Rattlesnake hosts a night of cautions and carnage under an almost full moon.

FERNLEY (May 30) – There is a long-standing superstition about racing under a full moon. Although it wasn’t a full moon Saturday, it might as well have been.

And the fans at Rattlesnake Raceway, well they got a night full of action.

After the 2nd annual Hobby Stock challenge ended winner Tony Taylor said, “It was a rough race, had a time as a wire kept falling off the distributor so had to go off but made it up going from the front to the back. And after the checkered flag the car died and wouldn’t do one more lap.”

Then he thanked CMF Fabrication, Bob Shank, his wife Anne and gave special thanks to Dennis and Tami Buehn for the winner’s trophy.

The race itself has a very different payout, one that encourages drivers to have a clean race.

Any driver that finishes without causing a yellow gets an additional $100, if they cause one then they only get $50 and if they cause two, which means they are black flagged from the race, they get nothing.

So the incentive was there and last year it took 17 laps until there was a caution. No such luck this year.

Before the race started there was the business of working in the water that had left the track slick. And sometimes this became a show of vehicular figure skating.

Once the track was set the field formed, then waited for a couple of cars that had to pit. Then the green waved and an almost immediate tangle ensued as Larry Conner’s car hit the wall and barrel rolled across the front straight.

Not able to miss him Dave Ausano hit Conner’s car and set it back on its wheels. But Ausano’s mount suffered so much front-end damage that was the end of his night and he was towed to the pits.

When the green waved again Scott Tenney, driving Dennis Buehn’s usual mount, grabbed the lead until Tony Taylor used an inside move to take the point and Cody Morris took second.

Lap after lap Taylor extended his lead until the next caution around 8. Two laps later Dan Edgington spun bringing out another caution while Taylor’s car slowed and he had to be pushed into the pits.

The long caution helped him as Taylor’s crew had enough time to reattach a loose wire and get him back on track before the green waved again.

By now Dan Diaz was on point with Juff Tuttle and Tenney close behind.

Eight laps later the pace as slowed again as Jordan Riley lost the rear bumper on his car. Up front, as Diaz slowed Tuttle spun to avoid hitting him.

After taking the lead in the Hobby Stock Challenge, a loose hood and later two flat tires sent Dan Diaz to the pits and out of contention.

While leading the right side of Diaz’s hood came loose and it began to rise up. Eventually he got two flat tires but was sent to the pits to have the hood removed as it was a safety concern.

Next green flag was followed by an immediate caution.

After a few more laps of racing there would be one more caution, with five to go and by then Taylor was in striking distance and soon made his way to the front. Tuttle at one time had been leading but a late race spin dropped him out of contention.

Taylor crossed the line first followed by Tenney, Edgington and Shane Cazel.

Winner Tony Taylor (11x) almost catches Jeff Tuttle as the checkered flag waved on the Hobby Stock Challenge.

Once the track was cleared the IMCA Modified lined up for another caution filled event.

Right after the green there was a tangle in Turn 2 when Chris Neal got sideways and slid down the track right in front of several cars. In the melee Malen Gonzales broke a small part on his car’s rear suspension and had to be towed back into the pits.

After several minutes the field formed again, along with Gonzalez, who was at the back. On the green, like after the first Dave Sciarroni tookt he point followed by Wade Lumsden and Royce Goetz.

Dave Sciarroni (black) spins out of the lead while Zach Cail (6), Trevor Gurley (inside white) and Shawn Natenstedt (1) barely escape. However Wade Lumsden (orange in cloud) didn’t and slammed into Sciarroni’s car.

Less than a lap later Sciarroni spun and was hit by Lumsden while Shawn Natenstedt and Trevor Gurley barely escaped while Goetz got stopped in the nick of time. After the dust settled Sciarroni’s car was towed away although he returned and finished fourth.

Two more cautions slowed the pace but by now Robert Miller had come through the pack and was on point after getting past Zach Cail.

As Miller began to check out his charge was halted when some body panels blew off the Trevor Gurley’s car and caused the next caution.

This was about as close as Zach Cail (6) and Royce Goetz (78r) ever got to Robert Miller (59) and that was on the restarts after cautions.

Somewhere around this time the field had actually completed more laps under caution then it had under green.

After the green waved again racing continued for the next few laps. Up front Miller was extending his lead as Goetz and Cail tried to catch him.

Lumsden did return but a couple of laps later caused the next caution when his car slowed then stalled part way into the pit entrance.

Now there were five laps to go but as soon as the green waved again there was another caution when J.D. Jurad went up the track but was able to stop before hitting the Turn 1 outside wall.

Once again the field formed up and took the green flag. Cail dropped from contention as he spun in Turn 4 but the race continued on.

Robert Miller heads for the checkered flag and victory in the caution filled IMCA main.

