Sears Conquers Canadian Craziness, Wins SUPRS Snowball Derby

Zach Sears Wins 19^th Annual Crazy Canuck Snowball Derby After Wild Night at Delaware Speedway

January 4, 2023 – Delaware, Ontario, CAN…Canadian craziness reigned supreme at the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS), 19^th Annual Crazy Canuck Snowball Derby, Tuesday January 4 at Delaware Speedway, but former Rookie of the Year, Zach Sears conquered the wild and wacky format of this fun event and won the 50 lap rFactor supermodified sim racing feature. In a night that saw a heat race checkered for crashes, a huge lap one crash in the feature, and two major contenders drop out with connection issues, Sears was never fazed and lapped the field in route to his first Snowball Derby win.

Anthony Corsoniti fought Bob Gangwer all night long, but “The Quiet Storm” came out on top as Gangwer came up just shy at the finish line and ended up third. Gangwer needed little consolation as he paired up with fellow Great Lakes racer and friend, Gary Waldron to claim the accompanying Snowball Derby Team Challenge, giving both 10 bonus points for their closely contested championship battles.

Sears, “I Shouldn’t Have Won”

Even though he clearly stayed out of trouble the entire race, and ran what many felt was one of his best SUPRS races to date, Sears, the young winner from Elyria, Oh, was quick to point out that he didn’t have the best car in the field and said, “I shouldn’t have won this.” He went on to explain saying, “Dave, (Ohh), was miles ahead after he passed me, then he got the “blue screen of death” and that sucks for him. Also, Brad, (Keysor), got taken out in that first lap crash, so yeah, had they been in the race, I doubt I’d be the winner.”

Regardless of what happened to the other drivers, whether it was their own fault or a technical issue that kept them from being on the track at the end of 50 laps, there was no denying that Sears got the most out of his MSS/ISMA sponsored car and still had to make his way through traffic and keep the car under him as the tires wore down.

“The car felt a lot different in turn one as the race went on,” he said. “I felt I couldn’t get on it like I could earlier in the race, but lapped traffic was no problem, they ran their own race, so thanks to everybody for holding their line.”

Sears also thanked the SUPRS sponsors and his own sponsors saying, “I want to thank everyone at SUPRS and all the sponsors for helping put this on, and of course since they are on my car, HeatFinder.net and The Mod Squad.” Sears then found his sense of humor and said, “I may have only won one of these, but I’ve got something Dave doesn’t have, and that’s an Icings on Top Rookie of the Year, Award, so I’ll always have something Dave won’t.”

Key Competitors Eliminated Early

As Sears noted, a few of his key competitors were eliminated early. 2020 Crazy Canuck Snowball Derby winner, Brad Keysor had his hopes of a second win in the Canuck dashed in spectacular fashion. Keysor barrel rolled nearly the length of the backstretch in the first lap crash that also claimed Nelson Rodrigues, (who also flipped), Danny Ray, (who slammed the inside wall and lost the front tires), and involved Gary Waldron and Carl Becker.

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This is where it all started to go wrong for the back half of the starting grid at the 19th Annual Crazy Canuck Snowball Derby. Gary Waldron loses control and slides across in front of Brad Keysor(#3). At the same time, Danny Ray has lost control behind them in the #08 and is sliding down the track in front of Nelson Rodrigues(#7), Carl Becker(#42), and Eric Merkley(#94).

Current point leader and two-time and defending Crazy Canuck Snowball Derby winner, Dave Ohh of Union, CT, fared a little better, having been helped by the big crash which moved up up from eighth starting place to the top five on lap one. He then quickly gained several spots on the restart and was right on the tail of Zach Sears by lap 12, taking the lead and pulling away as soon as he disposed of Sears entering turn one on the next lap.

It looked as though Ohh would make a mockery of the rest of the competitors just as he did in the 2022 edition of the race, but just after crossing the stripe for the twenty-third time, Ohh glitched then disappeared from the track with an apparent computer malfunction and a loss of connection to the server.led the race for

The final racer to fall victim of the wackiness of the night was Ryan Cloonan. The Oswego, NY driver inherited the second place position that Ohh had taken from him just some 10 laps previous when Ohh retired. Well on his way to a second place finish, with hopes of catching Sears in traffic, connection issues hit Cloonan once again this season, and he dropped out of the race with under 20 laps to go.

