Second SUPRSNationals Win Secures Empire State Super Series Championship for Rob Warren
August 13, 2018 – Oswego, NY…Rob Warren of Pulaski, NY left took the lead from Chad Phelps on lap 22 of the Supermodified Ultimate Pavement Racing Series, (SUPRS), SUPRSNationals wing supermodified 50 lap feature and easily held on for the win. But the rest of the competitors behind him didn’t find the road that smooth or easy.
Rob Warren won the SUPRSNationals 50 to kick off the 2018 Topless! 200 Week at Oswego. (Victory Lane art by BreezeGraphics.com)
Rodrigues Brings Out First Caution
Warren’s race wasn’t without mishap, even as easy as he made it seem. On lap three, Nelson Rodrigues tried to make a cross-over pass on leader Chad Phelps when his Star Speedway sponsored car took a hard right as his left rear tire got more bit than he expect.
Warren, following closely behind, narrowly escaped disaster when he clipped Rodrigues in the right rear, who by this time was already headed for the backstretch wall head-on. Warren kept the Stoneham, MA racer from piling in nose first, but the contact sent Rodrigues into a spin and after some distance sliding backwards, he slammed into the turn three outside gate and foam. The caution was out and so was the Rodrigues with suspension damage.
Phelps, Warren Battle
Chad Phelps was able to fend off Warren on the restart and the duo gradually pulled away from the pack, with Phelps looking like he had plenty of car to hold of Warren and become the third Disturbed Motorsports driver in as many years to win SUPRSNationals.
However, “The X-Man” was battling a tight race car and on lap 22 he pushed up the track just enough for Warren to sneak under and challenge for the lead. Phelps wasn’t going to give it to Warren though, and the two banged wheels going into the third turn. Warren was finally able to muscle his way through in the middle of the corner, but Phelps gave Warren one last love tap to let him know he wasn’t finished as the two exited turn four.
Intense Mid-Pack Battle Turns Disastrous
As the top two raced tooth and nail, the rest of the field had their own tussle going about a straight away behind. Steve Callahan held third place, with Phelps’ teammates Derrick Backus and Kyle Clark, running just in front of Callahan’s CPR Motorsports teammate, Keith Powell.
With Phelps and Warren joust in full song, the pack caught up. But then just four laps after the lead changed hands, teammates Clark and Backus got together going into turn three just after Clark had taken over fourth place from Backus.
Keith Powell slid to the inside to make it three-wide in the middle of turn three and four when he did, he went up and over the left rear tire of Backus. This sent Backus into the rear end of Clark, who was on the rear nerf bar of Steve Callahan and was looking like he might escape from the melee’.
The contact from the rear and the lack of racing room in front, sent Clark shooting into the outside wall where he was hit again by Backus and then by Carl Becker. The car spun wildly, banging the wall each time it came around. Clark came to a stop with his right front wheel and much of the suspension ripped off.
But Wait, There’s More
After the crash, Bob Gangwer inherited fourth place. And with Powell and Backus struggling with heavy damage to their rides, set off after third place racer Steve Callahan. After some close racing, Gangwer got by Callahan around lap 33, and then caught up to Phelps by lap 39.
Phelps and Gangwer caught up to Carl Becker to put a lap on the Michigan driver on lap 42. But as the threesome entered turn one, Gangwer inexplicably drove into the back of Becker, while Phelps and Callahan squeezed by in the low groove. Becker and Gangwer spun and with nowhere to go, Powell again found himself involved and sitting sideways on the track.
Smooth Sailing for Last Eight Laps
Warren was fortunate to be out front and found himself easily pulling away for the last eight laps of the race, and with the least amount of damage of any of the remaining cars, went on to win by 1.383 seconds over Phelps and Callahan.
Listen and Watch SUPRSNationals Post-Race Interviews
It was Warren’s seventh win of the season, and second SUPRSNationals win of his career. It was also his fourth victory in the five race Empire State Super Series, (ESS), Regional Tour that concluded with SUPRSNationals and easily propelled him to his second ESS Championship.
Tops Off for Rest of Week
The SUPRS racers now take the top wing off to get ready for the 14th Annual Topless! 200. The run for the Pole Position takes place Tuesday August 14, 2018 at 9:00pm. The two fastest qualifiers are locked into the front row, with the rest of the racers having to run a Heat Race or B-Main to make the show.
