Ohh Rides Out Desoto Wreckfest, Wins SUPRS Florida Speedweeks Opener

Dave Ohh Rides Out Wreckfest at Desoto Super Speedway for Win on Opening Night of SUPRS Florida Speedweeks 2021

February 1, 2021 – Bradenton, FL…The opening round of the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS), 2021 Florida Speedweeks wasn’t pretty, but it’s in the books, and Dave Ohh grabbed the win after 50 frantic laps at Desoto Super Speedway Monday. Brad Keysor crossed the finish line in second place as rookie Ryan Cloonan held on for third.

Ohh Prepared

After nearly winning the opening round of Speedweeks last year at New Smyrna Speedway, only to end the night in the pits after collecting his third incident, and watching three drivers run out of fuel due to all the cautions, Ohh was very aware of how the night could have turned out. “Fuel was certainly on my mind,” said Ohh. “It’s unfortunate that we had that many cautions, but I was prepared. It was crazy to survive.”

Ohh had a simple strategy in mind, get to the front as quick as possible and stay there to avoid the mayhem. “I watched on that first restart and I saw how they all stacked up, so I planned to get by them quick,” he said. Ohh did just that, taking the lead from Nelson Rodrigues on lap four after starting in eighth place.

It was the only time Ohh sat behind other drivers for a restart, even though he himself had some issues trying to get his own restarts right. “I couldn’t quite get the restart right, and I knew Brad, (Keysor), was right behind me I could hear him.” Keysor had plenty of chances, but could never put together enough green flag laps to seriously challenge Ohh for the lead.

Even with all of the cautions and issues, Ohh still thinks that Desoto is a good race track. “It’s a good track, it has it’s uniqueness, and it’s not a cake walk by any means,” he stated.

Drivers Have Hard Time Adapting to New Track

The night was filled with chaos and crashes as drivers struggled to find traction on the wide but tricky 3/8 semi-banked oval at Desoto. The race wasn’t two laps old before the first caution came out for an incident when Steven Vincent got into the back end of fellow rookie Ryan Cloonan in turn three. Rob Warren, Gary Waldron, Carl Becker, and Danny Ray all ended up involved in one way or another and ended going to the tail.

It was a good indication of how the rest of the night would go, with the caution flag getting a workout on 15 different occasions, leading to a long night where the drivers spent more time at pace speed than they did turning fast racing laps. Most cautions were single car spins, but the incidents added up and seven of the 16 starters dropped out of the field, most due to the SUPRS three incident rule.

However, once the field was wittled down to nine cars, the race went green for the final 15 laps with some very intense battles to close out SUPRS first visit to Desoto.

Backus Back, Becker Finishes

Firefighter and former SUPRS All-Star Classic 200 champion Derrick Backus made his return to SUPRS racing in the IAFF, Disturbed Motorsports #61. Backus has been busy with his job and racing dirt modifieds on iRacing, but didn’t forget how to go fast in his supermodified. After going to the tail early in the race, “DRock” finished in sixth place after advancing 10 places.

At the other end of the spectrum, a driver that hasn’t missed more than a handful of SUPRS races in the last five years, Carl Becker, was able to drive his damaged Dowker Titanium Roadster home to ninth place, two laps down, and the last car running at the end of the race.

Sets Track Record

Early in the evening Dave Ohh blasted to the top of the speed charts in Time Trials, establishing a supermodified sim racing rack record at Desoto with a lap time of 11.483 seconds. Brad Keysor, (11.586), Ryan Cloonan, (11.763), Rob Warren, (11.931), and Steven Vincent, (11.961), all stopped the clock at under 12 seconds.

Headed Up to Black Creek

The Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series moves to Black Creek Raceway for the second night of the 2021 SUPRS Florida Speedweeks for a 25 lap feature at the big 3/4 mile. Rob Warren is the defending winner of this race.

Black Creek Raceway is one of two tracks that have hosted a SUPRS Florida Speedweeks race every year that the series has been contested. This year’s show at the NASCAR Heat sim racing track is part of the SUPRS/HeatFinder.net Supermodified Challenge and open to anyone that has the track, the SUPRS modification, and has registered to race at SUPRS.net.

Florida More Fun with Friends

Have more fun in Florida with SUPRS by tuning in to watch SUPRS Florida Speedweeks all week long on SUPRS LIVE! Keep up with your favorite SUPRS racer with live streaming video, stats, and track telemetry by visiting www.SUPRS.net/site/live.

Increase Your Social Status

Fans can learn more about the original supermodified sim sanction, the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, by visiting 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. See us live and join our chat on Twitch and come hang out with us on Discord.

