Late Race Pass Paves Way to Second Terry Gibson Memorial Win for Ohh, Leaves Powell Heartbroken

Traffic Proves to be Keith Powell’s Undoing, Dave Ohh’s Gift in Terry Gibson Memorial at Sandusky

January 13, 2021…After leading from the drop of the green flag to lap 95, navigating past lapped cars proved to be Keith Powell’s undoing as Dave Ohh masterfully used the lappers as a pick, passed Powell on the outside for the lead, then went on to win the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS),  13^th Annual Terry Gibson Memorial Wednesday at Sandusky Speedway, leaving Powell heartbroken and reflective on what could have been.

Powell hung on for second over five seconds ahead of third place finisher Rob Warren. Bob Gangwer and Ryan Cloonan completed the top five.

Ohh Surprised to Win

While, no stranger to victory lane, this time Ohh was surprised to be sitting there after the checkered flag flew. “I had pretty much written myself off as far as getting to Keith,” he said. “I got some damage early on and I knew my only chance to get to Keith was traffic, so I just followed and assumed that if something happened I would try to be there.”

No matter the amount of lapped traffic Powell encountered, he always seemed to be able to navigate through it just as Ohh was reeling him in. “I hate it for Keith,” Ohh said. “He came here with a better car and without another one, (lapped car), at the end, I wouldn’t have gotten him.”

“I have to thank HeatFinder.net, The Mod Squad, 1st to Finish Race Servers, Hairbag Studios, Icings on Top and BreezeGraphics.com. This one was a little tougher with more cars and I think the lag threw a wrench in there too.”

Gut Punch for Powell

For the second year in a row Powell came home in second place at the Terry Gibson Memorial. In what seems to be a consistent theme in this race for the CPR Motorsports Team, Powell’s second place finish came after leading most of the race just to see the win stolen with the checkered flag in sight.

“This is a gut punch,” expressed a subdued Powell. We showed up prepared to race, we were so close. My teammate and I have worked on this set up a lot because this is just one of the races we always want to win. It means a lot to us, but it’s a little driver skill and a whole lot of luck. That’s just how this race goes.”

After thinking for a moment, Powell added, “I’m still happy though, to know that we had a car to hold Dave Ohh at bay all the way to the end and I could see that I had a gap and he couldn’t cut into it. We came up to a couple of cars at the end, it was a blue car, I’m not sure who, and they weren’t doing anything wrong, they were holding their line. I feel comfortable throwing it to the outside once in a while, but I stayed low off of four and I felt pretty good, but I chose wrong.

“Congrats to Dave. Hats off to him for coming up through the pack and this was a tough field tonight, we had at least the top five on the lead lap at the end. Thanks to CPR Motorsports, Cyndi at Icings on Top, BreezeGraphics.com, Kevin at Hairbag studios, Rob at 1^st to Finish Race Servers, and SUPRS for everything they do. Hopefully we put on a good show for everyone.”

Tried to Build a Gap

After a bad start for rookie Ryan Cloonan, who started outside of row one, the remainder of the Fast 4 immediately set to work at gapping the rest of the field. Similar to last year, Powell, Bob Gangwer and Rob Warren were involved at the top of the running order and their experience in this race quickly showed as the trio pulled away from the rest of the field.

They continued to build up the buffer, hoping to get as much room as possible between themselves and the hard-charging Dave Ohh, who had started in sixth place but wasted no time in disposing of Carl Becker and Cloonan to move into fourth place, laying about five seconds in arrears to the leaders.

Ohh eventually caught up as the top three encountered the first round of traffic along about lap 15. He first got by Gangwer and into third after Gangwer scrubbed the wall, then after a short tussle with 2-time Terry Gibson Memorial winner, Rob Warren, “SpeedyMan” was into second.

Warp Rears Ugly Head Mid-Way

In an unsual twist, the drivers encountered the added issue of warp and lag just before the half-way point of the race. SUPRS officials immediately went to work to determine the cause, but as the race wore on the issue seemed to worsen. The decision was made to stop the broadcast and drastically reduce bandwidth use in an attempt to focus on just the race. Finally with about 15 laps to go, things seemed to clear up some and the broadcast resumed.

Prior to that, many of the drivers experienced some very odd sights as cars were ‘ghosting’ in and out of the walls. One driver said after the race, “I thought for sure it was my connection, but when I saw a car come out of the grandstands and end up on top of mine, I really couldn’t tell what it was.”

While it’s certainly not unheard of, what many now call ‘netcode’, tends to be a thing of the past.. When it does happen now, many are shocked and dismayed, being very used to flawless servers and great internet connections.

It didn’t seem to faze the ageless SUPRS veteran Carl Becker though. Becker, who had a great run over the two nights of racing, (winning his heat race both nights and finishing fourth and sixth in the feature), in Sandusky said, “I’ll tell you what, we used to race like that a lot back in the early days.” Becker added, “I remember one race where we stopped for about 15 minutes and then went back in. It sure was crazy, but what are you going to do, it’s just a game.”