Then on Wednesday is the granddaddy of all supermodified sim races, the SUPRS Topless! 200 at Oswego Speedway. The grand finale’ to the 2018 SUPRS Gold Crest Non-Wing Championship XIV, this race is 200 laps of strategy and speed modeled after the famed Oswego Speedway Interna
A reminder that 14th Annual SUPRS Topless! 200 laps sponsorships are still available for just $1 per lap. All proceeds go toward the Dion Parish Memorial Benevolent Fund for Supermodifieds. More details are on the SUPRS website.
Enjoy Time Trials Live
Supermodified and sim racing fans alike can view streaming video, timing, scoring and track telemetry of the 14th Annual Topless! 200 Pole Night and Heat Races with SUPRS LIVE! You’ll be able to keep up with your favorite SUPRS racer in an instant by going to www.SUPRS.net/site/live.
Learn more about the original online supermodified sim racing sanction when you visit 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. Watch live and recorded on-demand video of all SUPRS events via the SUPRS Twitch.TV channel.
SUPRS RACE RESULTS:
- SUPRSNationals – 2017-18 Empire State Super Series Finale’
- Race 11 of 12
- August 13, 2018
- SUPRS rFactor W v7.3 mod
- SUPRS Oswego Speedway v1.4
Supermodified Time Trials (showing place, car number, driver name, sponsors, best lap underlined)
- 61-Derrick Backus; Mexico, NY; TID Solutions, Disturbed Motorsports: 16.841, 16.542
- 38-Kyle Clark; Mexico, NY; Walker’s Cleaners & Tuxedo Rental, Disturbed Motorsports: 16.686, 16.552
- 35-Rob Warren; Pulaski, NY; 1st to Finish Race Servers, Designs of Elegance: 16.753, 16.624
- 25-Bob Gangwer; Goshen, IN; B&G Racing Photos, RW Woodworking: 16.877, 16.780
- 55-Steve Callahan; Cuyahoga Falls, OH; Exide Battery, CPR Motorsports: 17.023, 16.731
- 41-Keith Powell; Carrollton, OH; Icings on Top, CPR Motorsports: 17.094, 16.742
- X-Chad Phelps; New Haven, NY; Haun Welding Supply, Disturbed Motorsports: 17.146, 16.764
- 7-Nelson Rodrigues; Stoneham, MA; Star Speedway: 17.272, 17.292
- 42-Carl Becker; Lansing, MI; Wholesale Diamond Exchange, Michigan Hill Gang: 18.014, 17.886
Supermodified Heat Race (showing place, car number, driver name, top two eligible for feature inversion)
- 35-Rob Warren
- X-Chad Phelps
- 61-Derrick Backus
- 38-Kyle Clark
- 41-Keith Powell; Carrollton, OH; Icings on Top, CPR Motorsports
Time of Race: 2:49.176
Supermodified Heat Race (showing place, car number, driver name, top two eligible for feature inversion)
- 7-Nelson Rodrigues
- 55-Steve Callahan
- 42-Carl Becker
- 25-Bob Gangwer
Time of Race: 2:54.810
Supermodified Feature 50 Laps (showing place, car number, driver name, starting place, bonuses, distance behind leader)
- 35-Rob Warren; P4 | * | ** | 16.657
- X-Chad Phelps; P2 | * | 16.721 | +1.388
- 55-Steve Callahan; P3 | 16.693 | +1.629
- 61-Derrick Backus; P5 | 16.652 | +4.590
- 25-Bob Gangwer; P8 | 16.671 | +12.953
- 41-Keith Powell: P9 | 16.701 | +1 Lap
- 42-Carl Becker; P6 | 17.367 | +2 Laps
- 38-Kyle Clark; P7 | ! | 16.605 | DNF-Accident
- 7-Nelson Rodrigues; P1 | 17.005 | DNF-Suspension
Time of Race: 21:28.024
Key:
- * denotes lap led
- ** denotes most laps led
- ! denotes fastest lap of race
Notes:
- There three cautions in the feature that lasted 11 laps total
- There was one lead changes and two different leaders
- Nelson Rodrigues had the best lap consistency of 75.59%
- Steve Callahan had the top speed of the race at 159.879 mph
- Chad Phelps had the least on track incidents, (contact with other cars, or objects), at one
- Derrick Backus had the most on track incidents with 17