SUPRS RACE RESULTS

• SUPRS Florida Speedweeks 2021
• Night 1
• February 1, 2021
• Desoto Super Speedway
• Bradenton, FL
• Race 22 of season
• SUPRS rFactor W v7.3 mod
• 50 Laps

Time Trials (showing car number, driver name, hometown, sponsors, lap 1, lap 2-best lap highlighted, Elite 8 eligible for Feature Inversion)

1. 11-Dave Ohh; Union, CT; TMS Wolfpack: 11.483, 11.953
2. 3-Brad Keysor; Liverpool, NY; Southern Hills Storm Football, Justice League: 11.586, 11.599
3. 13-Ryan Cloonan^R; Oswego, NY; Simability: 11.763, 11.966
4. 35-Rob Warren; Pulaski, NY; 1^st to Finish Race Servers, Designs of Elegance: 11.971, 11.931
5. 28-Steven Vincent^R; Cicero, NY; Creative Assistant: 12.103, 11.961
6. 7-Nelson Rodrigues; Stoneham, MA; Star Speedway: 12.039, 12.206
7. 25-Bob Gangwer; Goshen, IN; RW Woodworking, B&G Racing Photos: 12.181, 12.092
8. 27-Erich Becker; Shelby, MI; Mahle Pistons, Plante Moran Tax: 12.219, 12.146
9. 41-Keith Powell; Crestline, OH; Icings on Top, CPR Motorsports: 12.158, 12.181
10. 22-Zach Sears; Elyria, OH; Midwest Supermodified Series: 12.460, 12.209
11. 14-Bobby Hayduk; Brook Park, OH; American Heart Assoc., American Diabetes Assoc.: 12.324, 12.261
12. 10-Gary Waldron; Wyoming, MI; Kenowa Auto Supply, Michigan Hill Gang: 12.642, 12.530
13. 42-Carl Becker; Lansing, MI; Wholesale Diamond Exchange, Michigan Hill Gang: 12.898, 12.620
14. 08-Danny Ray; Goshen, IN; Smokie Bone’s Downhome Kitchen, Masterbrand: 12.754, 12.831
15. 56-Dick Schuler; Chisago City, MN; Gooby Beer, Schu Racing: 12.815, 13.169
16. 61-Derrick Backus; Mexico, NY; IAFF, Disturbed Motorsports: DQ (extra lap)

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

1. 11-Dave Ohh; * | ** | ! | P7 | 11.539
2. 3-Brad Keysor; P8 | 16.025 | 11.585 | +0.381
3. 13-Ryan Cloonan^R; P4 | 11.880 | +4.659
4. 35-Rob Warren; P6 | 12.043 | +8.654
5. 25-Bob Gangwer; P3 | 12.027 | +8.793
6. 61-Derrick Backus; P10 | 12.095 | +9.976
7. 41-Keith Powell; P9 | 12.229 | +1 Lap
8. 28-Steven Vincent^R; P5 | 12.430 | +1 Lap
9. 42-Carl Becker; P13 | 12.879 | +2 Laps
10. 27-Erich Becker; P2 | 12.078 | DNF (Black Flag-Incident Rule)
11. 22-Zach Sears; P10 | 12.211| DNF (Black Flag-Incident Rule)
12. 56-Dick Schuler; P15 | 13.413 | DNF (Black Flag-Incident Rule)
13. 7-Nelson Rodrigues; * | P1 | 12.191 | DNF
14. 08-Danny Ray; P14 | 12.695| DNF (Suspension)
15. 14-Bobby Hayduk; P11 | 13.062| DNF (Accident)
16. 10-Gary Waldron; P12 | 13.750 | DNF (Black Flag-Incident Rule)

Time of Race:   41:09.531

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

Race Notes:

• • Lap Leaders: Nelson Rodrigues-L1-4, Dave Ohh-L5-50
  • Cautions: 15 for 61 laps
  • Zach Searshad the fastest speed of the race-132.0 mph
  • Gary Waldron had the best lap consistency of 73.00%
  • Gary Waldron had the most incidents of the race at 24
  • Brad Keysor had the least incidents of the race at 1
  • More Race Statistics available via SUPRS LiveRacers Page

SUPRS Note of Transparency: Corrected Race Notes to reflect correct statistics for this race (02/01/2021).

****SUPRS 2021 Florida Speedweeks Schedule****

Tuesday 02/02/2021

SUPRS Florida Speedweeks Race 2

• Black Creek Raceway-25 laps-3/4 Mile
• 8:00pm Practice
• 8:15pm Drivers Meeting
• 8:30pm Time Trials
• 9:05pm Racing
• Current Track Record: Ray Sand, Jr.; 17.016 sec. Set: 02/10/2009 (NH)
• Defending Race Winner: Dave Ohh
• NASCAR Heat platform SUPRS W v6 mod

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Wednesday 02/03/2021

SUPRS Florida Speedweeks Race 3

• Dodge Raceway Stadium-50 laps-0.375 Miles
• 8:00pm Practice
• 8:15pm Drivers Meeting
• 8:30pm Time Trials
• 9:05pm Racing
• Current Track Record: Dave Ohh; 10.850; Set: 02/05/20(rF)
• Defending Race Winner: Dave Ohh
• rFactor platform SUPRS W v7.3 mod

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Thursday 02/04/2021

SUPRS Florida Speedweeks Race 4

• USA International Speedway-25 laps-3/4 Mile
• 8:00pm Practice
• 8:15pm Drivers Meeting
• 8:30pm Time Trials
• 9:05pm Racing
• Current Track Record: Joe Achzet; 14:707 sec. Set: 02/10/2016 (rF)
• Defending Race Winner: Keith Powell
• rFactor platform SUPRS W v7.3 mod

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Friday 02/05/2021

SUPRS Florida Speedweeks Race 5

• 5 Flags Speedway-50 laps-½ Mile
• 8:00pm Practice
• 8:15pm Drivers Meeting
• 8:30pm Time Trials
• 9:00pm Racing
• Current Track Record: Dave Ohh – 13.833 – 2/7/2020 (rF)
• Defending Race Winner: Brad Keysor
• rFactor platform SUPRS W v7.3 mod