SUPRS Goes Old School with 1st to Finish Irregular 45

July 6, 2024 – Goshen, IN…The Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS) goes “old school” with the the 1^st to Finish IrReGuLaR 45 on July 9, 2024 at Oswego Speedway. This throwback to the good old days of Oswego Speedway will use the same format that many came to know and love when the best drivers started deep in the pace and had to race into a transfer from their heat race, then then do it again in a semi-feature, only to be re-handicapped and start deep in the field for the feature!

Tough Format

1^st to Finish Race Servers owner, Rob Warren, came up with the idea to run a race that used the old Oswego format.

“I remember being a kid at Oswego Speedway,” Warren said. “Back then a driver really had to work his tail off to make the feature.”

Warren remembers nights where supermodified ‘greats’ struggled. “There were some nights when the greats like Bentley Warren, Jim Shampine, Eddie Bellinger, Steve Gioia and Chuck Ciprich had a hard time getting out of their heats.”

Oswego is known around the world as “The Home of the Supermodifieds.” Until the 1990s, a driver had to work his way through a heat, a semi-feature, and sometimes a consi just to make the feature event. There were no ‘gimmes’ back then and if you won a feature, everyone knew you had to work for it and it was well earned. The SUPRS sim racing version sponsored by 1^st to Finish Race Servers is no different with all the trappings of the good ole days at “The Home of the Supermodifieds”-Oswego Speedway.

If he had a high handicap, a driver would have to start deep in the field of each race. Fans watched some of the best supermodified racers from around the country battle each other, just hoping to make the next race. If they did, they would have a shot at winning the largest weekly paying short-track purse in the country if they got to the feature race.

But What Makes It IrReGuLaR?

Why is the SUPRS version called “IrReGuLaR?” Because that’s how the sponsor wanted. Warren picks up the story, “I thought we’d call it “IrReGuLaR” because Oswego, nor SUPRS runs a show that way anymore so it’s out of the norm. Plus it just sounded fun,” Warren stated.

Ironically, the guy that came up with the idea for the race, who is the all-time winner in SUPRS competition at Oswego, and has eight SUPRS Gold Crest Season Championship rings, never won the event.

While Warren never won it, nobody other than Dave Ohh has won the race for the last five years. Ohh has taken a sabbatical from SUPRS racing for the summer, so there’s a good chance the only other driver to have won the race more than once, Keith Powell, (2017, 2018), could get a little closer to Ohh’s record when the drivers hit the track on July 9.

Race Details

Official practice for the 1^st to Finish “IrReGuLar 45” begins at 8:00pm. There is a Drivers meeting at 8:05pm. Racing starts at 8:19pm with the first of two 10 lap qualifying heat races after which two 15 lap semi-features precede the 45 lap feature.

Enjoy live supermodified sim racing acting via SUPRS LIVE! This original and fun page features Live Timing, Scoring, and Track Telemetry. Follow along and cheer on your favorite SUPRS racer. Just visit www.SUPRS.net/site/Live on July 9, 2024, beginning at approximately 8:30pm ET.

Race Night Times and Schedule of Events

Tuesday, June 9, 2024

(ALL TIMES EASTERN)

• Official Practice (All Skate-Open Pit): 8:00pm
• Drivers’ Meeting (MANDATORY!): 8:05pm
• Heat Races: to follow Drivers’ Meeting approximately 8:10pm
• Semi-Feature Races: to follow Heat Races
• SUPRS LIVE! Broadcast Window: N/A
• National Anthem: N/A
• Feature-45 Laps: to follow Semis approximately 8:45
• Post-Race: Approximately 9:30
• All Servers Closed: 10:00pm

Race Contest History and Statistics

“Supermodified Sim Racing for the Right Reasons” since 2004