When it was all said and done, all of the drivers did a fantastic job of navigating through the difficult moments of the race, kept their calm, and left the night in a generally good mood, chalking the situation up to the nature of the internet.

Other Happenings

Earlier in the evening, Icings on Top Rookie of the Year point standings leader Ryan Cloonan set fast time in Time Trials with what he called a “unicorn” lap of 14.418. Rob Warren was second quick with a 14.433, while Keith Powell, and Bob Gangwer rounded out the Fast 4 drivers that were locked into the A-Main.

Carl Becker and Dave Ohh each won their 10 lap Heat Races. Dave Ohh advanced the most places to gain 10 bonus points and the SUPRSCharger award.

Ohh Wins Gibson Fast 50

In the companion Gibson Fast 50, run on Tuesday January 12, Dave Ohh took off from the pole position at the drop of the green flag and never slowed down, leading all the laps of the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS), Gibson Fast 50 Tuesday night at Sandusky Speedway. Keith Powell, try as he might, and even having the fastest lap of the feature, just couldn’t close the one second gap that Ohh held, and came home second for yet another year. Rob Warren rounded out the top three.

It was the second time Ohh, of Union, CT, has won the 50 lap tune up to the Terry Gibson Memorial 100. He led all 50 laps, set the fastest lap of the race and lapped all the cars up to Carl Becker who finished in fourth. It was Ohh’s third straight SUPRS win.

“It’s always tough coming up on lapped traffic, and they are racing for position. I had a couple close calls, the car was good until about lap 38 then I lost about half the front nose wing, but it’s good to win.”

Mansfield Next

The SUPRS racers are hanging out in Ohio for another week to run the Buckeye 50 at Mansfield Motorsports Park. SUPRS LIVE! video streaming, track telemetry, statistics and standings will be available for this race beginning at 9:00pm est. on January 19, 2021.

Learn More About SUPRS

Fans can learn more about the original online supermodified sim racing sanction, the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, when they visit www.SUPRS.net.

Join SUPRS active and vibrant Social Media channels by  “Liking” SUPRS on Facebook, , Following @SUPRSOnline on Twitter, and viewing SUPRS videos on YouTube. Tune in most Tuesday nights for live supermodified sim racing at it’s finest on SUPRS Twitch channel.

SUPRS RACE RESULTS

• SUPRS 13^th Annual Terry Gibson Memorial
• Wednesday January 13, 2021
• Sandusky  Speedway
• Sandusky, OH
• Race 18
• SUPRS NASCAR Heat W v6 mod

Time Trials (showing car number, driver name, hometown, sponsors, lap 1, lap 2, fastest lap highlighted, Fast 4 eligible for redraw)

1. 13-Ryan Cloonan^R; Oswego, NY; Simability: 14.418, 14.601
2. 35-Rob Warren; Pulaski, NY; 1^st to Finish Race Servers, Designs of Elegance: 14.643, 14.433
3. 41-Keith Powell; Carrollton, OH; Icings on Top, CPR Motorsports: 14.511, 14.442
4. 25-Bob Gangwer; Goshen, IN; RW Woodworking, Wing Side Up Enterprises: 14.594, 14.529
5. 10-Gary Waldron; Wyoming, MI; Kenowa Auto Supply, Michigan Hill Gang: 14.551, 14.590
6. 3-Brad Keysor; Liverpool, NY; Southern Hills Storm Football; Nebraska Corn Huskers: 14.894, 14.570
7. 42-Carl Becker; Lansing, MI; Wholesale Diamond Exchange, Michigan Hill Gang: 14.698, 14.670
8. 28-Steven Vincent^R; Cicero, NY; Creative Assistant: 14.791, 14.737
9. 27-Erich Becker; Shelby, MI; Mahle Pistons, Plante Moran Tax: 14.791, 15.278
10. 08-Danny Ray; Goshen, IN; Smokie Bone’s Down Home Kitchen, Masterbrand: 14.916, 14.901
11. 17-John Held^R; Hagersville, ON, CAN; NAPA Auto Parts, Coca-Cola: 15.673, 15.164
12. 14-Bobby Hayduk; Brook Park, OH; American Heart Assoc., American Diabetes Assoc.: 15.178, 15.207
13. 11-Dave Ohh; Union, CT; TMS Wolfpack: NT

Heat Race-10 Laps (showing car number, driver, name)

1. 42-Carl Becker
2. 3-Brad Keysor
3. 10-Gary Waldron
4. 28-Steven Vincent^R

Time of Race: 2:58.352

Heat Race-10 Laps (showing car number, driver, name)

1. 11-Dave Ohh
2. 14-Bobby Hayduk
3. 17-John Held^R
4. 08-Danny Ray
5. 27-Erich Becker

