Contributed by Chris Meyers
December 2, 2006 – Amherst ,OH…The Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series 2006-2007 Winged Season is in full swing. Early on, forty-two different drivers have attempted to make feature events through time trials, heat races, and consolation races. Only twenty drivers are able to partake in feature action with eight of those drivers locked in through qualifying. The season has had a lot of unexpected surprises just eleven races into a forty-five race schedule.
One of those surprises is Oswego, New York’s “Mighty” Myles Maxon, driver of the Tamarack Golf Club, The Swamp, JimmyV.org 79 machine. Maxon is leading the points standings. He has picked up three feature wins, set five new track records, as well as shattering the non-wing track record at Jennerstown. Also picking up feature wins on the year in the veteran series are: Chris Meyers (3), Ray Sand. Jr (2), Sean O’Kane (1), Kris Heveron (1), and Dave Soja (1). Myles, Kris, Dave, and Ray’s wins were their first in the wing series! Congrats guys!
The car counts are high, the action is fast and competitive. Making these shows is no easy piece of cake. These tracks are very fast, big banks, tight ovals and all the drivers will have to be on their toes for action that will be nose to tail. One little mistake could spell the end of your night as well as their bid for a swing championship.
Real Drivers and Owners
SUPRS has attracted many real-life pilots to the mix including MSA competitors Charlie Schultz, Jon Henes, Matt Palmer, Dave Shullick Jr, Randy Burch,and MSA car owner Joe Gillingham.These MSA competitors aren’t the only real life hot shoes who are involved in SUPRS. ISMA’s Joey Payne, Randy Ritskes, and Lou Cicconi are also involved in SUPRS. Multi-time Oswego Budweiser International Classic winner Doug Heveron, his brother Tom, and son Kris have also been involved with SUPRS. New England 350 supermodified pilot Matt Riley, Oswego supermodified driver Danny Kapuscinski and Oswego Limited Supermodified driver Ray Sand Jr. also can be added to the above list.
Rookie League Started
Due to a large roster of SUPRS drivers, a rookie league has been developed and implemented to help rookies or inexperienced drivers get accustomed to racing with the veterans. In order to be promoted to the veteran or championship season, you must pass a rookie test in which you are eligible to take after your third race. – Mandatory 3 races for new entrants to SUPRS. Following the Rookie Test, upon passing, drivers will then be able to race in both leagues until one of the following goals is met: Garnering a Top 5 in a Championship League race,3 Feature Wins, 5 Podium Finishes (top 3), or 8 Top 5 finishes. Once one of the above is accomplished, the driver can not race in the rookie league again unless assigned to by SUPRS officials.
Welcome to New Members
With that in mind, welcome to the newest SUPRS members, Mark Kapuscinski (Oswego, New York), Charlie Schultz (Lorain, Ohio), Jon Henes (Lagrange, Ohio), Patrick Sommers (Lorain, Ohio), Brian Dull (Lorain, Ohio), Ricky Sapp (Goshen, Indiana), Stephane Blais (Laval Quebec Canada), Jared Turnbull (Paris, Ontario Canada), Chad Mitchell (Auburn, New York), Danny Kapuscinski (Oswego, NY), Matt Palmer (North Olmsted, Ohio), Mike Soja (Elyria, Ohio), Bobby Rodier (Epping, New Hampshire), Jamie Stacy (Ontario, NY), Dave Shullick Jr. (North Ridgeville, Ohio), John Trenca (Syracuse, New York), Joe Gillingham (Sandusky, Ohio), Tommy Sakic (Toronto, Ontario Canada), Carl Becker (Lansing, Michigan) and Ed Riley (Elyria, Ohio).
SUPRS is represented by members of 14 different states as well as from our friends up in Canada. With all the above drivers joining within the last month or so, now you know that SUPRS is the fastest growing league on the net today.
Thank You Sponsors
SUPRS would not be the league it is today without the help of many sponsors. Beachland Cleaning Service recently sponsored the Topless 200. Beachland Cleaning Service is based out of Vero Beach, Florida and is owned by Tom Heveron. Tom and Heveron Group Incorporated (HGI) also stepped to the plate by sponsoring the 3rd Annual Randy Witkum Memorial. Tom also donated tickets to the Jim Shampine Memorial at Oswego Speedway in 2007. Thanks to Tom for continuing to step up to the plate and believing in SUPRS.
Thanks to Ed Riley and Thorsport Racing for donating a hat and sweater for the Randy Witkum Memorial 125. Thorsport Racing is the Craftsman Truck Series team based out of Sandusky, Ohio with Matt Crafton in the 88 and Kerry Earnhardt in the 13. Gary Waldron won the sweatshirt and Doug Heveron took home the hat. Ed is looking forward to making his SUPRS debut when his high-speed internet is installed!
