SUPRS 20th Anniversary Wing Season Now at Midway Point

January 19, 2024 – Goshen, IN…The historic Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS), 20^th Anniversary Gold Crest Wing Supermodified season has reached it’s exciting midway point, and the battle is intensifying with a huge points event in store for the SUPRS stars when they unload for the Mid-Season Championship January 23 at Oswego Speedway.

To add to the excitement, the Mid-Season Championship at Oswego Speedway has been expanded to a challenging 100 green flag laps. This extended race is not only a test of endurance but also has significant implications for the season championship points.

Feature Length Increased Again

After running a 75 lap feature race last year for the first time since the 2013 Gold Crest Wing Supermodified Mid-Season Championship, the race length as been extended again. This year 25 more laps have been added making the race 100 green flag laps, and the longest in the history of the wing supermodified Mid-Season Championship.

That added distance will prove to be all the more challenging owing to the fact that with SUPRS newest edition of the rFactor modification, drivers are faced with a tough decision on what tire to use. Do they go with a medium compound, hoping to get out front fast and stay there as they pray their tires don’t wear out from the abuse? Will they go for the hard compound tire knowing that it will be slower at first, but should be better at the end of the 100 lap grind? Who will risk the unknowns of combining the two compounds to try to gain an advantage that no one else has?

Format Unchanged from 2023

For the second year in a row, the SUPRS Gold Crest Wing Supermodified Mid-Season Championship will use a special format where the drivers accumulate points all night long to determine who will be crowned the Mid-Season Champion and take home the 20 bonus points for the title.

All of the drivers will time trial, aiming to qualify into the “SUPRS 6” so they can run the dash and earn points in the season-long BMK Logistics Fast Car Dash Challenge. If they make the Dash, they’ll have a shot at starting in the first three rows of the feature.

If a driver doesn’t make the dash, he’ll go straight to a heat race where his finishing position determines how he lines up behind the “SUPRS 6” in the 100 lap feature. The twist here is, both the dash and the heats will be lined up according to SUPRS Empire State Super Series season long handicaps. So a combination of time trialing well, overcoming a handicap starting spot, and then finishing well in every event of the night is extremely important to the overall big picture.

Points Galore

Once the drivers get locked into their spots for the feature, things really start to heat up! Passing points will be paid for every position a driver gains from his original feature starting spot. So, while drivers want to gain as many points as they can for doing well in the preliminaries, it’s possible that a driver who has an off-night in any of the preliminaries, still has a shot at the overall Mid-Season Championship if he can advance through the feature starting field.

The driver that ends up with the most total points overall, (the sum of all finishing points of all events, plus passing points for the feature), will go home as the Mid-Season Champion and have ANOTHER 20 bonus points added to his season championship total!

Keysor Has Stellar Mid-Season Record

Last year’s Mid-Season Champion, Brad Keysor, is coming off a win last week at Columbus Motor Speedway, which he used to springboard himself into second place in the season championship standings. Keysor jumped two spots in the standings, moving past Ryan Cloonan and Anthony Corsoniti to just 126 points behind Zach Sears, who’s held the top spot in the championship since the green flag dropped back in October.

Keysor is tied for second on the All-Time Gold Crest Wing Supermodified Mid-Season Championship win sheet with three, is one of five drivers to have won the Mid-Season Championship in back to back years, and one of six drivers that have won the Mid-Season Championship then gone on to win the overall Season Championship. To say he is a favorite in this big race would be a grave understatement, and with a win and the overall Mid-Season Championship crown, he could easily take over the top spot on the season standings spreadsheet.

Other Season Championship Implications

Behind Keysor, a tight group of hungry SUPRS racers are all looking for a great run on Tuesday. Just 60 points separate Keysor in second place overall, to Bob Gangwer who stands fifth in the season championship. Gangwer then has a comfortable 457 point margin on sixth place held by Bobby Hayduk.

But from Hayduk to the tenth place driver-Danny Ray, nothing is certain as there’s only 247 points between them and that includes defending Gold Crest Wing Supermodified Champion, Dave Ohh.

While Ohh hasn’t been in the hunt for the 20^th Anniversary title, having taken a lot of time off this year to focus on other things, a look at his win total for the season up to the midway point, (6), keeps one mindful of the fact that when he does show up to race, he can never be counted out. A win in the 100 lapper at Oswego, which is a longer distance race that he admittedly likes, could put him right in to the thick of the battle for top spot in the standings.