Time of Race: 3:05.672

Feature-100 Laps (showing car number, driver, name, bonus, starting position, fastest lap, distance behind winner)

1. 11-Dave Ohh; ^ | * | P6 | 14.377
2. 41-Keith Powell; * | ** | P1 | 14.396 | +1.175
3. 35-Rob Warren; ! | P4 | 14.362 | +6.033
4. 25- Bob Gangwer; P3 | 14.414| +8.334
5. 13-Ryan Cloonan^R; P2 | 14.93 | +14.465
6. 42-Carl Becker; P5 | 14.538 | +1 Lap
7. 3-Brad Keysor; P7 | 14.537 | +1 Lap
8. 28-Steve Vincent^R; P11 | 14.522 | +1 Lap
9. 10-Gary Waldron; P9 | 14.560 | +1 Lap
10. 17-John Held^R; P10 | 14.607 | +2 Laps
11. 27-Erich Becker; P13 | 14.566 | +5 Laps
12. 08-Danny Ray; P12 | 14.715 | +6Laps
13. 14-Bobby Hayduk; P8 | 14.680 | DNF-Accident

Time of Race:  25:18.871

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Race Notes:

• Lap Leaders: Keith Powell: L1-95, Dave Ohh L96-100
• Most Positions Gained: Dave Ohh +5
• Most Positions Lost: Bobby Hayduk -13
• Of the 13 drivers that started the race, six took their first Terry Gibson Memorial green flag.

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• * Denotes Lap Led
• ** Denotes Most Laps Led
• ! Denotes Fastest Lap of Race
• ^ Denotes SUPRSCharger
• ^R Denotes Icings on Top Rookie of the Year candidate

SUPRS Race Results-Box Score

• SUPRS Gibson Fast 50
• Tuesday, January 12, 2021
• Sandusky Speedway
• Sandusky, OH
• Race 17 of Season
• SUPRS NASCAR Heat W v6 mod

Heat Race – 10 Laps (showing finishing position, car number, driver name, hometown, sponsors; top two finishers eligible for feature inversion)

1. 42-Carl Becker; Lansing, MI; Wholesale Diamond Exchange, Michigan Hill Gang
2. 10-Gary Waldron; Wyoming, MI; Kenowa Auto Supply, Michigan Hill Gang
3. 13-Ryan Cloonan^R; Oswego, NY; Simability
4. 3-Brad Keysor; Liverpool, NY; Southern Hills Storm Football, Chasing Cameras
5. 28-Steven Vincent^R; Cicero, NY; Creative Assistant
6. 56-Dick Schuler; Chisago City, MN; Gooby Beer, Schu Racing

Time of Race: 4:11.368

—–

Heat Race – 10 Laps (showing finishing position, car number, driver name, hometown, sponsors; top two finishers eligible for feature inversion)

1. 41-Keith Powell; Crestline, OH; Icings on Top, CPR Motorsports
2. 11-Dave Ohh; Union, CT; TMS Wolfpack
3. 35-Rob Warren; Pulaski, NY; 1st to Finish Race Servers, Designs of Elegance
4. 25-Bob Gangwer; Goshen, IN; B&G Racing Photos, RW Woodworking
5. 14-Bobby Hayduk; Brook Park, OH; American Heart Assoc., American Diabetes Assoc.
6. 08-Danny Ray; Goshen, IN; Smokie Bone’s Down Home Kitchen, Masterbrand

Time of Race: 3:33.778

—–

Feature – 50 Laps (showing finishing position, car number, driver name, bonus, starting place/best lap time/distance behind winner)

1. 11-Dave Ohh; P1 / * / ** / 14.367
2. 41-Keith Powell; P3 / ! / 14.352 / 1.115
3. 35-Rob Warren; P7 / 14.522 / +13.586
4. 42-Carl Becker; P4 / 14.585 / +14.914
5. 25-Bob Gangwer; P5 / 14.497 / +1 Lap
6. 3-Brad Keysor;  P6 / 14.610  / +1 Lap
7. 10-Gary Waldron; P2 / 14.562 / +1 Lap
8. 28-Steven Vincent^R; P7 / 14.676 / +2 Laps
9. 13-Ryan Cloonan^R; P8 / 14.538 / +2 Laps
10. 08-Danny Ray; P12 / 14.821 / + 3 Laps
11. 56-Dick Schuler; P11 / 14.931 / +5 Laps
12. 14-Bobby Hayduk; P10 / 14.826 / DNF-Accident

Time of Race: 13:32.246

—–

Race Notes:

• Lap Leaders: Dave Ohh L1-50
• Most Positions Gained: Rob Warren +4

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Key:

• * Denotes Lap Led
• ** Denotes Most Laps Led
• ! Denotes Fastest Lap of Race
• ^R Denotes Icings on Top Rookie of the Year candidate