Tag: Winter Western Swing

Billy Vukovich III Remembered with Supermodified Sim Race

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February 27, 2018 – Fresno, CA…The Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS) will honor the late Billy Vukovich III tonight with the 14th Annual running of the Billy Vukovich III Classic 100 at Mesa Marin Raceway presented by Supermodified Scorecard.

SUPRS 2018 Billy Vukovich III Classic posterLong-Time Sponsorship Continues

SUPRS co-founder John Davidson, of Sacramento, CA,  has sponsored this race since it’s inception through his Supermodified Scorecard business. His support is just as strong now as it ever was for a race that honors a fellow Californian.

“California-based Supermodified Scorecard continues to proudly sponsor the annual SUPRS sanctioned “Billy Vukovich III Classic” to recognize and honor his legacy and contribution to the supermodified division,” said Davidson.

Davidson himself is a three-time winner of the race and is one of four drivers to have won the prestigious event more than once.

About Billy Vukovich III

Billy Vukovich III was a three-time starter of Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, the first third generation racer to compete in the race and like his father and grandfather before him was named the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race Rookie of the Year.

Bob Frey and Billy Vukovich III at Berlin Raceway 1989 by B&G Racing photos

Bob Frey(L) talks things over with Billy Vukovich III at 1989 USAC sprint car show at Berlin Raceway. Photo by B&G Racing Photos

While many in the mainstream motor sports arena will remember Billy III as a rising star of the IndyCar ranks, the supermodified community will always claim him as one of their own. Starting out just like Bill Vukovich and Bill Vukovich II, Billy got his start in midgets in his home state of California and was a champion in that division. He quickly moved through the ranks to the supermodifieds and competed for famed supermodified car builder Jim Belfiore before moving to larger, better funded teams in California’s Central Valley.

1987 Dominated by Vukovich III

During his supermodified tenure, Vukovich III claimed the 1986-87 USAC Supermodified Championship. In 1987 alone he won an incredible 12 of 17 races with a string of seven consecutive victories. He was also a two-time winner of the prestigious Copper World Classic at Phoenix International Raceway and was a threat to win when he competed at Madera Speedway in the Vernon Reitz “Spirit of Madera” machine.

Led Way to Return of Wings at Oswego

Vukovich III was also a part of the storied return of winged supermodified racing to Oswego Speedway, competing there in an exhibition race against Eddie Bellinger, Steve Gioia, Jr. and Bentley Warren. This event was the forerunner of the return of winged supermodified racing to Oswego Speedway with 1992 ISMA wing show and set the stage for ISMA’s 1992 East vs West series and ultimately the 1995 East vs West Shootout at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

Other Races and Events Celebrate Vukovich III

Vukovich III was killed at the age of 27 while practicing for a CRA pavement sprint car race at Mesa Marin Speedway on November 25, 1990.

Each year Madera Speedway runs the Vukovich Classic in honor of all three generations of the racing Vukovich family. There is an annual Billy Vukovich III golf tournament held to raise funds for the Billy Vukovich III Scholarship Fund for students of Billy’s high school Yosemite High School where there is also a memorial honoring the 1981 graduate who loved meteorology and amateur weather forecasting.

See the Race Live

For the first time in the history of the SUPRS Billy Vukovich III Classic fans can watch all 100 laps with streaming video via SUPRS LIVE! beginning at 9pm EST. Because it is a NASCAR Heat race, there will be no cautions making for a show that should take under 30 minutes to complete.

Race Schedule

Practice begins at 8:00pm with Time Trials 8:30pm. The Fast Car Dash follows at 8:45pm to set the top four starting places for 14th Annual Billy Vukovich III Classic presented by Supermodified Scorecard 100 lap feature which should take the green flag around 9:10pm.

SEE FULL FORMAT of 14th Annual Billy Vukovich III Classic

 

Get Social with SUPRS

Fans can learn more about the supermodified division and the original supermodified sim sanction, the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, by visiting www.SUPRS.net. Join SUPRS active and vibrant Social Media channels by  “Liking” SUPRS on Facebook, Circling SUPRS on Google+, Following @SUPRSOnline on Twitter, and viewing SUPRS videos on YouTube. See us live and join our chat on Twitch.

