run there, the fact that there were only two cautions for six laps helped keep the show moving along.

With a clean smooth start by pole-sitter Steven Vincent, Keysor, who started on the outside of the front row, quickly got to work. Knowing that he had to put as much distance as he could between himself and the hard-charging Dave Ohh who started eighth, Keysor quickly took the lead and was hoping to get some help with a drafting partner in Zach Sears.

Sears failed to find the glue that would keep him stuck to Keysor’s rear nerf bar to help him pull away and had pulled to second by the half-way point. “The draft is huge here,” said Keysor. “I was surprised by that long green flag run there at the start, and I knew Dave would be coming, so I was hoping to have some help to draft away from the pack.”

The battle for the best of the rest stayed interesting throughout that first green flag run with Sears and Ryan Cloonan running third and fourth and Vincent gradually falling back as Bob Gangwer, Keith Powell and Anthony Corsoniti ran nose to tail.

The first caution flag came out on lap 17 and was for two-time USA winner and Speedweeks Champion Keith Powell and it was a race ender for the Icings on Top sponsored racer. Having slipped behind Greg Breen, Powell was content and hoped to just make it to the finish. Breen bobbled slightly off of turn two and Powell closed quickly. So much so in fact, that by the time they were midway down the backstretch, Powell had to hit the brakes to keep from rear-ending Breen. It was a case of too much, (brake), to late and the “Mayfield Missile” turned sharply to the left and plastered the outside wall while Breen kept rolling.

“I just got into the brakes and the car shot right then hit the wall,” said Powell.

After a quick clean up to find all the parts of Powells CPR Motorsports machine, the race went back to green and the very thing Keysor feared came into play. “Dave’s so good on restarts, I didn’t want to push the (restart) line, so those cautions late I didn’t need,” he said.

Ohh tried, but Keysor was able to defend, but two laps later he would find himself in the same boat again when Gary Waldron brought out the second and final caution of the race with just a little over five laps to go.

That set up a mad dash to the finish of which Keysor was able to barely hold on, but saw fifth place running Bob Gangwer challenge Ryan Cloonan for fourth as Anthony Corsoniti fought to relegate Gangwer to sixth. When it was all said and done, those three finished the way that they racked up for the last restart but left Lakeland with smiles on their faces and handshakes all around for good clean racing.

Another USA Record for Keysor

Brad Keysor broke the track record for the second year in a row at USA International Speedway. He lowered his own record lap time of 14.657 seconds to a new standard of 14.539 for winged supermodifieds. Dave Ohh was second quick and also under the old record with a time of 14.632. Zach Sears and Ryan Cloonan were also in the 14s and qualified third and fourth respectively.

Anthony Corsoniti, Steven Vincent, Bob Gangwer, and Keith Powell all made it into the Elite 8 and locked themselves into eligibility for the feature inversion redraw.

Keysor Has Work Cut Out for Speedweeks Championship

Last year, Keysor used his USA win to pull into a 15 point lead over Dave Ohh who had to start and park at the Lakeland oval. It was enough to keep Ohh at bay and Keysor won the Speedweeks Championship.

This year, Keysor goes into the final race tomorrow night at 5-Flags 20 points behind Ohh and, if he’s to win his second Speedweeks Championship, has to have a perfect evening while Ohh has to have a bad one. “I have to clean up my qualifying set up for there,” Keysor explained. “I know qualifying won’t mean a lot since I have to start eighth because I won tonight, but that’s a start.” The easy-going racer then jokingly added, “Besides wrecking him, I need a mid-race caution to keep him close.”

Keysor further explained the nuances of 5-Flags that could be to his advantage even though Ohh has essentially owned the victory lane at the fast Pensacola half-mile. “I know he’ll be fast, he’s always so good here,” he said. “There’s a little more room for passing though, so I’m hoping to get through the field quickly, and we all know about the bump in three and four. I feel like I have a good car to get through there, but all it takes is one bobble and it’s gone.”

Ryan Cloonan comes into the Speedweeks finale’ third in the overall points again this year. Last year, while slight, he did have a shot at the Championship. This year, every star in the known universe has to align for him to overcome a 45 point deficit to Ohh.

With the foregone conclusion that the odds favor all three of the top three in Speedweeks points making it into the Elite 8 qualifiers, and knowing that format calls for the Elite 8 to grid for the 50 lap feature based on Speedweeks points, he’ll find himself in the same pack as Keysor and Ohh in the middle of the field, but likely in the row just in front of the top two.

The Simibility sponsored racer has to win, and will have to hope for a large field starting behind them that also finishes the race, while also wishing that Keysor and Ohh somehow fail to finish the race. It’s really the only way he could win his first SUPRS Florida Speedweeks Championship, and he’s the only other driver that has a mathematical chance.

Final Night at 5 Flags

The SUPRS drivers are headed to 5 Flags Speedway in Pensacola, FL for the fifth and final night of SUPRS Florida Speedweeks 2023 is Friday February 10. This track is most well-known for holding the famous Snowball Derby every year, but has also seen it’s fair share of supermodified racing throughout its history.

The SUPRS Speedweeks finale’ at 5 Flags has traditionally been one of the cleanest of the week with few slow downs due to cautions. In the five times that SUPRS races have been contested at 5 Flags, only eight cautions in 250 laps completed have been recorded.

The last night of the five night swing has also seen it’s fair share of speed. In each of those five previous events, a New Track Record has been set. Dave “SpeedyMan” Ohh has broken the track record each year since 2020 when he broke Brad Keysor’s 2019 mark of 14.174. Last year Ohh blasted to a 13.442 second lap.

Keith Powell established the track record for supermodifieds at 5-Flags in 2018 with a lap of 14.222 seconds.

Up until last year when Dave Ohh won for the second time, a different driver was seen in victory lane each time a SUPRS feature was completed at 5-Flags. The other winners include Kyle Clark(2018), Rob Warren(2019), and Brad Keysor(2020).

Other notable 5-Flags stats include:

• 2018-Fastest Race-12:14.567
• 2019-Largest Margin of Victory-Rob Warren winner by 3.829 seconds
• 2020-Closest Margin of Victory-Brad Keysor winner by .078 seconds
• 2021-Slowest Race-18.54.814
• 2022-First 23 laps green-the most prior to a caution

****2023 SUPRS Florida Speedweeks Schedule****

Remaining Races:

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Friday 02/10/2023

SUPRS Florida Speedweeks Race 5

• Track: 5 Flags Speedway-by RFN-50 laps-½ Mile
• Platform: rFactor
• Mod: SUPRS W v7.3 mod 
• 8:00pm Practice
• 8:10pm Drivers’ Meeting
• 8:20pm Time Trials
• 8:30pm Racing
• Current Track Record: Dave Ohh; 13.442 sec.; Set: 02/04/2022(rF)
• Defending Race Winner: Dave Ohh

Special Notes:

• All-Skate Practice
• Pits Closed during caution until opened by Race Control, except to pull off track. Cars may not re-enter track from pits once white flag is shown.
• Elite 8 qualifiers inverted for feature based on Florida Speedweeks points standings after four races.