This weekend there was a special first time visitor to a track in our region.

QUINCY, CALIF. (June 3) – American Valley Speedway entertained their first visit by the Nevada Pro Stock Association (NPSA). For the pro stocks it was the Steven “Pops,” Rauscher Memorial race.

Asked about going from the back to the front and winning the 30-laps main winner Shawn Natenstedt said, “A little bit of patience, definitely aggressiveness. I wasn’t sure I was going to make it as we’ve got a talented field and its pretty special to win. The Rauschers are great friends of mine and I’ve known their dad for a long time so thank you for sponsoring the race tonight. The track was good, I think it rubbered up a little bit towards the end with these big tires we all run.”

Shawn Natenstedt scores his third victory in the Nevada Pro Stock Association’s season.

Then he thanked Chewy Vasquez, Antonio, Dave, Danny as well as Gunslinger Chassis and others for their support.

When the green waved Mike Learn was on point with James Gonzalez, Jay Sears and Brent Lawerence giving chase. The first caution came out right after the race began when a car stopped in Turn 2.

Once racing resumed the leaders took off but back in the pack Natenstedt was beginning to pick off cars ahead of him one by one.

The next caution came after contact between Mike McMordie and Eddy Stidham. And Tyler Jones would pull onto the infield as his car had problems and couldn’t continue.

By the time of that caution the field had run five green flag laps and the race was 14 minutes long. Once things got going again. Natenstedt resumed getting by his opponents when any opportunity presented itself.

Two more cautions slowed the race due to tangles between cars. After the first Natenstedt used an outside move to take the lead but had to drop back to second as another caution happened at that time.

Once this last caution was over Natenstedt used an outside move to take over the lead and pull way from the pack. Behind him Jay Sears was battling with and finally took over second then tried to run down the fleeing leader.

It was to no avail as Natenstedt was in the driver’s seat and roared away to claim the victory. Sears ended up second head of Learn and Travis White.

Post race celebration for Shawn Natenstedt.

“You know Shawn was definitely pretty good and I was doing the best I could do to stay with him,” Sears said later. “He was just pulling me a little bit each lap. The track started to rubber down and got a lot better.”

There were 16 IMCA Modifieds that took the green to start their 20-lap main. Up front Chris Lewis was on point with Richard Papenhasuen and Larry McCracken giving chase.

The first caution came when Bill Pearson stopped with a flat. Once racing resumed Lewis held the lead

On lap 6 there was a tangle when Pearson and Cole Peard tangled in Turn 2, which collected the cars of Jeff Olschowka and Galin Hainline. This took a bit to get the mess cleared up.

When the green waved again the field took off lead by Lewis and Papenhasuen but behind them Chris Nieman was moving forward. Eventually Nieman was able to take second while McCrcacken ended up third but no one was going to deny Lewis this victory.

Finishing fifth was Erica Buhr, who was celebrating her birthday by racing.

After scoring the win Lewis said, “First one ever, I’ll take it! I may have lost the motor but I’ll take it, there is no oil pressure, only 20 pounds. It’s hard for me to be consistent, I’m still new to this and these guys back here are fast. I don’t really have sponsors but I want to thank my dad, he didn’t make it out to this race so it would have been the first one he’s ever seen. And I need to thank my boy and my pit crew.”

When the Sport Mods began their main the first two were side-by-side going into Turn 1 but Jr. Svensson was on point coming out of Turn 2. Then there was a caution so the field slowed and got ready for the restart.

On the green Craig Nieman and Svensson were side-by-side again but this time Nieman took the lead. Then Svensson started a duel with himself and Keith Brown Jr. for second while Joe Wood was holding fourth.

While others were disputing positions Nieman extended his lead but that was erased when Svensson slows in Turn 4 bringing out the caution. On the restart Nieman took off followed by Brown and Jimmy Ford; they finished in that orders.

After winning the race Nieman said, “It was awesome, the heat race was terrible, made the right adjustments and it was flying. And I want to thank my wife for all the patience due to all the time I spend in the garage.”