Snowball Derby Team Challenge

Somehow, and nobody has figured out how, once Gary Waldron came to a stop and figured out what part of Ontario he ended up in after being tossed about like a rag doll, he was able to roll away from the carnage of the first lap crash and continue on to finish the race in sixth place. Fighting the urge to pull the bent-up Kenowa Auto Supply machine off the track was a smart move because it helped secure the Crazy Canuck Snowball Derby Team Challenge Championship for himself and teammate Bob Gangwer.

It was the third time Waldron found himself on the winning Derby Challenge team, and Waldron was pretty happy about the accomplishment. “I’m elated,” he began. “The race didn’t really start out well and I’m sorry I lost it in front of everyone then spun and hit the wall.”

“The car was bent, and I was going to pull off, but I just kept going and I’m glad the car stayed under me so Bob and I could win this.”

Gangwer was just as surprised as he was happy to be on the winning Derby Challenge team for a sixth time, the most in SUPRS history. “After our heats, I thought Gary and I had a good shot at this,” Gangwer said. “But when I came around and saw all the skid marks on the track, and a wall that had more black than white on it, then found out Gary was involved, I figured it was all over.”

“Yet, he, (Waldron), stayed in it, he didn’t give up. I had my own race going with Anthony, and I wasn’t sure who Anthony’s teammate for the Challenge was. I just did the best I could, and hoped Gary could keep going and he did. It’s pretty cool to be on the winning team again for this, and I’m really happy to get those bonus points because Ryan and I have a helluva battle going in the championship.”

Gangwer then added, “I have to say congrats to Zach, he has no reason not to believe he ran a helluva race and it just doesn’t matter if others fell out or not, he didn’t. I know I’ve been critical of his driving, as have others, but tonight he showed he can get it done without running over people, he deserves this win.”

Merkley Gets First SUPRS Start

In a fine first showing in SUPRS competition, Eric Merkley of Fulton, NY steered clear of the chaos, fought a loose race car all night long, advanced six places, and came home with a seventh place finish. “This was a nice first race,” said the unsponsored racer who works security at Oswego Speedway. “I had a good time and got around the wreck. The car was a handful at times, and I had a few close calls out there, but once I got through the wreck it was like a Wednesday drive because I knew I just had to keep the car under me and I was guaranteed a top 10.”

Two-Night Show at Sandusky Next

SUPRS heads to Ohio and “The North Coast Home of the Supermodifieds” – Sandusky Speedway for the two-day 15^th Annual Terry Gibson Memorial next week. The Terry Gibson Fast 50 will be held on Tuesday, January 10, 2023, and practice gets underway at 8:00 pm with racing set for 8:20 pm. The winner of this race becomes a guaranteed starter for the the big 100 lap feature on Wednesday.

That big 100 lap show on Wednesday, January 11, 2023 is the 15^th Annual Terry Gibson Memorial 100. This race is run to honor the memory of Terry Gibson, a supermodified racer that lost his life at Toledo Speedway while racing his real supermodifed.

Everything gets underway with practice at 8:00 pm, followed by the driver’s meeting at 8:10 pm. After that drivers take to the track for time trials at 8:20 pm with racing slated to begin with heats at 8:30 pm. The green flag drops on the main event at 9:00 pm after driver introductions and pre-race festivities.

This NASCAR Heat race at Sandusky is also part of SUPRS season long “Ohio State 500 Series” consisting of five 100 lap races across the Buckeye state. Dave Ohh is the current point leader in that series after winning the first race at Toledo Speedway back in October.

Both races are part of the SUPRS/HeatFinder.net NASCAR Heat Supermodified Challenge Series and are open to all drivers that have registered at SUPRS.net and downloaded the proper car and track files within 24 hours of race time.

The winner of the 100 lap feature becomes a guaranteed starter for the season ending 19^th Annual Summit Classic 125 at Madera Speedway in April.

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