Domenic Gioia Leads All Laps to Take 13th Annual Dion Parish Memorial
Kalamazoo, MI – December 6, 2016…Domenic Gioia of Oswego, NY has won the 13th Annual Dion Parish Memorial for the first time during supermodified sim racing competition under Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS), banner.
Oswego, NY’s Domenic Gioia was the emotional winner of the 13th Annual Dion Parish Memorial at Kalamazoo Speedway. (Screenshot art by BreezeGraphics.com)
The race was held for the first time at Kalamazoo Speedway, and Gioia led from start to finish to claim his first ever victory in this prestigious supermodified sim racing event that saw many close battles throughout the pack and the entirety of the feature race.
Even though Gioia started on the pole, the win was no easy task as he held off a myriad of former winners and hard chargers while waltzing his way through lapped traffic in the high nine second range during the 62 lap feature race.
Gioia was filled with emotion in Victory Lane as he dedicated the win to his deceased friend Vinny Vescio and said, “You guys just don’t know how much it means to me to win this race.”
Gioia’s win makes him a Guaranteed Starter for the 13th Annual Summit Classic 125 and the eleventh different winner in the race’s history.
2010 Dion Parish Memorial Champion Keith Powell and Bob Gangwer, the 2004 winner were close to Gioia at the line while Joe Achzet, who was in a solid second with only a handful of laps left, survived a late race spin to finish fourth. 2011 winner Steve Callahan held on for a top five.
Keith Powell set the fast lap of the race and was also awarded the SUPRSCharger bonus for advancing the most places from his starting spot.
Rob Warren set a track record during Time Trials of 9.633 seconds.
The race had five cautions for a total of 27 laps, most for simple spins other than a major crash by Joey Callahan that resulted in a wheel being ripped off. Callahan was done for the night but no worse for the wear physically.
| Pos | Start | Driver | Vehicle | Best Lap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 9 Domenic Gioia | Team Domination Motorsports | 9.718 |
| 2 | 7 | 41 Keith Powell | CPR Motorsports | 9.614 |
| 3 | 3 | 25 Bob Gangwer | Wing Side Up Enterprises | 9.700 |
| 4 | 5 | 14 Joe Achzet | Black Bandit | 9.726 |
| 5 | 6 | 55 Steve Callahan | CPR Motorsports | 9.734 |
| 6 | 8 | 35 Rob Warren | 1st to Finish Racing | 9.726 |
| 7 | 2 | 38 Kyle Clark | Disturbed Motorsports | 9.755 |
| 8 | 12 | 7 Nelson Rodrigues | May Motorsports | 9.813 |
| 9 | 10 | 52 Dave Brigandi | Buffalo Bio-Diesel | 10.132 |
| 10 | 9 | 77 Kevin Timmins | Wesley Motorsports | 10.343 |
| 11 | 11 | 42 Carl Becker | Michigan Hill Gang | 10.772 |
| 12 | 4 | 15 Joey Callahan | CPR Motorsports | 9.819 |