Lap sponsors were available for the Topless 200 and Randy Witkum Memorial at $1 per lap. Thanks to Tom Heveron , Frank Keene,Payne Motorsports, DJ Sparknuxx, Chris Meyers, Sean O’Kane, Dave Soja, Myles Maxon and roommate for sponsoring laps for the Randy Witkum Memorial 125. You can add outsiders Bobby Bryant who is a hardcore sim racer in Dale Earnhardt Jr’s. league for NASCAR 2003 and Jaimie Belfiore, brother to Justin, to the mix.
SFJ Stops Driving to Race Direct
On a side note John Davidson has stepped out of the drivers seat and into the race directors role replacing Curt Kern for the time being. Please keep Curt and his family in your prayers in their time of need. Please continue to keep the Gassett family in your prayers as Chase continues to fight leukemia.
SUPRS Helping Others
A few things of note that SUPRS has done is made monetary contributions to Sim Racing Against Cancer, The Gassett Family on the West Coast whose son Chase is battling leukemia. They recently donated a large amount of money to the ISMA point fund as well as to the 2006 Randy Witkum ISMA Rookie of the Year, Brandon Bellinger. SUPRS has also donated money to real life supermodified stars Randy Ritskes and Joey Payne for them to purchase new driver uniforms after serious crashes. They also donated money to Otto Sitterly after his 2006 Classic wreck as well as WSSRL driver Jim Pasquin. They donated money to a fellow league member who has never seen supermodifieds so that he could pay off his hospital bills.
They also have Memorial races named in honor of the late great Jim Shampine, Randy Witkum, and Pete “The Whistler” Trenca. The league has awarded the Dion Parish Perseverance Award named after the late Dion Parish who tragically lost his life testing in a supermodified at Kalamazoo Speedway. The award is given to the driver who best exemplifies the spirit of determination, fairness, kindness, clean driving, competition, and love of the division as embodied by the late Dion Parish. MSA Supermodified pilot Jon Henes won the award in 2005 at Kalamazoo Speedway. His MSA counterpart, Rich Reid won the award in 2006 at Auto City Speedway. Both drivers were awarded money and ironically they each went on to win there first features in MSA in the year they won the award. Jon won at Toledo Speedway in 2005 and Rich in 2006 at Mansfield Speedway.
All the drivers at SUPRS, thank you for your continued support of our league. Your support allows us to give back to the greatest racing division on the planet!
Sponsorship Opportunities Available
To add to the excitement of online racing as well as help to further the SUPRS Mission statement, SUPRS is offering lap sponsorships for the Dion Parish Memorial 62. For just $1 per lap, you too can be a big part of this event and league. Many people consider this a great and cheap way to promote your business or even give back to your race car sponsors! You can reserve as many laps of your choice to honor a fallen family member, friend, or you can just let your favorite MSA, ISMA, Oswego, WSSRL, and ERA drivers know you are a fan of them! You can also show your support to the SUPRS drivers as well by sponsoring a lap in their name! All lap sponsorship requests can be emailed to Chris Meyers or you can post on our forums by registering. Include your lap number preferences, number of laps you would like, and a saying to go with each lap. Get these laps while they are available. Payment can be made via paypal on the SUPRS site. (SUPRS.Net)
If you want to help SUPRS out as well as promoting and advertising your business, how about sponsoring a race? Depending on race length, you can sponsor a whole race for the low amount of $15-$25. Your company name will remain on the Sponsor page for the length of the league as well as being added to the schedule. You can pick any race of your choice that’s not taken by another sponsor and you will have a say as to how that event is run. Again SUPRS is a non-profit organization who absolutely uses all proceeds to give back to the real deal.
Race with SUPRS
To get involved in SUPRS, you will need to pick up a copy of NASCAR Heat for the computer, pay your membership dues, fill out a join/driver profile form for the site, as well as register for the forums. A wheel is not required but recommended. High Speed Internet such as cable or dsl is also encouraged for the best racing experience possible.
All the drivers at SUPRS appreciate and thank you for your continued support of our league so we can continue to give back to the greatest racing division and family in the world, the Supermodifieds!
About SUPRS
The Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series or SUPRS was formed in 2004 as a way to promote real supermodified racing in the online sim racing world. SUPRS is a series unique in it’s vision and goals inasmuch as it is dedicated to bringing new fans into the sport of supermodified racing by providing realistic car design and racing formats. Through special races, the types of prizes awarded, and cash donations, SUPRS strives to give back to the drivers, teams, tracks, and fans that support supermodified racing. SUPRS will continue to use this venue as a way to encourage more new fans to partake in this great adventure called supermodifieds and to help them better understand the cars, the tracks, the drivers and the people involved with supermodified racing.
