Rattlesnake Raceway had to change its 4th of July plans due to Mother Nature.

FALLON (July 5) – Rattlesnake Raceway had a first this season, a weather delayed race. Mother Nature threw a wrench into the July 4th race and fireworks that was scheduled.

Heavy rains Saturday caused the track, after checking with the drivers, to postpone the races until Sunday. But the fireworks were set off later in the evening.

Sunday dawned bright, clear and it was going to be hot when everyone arrived. While the track was dry the berm was nearly a mud bog.

“At the beginning, if they didn’t water I was going to pull off as it was so dusty,” Robert Miller said after winning the IMCA feature. “They did the best they could but it’s a shame that everybody didn’t realize what they were racing on.”

Prior to the IMCA start the track was water but when the green waved it had dried out. The field made it through Turn 2 then the melee started.

David Johnson got sideways on the still slick track then others spun to either avoid him or were collected. Zach Cail spun while J.D. Jurad and Dave Sciarroni wound up in the mud.

Sciarroni’s car got the worst of it and that ended his night.

Even before the green waved the car of Dustin Chastain had to be pushed off as it refused to keep running.

After the first lap scramble the water truck was summoned and as drivers circulated either high or low the track was watered again. Thankfully the mandatory race receivers kept all the drivers informed if they needed to be high or low on the track.

Once the watering was completed the field formed up again and the green waved. Jesse Gonzalez took off with the pack with Robert Mull in hot pursuit.

However there was contact between two drivers so the field was ordered to form up again for a third attempt at getting the race started.

Once again it was the Gonzalez/ Mull combination leading the charge. Further back Malen Gonzalez and Jeff Olschowka were dueling for position as they moved toward the front.

Five laps into the fray and Robert Miller had taken fifth but soon he had Olschowka on his back bumper. Soon Olschowka was leading Miller, Malen Gonzalez and Shawn Natenstedt.

Around the 9-lap mark Jesse Gonzalez, possibly after contact with another car wound up in the mud causing another caution.

Once that was cleared the field was sent off again only so slow after another caution.

This came after Olschowka got sideways while trying to get beside Malen Gonzalez. Then Miller, who could not avoid it, clipped Olschowka while Natenstedt was able to slow enough to miss the now spinning car.

Unable to miss him Robert Miller (59) tags the sideways car of Jeff Olschowka (121) while Shawn Natensteddt (1) is hard on the brakes to miss him.

Asked about that, Miller said later, “Had no choice, locked brakes and got Jeff.”

After a brief time the field was sent off again only to have another caution when Chris Neil spun on the backstretch.

No Malen Gonzalez was on point with Miller giving chase. Two laps later Miller used an inside move to take the lead.

As the laps wound down Miller just extended his lead but now Malen Gonzalez had company as both Zach Cail and Shawn Natenstedt were pressuring him for second.

Miller’s advantage disappeared with a late lap caution when Reldon Hatch had problems on the backstretch.

When the green waved again Miller took off with Gonzalez and Cail in hot pursuit. Then Gonzalez made an error and let Cail get underneath him in Turn 4 and take second.

Malen Gonzalez (2) slips high in Turn 4 letting Zach Cail (6) get past and take the position.

In the end Miller claimed the victory followed by Cail, Gonzalez and Natenstedt.

Miller credited several things to his victory and including his crate motor and patience.

Robert Miller takes a victory lap after winning the IMCA feature. He almost didn’t race but decided to anyway.

“It was a lot of hard charging. I was being patient at one point in 4th was behind Olshowka and Gonazlez brothers but knew it was a matter of time that little bit of moisture would favor crate motor more,” he said.

Then he thanked Wahl Traction Shocks that sent him a set used by NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace the week before. Others include R&J Landscaping, Chuck Miller with Handyman Service and Frieson Chevrolet Crate Motos.

After that Miller reflected on being the only one there as his crew took the day off.

“Have to thank my crew, which was me as I came by myself,” he said with a laugh. “Got a taste of what those guys do and didn’t like it so I want them back. No more days off for them.”

There was a terrific car count for both classes with 19 IMCA Modifieds, although only 17 were able to start their main. The Hobby Stocks, which has seen the largest fields this season, started 17 cars in their main.

Terresa Aquila (right) gives Tami Buehn a sticker to carry on her car. Aquila is the host of “Teresa’s Garage,” radio program and rode with Buehn during a heat race.

The track also had a special guest, Teresa Aquila, host of Teresa’s Garage and her husband were visiting the track. Her radio show is broadcast and streamed from 2 until 3 p.m. every Tuesday.

Tami Buehn took Aquila with her during a heat race so she could get an inside view of what it is like to race on dirt. Due to the heat, Aquila didn’t ride during the main event but was impressed by what she saw while out on the track.

Another special driver was track photographer R.D. Goetz making his first start in over 20-years.

When the green waved on the Hobby Stock main Dennis Buehn took off with the pack right behind him. Further back Dan Dias was on the move and soon began to pressure Buehn.

Dennis Buehn leads the Hobby Stock charge as their main begins. He would lead for many laps until Dan Dias (69) took the point.

Two back to back cautions slowed the pace as Tami Buehn spun then Michael Barnett bounced off the back stretch wall leaving some debris and getting at least one flat tire.

Once racing resumed Buehn took off with Dias right behind him while Juff Tuttle did a quick spin but recovered before bringing out a caution.

Five laps later Dias exited Turn 4 in the lead but a caution came after Sid Tenney ended up in the mud. So the field reverted back to the order on the previous lap, which put Buehn back in the lead.

