Keith Powell Wins Second Golden State Classic at Buckley Speedway
April 21, 2020 – Rancho Cucamonga, CA…Keith Powell won his second Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS), Golden State Classic 75 lap NASCAR Heat supermodified sim racing feature Tuesday night at Buckley Speedway. Powell, of Carrollton, OH also collected the 25 bonus points for the SUPRS Bounty that was out on Dave Ohh. Rob Warren finished in second and wrapped up his seventh SUPRS title with one week left in the season. Bob Gangwer was third at the end of 75 laps.
Nerve Wracking Race
But for about 12 laps, Powell, who also won the Golden State Classic in 2012, was in the thick of the battle throughout the race. Early on he was contending with being in the middle of a six car fight for the lead, then once he got the lead around lap 50, he had 25 laps of weaving through the thick traffic that always comes into play at Buckley.
“The beginning and the end,” said Powell when asked what the most nerve wracking part of the race was for him. “I got off to a good start from row three and was just biding my time. I kept the car pretty clean and everything shook out there when Carl, (Becker), was leading and Rob, (Warren), was second.”
Becker Takes no Flack
Veteran Becker held onto the lead he had stolen from the young Henry Kelleher on lap five. Kelleher threw a massive block on Becker that backfired with a poor entry into the turn, and some help up the track from the cagey Becker who was on top of his game. With Kelleher, who won his heat race and had otherwise strong showing all night long, fighting to get back in the groove, Warren and Powell slipped by into second and third, dropping Kelleher to fourth.
Back and Forth Racing Action
The laps clicked off with the top three drivers all former winners at the high-banked 3/8 mile track running nose to tail, with fourth through sixth not more than a few car lengths behind.
Powell went to work on Warren and put the “Mayfield Missle” sponsored by Icings on Top right to the outside of Warren as they battled for second place. “I tried him on the outside and I think I was clear of Rob, so I really wanted to keep it up there to see if it would work,” said Powell. Powell did indeed take over second but lost it within a lap. ” Carl was really fast tonight, he was on and I left the door right open and Rob got me back.”
Eventually Warren slid by Becker for the lead on lap 21 when Becker hit the off-camber section at the bottom of turn three and shot up the track allowing Warren to scrape by. Becker gained control in time to hang on to second but eventually Powell got by too. Then the fight for the win was on.
Powell Chases Down Warren
Over the course of the next thirty laps, Powell shortened the distance to the leader from nearly two seconds, down to a tenth. “The middle part was pretty nice,” Powell stated. “I was just trying to stay in the tire tracks of Rob and not let him get away. I was clicking off laps and started to reel in Rob.” Warren, who is a three-time winner at Buckley, including victory in the 2016 Golden State Classic, knew that Powell was closing in. “I knew he was coming and I kept seeing the splits and I just clipped the wall and tried not to jerk it back down off the wall and into the groove like a lot of other guys were doing tonight,” he said.
The winner knows how easy it is to get into trouble at Buckley and sympathized with Warren saying, “This joint’s tough, and he made one little mistake, he just clipped the wall and I got by him.”
Worn Out Bounty Hunter
Powell was able to collect the 25 bonus points for collecting the SUPRS Bounty that was out on Dave “SpeedyMan” Ohh who had won eight straight SUPRS features. “I wish Dave was in here, it would have meant a little more, but it was a heckuva show and I’ll take them where I can get them,” said “Put One on Ya” Powell. ” I hope everyone had fun tonight, I know I did, but I’m definitely worn out. This one is for my teammate who showed me how to get around this place a long time ago. It’s a shame he cant make a lot of races because of work, but this one’s for my buddy Steve. Thanks to Hairbag Studios, BreezeGraphics.com, you have to check out that site, 1st to Finish Race Servers, they are always just awesome servers to race on, and of course my own sponsor, Icings on Top who’s not only a great sponsor for me, but also for SUPRS.”
HeatFinder Regulars Make the Show
Four of the 10 starters of the Golden State Classic were regulars from HeatFinder.net and certainly added to the mix all night long. Bryan “V6” Erdely of Erie, PA was the fastest qualifier of the bunch, and made the Fast Car Dash and finished sixth in just his second start ever in a supermodified. The aforementioned Henry “The Bandit” Kelleher time trialed in at seventh quick, won his heat, led five laps of the feature and finished up with a top five in his first Golden State Classic start.
Jeff “Grumpy” Bivens qualified eighth but struggled in the feature. He never gave up and finished the 75 lap race three laps down. Finally, the late arriving Steve “Redimuss” Holden had no practice and didn’t take time, but nonetheless, the Santa Rosa, California racer finished the feature and drove a courteous race.
Also, while not a HeatFinder regular, Brian Azcuenaga of Centennial, CO was happy to get behind the wheel of the famed S&S Racing “Baby Blue Dust Bunny” and drove it home to seventh in the feature.
16th Summit Classic Next Week
The SUPRS Gold Crest Division racers will now head north out of the San Fernando Valley to the San Joaquin Valley and Madera Speedway to close the 2019-20 SUPRS Gold Crest Wing Championship season with the 16th running of the Summit Classic 125. Action begins on Sunday with Test-N-Tune with a special time frame adjusted to allow Team SUPRS and the HeatFinder.net and Mod Squad racers enough leeway to get practice for the Summit Classic in before heading off for another race to be held at 8pm.
puts a cap on the season next week.
Scheduled for Monday, the invitation only Cherry Breaker 63 is drivers that have never won a SUPRS wing supermodified feature and will take place prior to the running of the Ground Pounder 75 for the Super HEAT Modified Tour. The supermodified portion of the night starts with Hot Laps at 7:15pm. The modifieds take to Madera Speedway after the completion of the Cherry Breaker and are scheduled to begin their Hot Lap session at 8:45pm.
On Tuesday the drivers will search for all the speed they can because it’s Pole Night for the 16th Annual SUPRS Summit Classic 125. Only the top two drivers are locked into the feature through Time Trials which start at 9:05pm.
Finally on Wednesday, the 2019-20 Gold Crest Wing Supermodified season draws to a close when the drivers will try to add their name to the long list of winners of the Summit Classic 125. Practice is scheduled to begin at 7:45p with the green flag dropping on the Summit Classic 125 starting field at 9:10pm.
The SUPRS Broadcasting Network will carry all the action of the 16th Summit Classic Week beginning with the Sunday Night Test-N-Tune on April 26. Other than Sunday, all broadcasts on SUPRS LIVE! and Twitch will begin at 9pm ET.
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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.
SUPRS RACE RESULTS:
- SUPRS Golden State Classic
- Race 42 of 43
- Tuesday April 21, 2020
- Buckley Speedway
- SUPRS NASCAR Heat W v6 mod
- 75 Laps
Supermodified (wing) Time Trials (showing car number, driver name, hometown, sponsors, lap 1, lap 2-best highlighted, Fast 4 eligible for Dash)
- 1-Keith Powell; Carrollton, OH; Icings on Top, CPR Motorsports: 11.993, 12.064
- 35-Rob Warren; Pulaski, NY; 1st to Finish Docks & Hoists, Designs of Elegance: 12.063, 12.031
- 25-Bob Gangwer; Goshen, IN; RW Woodworking, Wing Side Up Enterprises: 12.089, 12.067
- 6-Brian Erdely; Erie, PA; Viagra: 12.223, 12.122
- 42-Carl Becker; Lansing, MI; Wholesale Diamond Exchange, Michigan Hill Gang: 12.337, 12.154
- 43-Henry Kelleher; Wilmington, DE; U.Racing, HeatFinder.net: 12.178, 12.186
- 9-Brian AzcuenagaR; Centennial, CO; BLG, Quality Time: 12.373, 12.251
- 24-Jeff Bivens; Fort Mill, SC; US Foods, NHAutosport: 12.513, 12.494
- 08-Danny RayR; Goshen, IN; Masterbrand, Smokey Bone’s Homestyle Kitchen: 12.684, 13.071
- 3-Brad Keysor; Liverpool, NY; Southern Hills Storm Football, Justice League: NT
- Steve Holden; Santa Rosa, CA; CrunchyRoll.com: NT
Supermodified Fast Car Dash – 4 Laps (showing car number, driver name)
- 35-Rob Warren
- 25-Bob Gangwer
- 41-Keith Powell
- 6-Bryan Erdely
Time of Race: 01:21.586
Supermodified Heat Race 1-11 Laps-Odd Qualifiers (showing car number, driver name; Top 4 get time back-eligible for feature inversion)
- 35-Rob Warren
- 42-Carl Becker
- 41-Keith Powell
- 24-Jeff Bivens
- 9-Brian AzcuenagaR – DNS
- 08-Danny RayR – DNS
Time of Race: 03:08.408
Supermodified Heat Race 2-11 Laps-Even Qualifiers (showing car number, driver name; Top 4 get time back-eligible for feature inversion)
- 43-Henry Kelleher
- 6-Bryan Erdely
- 25-Bob Gangwer
- 76-Steve Holden
- 3-Brad Keysor – DNS
Time of Race: 03:32.702
Supermodified (wing) Feature 75 Laps (showing car number, driver name, bonus, starting place, fastest lap, distance behind winner)
- 41-Keith Powell: * | ! | P6 | 11.917
- 35-Rob Warren: * | ** | P3 | 11.971 | +2.604
- 25-Bob Gangwer: P4 | 11.977 | +9.424
- 42-Carl Becker: * | P2 | 11.997 | +12.168
- 43-Henry Kelleher: * | P1 | 12.070 | +1 Laps
- 6-Bryan Erdely: P7 | 12.072 | +1 Laps
- 9-Brian AzcuenagaR : P8 | 12.108 | +1 Laps
- 24-Jeff Bivens: P6 | 12.222 | +3 Laps
- 76-Steve Holden: P10 | 12.428 | +5 Laps
- 3-Brad Keysor: P9 | 12.126 | DNF
- 08-Danny RayR : DNS
Time of Race: 16:15.908
- * Denotes Lap Led
- ** Denotes Most Laps Led
- ! Denotes Fastest Lap of Race
