Thrilling Show Me State 50 Goes to Keith Powell
March 19, 2019 – Odessa, MO…Carrollton, Ohio’s Keith Powell wrapped up the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS), “Winter Western Swing,” with a win in the Show Me State 50 at I-70 Speedway Tuesday. The thrilling race had just one caution, three different leaders, and took only 12:06 minutes to complete. Icings on Top Rookie of the Year contenders, Dave Ohh, and Brad Keysor followed Powell across the line less than one second behind.
Nerve Wracking Win Feels Like Redemption
Racing among a group of very fast sim racers, on a track that is anything but smooth, proved to be somewhat nerve wracking for the winner. “It was definitely nerve wracking,” said Powell. “What a race though, I can’t believe it was only 12 minutes long, it seemed like an hour there at the end. That was some race.
Powell, felt some redemption at I-70 after he had a good race car last year but threw away a win. “The race started off exactly how I wanted it too,” he said from SUPRS Victory Lane presented by WAGS Custom and Cool Awards. “We were pretty good last year, I thought I gave one away last year, with me just goofing up, wrecking it by myself last year. I wanted to redeem myself this year.
Race Goes to Plan for Powell
Working towards his first SUPRS Gold Crest Wing Supermodified Championship, Powell, knows that it’s important to plan a good race strategy. That method, along with a little luck, worked at the Show Me State 50. “I just thought that if we could get through four laps and the caution didn’t come out, we’d be all right. Tire wear is excessive on the big fast banks of I-70 and Powell planned accordingly. “We needed to save a little tire,” he said. “I was just in the middle of fast guys. Dave Ohh was working his way though, so I let him go. I wanted him to push Nelson, (Rodrigues, the early race leader), and Rob, (Warren, outside pole sitter), to burn their tires up.”
Luck was definitely on Powell’s side when Rodrigues, who’d been relegated to second place after Ohh made a brave pass on lap 10, got into the left rear of the leader in turn four sending both up the bank in front of Warren and Powell. “There was a big wreck with Nelson,” explained Powell. “I don’t know how we made it through other than just some good driving by the guys behind us”.
Championship Contenders Fight for Lead
The lone caution of the race set up what would become a forty lap shootout to the end. For the next 15 laps the two SUPRS title contenders went at it tooth and nail, with Warren leading and Powell second as rookie Brad Keysor lay in wait. Powell picks up the story, “On the restart noticed that Rob was real loose but I didn’t’ want to get into racing with him, I didn’t want to be drawn into his strategy. “
Without warning, and very much out of character, Warren suddenly lost control of his car in the dogleg. Powell had a front row seat and it nearly cost him a good finish. “He, (Warren), had his hands full and I wanted to peak on the outside, not really trying to pass him but just to get him to pinch it a little bit,” he explained. “Then all of the sudden his car just darted and I heard a big crash, I actually backed off and the yellow didn’t come out and that was crazy. I had a big wiggle on the back straight. Brad let me gather it up, he’s a stand up guy and has a lot of good track presence.”
Happy and Thankful Winner
As always, Powell was happy and thankful after the race saying, “I’m super excited about this win. Thanks to my teammate, Steve Callahan, Icings on Top, Jim Mayfield, SUPRS, 1st to Finish Race servers, and Breeze Graphics for the awesome work they do to make sure this all looks good. this has been one hell of a 15th anniversary so far. I’m super stoked to go after next week.”
Rookies at it Again
Similar to their performances at the SUPRS Copper World Classic XV presented by Kern Motorsports at the beginning of the “Winter Western Swing,” a couple of rookies proved to be exceptionally fast at the Show Me State 50 which was the seventh and final race of the swing. Dave Ohh and Brad Keysor not only finished on the podium in the feature, but both finished second in their heat races, made the dash, and qualified in the top two places.
Keysor set a new track record, eclipsing the one year old record of 12.096 set by Steve Callahan, with a time of 11.947. Ohh was just a tick behind Keysor with an 11.956 second lap.