Eight Hobby Stock answered the green and James Earl along with Colby Russell led the charge into Turn 1. Coming out of Turn 2 Earl was on point but behind him Dan Dias was on a charge.

Further back Nathen Howard and Richard Longacre were dueling for third while Dias took second and began to challenge for the lead.

There was a caution on Lap 3 after one car got a flat and retired to the pits for a new tire. Once racing resumed Earl and Dias resumed their battle for the lead.

Coming out of Turn 4 Dias would almost get beside Earl, who seemed to have a better drive out of the corner. By now Lance Bain had moved into third.

The second caution came after Dias got sideways coming out of Turn 4 and slid into a tire that helps mark the inside of the track. On the green he started from the back and was on a charge.

Up front Earl was in the driver’s seat but the charging Dias would work his way into second and was nose-to-tail with Earl when they took the white flag.

In that final lap Earl held on to score the victory with Dias second ahead of third place Bain.

After two attempts the Mini Stock main finally got rolling with Connor McMillian leading Tyler Eckels. That was as close as anyone got to McMillian as he spent the remainder of the 17-lap race extending his lead.

Behind him Larry Whitebird ended up second followed by Tyler Eckels and Suzi Schmitt.

Next week American Valley is in action once more but this time the Dwarf Cars from Northern Nevada will also joining the show that has a 7 p.m. start time.

OTHER RACING NEWS:

At this year’s SCORE Baja 500 Robert Hansen helped organize a team for Hicklin Powersports. His cousin, former world Supercross champion Jim Holley and Jason Tome rode their entry to first place in the 30 Pro class.

Unfortunately local Dennis “Zorro,” Belingheri had a relatively slow speed get off that ended his race. He suffered several injuries, was able to make it back home will be in the hospital for the next few days.

Earlier this year Ty Tremaine was selected to be part of the U.S. team at the International Six Day Enduro, which will be held in France during August. However even though he’s on the team this Gardnerville native must raise the funds to afford the trip.

Ty Tremaine fund raiser poster.

Our sponsor PJandCo on Wells is having a fundraiser to help him as part of Bike Night on Wednesday, June 14th. If you would like to help this area racer please plan to attend, there will be t-shirts and other things one can buy or just make an appreciated donation.

The time is 5:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. that evening.

• NASCAR visited the Dover International Speedway “The Monster Mile,” this weekend. Sparks native T.J. Bell raced a truck in Friday’s Camping World Truck race but a wreck cut his race short and dropped him to 23rd at the end.

In Saturday’s Xfinity race Las Vegas native Brendan Gaughan started 15th and finished 20th. The Busch brothers raced in Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR CUP event with Kyle ending up 16th while older brother was in a wreck and finished 37th.

REPORTER’S NOTE: There is a photo gallery after the results.

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We now have five very appreciated sponsors that are helping support this site.

Our newest is Big Valley Honda and is the first dealer we have as a sponsor. They sell everything from motorcycles, UTV’s, ATV’s and about anything else things one could want.

They are located at 2225 Market Street in Reno and their website is www.bigvalleyhonda.com and they have a Face Book page, www.facebook.com/bigvalleyhondareno.

Our first sponsor is a full service motorcycle shop, Reno Motorsports and they too have a full service shop as well as about anything a rider could want.

They are located at 964 Terminal way, by Mill Street and their website is, www.rms-renomotorsports.com.

Sponsor PJ & Co Restaurant and Saloon located at 1590 Wells Avenue in Reno is familiar to most in the riding lifestyle.

Good food, great place and they have Bike Night every Wednesday. For further information please check their website at, www.pjandco.net.

Concours Body Shop, owned by racer and race supporter Gil Grieve, is a business doing quality repair work on cars and trucks.

The business is located at 240 Telegraph Street in Reno and their website is, www.concoursbodyshop.net.

If you are into karting or want the most cost effective way to start racing then check out Nevada Kart Sport, our only full service kart shop in this region.

They are located at 1220 E. Greg Street in Sparks and their website is, www.nevadakartsport.com.

Have a business targeted toward the motorcycle, motorsport or off road demographic? Well we are looking for more sponsors.

