Ray Sand, Jr., Keith Powell Provide Spectacular End to 1st to Finish Race Servers IrRegular 45
Oswego, NY – June 21, 2016…Ray Sand, Jr. took advantage of a late race restart and made a daring pass on leader Keith Powell with three laps to go to bring home the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS) rFactor win in the 1st to Finish Race Servers IrRegular 45 Tuesday night at Oswego Speedway.
Ray Sand, Jr. snuck past Keith Powell after a restart with three laps to go and went on to narrowly win the 1st to Finish Race Servers IrRegular 45 at Oswego Speedway
Like last year , Keith Powell drove his CPR Motorsports machine home for second while Domenic Gioia had his best finish of the season hanging on to third.
Sand, Jr. become the first two-time winner of the event and struggled to find words after finding himself against the turn one wall with Keith Powell at the conclusion of the race. “The last few weeks have been pretty crappy for us,” he began. “I’m glad tonight went the way it did I was able to capitalize on Keith there on that last restart but he did an awesome job.”
He added, “That was just hard racing and Keith had to do what he had to do and we ended up in the wall, but it was great racing tonight and I’m just happy to be here.”
Keith Powell found himself on the podium for the second year in a row at this race and had his best finish so far this season, yet it was one rung shy of where he thought he would be with three laps to go and a wrecked race car to boot. He said, “The car was pretty loose on the restart and the tires went away. With Ray behind me, I was pretty nervous. I tried to sneak away but he got me clean.”
Powell gave it one last shot but ended up in the turn one foam with Sand, Jr. after they crossed the finish line just .125 seconds apart. “I tried a last ditch effort off of four heading for the checkered flag and I was all kinds of loose and every which way and ended up wiping out Ray,” he said. “But it was a good race, congrats to Ray. It’s good to see him back on par for his standards and what a night for Dom!”
For Domenic Gioia, a driver that won this race in 2013, the third place finish was a boost to his ego as he continues to improve each week. But he still feels like there’s a way to go before he’s completely comfortable in the Pabst Blue Ribbon roadster. “I’m still trying to work with the setups,” he explained. “This setup takes a good 5 or 6 laps before it’s comfortable and I lost a couple of spots on restarts. I can run consistent once it gets going and it was fun tonight.”
The dramatic finish was set up when Joe Achzet, last year’s winner, went around while running in the top five as the leaders crossed the line with three laps to go. As the field came to the green, Sand, Jr., after moving up from his seventh starting position, threw it under Powell coming out of four, ran side by side with him down the front stretch and out of turn two.
As the pair raced down the backstretch, Powell had a slight advantage but choked going into the third turn, sliding up the track under braking which allowed Sand, Jr. to steal the lead.
Heat race wins went to Sand, Jr. and Rob Warren, while Powell and last year’s winner Joe Achzet won the semi-feature races. Warren led 11 laps during a spirited battle with Powell in the mid-part of the race, but suffered major damage to his car when a lapped car bounced off the wall in front of him.
The SUPRS racers return to action for the Gold Crest Non-Wing Mid-Season Championship Twin 35s on June 28, 2016. This big double points show will pay bonus points to the overall Mid-Summer Champion and has traditionally been the event that changes the complexion of the championship battle. Practice for this race runs from 8:00-8:30pm. A drivers meeting will take place at 8:30pm. The first heat race starts at 9:00pm.
Supermodified and online racing fans can view timing and scoring of every SUPRS race this season 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.
Learn more about the original and oldest online supermodified sim sanction, the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, by paying a visit to www.SUPRS.net. Join SUPRS active and vibrant Social Media channels by “Liking” SUPRS on Facebook, Circling SUPRS on Google+, Following @SUPRSOnline on Twitter, and viewing SUPRS videos on YouTube.
SUPRS RACE RESULTS:
- 1st to Finish Race Servers IrRegular 45
- June 21, 2016
- SUPRS rFactor NW V1 mod
- Oswego Speedway V1.2
Heat Race 1 – 12 Laps (showing car number, driver name, hometown, sponsors)
- 71-Ray Sand, Jr.; Rochester, NY; RPM, SandmanRacing.com
- 41-Keith Powell; Carrollton, OH; CPR Motorsports, Icings on Top
- 14-Joe Achzet; Yorkville, NY; GraphX
- 9-Domenic Gioia; Oswego, NY; Team Domination Motorsports, Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer
- 61-Derrick Backus; Mexico, NY; Clyde Booth Engineering
Heat Race 2 – 12 Laps (showing car number, driver name, hometown, sponsors)
- 35-Rob Warren; Pulaski, NY; 1st to Finish Race Servers, Syracuse Time and Alarm
- 55-Steve Callahan; Cuyahoga Falls, OH; CPR Motorsports, Exide Battery
- 38-Kyle Clark; Mexico, NY; Coors’ Light
- 77-Kevin Timmins; Baldwinsville, NY; Wesley Motorsports, BreezeGraphics.com
- 25-Bob Gangwer; Goshen, IN; B&G Racing Photos, Wing Side Up Enterprises
Semi-Feature Race 1 – 15 Laps (showing car number, driver, name)
- 41-Keith Powell
- 35-Rob Warren
- 55-Steve Callahan
- 18-Ray Sand, Jr.
Semi-Feature Race 1 – 15 Laps (showing car number, driver, name)
- 14-Joe Achzet
- 9-Domenic Gioia
- 38-Kyle Clark
- 77-Kevin Timmins
Feature – 45 Laps (showing car number, driver, name, bonus, starting place/fastest lap/distance behind winner)
- 71-Ray Sand, Jr.; */7/16.716
- 41-Keith Powell; */**/2/16.579/+0.125
- 9-Domenic Gioia; 1/16.697/+1.881
- 55-Steve Callahan; 5/16.832/+2.042
- 61-Derrick Backus; 9/16.735/+3.233
- 25-Bob Gangwer; 10/16.878/+3.682
- 4-Joe Achzet; 3/16.779/+1 Lap
- 35-Rob Warren; */!/4/16.570/+1 Lap
- 77-Kevin Timmins; 8/17.258/+4 Laps
- 38-Kyle Clark; 6/17.245/+6 Laps
Time of Race: 20:04.746
- * Denotes Lap Led
- ** Denotes Most Laps Led
- ! Denotes Fastest Lap of Race
Notes:
- There were three cautions for a total of 11 laps
- There were six lead changes among three drivers
