Brad Keysor Takes Advantage of Leader’s Misfortune, Wins Opening Night of SUPRS Florida Speedweeks at Desoto Speedway
February 5, 2024 – Bradenton, FL…Brad Keysor waited, then won on the opening night of the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS) Florida Speedweeks 2024 at Desoto Super Speedway. Keysor watched as two early leaders were sent to the tail of the field for spinning out, albeit with a little help from their fellow competitors, which handed him the lead that he never relinquished.
Zach Sears was a close second place and Keith Powell, one of those early leaders that had gone to the back, dodged a few more Desoto bullets and made his way back up to third place to join Keysor and Sears on the podium. Two of the 11 starters failed to finish the 50 lap feature, which eventually stayed green for the second half of the race.
Never Easy, But Pretty Simple
“First of all, thanks to 1st to Finish Race Servers which were flawless tonight, Icings on Top, Breeze Graphics, Hairbag Studios, and of course BMK Logistics for all the support,” Keysor said. “Honestly, I just had to wait and watch that I didn’t get caught up when Keith and Bob had their bad luck and got spun out.”
“Basically, I don’t think I passed but two cars for position all night, but just kept moving up as guys in front of me fell out or back, so while it’s never easy here, this was pretty simple. I just had to take care there at the start when things got a little jumbled up. I hate seeing Nelson and Gary out so early, but that’s short track racing sometimes. I got lucky, they didn’t.”
Starting from seventh on the grid, Brad Keysor followed the inside row forward for a couple of quick passes and moved into the top five. Keith Powell jumped to an early lead from the Pole Position. The race was only three laps old when Nelson Rodrigues dipped a wheel into the infield then shot across the track, smashing into the outside retaining wall in spectacular fashion. The Massachusetts driver lost a wheel and slid to a stop in turn two bringing out the first caution.
Powell made it just one lap past the restart before an over-eager Daniel Nans got into him and turned him around, giving Keysor two easy spots up the grid as they both went to the back. Bob Gangwer then inherited the lead and he went only a couple few laps before the yellow came out again. This time it was for Gary Waldron who had an eerily similar crash to the one that took Rodrigues out for the night. On the restart, Keysor watched as another leader got spun around, this time it was Gangwer and with Anthony Corsoniti the culprit, the top two were out of Keysor’s clear view of the front spot of the field.
Good Car Made Life Easier
Keysor’s BMK Logistics sponsored machine was the class of the field all night long. The Liverpool, NY driver took it to the top of the charts in Time Trials, then turned in the fastest lap of the race as well as leading the most laps. “The car was really good here tonight at Desoto,” expressed Keysor. “I had a lot of luck for sure, but even so, this thing was just about as good as it gets, it made my life a little easier, and I really didn’t have too many worries once I got out front.”
There was one close call early on though that made Keysor jump a little in his Butler Built seat. “I kind of pushed the issue and went three-wide with Anthony, Gary, and Carl there, but to their credit, they all held position and did a great job, but that’s not easy here at Desoto to go three-wide and get away with it, so good job to them.”
2024-02-09_Florida_Speedweeks_Roster_shot
Every driver that took points at SUPRS Florida Speedweeks 2024 posed for a screenshot prior to the start of the feature on the final night at 5 Flags Speedway. L-R: SUPRS Florida Speedweeks Champions-Dave Ohh, Brad Keysor, Keith Powell, SUPRS Co-Founder Bob Gangwer, current SUPRS Gold Crest Wing Supermodified Season XX points leader Zach Sears, SUPRS Rookies of the Year-Anthony Corsoniti and Ryan Cloonan, SUPRS Pit Steward-Bobby Hayduk, SUPRS Rookie of the Year Daniel Nans, SUPRS Lifetime Members-Gary Waldron and Carl Becker, SUPRS second oldest driver Danny Ray and finally SUPRS Member Steven Vincent. Not present was SUPRS Admin Nelson Rodrigues who raced at DeSoto by had to be out of town the rest of the week. (Screenshot by Kevin Timmins who is not shown)
