FALLON (Oct. 4/5) — Rattlesnake Raceway ended its season with the annual Dirt Track Championships. However this year there was an unforeseen twist; rain canceled the scheduled date so the event was moved to the next weekend.
Shawn Natenstedt won both IMCA races to claim that division’s Dirt Track Championship.
During Saturday’s IMCA feature Dave Sciarroni (25) and Robert Mull had an almost race long duel for position.
Carl Barlow mastered a slick track on Saturday to win the Hobby Stock main. Then he repeated this Sunday to claim the title for that division.
A slick track on Saturday caused many spins during the Hobby Stock main. Here Jason Irwin goes around but would get right back on the track.
Cody Aquistapace (103) and Randy Darst (02) duel for the lead in Saturday’s Gen-X feature.
Randy Darst was deprived of a good finish when the injectors on his motor failed two laps from the end.
Robert McBroome was the overall Beginner winner for the Northern Nevada Outlaw Karts.
On his way to winning the overall Outlaw Kart title at the DTC, Blake Rauscher passes his brother Evan as they race in Saturday’s Box Stock main.
Sadly many cars that planned to be there weren’t. Despite this the event went on as planned and the drivers put on a display of hard racing.
“I had to avoid a lot of stuff as the track went from real good to a real slick, slick, slick track,” Carl Barlow said after winning Saturday’s Hobby Stock main. “The car was real good at the start, real good. At the end it was good but I had to change my
driving style, had to slow it down a little bit.”
It took two attempts for the 19-car field to really get going. On point was Dan Edgington with Dennis Beuhn giving chase.
Not far behind the leaders was a charging Carl Barlow, who only needed about five laps to sweep into the lead. Behind him Dan Dias was after Edgington and second while further back Richard Italiano was moving through the field.
Once in the lead it only took Barlow three to four circuits before he was lapping traffic. Many times he had to avoid possible trouble.
One he missed was a caution after a few cars tangled in Turn 4 and Barlow had to dive inside all of them to escape being caught up in the mess. Italiano had a flat, pitted and returned to the fray once the green waved again.
Due to the slick track there were three more cautions as drivers spun their cars in various places. In one of them Tami Beuhn car had contact with another then was turned sideways and went nose first into the backstretch wall.
While she wasn’t injured her car was and even though it was able to run she soon dropped out of the race.
With so many cautions the event became a marathon due to spins on the slick track. But Barlow was always able to maintain the lead and reached the checkered flag first.
Dan Dias ran a strong second followed by Tony Taylor, J.T. Stark and Rick Miller.
The IMCA race was all Shawn Natenstedt as he just took off and left everyone in his dust. Behind him Zach Cail, who drives a B Mod, was busy holding off David Ausano.
Further back Dave Sciarroni and Robert Mull were locked into an almost race long duel for third and fourth.
In the end Natenstedt cruised to a relatively easy victory while Cail finished second ahead of Ausano and Mull while Sciarrroni pitted about two third through the event.
The Gen-X division ended the car racing for the day but there was a duel for the lead at first. First on point was Randy Darst, who was soon joined by Cody Aquistapace.
After a few laps Aquistapace made the winning pass but Darst didn’t give up and was in hot pursuit. Lee Ketten Jr., who is usually a contender dropped out early with some kind of problem.
In the end Aquistapace won the day but Darst was deprived of a good finish when his car’s injector system failed two laps from the end and he left trailing a huge plume of white smoke.
Back in the pits Acquistapace said, “I wouldn’t call it easy but I had a feeling I would get past him (Darst). I used to race motocross so it’s kind of given what line to take and the track was pretty nice, got a little dry slick towards the end but it wasn’t too bad. I also need to thank my new wife Kendra for her support.”
On Sunday only three IMCA drivers were on hand and once again Natenstedt won and claimed the DTC title for that division. Cail and Sciarroni came home second and third.
Barlow continued his winning ways picking up another win in the Hobby Stock class and taking that championship. Roger Donahue was the runner up followed by Tony Taylor and J.T. Stark.
Dave Raber won Sunday’s Gen-X feature followed by Lee Ketten Jr., however Aquistapace’s third place gave him the title for that class.
Rounding out the show were the Northern Nevada Outlaw Karts. When the weekend ended Robert McBroome won the Beginner division while Blake Rauscher was the Box Stock overall winner.
Before the track goes dark for the winter there is one more event, the traditional Kris Kringle race. It’s all for fun and trophies but has a more serious purpose to help local charities.
Drivers and fans are asked to bring unwrapped toys that equal to the appropriate admission price. Money will also be gladly accepted.
Racing begins at noon and is usually a fun time for all as it’s the final race for most drivers until the spring. Then at 7 p.m. that night the track hosts its annual awards banquet.
RESULTS
Dirt Track Championships — Rattlesnake Raceway
• Saturday, Oct. 4
IMCA:
Heat Winner — Shawn Natenstedt
Main — 1. Shawn Natenstedt, 2. Zach cail, 3. David Ausano, 4. Robert Mull, 5. Byron Hutchinson, 6. Dave Sciarroni, 7. Jeff Oschweka
Hobby Stocks:
Heat Winners — #1 Dan Dias, #2 Anthony DelVecchio, #3 Dan Edgington
Main — 1. Carl Barlow, 2. Dan Dias, 3. Tony Taylor, 4. J.T. Stark, 5. Rick Miller, 6. Wes Washburn, 7. Dennis Buehn, 8. Alex Pettit, 9. Anthony Del Vecchio, 10. Eric Taylor, 11. Richard Italiano, 12, Roger Donahue, 13. Jason Irwin, 14. Tami Beuhn, 15. Shane Crazel, 16. Chris Christiano, 17. Dan Edgington, 18. Jeff Tuttle, 19. Rob Carey
Gen-X:
Heat Winner — Cody Aquistapace
Main — 1. Cody Aquistapace, 2. Dave Raber, 3. Shane Rasmussen, 4. Randy Darst, 5. Lee Ketten Jr.
• Sunday, Oct. 5
IMCA:
Heat Winner — Shawn Natenstedt
Main — 1. Shawn Natenstedt, 2. Zach Cail, 3. Dave Sciarroni
Hobby Stocks:
Heat Winners — #1 Carl Barlow, #2 Roger Donahue, #3 Rob Carey
Main — 1. Carl Barlow, 2. Roger Donahue, 3. Chris Christiano, 4. Richard Italiano, 5. Rick Miller, 6. Tony Taylor, 7. J.T. Stark, 8. Wes Washburn, 9. Shane Crazel, 10. Rob Carey, 11. Tami Beuhn, 12. Dennis Beuhn, 13. Anthony Del Vecchio, 14. Alex Pettit, 15. Dan Dias, 16. Jason Irwin, 17. Jeff Tuttle, 18. Dan Edgington, 19. Eric Taylor, 20. Chris Lumsden
Gen-X:
Heat Winner — Dave Raber
Main — 1. Dave Raber, 2. Lee Ketten Jr., 3. Cody Aquistapace
DTC Champions:
IMCA— Shawn Natenstedt
Hobby Stocks — Carl Barlow
Gen-X — Cody Aquistapace
Northern Nevada Outlaw Karts
DTC Overall:
Beginners — 1. Robert McBroome, 2. Brent Rauscher
Box Stock — 1. Blake Rauscher, 2. Tanner Danielson, 3. Even Rauscher, 4. Sarah Anderson, 5. Jacob Dias, 6. Jayden Hopper