You can contact us either through the comment section of the site or our Face Book page.

Results:

American Valley Speedway – June 3

Nevada Pro Stock Association – Round 4

Steven “Pops,” Rauscher Memorial:

+ Heat #1: 1. Shawn Natenstedt, 2. Travis White, 3. James Gonzales, 4. Tyler Jones, 5. Eddy Stidham.

+ Heat #2: 1. Darrick Rauscher, 2. Jay Sears, 3. Mike Learn, 4. Jesse Gonzalez, 5. Mike McMordie.

+ Heat 3: 1. David Pain, 2. Gordon Russell, 3. Rocky Boice Jr., 4. Phil Marino.

+ Main (30-Laps): 1. Shawn Natenstedt, 2. Jay Sears, 3. Mike Learn, 4. Travis White, 5. James Gonzalez, 6. Mike McMordie, 7. Rocky Boice Jr., 8. David Pain, 9. Brent Lawerence, 10. Eddy Stidham, 11. Tyler Jones, 12. Jesse Gonzalez, 13. Gordon Russell.

IMCA Modified:

+ Heat #1: 1. Richard Papenhausen, 2. Chris Lewis, 3. Erica Buhr, 4. Chase Nieman, 5. Mitch Murphy, 6.Will McMilleno.

+ Heat #2: 1. Cole Peard, 2. Matt Murphy, 3. Bill Pearson, 4. Bobby Higgins, 5. Eli Zucker.

+ Heat #3: 1. Larry McCracken, 2. Joff Olschowka, 3. Chris Nieman, 4. Shawn Natenstedt, 5. Galin Hainline.

Main (20-Laps): 1. Chris Lewiss, 2. Chris Nieman, 3. Larry McCracken, 4. Chase Nieman, 5. Erica Buhr, 6. Shawn Natenstedt, 7. Jeff Olschowka, 8. Mitch Murphy, 9. Matt Murphy, 10. Bobby Higgins, 11. Eli Zucker, 12. Will McMilleno, 13. Richard Papenhausen, 14. Bill Pearson, 15. Galin Hainline, 16. Cole Peard.

IMCA Sport Mods:

+ Heat #1: 1. Keith Brown Jr., 2. Jason Emmot, 3. Joe Wood, 4. Tom Froggatt, 5. Robert Patterson.

+ Heat #2: 1. Jr Svensson, 2. Jimmy Ford, 3. Craig Nieman, 4. Brittney Nieman, 5. Steve Gordon.

+ Main (20-Laps): 1. Craig Nieman, 2. Keith Brown Jr., 3. Jimmy Ford, 4. Joe Wood, 5. Tom Froggatt, 6. Steve Gordon, 7. Brittney Nieman, 8. Jason Emmot, 9. Jr. Sevensson.

Hobby Stock:

+ Heat #1: 1. Brian Compton, 2. Richard Longacre, 3. Joe Blackwell, 4. Dan Dias, 5. James Earl, 6. Jacob Frederickson.

+ Heat #2: 1. Lance Howard, 3. Colby Russell.

+ Main (20-Laps): 1. James Earl, 2. Dan Dias, 3. Lance Bain, 4. Colby Russell, 5. Brian Compton, 6. Jacob Frederickson, 7. Nathan Howard, 8. Richard Longacre.

Mini Stock:

+ Heat #1: 1. Tyler Eckels, 2. Ryan Belli, 3. Kate Robertson, 4. Joey Blackwell, 5. Colton Lawson, 6. Jacob Foster.

+ Heat #2: 1. Connor McMillian, 2. Larry Whitebird, 3. Tyler Cheek, 4. Madison Hood, 5. Suzi Schmitt.

+ Main (17-Laps): 1. Connor McMillian, 2. Larry Whitebird, 3. Tyler Eckels, 4. Suzi Schmitt, 5. Tyler Cheek, 6. Joey Blackwell, 7. Madison Hood, 8. Colton Lawson, 9. Jacob Foster, 10. Ryan Belli, 11. Kate Robertson.

PHOTO GALLERY: