Holds off Keith Powell at Hickory Hustle to Become 2-Time North Carolina Swing Champion
October 19, 2017 – Hickory, NC…Rob Warren was able to hold back a challenge by Keith Powell as he dodged late race traffic to become a two-time Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS), Hickory Hustle winner Thursday night and add his name to the very short list of multi-time North Carolina Swing Champions Thursday night at Hickory Motor Speedway.
“Rocket” Rob Warren held off Keith Powell to win his second SUPRS North Carolina Swing Championship. (Victory Lane Art by BreezeGraphics.com)
“It got real close at the end that was a great race,” said the winner. Come feature time that thing was a rocket.
Warren had no easy go, even though he was into second place by lap two. Warren stayed glued to the rear nerf bar of leader, and defending North Carolina Swing Champion Steve Callahan until the first caution came out on lap 32.
On the restart Warren quickly vanquished Callahan to second place then focused on hitting his marks and knocking down the laps. He was in a pretty comfortable spot until late in the race when he came upon a snarling pack of lapped cars.
“There were three lapped cars right in front of us,” Warren explained. “No fault of anyone’s, it was just racing, but Nelson and I got together and he went for a slide. Credit to Nelson, he was able to gather it up.
“Then I noticed that my 1.5 second lead had just become 2 tenths. I told myself to just drive it off turn two like every other lap and don’t bobble off of turn four. That’s the Hickory Hustle and man was it a Hustle!” Concluded the Pulaski, NY resident.
FULL RACE VIDEO-2017 Hickory Hustle Below
Keith Powell and Steve Callahan came home on the podium while Kyle Clark and Bob Gangwer rounded out the top five.
Warren’s North Carolina Swing Championship is worth 20 SUPRS Gold Crest Wing Championship bonus points and it’s enough to move him to within two points of the lead after six races.
Thrills, Spills and Chills Next Week
SUPRS moves from North Carolina to South Carolina for the Black Kat Klassic next week on Tuesday. Fans can expect a full format of nail-biting action including time trials, Crack the Whip for Elite 8, heat race and a spine-tingling, 50 lap feature at Myrtle Beach Speedway Fans and friends can hang out while enjoying SUPRS LIVE! Featuring Live Timing, Scoring, Track Telemetry and Streaming Video, it’s the perfect place to cheer on your favorite SUPRS racer. Visit www.SUPRS.net/s
Supermodified and sim racing fans and friends can huddle together while enjoying SUPRS LIVE! Featuring Live Timing, Scoring, Track Telemetry and Streaming Video, it’s the perfect page to calm your nerves when the Black Kat crosses your path.
Learn more about the original supermodified sim racing sanction and read about real supermodified racing with a visit to 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.
SUPRS RACE RESULTS:
14th Annual North Carolina Swing-The Hickory Hustle
- Race 5 of 5
- October 19, 2017
- SUPRS rFactor W v7.2 mod
- Hickory Motor Speedway
Feature-75 Laps (showing car number, driver, name, bonus, fastest lap, distance behind winner)
- 35-Rob Warren; */**/5/10.936
- 41-Keith Powell; !/8/10.920/+0.281
- 55-Steve Callahan; */3/10.040/+4.097
- 38-Kyle Clark; 6/11.002/4.695
- 25-Bob Gangwer; 2/11.128/+10.958
- 77-Kevin Timmins; */1/11.149/+2 Laps
- 7-Nelson Rodrigues; 11.029/+2 Laps
- 42-Carl Becker 4/11.507/+4 Laps
Time of Race: 17:38.073
- * Denotes Lap Led
- ** Denotes Most Laps Led
- ! Denotes Fastest Lap of Race
