Keith Powell Leads Every Lap of SUPRS President’s Day Special at Buckley Speedway
February 21, 2017 – Buckley, CA…Carrollton, Ohio’s Keith Powell took off at the drop of the green flag and led all 75 laps on his way to winning the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS), President’s Day Special Tuesday night at Buckley Speedway.
Keith Powell parked his CPR Motorsports supermodified in Buckley Speedway’s “Victory Square” for the President’s Day Special. (SUPRS Victory Lane art by BreezeGraphics.com)
“There’s no race that’s easy to win, especially with the caliber of competition we have in this league,” explained Powell. “But this one was one of the easier ones tonight.”
Powell knew that the start of the race was critical, especially with Rob Warren starting to his right. He was ready for the challenge when the green flag dropped and got the jump he needed to secure the lead as the duo entered turn one.
I got to start on the pole and that helps a ton,” said the driver of the Mayfield Missile. “I was able to build up somewhat of a lead and got into a groove early and was able to pull away from Rob.”
The winner’s success was due in part to help from his friend and fellow CPR Motorsports driver Steve Callahan. Normally it’s Powell that does the tuning and works on the setups for the team, while Callahan works on paint jobs and strategies. Powell was thankful for the role reversals.
A Little Help from His Friend
“This week Steve was the crew chief and he gave me a great setup so thanks to him,” Powell stated. “The car was perfect the whole race and it’s because of the wheel settings he gave me, but he also coached me through the track and how to drive the track, and how not to over-drive the track and that was a huge help.”
“It was just a great race, congrats to Joe and Rob for great runs, we’ll definitely celebrate after this one tonight,” concluded Powell.
Second place finisher Rob Warren may not have had enough to catch the winner but was happy for Powell.
“That was an awesome race, congrats to Keith,” Warren said. “That was just an awesome run for him and congratulations to Joe as well on his third place.”
Like Powell, Warren knew that he had to get a good start to be in the best place for getting back into SUPRS Victory Lane, a place he’s been locked out of since the Mid-Season Championship back in January.
“Right from the start we must have had the same thought on where to go because we both took off at the same time to get the jump and raced each other side by side down the front stretch,” Warren said. “Keith got me so I tucked in behind him because my biggest fear was the second row getting a better start and fighting for the bottom in turn one.”
Nerf Bar Buddies
Even though he tried to latch on the rear nerf bar of Powell, Warren could only watch as the Ohio driver pulled away, leaving Warren to be more concerned with the driver behind him than in front.
“I couldn’t come close to Keith on his pace. According to my rear nerf bar and the fourteen’s front nerf bar, I wasn’t driving it in hard enough, so he let me know where to pick up the pace,” explained Warren. “So that’s what I did and we’d pick up a couple of tenths on Keith but then we’d lose a couple of tenths. I could get away from Joe a bit but then he’d reel me right back in.”
Although he lost a few of the points he has gained in the last couple of race, third place finisher Joe Achzet was relieved to grab a top three and keep Warren from getting too far away in the championship. He said, “I’m happy to come home with a third. I would have been happier to see Rob in fourth instead of second. I can’t complain I’m just happy to be here tonight.”
Earlier in the evening, Warren set fast time while Powell took the Fast Car Dash and Carl Becker won the heat race.
Big Race Next Week
Powell’s fourth win of the season in his Icings on Top, CPR Motorsports supermodified helps keep him in the hunt for the SUPRS Gold Crest Wing Championship XIII title as well as the drivers head to Mesa Marin Raceway next week for the 13th Annual Billy Vukovich III Classic on Tuesday. Practice gets going at 8:00pm for this prestigious races that celebrates the life of the late Billy Vukovich III. The winner of this race will become a guaranteed starter for SUPRS 13th Annual Summit Classic 125 at Madera Speedway in April.
Learn more about the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series by visiting www.SUPRS.net, “Liking” SUPRS on Facebook, Circling SUPRS on Google+, Following @SUPRSOnline on Twitter, and Viewing SUPRS videos on YouTube.
RACE RESULTS
- President’s Day Special
- Race 28 of 42
- February 20, 2017
- SUPRS NASCAR Heat W v6 mod
- Buckley Speedway
- 75 Laps
Supermodified (wing) Time Trials (showing car number, driver name, hometown, sponsors, lap 1, lap 2-best lap underlined; Fast Four eligible for Fast Car Dash)
- 35-Rob Warren; Pulaski, NY; 1st to Finish Race Servers, Designs of Elegance: 12.140, 11.979
- 55-Steve Callahan; Cuyahoga Falls, OH; Exide Battery, CPR Motorsports: 11.984, 11.981
- 41-Keith Powell; Carrollton, OH; Icings on Top, CPR Motorsports: 11.980, 11.983
- 14-Joe Achzet; Yorkville, NY; Cottontail Designs, GraphX: 12.045, 11.992
- 42-Carl Becker; Lansing, MI; Wholesale Diamond Exchange, Michigan Hill Gang: 12.224, 12.000
- 25-Bob Gangwer; Goshen, IN; Wing Side Up Enterprises, RW Woodworking: 12.120, 12.013
- 9-Domenic Gioia; Oswego, NY; Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer, Team Domination Motorsports: 12.025, 12.063
- 38-Kyle Clark; Mexico, NY; Coors’ Light, Disturbed Motorsports: 12.248, 12.188
- X-Chad Phelps; New Haven, NY; Haun Welding Supply, Disturbed Motorsports: No Time
Supermodified Fast Car Dash 8 Laps (showing car number, driver name)
- 41-Keith Powell
- 35-Rob Warren
- 14-Joe Achzet
- 55-Steve Callahan
Supermodified Heat Race-11 Laps (showing car number, driver name)
- 42-Carl Becker
- 9-Domenic Gioia
- 25-Bob Gangwer
- 38-Kyle Clark
Supermodified Feature 75 Laps (showing car number, driver name, bonus, starting place, fastest lap, distance behind winner)
- 41-Keith Powell: ! | * | ** | P1 | 11.861
- 35-Rob Warren: P2 | 11.908 | +0.951
- 14-Joe Achzet: P3 | 11.906 | +1.729
- 55-Steve Callahan: P4 | 11.915 | +4.277
- 42-Carl Becker: P5 | 11.947 | +8.016
- 25-Bob Gangwer: P7 | 11.952 | +8.143
- 9-Domenic Gioia P6 | 11.924 | +1 Lap
- 38-Kyle Clark: P8 | 12.054 | +DNF (Pulled Off)
- X-Chad Phelps: P9 | DNS
Time of Race: 15:57.554
- * Denotes Lap Led
- ** Denotes Most Laps Led
- ! Denotes Fastest Lap of Race