Into Illinois
The SUPRS racers move into Illinois and Decatur Speedway for the Land of Lincoln 50 on Tuesday March 26. Decatur was a regular stop on the SUPRS schedule for many years, but hasn’t seen any supermodified sim racing since 2015 when Rob Warren won the Black Kat Klassic.
SUPRS returns to the nearly flat NASCAR Heat 3/8ths mile 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.
See the Stream
Fans and friends can sit back in the comfort of their own home and enjoy the high-banked, high-speed, nail biting thrills of the Land of Lincoln 50 and live supermodified sim racing at Decatur Speedway. Just go to SUPRS LIVE! for streaming video, in-car cams, telemetry, statistics and standings. You can follow along beginning at 9:00pm est. on March 19 2019.
Social Status
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.
RACE RESULTS
- Show Me State 50
- Race 36 of 46
- March 19, 2019
- SUPRS rFactor W v7.3 mod
- I-70 Speedway
- 50 Laps
Supermodified Time Trials (showing car number, driver name, hometown, sponsors, lap 1, lap 2-best lap bold)
- 3-Brad Keysor; Liverpool, NY; Southern Hills Storm Football, Justice League: 12.033, 11.947 NTR
- 11-Dave Ohh; Union, CT; TMS Wolfpack: 12.956, 23.293
- 41-Keith Powell; Carrollton, OH; Icings on Top, CPR Motorsports: 12.193, 12.044
- 55-Steve Callahan; Cuyahoga Falls, OH; Exide Battery, CPR Motorsports: 12.286, 12.055
- 35-Rob Warren; Pulaski, NY; 1st to Finish Race Servers, Designs of Elegance: 12.220, 12.101
- 7-Nelson Rodrigues; Stoneham, MA; Star Speedway: 12.345, 12.341
- 25-Bob Gangwer; Goshen, IN; Belfab Racing, RW Woodworking: 12.685, 12.359
- 38-Kyle Clark; Mexico, NY; Walker’s Cleaners and Tuxedo Rental, Disturbed Motorsports: 12.594, 12.462
- 42-Carl Becker; Lansing, MI; Wholesale Diamond Exchange, Michigan Hill Gang: 12.997, 12.870
- 47-Rob VanTuinen; Modesto, CA; USS Baltazar: 14.920, 14.360
Supermodified Fast Car Dash 6 Laps (showing car number, driver name)
- 41-Keith Powell
- 3-Brad Keysor
- 55-Steve Callahan
- 11-Dave Ohh
Time of Race: 1:16.015
Supermodified Heat Race 10 Laps-Top 4 Eligible for Inversion (showing car number, driver name)
- 35-Rob Warren
- 3-Brad Keysor
- 41-Keith Powell
- 25-Bob Gangwer
- 42-Carl Becker
Time of Race: 5:06.542
Supermodified Heat Race 10 Laps-Top 4 Eligible for Inversion (showing car number, driver name)
- 7-Nelson Rodrigues
- 11-Dave Ohh
- 38-Kyle Clark
- 55-Steve Callahan
- 47-Rob VanTuinen
Time of Race: 3:57.382
Supermodified Feature 50 Laps (showing car number, driver name, bonus, starting place, fastest lap, distance behind winner)
- 41-Keith Powell: * | ** | P4 | 12.192
- 11-Dave Ohh: ! | P3 | 12.103 | +0.981
- 3-Brad Keysor: P6 | 12.105 | +0.995
- 55-Steve Callahan: P2 | 12.355 | +6.214
- 7-Nelson Rodrigues: P1 | 12.216 | +11.773
- 38-Kyle Clark: P8 | 12.372 | +1 Laps
- 25-Bob Gangwer: * | P2 | 11.013 | 1.136
- 42-Carl Becker: P6 | 12.286 | +2 Laps
- 47-Rob VanTuinen: P10 | 13.852 | +5 Laps
- 35-Rob Warren: P5 | 10.928 | +5 Laps
Time of Race: 12:06.119