Miller finally reached the checkered flag with Gonzalez, after a determined drive, taking second while Mark Skender ended up third..

After taking a victory lap and stopping on the front straight Miller said, “I appreciate everyone here it was a heck of a track to boot and thanks to Rattlesnake. Have to thank R&J Landscaping, Russ Cazier for working on the car and Lyle Hopper for his chassis work.”

Back in the pits runner up Gonzalez was relieved the night was over.

Then he said, “First have go to thank my crew chief wife, brother-in-law and nephew for pitting, Rels Engines in Yerington and Bob Oliver at Competition Carburetor. We’d have one good lap then the next lap there would be a wreck so I’m just happy to survive as it wasn’t skill it was survival.”

Gonzalez did say there were some slick spots, especially in Turn 4 as first it would be good then someone would splash some water in the line and it would be slick.

Rounding out the show were the Northern Nevada Outlaw Karts. While their elders had a wreck fests these youngsters had few cautions but some hard fought racing.

First up were the 250cc karts, the most powerful class.

When the green waved Shansen Ternora was on point with Blake Rauscher giving chase. Behind them Jacob Dias worked his way into second.

Rauscher had a bobble giving the leader some breathing room. After a quick caution Grasen Ternora was on point until Rauscher used and outside move to grab the lead.

Blake Rauscher (3r) had to hold off a determined Grasen Ternora to win the 250cc main.

After that it was Rauscher’s race as he reached the checkered flag first.

One great sign for the division is the size of the Beginner Class. When their main began Michael (Sorry no last name for him is listed.) took the lead followed by Temperance Sherman, who took the point a couple of laps later.

Right after that there was a caution to Sherman had to go back to second place as they use the previous lap to line up the karts.

On the green Michael (Kart #72) took off with Sherman and Kasey Diaz in hot pursuit. A few laps later Diaz took second and was after the leader while behind them Guage Felzke was closing in.

Then Diaz used an inside move to take the lead only to lose it to the charging Felzke, who scored the victory.

Guage Felzke was the Beginner class winner.

This season there are only four Box Stock racers as some moved up to the 250cc class and the Beginners aren’t ready to graduate yet.

When their race began Robert McBroome took off and grabbed the lead. Two cautions slowed the race and for a brief time Xavier Frock held the lead but McBroome got it back and roared away to the victory.

Robert McBroome heads for the checkered flag and victory in the Box Stock main.

After the racing had ended Dennis Buehn, who along with his wife Tami sponsors the Hobby Stock Challenge, had some thoughts about the night.

“The racing was good but compared to last year when we went 17 laps until the first caution it was different. This year was the flip side of the coin and it seemed like every couple of laps we had a caution. We’re going to change the format next year to promote green racing,” he said.

Now the track goes dark until two weeks from now when, as part of the annual Octane Fest it will host two afternoon races on Saturday and Sunday.

OTHER RACING NEWS

• This week NASCAR’s top three divisions were at the Monster Mile in Dover, Delaware. And a trio of Las Vegas natives raced in two divisions.

In Saturday’s Xfinity race Brendan Gaughan started 11th and finished 7th. When Sunday’s Sprint Cup event ended Kurt Busch ended up 31st while younger brother Kyle was in a wreck and ended up 36th and Gaughan wound up 34th.

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RESULTS

Rattlesnake Raceway – May 30

IMCA:

Heat Winners – #1 Dave Sciarroni, #2 Robert Miller, #3 Shawn Natenstedt

Main (30-Laps): 1. Robert Miller, 2. Malen Gonzalez, 3. Mark Skender, 4. Dave Sciarroni, 5. J.D. Jurad, 6. Rocky Goetz, 7. Zach Cail, 8. Wade Lumsden, 9. Trevor Gurley, 10. Fred White, 11. Chris Neal, 12. Dustin Chastian, 13. Shawn Natenstedt

Hobby Stock:

Heat Winners: #1 Cody Morris, #2 Scott Tenney, #3 Tony Taylor, #4 Jeff Tuttle

Main (Hobby Stock Challenge) (25-Laps) : 1. Tony Taylor, 2. Scott Tenney, 3. Dan Edgington, 4. Shane Cazel, 5. Dan Diaz, 6. Dennis Buehn, 7. Cody Morris, 8. Chris Christiano, 9. Tami Buehn, 10. Jason Irwin, 11. Jeff Tuttle, 12. Michael Bartlett, 13. Jordan Riley, 14. Anthony Delvecchio, 15. Tim Wearin, 16. Royce Goetz, 17. Richard Miller, 18. Eric Taylor, 19. Rachel Gatlin, 20. Dave Ausano

Northern Nevada Outlaw Karts

Winners:

250cc – Blake Rauscher

Box Stock – Robert McBroome

Beginner – Guage Felzke