With all of the points on the line throughout the night, many drivers are hoping to seize the opportunity to make a jump in the point standings, or gain a little cushion in the close contest found throughout the standings top to bottom.

Second Race of 2023-24 Empire State Super Series

Not only is the Mid-Season Championship important because all of the points and prestige on the line, but this event is also the second race of the year-long 2023-24 Empire State Super Series Regional Tour, (ESS). This five to six race swing takes place at tracks throughout the state of New York, and runs all the way to the last race of the historic SUPRS 20^th Anniversary year. As part of the ESS Regional Tour, the drivers are also going to be going for a great finish in the feature where those points will be added to the ESS championship standings.

Veteran SUPRS racer, Gary Waldron of Wyoming, MI opened the 2023-24 ESS Regional Tour season with a win on Blind Date Night at Andover Speedway. He holds a slim three point lead over Ryan Cloonan headed into the Mid-Season Championship. Dave Ohh is the defending ESS Regional Tour Champion, winning last year by just one point over Zach Sears.

Broadcast Tentative

Because of prior commitments, SUPRS Video Producer Kevin Timmins may not be available to conduct the free live broadcast of SUPRS 2024 Gold Crest Wing Supermodified Mid-Season Championship on January 23, 2024 at Oswego Speedway. However, every attempt will be make to have some form of SUPRS LIVE! going beginning at 8:30pm. Our one of a kind live sim racing broadcast normally has Live Streaming Video, up to the second Timing and Scoring, Track Telemetry, and insightful, fun commentary.

Tune in on race night at  www.SUPRS.net/site/Live or tune in to SUPRS Twitch Channel at Twitch.tv/SUPRSOnline.

Race Night Times and Schedule of Events

(ALL TIMES EASTERN)

Tuesday, January 23, 2024

• Official Practice (All Skate-Open Pit): 8:00pm

• MANDATORY Drivers’ Meeting: 8:10pm

• Time Trials: 8:20pm

• SUPRS LIVE! Broadcast Window: 8:30pm-10:00pm (TENTATIVE)

• Drivers to Cars: 8:34pm

• Green Flag Heat 1: 8:35pm

• Green Flag Heat 2: to follow first heat

• Green Flag BMK Logistics Fast Car Dash: to follow second heat

• Commercial Break

• Final Warmup: N/A

• Drivers to Cars: 8:54pm

• Driver Introductions: 8:55pm

• National Anthem: N/A

• Green Flag Feature-100 laps: 9:00pm (Approximately)

• SUPRS LIVE! Broadcast Post-Race & Close: 9:45pm
• All Servers Closed: 10:00pm

Points-

Finishing Position  (FP) Points Shall be Paid for Time Trials, Dash/Heats and Feature Using Special Points Schedule HERE

Passing Points (PP) Shall be Paid for Feature and used to determine SUPRS Gold Crest Wing Supermodified Mid-Season Champion.

Total Points (TP) Shall be Paid towards SUPRS Gold Crest Wing Season Championship total.

ESS Regional Tour Points Shall be Paid (standard SUPRS Gold Crest Wing Season Championship Points Schedule for feature, (85 for first 75 for second, 70 for third and so on), shall be added to a driver’s ESS Regional Tour Points total).

Further Points Explanations

Finishing Points(FP): 

Drivers receive FP based on special Mid-Season Championship points schedule and their finishing order in Time Trials, Dash/Heat Race and Feature.

Drivers also receive FP based on standard SUPRS Gold Crest Wing Season Championship Points Schedule and their finishing position in the Feature.

Passing Points(PP):

Drivers receive PP based on how many spots they advance during the Feature. 

Drivers receive 4.0 points per spot advanced from starting position to finishing position.

PP are awarded ONLY for total spots advanced/lost. PP are not awarded for every pass made(ie – passing a car dropping back then passing a car again will not award multiple PP)

Starting position is determined by the way the cars line up on the front stretch prior to the start of the Feature and is not necessarily the same as the posted lineup. (ie – a car scheduled to start on the pole of the Feature and not making the call, would not automatically mean all other cars get 4.0 PP. It would result is a resetting of the field)

A driver electing to take the tail or a spot other than his assigned starting spot will not be eligible for PP. This is to prevent drivers from abusing the system. They still will receive the appropriate FP for their finishing spot. The same will go for a driver who does not Time Trial or finish the Dash/Heat.

