Rob Warren Grabs SUPRS Florida Speedweeks win at USA International Speedway
February 7, 2019 – Lakeland, FL…Rob Warren of Pulaski, NY won the fourth round of the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS), Florida Speedweeks Thursday at USA International Speedway. Keith Powell recovered from a lap 19 spin to finish second, and Bob Gangwer survived mayhem on the last lap to limp across the line for third.
Steals Lead
Warren, who started fourth, got to second place within a couple of laps, then hounded leader Bob Gangwer until the first caution flew for Kyle Clark on lap nine. On the restart, Warren, feeling pressure from third place running Nelson Rodrgiues, drove deep into the corner under Gangwer and stole the lead.
Powell Goes to Tail
Current Florida Speedweeks points leader, Keith Powell, started next to last, but was able to follow Nelson Rodrigues up through the pack and found himself sitting in third place with seven laps to go. Then on lap 24, Powell dove to the inside of Rodrigues in turn three, ran out of room and clipped the previous night’s winner. Rodrigues went flying to the outside wall, then rolled back to the bottom of the track before stopping against the end of pit wall.
Both drivers were sent to the back of the field, and it looked like Powell had taken himself out of the Speedweeks and Championship points lead. For Rodrigues, it was just another night of being in the wrong place at the wrong time during what has been a very up and down Speedweeks for the Massachusetts racer.
Dramatic Finish
With Powell and Rodrigues out of the picture, Brad Keysor was now up to second place. Bob Gangwer, who’d been shuffled to the back after Warren had passed him and then got loose on the front stretch, now found himself in third place.
As the green flag flew with six laps to go, Warren took off while Keysor and Gangwer went to war. Suddenly, Keith Powell was in the mix about a car length behind, having worked his way up to fourth almost at the drop of the green.
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With the white flag showing, Warren maintained a car length lead with Keysor fighting to keep Gangwer behind him. As Keysor exited turn two on the final go around, the car got loose. He fought it all the way down the backstretch but it got to be too hard to hand on to. The left rear tire hooked and turned the car right shooting it up the track into Gangwer. They both shot to the outside wall and hit the opening in turn three. Gangwer kept his foot in it and was able to ride the wall all the way to the finish line, but not before Powell somehow had scrapped by for second. Keysor wasn’t so lucky. He got up into the air and when he came down, found himself in last place, all hopes for a second podium finish within 24 hours dashed and destroyed like his virtual supermodified.
Powell Maintains Speedweeks Championship Lead
Keith Powell takes a fifteen point lead into the last night of SUPRS 2019 Florida Speedweeks at a track he won on last year. If he can finish on the podium for the last race, it’s a good bet he’ll join Ray Sand, Jr. and Myles Maxon as a three-time Florida Speedweeks Champion
Five Flags to Finish
The fifth and last night of SUPRS Florida Speedweeks takes place tomorrow night at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, FL. This track is most well-known for holding the famous Snowball Derby every year, but has also seen it’s fair share of supermodified racing throughout its history.
Fan Fun in Florida
Fans can join in the final night of Florida Speedweeks fun by watching SUPRS LIVE! from Five Flags. It’s easy to keep up with your favorite SUPRS racer instantly with live streaming video, stats, and track telemetry by visiting www.SUPRS.net/site/live.
Get Social with SUPRS
Fans can learn more about 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 RACE RESULTS:
- SUPRS Florida Speedweeks Night 4
- Race 28 of 46
- Thursday, February 7, 2019
- SUPRS rFactor W v7.3 mod
- USA International Speedway
- 25 laps
Time Trials (showing car number, driver name, hometown, sponsors, lap 1, lap 2-best lap bold)
- 38-Kyle Clark; Mexico, NY; Coors’ Light, Disturbed Motorsports: 15.797, 15.376
- 41-Keith Powell; Carrollton, OH; Icings on Top, CPR Motorsports: 15.526, 15.383
- 7-Nelson Rodrigues; Stoneham, MA; Star Speedway: 15.436, 15.394
- 25-Bob Gangwer; Goshen, IN; B&G Racing Photos, RW Woodworking 15.7592, 15.433
- 55-Steve Callahan; Cuyahoga Falls, OH; Exide Battery, CPR Motorsports: 15.543, 15.505
- 35-Rob Warren; Pulaski, NY; 1st to Finish Race Servers, Designs of Elegance: 15.609, 15.509
- 3-Brad Keysor; Liverpool, NY; Southern Hills Storm Football, Justice League: 15.531, NT
- 42-Carl Becker; Lansing, MI; Wholesale Diamond Exchange, Michigan Hill Gang: 16.316, 15.875
Feature 25 Laps (showing car number, driver name, sponsors, bonus, starting place, fastest lap, distance behind winner)
- 35-Rob Warren: * | ** | P4 | 15.288
- 41-Keith Powell: P7 | 15.370 | +1.217
- 25-Bob Gangwer: ! | * | P2| 15.252 | +1.459
- 55-Steve Callahan: P5 | 15.290 | +3.259
- 7-Nelson Rodrigues: P8 | 15.348 | +4.783
- 38-Kyle Clark: P6 | 15.287| + 6.905
- 42-Carl Becker: P1 | 16.100 | +7.890
- 3-Brad Keysor: P3 | 15.465 | + 14.804
Time of Race: 9:56.064
- * Denotes Lap Led
- ** Denotes Most Laps Led
- ! Denotes Fastest Lap of Race
****2019 SUPRS Florida Speedweeks Schedule****
Friday 02/08/2019
SUPRS Florida Speedweeks Race 5
- Five Flags Speedway-50 laps-1/2 Mile
- 8:00pm Practice
- 8:15pm Drivers Meeting
- 8:30pm Time Trials
- 9:00pm Racing
- Current Track Record: Keith Powell – 14.222 -set on February 9, 2018
- Defending Race Winner: Keith Powell
- rFactor platform SUPRS W v7.3 mod
