Dave Ohh Doubles Up with Supermodified, Modified Presidents’ Day Wins at New Hampshire Int’l Speedway
February 18, 2020 – Louden, NH… New Englander Dave “Speedyman” Ohh was able to hold off multiple challengers to claim both features in what was the triumphant return of supermodified and modified racing on the same card for the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS), President’s Day Special at New Hampshire International Speedway.
Bob Gangwer and Keith Powell rounded out the top three in the supermodified 25 lap feature, while Henry Kelleher and Gangwer were second and third in the modified 75 lapper.
Just Hanging on in Supermodified Win
“It’s the home track, so this feels good,” said Ohh of Union, CT. “Thanks to SUPRS for having us HeatFinder.net and Mod Squad guys.”
Ohh then spoke of his struggles to hang on for the win in a race where he faced multiple attacks from the drivers behind him. “It’s not the way I wanted the race to go,” he began. “I had issues when I got into Rob, (Warren), early and hurt the car. I just tried to keep the car low, and it just wasn’t there.”
The multi-time ARL Champion said that he felt he held up the drivers in second and third place. “I feel bad for Bob and Keith, I held them back,” said Ohh. “It’s not the way I want to win, I ruined their race and impeded their finish.”
Major Crash Takes Warren Out
With a good jump on the start, defending Presidents’ Day Special supermodified feature winner, Rob Warren, found himself in the lead by turn two on lap one. Warren had a good race car under him and held the point, as Ohh and Powell battled each other while both working to unseat Warren from the top spot.
Thrilling the viewers of the broadcast with side by side, inside, outside moves, the top three quickly caught lapped traffic just prior to the half-way point of the 25 lap feature. Just after Warren fought off a challenge from Powell, Ohh moved to second as Powell scrubbed the backstretch wall. The speeding trio shot out of turn four, as a major pack of lapped cars flew down the front stretch in front of them.
Jeff Bivens, Rick Walls, Matt Lukac, and Nelson Rodrigues hustled through turn one and into the second corner with the leaders quickly closing in. As they exited turn two, Bivens ran out of racing room and clobbered the outside wall, then spun around and was sitting 90 degrees to the oncoming pack. Warren was the first on the scene and veered to the left as second and third place shot to the right barely scraping by the outside wall. Ohh, Powell, and Gangwer a car length behind in fourth, as well as the lapped car of Walls, all made the right move. Warren did not, and blasted the stalled Bivens. Both cars flew wildly into the air and both drivers were done for the night.
Warren was extremely disappointed and simply said, “Wrecked by a lapped car while leading.” Bivens was apologetic saying, “I hit the wall and didn’t know where anyone was, I went to the pits because I didn’t think it was right to keep going when Rob parked it.” Fortunately for all, it’s only virtual supermodified racing and nobody was injured and the repair work is free.
Supermodified Notes
Dave Ohh set fast time with a fast lap of 24.035 which nearly eclipsed Ray Sand Jr’s mark set the last time the supermodifieds raced at NHIS. Rob Warren easily won the first heat while Henry Kelleher bagged his first SUPRS checkered flag by holding off Bob Gangwer for the win in the second heat.
SUPRS best car count of the season, (12), was due in large part to the participation of six HeatFinder.net and Mod Squad regulars with Matt Lukac making his first start ever and Steve Holden participating for the first time since December.
Five different states, (CT, IN, OH, DE, MI), were represented in the colorful cross-section of sim racing top five finishers. The starting field consisted of a diverse selection of drivers from the aforementioned states along with two from NY, two more from IN, and one each from SC, NH, and CA.
Modified Thriller Goes to the Wire
A fantastic battle between Dave Ohh, who started on the pole and Henry Kelleher, who took the green flag right next to Ohh, was the most consistent battle for nearly all 75 laps, with Ohh winning out in the end. It seemed as though both drivers were worried about tire wear as they ran side by side lap after lap at full throttle, neither willing to give an inch and nary an whisker between the two.
While the focus was on those two, Rick Walls, Jeff Bivens, Matt Lukac, Carl Becker, and Steve Holden all led laps at one point or another and waged their own spectacular two and three car battles throught the length of the race.
A late race restart with just six laps to go really bunched the field and as the stacked pack of mighty modifieds came out of turn two, Walls and Bivens looked like they had a one-two finish at hand.
As they rubbed and banged down the backstretch, Dave Ohh and Henry Kelleher began to position themselves to move back into the top two, but Steve Holden, Matt Lukac and Bob Gangwer all were right there ready to pounce. Suddently with two laps to go, Bivens and Walls carrened into the infield, seemingly locked together, and could only watch as the rest of the field flew by. Now it was back to the two guys that had been the focus for most of the race until that point, Ohh, and Kelleher.
Just like the start of the race, the top two battled side by side through lap 73 and into lap 74. Finally, Ohh was able to get a slight advantage and muscled down to the bottom of the track in front of the driver from Delaware.
Return of Mods a Success
From the drivers, to sanctioning body representatives from SUPRS, The Mod Squad & Heat Finder, all parties involved agreed that the modified feature was most entertaining and filled with great racing throughout the pack. And while many of the SUPRS regulars failed to make the show, the resulting eight car field made the return of the modifieds to the Presidents’ Day Special a rousing success.
Every car that started finished the race and every driver but one led at least one lap. Although the event had several cautions, the slow down periods, and ensuing double-file restarts, actually helped to increase the level of competitiveness with every driver having a shot at the win.
“I just don’t think you could have had a better shootout there at the end of that one,” said Ohh. “Everyone was really respectful out there tonight. There was some bumping and scraping, but you expect that with these cars at New Hampshire. We all know what we’re doing. That was just a great race.”