Total Points(TP):

TP are the sum of a driver’s FP for Time Trials, Dash/Heat and Feature plus PP.

Drivers will be ranked in order of the most Total Points.

Driver with most Total Points will be deemed the 2023-24 Gold Crest Wing Supermodified Mid-Season Champion

Bonuses:

Standard Bonus Points Shall be Paid for Show, Fast Time/New Track Record, Feature Lap Led

• Mid-Season Champion Bonus-20 (combined points for Time Trials, Fast Car Dash/Heat Race, Feature finish, and Feature Passing Points to determine Mid-Season Champion. Tie Breakers listed on MSC points spreadsheet)

Race Contest History and Statistics

Current Track Record: Brad Keysor – 15.708 sec. – January 24, 2023 (rF)

Defending Race Winners: Brad Keysor (75 laps)

SUPRS Wing Supermodified Mid-Season Champions:

• 2004-05 Wing Mid-Season Champion: John Davidson-NASCAR Heat-LaPorte Speedway-25×2
• 2005-06 Wing Mid-Season Champion: John Davidson-NASCAR Heat-LaPorte Speedway-25×2
• 2006-07 Wing Mid-Season Champion: Ray Sand, Jr.-NASCAR Heat-LaPorte Speedway-25×2
• 2007-08 Wing Mid-Season Champion: Myles Maxon-NASCAR Heat-LaPorte Speedway-25×2
• 2008-09 Wing Mid-Season Champion: Ray Sand, Jr.-NASCAR Heat-Oswego Speedway-35×2
• 2009-10 Wing Mid-Season Champion: Myles Maxon-NASCAR Heat-Oswego Speedway-35×2
• 2010-11  Wing Mid-Season Champion: Chris Meyers-NASCAR Heat-Oswego Speedway-75
• 2011-12  Wing Mid-Season Champion: Rob Warren-NASCAR Heat-Oswego Speedway-75
• 2012-13  Wing Mid-Season Champion: Bob Gangwer-NASCAR Heat-Oswego Speedway-75
• 2013-14 Wing Mid-Season Champion: Bob Gangwer-NASCAR Heat-Oswego Speedway-35×2
• 2014-15 Wing Mid-Season Champion: Ray Sand, Jr.-NASCAR Heat-Oswego Speedway-35×2
• 2015-16 Wing Mid-Season Champion:Ray Sand, Jr.-NASCAR Heat-Oswego Speedway-35×2
• 2016-17 Wing Mid-Season Champion: Rob Warren-rFactor-Oswego Speedway-35×2-163pts
• 2017-18 Wing Mid-Season Champion: Rob Warren-rFactor-Oswego Speedway-35×2-331pts
• 2018-19 Wing Mid-Season Champion: Keith Powell-rFactor-Airborne Speedway-35×2-295pts
• 2019-20 Wing Mid-Season Champion: Brad Keysor rFactor-Oswego Speedway -35×2-312pts
• 2020-21 Wing Mid-Season Champion: Dave Ohh-rFactor-Oswego Speedway -35×2 -322pts
• 2021-22 Wing Mid-Season Champion: Brad Keysor-rFactor-Oswego Speedway-35×2-322pts
• 2022-23 Wing Mid-Season Champoin: Brad Keysor-rFactor-Oswego Speedway-75-187pts

Ranking by Most SUPRS Gold Crest Wing Supermodified Mid-Season Championship Wins

1. Ray Sand, Jr.-4
2. Rob Warren, Brad Keysor-3
3. John Davidson, Myles Maxon, Bob Gangwer-2
4. Chris Meyers, Keith Powell, Dave Ohh-1

Back to Back SUPRS Gold Crest Wing Supermodified Mid-Season Champions

• John Davidson: 2004-05, 2005-06
• Bob Gangwer: 2012-13, 2013-14
• Ray Sand, Jr.: 2014-15, 2015-16
• Rob Warren: 2016-17, 2017-18

Drivers that have won SUPRS Gold Crest Wing Supermodified Mid-Season Championship and gone on to win SUPRS Gold Crest Wing Supermodified Season Championship

• John Davidson: 2004-05, 2005-06
• Ray Sand, Jr.: 2008-09, 2015-16
• Rob Warren: 2016-17, 2017-18
• Myles Maxon: 2009-10
• Dave Ohh: 2020-21
• Brad Keysor: 2021-22

“Supermodified Sim Racing for the Right Reasons” since 2004