Ray Sand, Jr. Closes Out SUPRS FL Speedweeks with Victory
Lakeland, FL – February 13, 2015…Waiting until the last night of the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series Florida Speedweeks to pull off a win, may not have been how but Ray Sand, Jr. planned it, but his dominating victory at USA International Speedway left nobody wondering where he’d been.
Steve Callahan brought his CPR Motorsports machine home for second and Carl Becker had one of his best runs ever at USA finishing the race in third place.
Myles Maxon set three new track records, was fastest qualifier every night, had one win, two seconds, a third and a fifth and ended up winning his third SUPRS Florida Speedweeks Championship.
“The Sandman” was all alone as he crossed the finish line for the win at USA Int’l Speedway
Sand, Jr., a two-time Florida Speedweeks Champion, struggled during the week with a new computer, was busy working on a real race car that he will run at Oswego Speedway and spent time driving with one hand while holding his young son, but on this night, nothing was going to stop the SUPRS All-Time Winner from adding another victory to the record books.
Sand, Jr. jokingly stated, “You guys owe me one after this week.” “Let me tell this was a rough week I struggled all week and just couldn’t get it together this week, but tonight I was determined to do what I could to take advantage of my starting spot, hit my marks and just try to pull away.”
“The Sandman” did just that. Taking off from his pole starting place and never looking back he went on to win the race by nearly four seconds over nearest competitor Steve Callahan.
As always Callahan of Cayuhoga Falls, OH, was quick to acknowledge the winner saying, “First of all, congratulations to Ray. I was able to see him for a little bit at the start, but he was gone.” Callahan, a winner on opening night of SUPRS Florida Speedweeks at Orlando Speedworld explained how he battled back into second place, “It’s tough starting on the outside at tracks like this and once Ray took off and Carl got by me, I just tried to settle in.”
“I was able to get behind Carl and followed him, and Myles was there for the longest time working on getting past me, but we drafted up to Carl, and when he, (Becker), hit the apron just a little bit and slid up I was able to get under him.
“Let me tell you I make no bones about it, I hate this place. I can’t wait until it’s over every year and I was just hoping to finish on the lead lap. Tonight though this is like a win for me to finish second to Ray.”
Carl Becker, as he did in 2014, ran good again this year at USA International Speedway to close out SUPRS Florida Speedweeks and was pleased with his run. He said, “I finally kind of learned how to drive this but I’m still not real fast but it was fun because the more I run it the more i like it.” The Lansing, MI resident expounded further saying, “I led this thing for a long time last year and ended up fourth, so coming home in third against these guys, well this is an improvement so what the heck, I’ll take it.”
While Becker ran in second place, he knew that to stay there, he would have his work cut out for him. “I could hear the roar back there and didn’t know who it was, but I knew there was more than one and figured it was Steve and Myles so I just tried to stay off of the wall because I knew they would be ready to get me. But then I rolled in a little low, got the apron and slid up high and there was Steve and that’s all it took.”
SEE FLORIDA SPEEDWEEKS HIGHLIGHTS PICTURES(Coming Soon)
Five different tracks produced five different winners throughout Speedweeks, with one of those wins being a first for Dave Brigandi.
VIEW FINAL SUPRS FLORIDA SPEEDWEEKS POINTS
The SUPRS racers won’t have much rest as they move up the eastern seaboard to New River Valley Speedway for the Presidents Day Special 75. Practice starts at 8:00pm, Time Trials will follow at 8:30pm and racing will resume at the regular SUPRS time of 9:00pm.
Fans of supermodified racing and online sim racers alike can 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.
SUPRS RACE RESULTS:
- Florida Speedweeks
- Race 5
- February 13, 2015
USA International Speedway
Time Trials (showing car number, driver name, hometown, sponsors, lap 1, lap 2-best lap underlined)
- 79-Myles Maxon; Oswego, NY; Tamarack Golf Club, The Swamp: 19.397☆, 19.504
- 18-Ray Sand, Jr.; Rochester, NY; SandmanRacing.com: 19.597, 19.535
- 55-Steve Callahan; Cayuhoga Falls, OH; Ice Oil, CPR Motorsports: 19.632, 19.950
- 42-Carl Becker; Lansing, MI; Wholesale Diamond Exchange, Michigan Hill Gang: 19.676, 19.713
- 35-Rob Warren; Pulaski, NY; 1st to Finish Docks & Hoists, Designs of Elegance: 19.898, 19.678
- 25-Bob Gangwer; Goshen, IN; Wing Side Up Enterprises, Ricky’s Sideline Shots: 20.143, 20.159
Feature – 25 Laps (showing car number, driver, name, bonus, fastest lap, distance behind winner)
- 18-Ray Sand, Jr.; * ** ! 19.516
- 55-Steve Callahan; 19.631 | +3.836
- 42-Carl Becker; 19.599 | +4.584
- 35-Rob Warren; 19.584 | +4.958
- 79-Myles Maxon; 19.608 | +5.036
- 25-Bob Gangwer; 19.674 | +6.076
Time of Race: 09:21.971
- * Denotes Lap Led
- ** Denotes Most Laps Led
- ! Denotes Fastest Lap of Race
