Harvest of Speed and New SUPRS Season Just One Week Away
September 29, 2020 – Goshen, IN…Like a farmer chomping at the bit to get into his fields, the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS), racers are anxious for the 17th Annual Harvest of Speed October 6 at LaPorte Speedway, and sit ready to embark on another great SUPRS season with their virtual winged supermodifieds.
SUPRS Racers Anxious for Harvest
The reason the SUPRS racers are anxious for the Harvest of Speed is because they’ll end a break dating back to August 12. That’s when the checkered flag flew at the Topless! 200 and closed out the non-wing supermodified season.
“I’m excited to start the winged season with the Harvest,” said 2020 Topless! 200 winner Brad Keysor. “I think it is going to be a lot of fun as we have six to seven drivers that will be running their first winged season and I can’t wait to see how competitive they all are. Personally, I am going to try to run with Keith, (Powell), Bob, (Gangwer), and Rob, (Warren-defending SUPRS Wing Supermodified Champion), for the SUPRS title.”
During the off-season 2010 Harvest of Speed winner, Gary Waldron said, “Of all the races I’m most looking forward to this season, it’s the Harvest of Speed because it signals the start of a new season.
“I’ve done well there, and I’ve not done well there. It’s a real challenge, especially with traffic and you always have to watch out for the pits and the walls. It’s a tough place, so to win there really means something.”
2020 Gold Crest Non-Wing Supermodified Icings on Top Rookie of the Year, Erich Becker will make his first Harvest of Speed start on October 6. He is one of several drivers that are expected to make their first start at LaPorte and he’s as anxious as any of them for the Harvest of Speed.
“I have been looking forward to the start of the winged season as soon as the schedule came out and I recognized all the of the cool tracks we will visit,” he said. Becker knows what he’s facing at the first race of the season. “The Harvest of Speed is a challenge for me as there are no car adjustments to be made and I need to learn to drive the game.” Even so, the Shelby Township, MI driver has set some goals for his first winged supermodified season. He said, “My goal is to get a good finish to start the season off and move on to the rFactor tracks where I feel my adjustment to the setup will payoff with a win!”
17 Years of Tradition with NASCAR Heat
Since the very first Harvest of Speed was run, the event has always used the NASCAR Heat sim racing platform and LaPorte Speedway. So while there are many newer sim racing games, SUPRS continues to support the game that gave rise to online sim racing. This year the drivers will use the tried and true SUPRS W v6 mod built in 2009 by Brad Quesnell.
Love and Loathing for LaPorte
Drivers that have spent any time in SUPRS, have a real love/hate relationship with the fictional 3/8th mile track. Located in Northern Indiana, the track has been a mainstay on the SUPRS schedule since the beginning. During the formative years of SUPRS, LaPorte was one of the few tracks available to the fledgling sanction.
“It’s a tough place,” SUPRS veteran Steve Callahan said. He should know, he’s got over 525 SUPRS feature starts and has one win at LaPorte. “We are all rubbing and crossing each other over. We are all logging laps, but still racing hard. I know we put on a good show.”
Defending Winner Uncertain About Season
One racer who isn’t anxious for the Harvest of Speed is the defending winner, Rob Warren and he has some good reasons.
“It’s another season where I do not want to race for points,” he recently stated. “I’ve enjoyed the off-season testing, no pressure to win, but tight white nuckle racing. That’s helped put a little spring in my step.”
Warren has plenty on his plate outside of the virtual world. “With the new house, basement repairs, work, and all that is going on right now, running every race this season may be a little more difficult than ever,” he said.
Harvest of Speed Details
SUPRS 17th consecutive season begins with the Harvest of Speed, October 6, 2020 at LaPorte Speedway. Practice begins at 7:45pm, with the Drivers Meeting taking place at 8:15. Time Trials follow at 8:30pm and Racing begins with the Fast Car Dash at 9:05pm. The full race format and schedule of events is available on the SUPRS schedule page.
Watch the Harvest of Speed Live
Follow your favorite SUPRS racers while you view timing, scoring, and live streaming video from the 2020 Harvest of Speed. Tune in at 9pm ET for SUPRS LIVE! to catch it all.
The SUPRS LIVE! experience includes in-car camera views as well as Twitch Chat. It’s a great place to spend the first Tuesday evening in October and learn more about supermodified sim racing. It’s also a good place to find out more about real supermodified racing.
Become a SUPRS Member
There’s still time to become a SUPRS member before the start of the new season. Anyone 16 years of age or older can race with “The Original Supermodified Sim racing Sanction” and enjoy fun, fair, and friendly competition in an organized, consistent, and transpartent environment. SUPRS has a unique vision that puts more focus on helping others than winning virtual races and anyone intersted can learn more by visitng the SUPRS “About” page.
SUPRS races most Tuesday evenings with practice for each event starting between 8:00 and 8:15 pm, Drivers Meeting at 8:30 pm and Racing at 9:05 pm. For bigger shows including swings and double-headers the evening often starts earlier.
Get Social with SUPRS
Fans of supermodified racing and online sim racers alike can learn more about the original online supermodified sim racing sanction when they visit www.SUPRS.net, The Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series is very active on social media where fans can “Like” SUPRS on Facebook, Follow @SUPRSOnline on Twitter, and View over 650 real supermodified racing videos, and archived SUPRS races on SUPRS YouTube. Fans can also enjoy chatting with each other on SUPRS Twitch page.
Harvest of Speed Season Opener – LaPorte Speedway
- 2004 Harvest of Speed Season Opener Winner: N/A
- 2005 Harvest of Speed Season Opener Winner: John Davidson
- 2006 Harvest of Speed Season Opener Winner: Sean O’Kane
- 2007 Harvest of Speed Season Opener Winner: Myles Maxon
- 2008 Harvest of Speed Season Opener Winner: Myles Maxon
- 2009 Harvest of Speed Season Opener Winner: Myles Maxon
- 2010 Harvest of Speed Season Opener Winner: Gary Waldron
- 2011 Harvest of Speed Season Opener Winner: Ray Sand, Jr.
- 2012 Harvest of Speed Season Opener Winner: Chris Meyers
- 2013 Harvest of Speed Season Opener Winner: Ray Sand, Jr.
- 2014 Harvest of Speed Season Opener Winner: Myles Maxon
- 2015 Harvest of Speed Season Opener Winner: Ray Sand, Jr.
- 2016 Harvest of Speed Season Opener Winner: Bob Gangwer
- 2017 Harvest of Speed Season Opener Winner: Bob Gangwer
- 2018 Harvest of Speed Season Opener Winner: Keith Powell
- 2019 Harvest of Speed Season Opener Winner: Rob Warren
“Supermodified Sim Racing for the Right Reasons” since 2004