SUPRS Billy Vukovich III Classic 100 History

  • 2005 Billy Vukovich III Classic Champion: Bud Flath
  • 2006 Billy Vukovich III Classic Champion: John Davidson
  • 2007 Billy Vukovich III Classic Champion: Devin Gee
  • 2008 Billy Vukovich III Classic Champion: John Davidson
  • 2009 Billy Vukovich III Classic Champion: Ray Sand Jr
  • 2010 Billy Vukovich III Classic Champion: Bobby Gangwer
  • 2011 Billy Vukovich III Classic Champion: John Davidson
  • 2012 Billy Vukovich III Classic Champion: Steve Callahan
  • 2013 Billy Vukovich III Classic Champion: Steve Callahan
  • 2014 Billy Vukovich III Classic Champion: Rob Warren
  • 2015 Billy Vukovich III Classic Champion: Ray Sand, Jr.
  • 2016 Billy Vukovich III Classic Champion: Bobby Gangwer
  • 2017 Billy Vukovich III Classic Champion: Steve Callahan

Copper World Classic Kicks Off Western Swing

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February 10, 2018 – Goshen, IN…After a week in Florida, the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS), racers have made their trek across America to begin their “Winter Western Swing” with the SUPRS Copper World Classic XIV presented by Kern Motorsports on Tuesday, February 13, 2018 at Phoenix International Raceway.

SUPRS Copper World Classic XIV Poster

BreezeGraphics.com posters and promotional items won’t leave you felling like you’re stranded in the desert.

 

Similar to Original Copper World Classic
This annual event features wing supermodified, non-wing supermodified, and pavement modified sim racing on the one mile paved oval in Arizona. This event is modeled after the popular Copper World Classic held annually at PIR, (now called ISM Raceway), from 1977-2009.

The supermodifieds were a part of the Copper World Classic from 1984 to 2002 with one year off in 1991. On a couple of occasions the supermodifieds ran without wings, and on others both wing and non-wing supers could be seen on track at the same time. So the SUPRS version tries to give fans the best of both worlds by running both types of cars on the same night.

Davey Hamilton has the most Copper World Classic wins with five and Troy Regier has the record for most wins in a row at three. Doug Saunier was the very first winner and Lonnie Adamson was the last supermodified winner of the Copper World Classic.

Roots in Supermodified Racing Run Deep for Kern

Involved as an official for many years, Curt Kern of Kern Motorsports, has sponsored the SUPRS Copper World Classic since 2007.

In 1987, Kern and Ed Williams started the Northwest Supermodified Racing Association, (NSRA),  after the United States Auto Club, (USAC), unexpectedly pulled out of sanctioning regional racing.

In 1992, Curt Kern formed the Western States Supermodified Tour, separating the supermodifieds from sprint cars, which continued to race under the Northwest Supermodified/Sprintcar Racing Association.

Kern’s Stint at Copper World

Eventually Kern also found himself working in an official capacity during the Copper World Classic. “Some years I was on the ground in the pit area and a couple of years in the tower running race control for the supers,” explained the Washington state native.

“For me, then, it was a pretty stressful position, but I looked forward to the five days in Phoenix every year. I also dreaded it at the same time,” he said.

Supermodified Reunion Organized by Kern

While Kern’s active involvement with the real supermodified division wound down to an end in the late 1990’s, he has stayed involved, albeit from a distance and has never completely walked away from the division. In fact, this year he is organizing a Supermodified Reunion at Meridian Speedway for western states supermodified racers young and old.

“I posted on Facebook about a potential supermodified reunion to be held at Meridian Speedway on May 26, 2018,” began Kern. “The response was pretty good so I decided to take the next step and brought it up to Adam Nelson at Meridian to see if we were on the same page.”

“We’ve lost a lot of supermodified greats since I got out and I thought it was time to remember them and get everyone else back together. Adam was all for it and now we’ve got it scheduled for Memorial Day weekend this year,” stated Kern.

Many States Represented at Reunion

The west coast supermodified sanction list reads like an alphabet soup and stretches from British Columbia through Washington down to California over Idaho and includes Colorado and Utah. With all those states and sanctions represented, this reunion could be one of the largest ever organized for supermodified racing.

A gathering of this size and magnitude deservers to be remembered and a poster and t-shirts are planned as well as an owner/drivers only social gathering. For more information and to be added to the supermodified reunion Facebook Group, former drivers, owners, crew members and fans should contact Curt Kern via email curtkern@yahoo.com or Adam Nelson via the Meridian Speedway contact page.

Kern’s Continued Support of SUPRS

It was only natural for Kern to gravitate to the online version of supermodified racing. After hanging up his sim racing helmet Kern was the SUPRS Race Director for a couple of years and since 2007 Kern Motorsports has been a sponsor of the SUPRS Copper World Classic.

“I’m honored to still be involved with SUPRS and their version of the Copper World Classic and consider Bobby and John both good friends,” he said. “I only wish I could get set up and come back and get in everyone’s way again,” joked Kern. “The event at the time was the supermodified communities version of the Indy 500 and to have SUPRS continue to run that event is pretty cool. Good luck to all and thank you for allowing me to be a part of the show.”