Sticking Around for Stafford
The SUPRS racers stick around New England for another week to run the “New England 50” at Jack Arute’s Stafford Motor Speedway. This is the first time since 2017 that SUPRS has run the track where Steve Callahan has more wins than any other driver. Everything gets rolling at 8pm ET with Hot Laps. Time Trials follow at 8:30pm and Racing begins at 9:05pm. Fans are encouraged to tune in to SUPRS LIVE! @ 9pm for a full broadcast of this race.
SUPRS RACE RESULTS:
- SUPRS Presidents’ Day Special 25
- February 18, 2020
- New Hampshire International Speedway
- Louden, NH
- SUPRS NASCAR Heat W v6
Supermodified Time Trials (showing place, car number, driver name, sponsors, best lap highlighted)
- 11-Dave Ohh; Union, CT; TMS Wolfpack: 24.035, NT
- 35-Rob Warren; Pulaski, NY; 1st to Finish Race Servers, Designs of Elegance: 24.316, 24.181
- 25-Bob Gangwer; Goshen, IN; B&G Racing Photos, RW Woodworking: 24.334, 24.306
- 43-Henry Kelleher; Wilmington, DE; U.Racing, HeatFinder.net: 24.455, 24.785
- 41-Keith Powell; Carrollton, OH; Icings on Top, CPR Motorsports: 24.536, 24.595
- 76-Steve Holden; Santa Clara, CA; CrunchyRoll.com: 24.826, 24.839
- 42-Carl Becker; Lansing, MI; Wholesale Diamond Exchange, Michigan Hill Gang: 24.947, 24.903
- 92-Rick Walls; Warsaw, IN; NH Autosport: 25.009, 25.737
- 09-Matt Lukac; LaPorte, IN: 25.489, 25.254
- 24-Jeff Bivens; Ft. Mill, SC; NH Autosport, Carolina Panthers: 25.350, 25.767
- 3 Brad Keysor; Liverpool, NY; Southern Hills Storm Football, Justice League: NT
- 7-Nelson Rodrigues; Stoneham, MA; Dunkin’ Donuts, Star Speedway: NT
Supermodified Heat Race 8 Laps (showing place, car number, driver name, top three eligible for feature inversion)
- 35-Rob Warren
- 42-Carl Becker
- 11-Dave Ohh
- 09-Matt Lukac
- 7-Nelson Rodrigues
- 24-Jeff Bivens
Time of Race: 4:56.208
Supermodified Heat Race 8 Laps (showing place, car number, driver name, top threeeligible for feature inversion)
- 43-Henry Kelleher
- 25-Bob Gangwer
- 41-Keith Powell
- 92-Rick Walls
- 76-Steve Holden
- 3-Brad Keysor
Time of Race: 4:35.492
Supermodified Feature 25 Laps (showing place, car number, driver name, starting place, bonuses, distance behind leader)
- 11-Dave Ohh; P6 | * | ** | 24.273
- 25-Bob Gangwer; P5 | ! | 24.121 | +0.430
- 41-Keith Powell: P2 | * | 24.156 | +1.876
- 43-Henry Kelleher: P4 | 24.567 | +10.405
- 42-Carl Becker: P1 | 24.588 | +12.276
- 09-Matt Lukac: P7 | 25.421 | +1 Lap
- 92-Rick Walls: P8 | 25.009 | +1 Lap
- 7-Nelson Rodrigues: P7 | 25.611 | +1 Lap
- 76-Steve Holden: P10 | 25.478 | +2 Laps
- 3-Brad Keysor: P12 | 26.641 | +17 Laps
- 35-Rob Warren: P5| * | 24.279 | DNF – Wreck
- 24-Jeff Bivens: P9 | 25.458 | DNF – Wreck
Time of Race: 12:41.595
Key:
- * denotes lap led
- ** denotes most laps led
- ! denotes fastest lap of race
RACE RESULTS:
- Presidents’ Day Modified 75 hosted by The Mod Squad, presented by Heat Finder
- February 18, 2020
- New Hampshire International Speedway
- Louden, NH
- TMS Super HEAT Modifieds Tour mod
- 2x Wear, Hardcore, Fixed Sets
Modified Time Trials (showing place, car number, driver name, sponsors, best lap)
- 2-Dave Ohh; Union, CT: 28.451
- 1-Henry Kelleher; Wilmington, DE: 28.478
- 6-Matt Lucak; LaPorte, IN: 28.889
- 75-Bob Gangwer; Goshen, IN: 29.192
- 24-Jeff Bivens; Fort Mill, SC: 29.269
- 21-Rick Walls; Warsaw, IN: 30.086
- 99-Carl Becker; Lansing, MI: 31.400
- 75-Steve Holden; Santa Clara, CA: 33.860
Modified Feature 75 Laps (showing place, car number, driver name, starting place, bonuses, distance behind leader)
- 2-Dave “Speedyman” Ohh; P1 | * | ** | 28.310
- 1-Henry “Bandit” Kelleher: P2| * | 28.316 | +0.158
- 75-Bob “WingSideUp” Gangwer; P4 | 28.280 | +0.686
- 21-Rick “BlackKnight” Walls: P6 | ! | * | 28.261 | +1.947
- 75-Steve “Redimuss” Holden: P8| * | ^ | 28.523 | +2.341
- 24-Jeff “Grumpy” Bivens: P5 | * | 28.439 | +2.505
- 6-Matt “Elliot9Matt” Lukac: P3 | * | ~ | 28.476 | +3.007
- 99-Carl Becker: P7 | * | 29.359 | +9.495
Time of Race: 50:48:718
Key:
- * denotes lap led
- ** denotes most laps led
- ! denotes fastest lap of race
- ^ denotes hard charger
- ~ denotes headache award