More SUPRS Copper World Details

Practice for the SUPRS Copper World Classic XIV presented by Kern Motorsports begins at 7:30pm with non-wing supermodifieds. The wing supermodifieds will practice runs from  8:45 to 8:oopm before the Drivers Meeting. Time Trials for non-wing are at 8:15pm and wing Time Trials follow at 8:30pm.

Racing on “The Desert Mile”begins with the eight lap wing supermodified heat race  at 9:00pm and the first of two 25 lap features are set to go at 9:05. Points for both feature finishes are added up to determine the overall SUPRS Copper World Classic XIV presented by Kern Motorsports Champion.

Watch Supermodifieds at Phoenix Live

Cheer on your favorite SUPRS racers while you view timing, scoring, track telemetry , stats and live streaming video of all the racing from the SUPRS Copper World Classic XIV presented by Kern Motorsports at Phoenix International Raceway when we go “Live @ 9pm est via the SUPRS LIVE! page.

A revamped page should decrease load times and improve the overall SUPRS LIVE! experience that now includes two in-car camera views as well as the main video screen.

Get Social with SUPRS

Fans can learn more about the supermodified division and the original supermodified sim sanction, the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, by visiting www.SUPRS.net. Join SUPRS active and vibrant Social Media channels by  “Liking” SUPRS on Facebook, Circling SUPRS on Google+, Following @SUPRSOnline on Twitter, and viewing SUPRS videos on YouTube. See us live and join our chat on Twitch.

SUPRS Copper World Classic-Wing Winners/Champions-Phoenix International Raceway

  • 2005 SUPRS Copper World Classic Champion: JP Curry-PA
  • 2006 SUPRS Copper World Classic Champion: John Davidson-CA
  • 2007 SUPRS Copper World Classic Champion: Chuck Russell-MO
  • 2008 SUPRS Copper World Classic Champion: Kris Heveron-FL
  • 2009 SUPRS Copper World Classic Champion: Bobby Gangwer-IN
  • 2010 SUPRS Copper World Classic Champion: Chad Phelps-NY
  • 2011 SUPRS Copper World Classic Champion: Jeff Weber-IN
  • 2012 SUPRS Copper World Classic Champion: Ray Sand, Jr.-NY
  • 2013 SUPRS Copper World Classic Champion: John Davidson-CA
  • 2014 SUPRS Copper World Classic Champion: Ray Sand, Jr.-NY
  • 2015 SUPRS Copper World Classic Champion: Steve Callahan-OH
  • 2016 SUPRS Copper World Classic Winner: Bobby Gangwer-IN
  • 2017 SUPRS Copper World Classic Winner: Nelson Rodrigues-MA

SUPRS Copper World Classic-Non-Winged Winners – Phoenix International Raceway

  • 2014 SUPRS Copper World Classic Winner: Steve Callahan-OH
  • 2015 SUPRS Copper World Classic Winner: Myles Maxon-NY
  • 2016 SUPRS Copper World Classic Winner: Ray Sand, Jr.-NY
  • 2017 SUPRS Copper World Classic Winner: Joe Achzet-NY

SUPRS Copper World Classic Wing/Non-Wing Combined Champions

  • 2016 SUPRS Copper World Classic Champion: Ray Sand, Jr.
  • 2017 SUPRS Copper World Classic Champion: Joe Achzet

(Note: Before 2016, the winner of the wing supermodified race was the SUPRS Copper World Classic Champion)

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Quick Results: Sand, Jr. Wins Rescheduled Veterans Day Special

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Madera, CA – February 17, 2016…Ray Sand, Jr. of Rochester, NY  won the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS),  Veterans Day Special at Madera Speedway. The race was originally scheduled for November 10, 2015 at Music City Speedway, but, after Time Trials had been completed, the race was canceled at Music City and had to be rescheduled due to track issues. “The Sandman” won over Chris Meyers and Brian Potvin. Meyers and Potvin didn’t time… Keep Reading

John Davidson Bucks the Odds at Buckley

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Drives Brother’s Car as Backup to Buckley Speedway Victory in Printwerx 50 RACE RESULTS Printwerx Special Race 32 of 43 February 27, 2008 Buckley  Speedway SUPRS NASCAR Heat W v5 mod 75 Laps Supermodified (wing) Time Trials (showing car number, driver name, hometown, sponsors, best lap-Elite 8 Eligible for Feature Redraw) 18-Ray Sand, Jr.; Rochester, NY; SandmanRacing.com: 11.895 NTR 79-Myles Maxon; Oswego, NY; Tamarack Golf Club, The Swamp: 11.909 71jr-Bud Flath, Jr.; Deptford, NJ; Twisted Metal Fabrication,… Keep Reading

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