Also tangling were the cars of Michael Barnett and Tami Buehn. It appeared she had a broken suspension but, even though her left front wheel was at an odd angle, nothing was really broken so the pitted and returned.

On the restart Dias used the outside to finally take the point. Then Buehn fell into the clutches of Scott Tenney as they dueled for second.

The next two in the mud, which caused a caution were Paul Shamlain and Cody Morris. On the restart Dias took off leaving everyone in his dust.

Barnett’s car had some kind of problem and he limped into the pits without causing a caution. The next yellow came out after the hood on Jason Irwin’s car flew up blocking his vision but he was able to get to the pits.

One racing resumed the pack had broken into two groups. Early leader Buehn found his car lost its brakes and he was slipping back in the order but still able to continue.

At one time Scott Tenney (21t) had his hands full fending off Dave Ausano (63), Dan Edgington (1X) and Chris Christiano (green) as they dueled for second place.

For several laps Tenney had his hands full as he was in the four-way fight for second with Ausano, Dan Edgington and Chris Christiano. Eventually Tenney got the upper hand took the position.

The next caution came out when Shamlian spun but on the restart Dias took off leaving Tenney, Chris Cristiano and Dave Ausano behind him.

At the very end, as the white flag came out there was another spin but then race was officially over and the order reverted to the previous lap.

Dan Dias takes a victory lap after winning the Hobby Stock main.

A delighted Dias took the victory followed by Tenney, Ausano, Morris and Christiano.

Asked about his starts with so many cautions, Dias said, “My starting pace is really slow and I do a first to second start so I passed all of them. The bottom was great and everything else was terrible but all I needed was the bottom. And I want to thank my family and friends for all their support.”

Although he wound up second Tenney was pleased with the race. He is in the Navy, stationed in Washington, but is here for a month so brought his racecar with him.

“I came back for work, brought the car with me, I’ll be here for about a month so I figured I’d come out and play a little bit,” he said. “My little brother Sid was in Dennis’ car, 121, and it’s the first time we ever got to race each other. The track was a little bumpy and slick but it was a lot of fun and while there was a little of bumping there was nothing real bad.”

He added his car was damaged in his heat race but thanks to the efforts of his brother, they were able to to repairs and get it ready for the main.

“I would have liked to have won but with second place I won’t complain as the car will drive on the trailer,” he said.

Then he added special thanks to his girlfriend for here support and to the Navy as they give him his paychecks.

Helping to round out the show were two young Gen-X racers, Lee Ketten Jr., and his friend from Tonopah, Alex Katzenbach.

For most of the Gen-X main Alex Kazenbach (41) was able to hold off Lee Ketten Jr. But in the end Ketten prevailed.

In the heat race it was all Ketten but when the green waved on their main Katzenbach had the inside line while Ketten was on the outside.

Lap after lap they went around with Katzenbach seemly having the advantage as he was where the traction was. Finally, on the white flag lap Ketten was able to muster the speed, took the lead and scored the victory.

“It was dry slick and the tires were scooting and not hooking up at all,” Ketten said later. “And I’ve got to thank my dad, Middlegate Station and the Francis Hanifen family for their support.”

OTHER RACING NEWS

• NASCAR had its two top series back at Daytona for the traditional 4th of July races. In Saturday’s Xfinity event Brendan Gaughan started ninth, had some bad luck and ended up 25th at the end.

Saturday’s Sprint Cup event was a marathon. A very long rain delay postponed the start until around 11 p.m. and the race itself, with several wrecks, ran until almost 3 a.m. east coast time.

Three Las Vegas natives were in the field with Kurt Busch having the best finish, fifth place. His brother Kyle, despite brushing the wall, ended up 17th place and Gaughan, despite starting last was 28th at the finish.

If you enjoyed this article please “like,” and share it as widely as possible. Comments are welcome.

RESULTS

Rattlesnake Raceway – July 5

Hobby Stocks:

Heat 1: 1. Dan Edgington, 2. Chris Christiano, 3. Dannie Buehn, 4. Larry Connor, 5. Michael Barnett, 6. R.D. Goetz

Heat 2: 1. Dan Dias, 2. Shane Cazel, 3. Jason Irwin, 4. Scott Tenney, 5. Dennis Johnson, 6. Tami Buehn

Heat 3: 1. Dave Ausano, 2. Cody Morris, 3. Sid Tenney, 4. Jeff Tuttle, 5. Paul Shamlian

Main: 1. Dan Dias, 2. Scott Tenney, 3. Dave Ausano, 4. Cody Morris, 5. Chris Christiano, 6. Dan Edgington, 7. Jeff Tuttle, 8. Dennis Buehn, 9. Larry Connor, 10. Jason Irwin, 11. R.D. Goetz, 12. Shane Cazel, 13. Tami Buehn, 14. Paul Shamlian, 15. Michael Barnett, 16. Sid Tenney, 17. Dennis  Johnson

IMCA Modifieds:

Heat 1: 1. Robert Mull, 2. Malen Gonzalez, 3. Steve McKellip, 4. David Johnson, 5. Wade Lumsden, 6. Dave Sciarroni, 7. Dustin Chastain

Heat 2: 1. Fred White, 2. Shawn Natenstedt, 3. Mark Skender, 4. Jeff Olschowka, 5. Reldon Hatch, 6. Carl Barlow

Heat 3: 1. Robert Miller, 2. Zach Cail, 3. Royce Goetz, 4. Jesse Gonzalez, 5. James Jurad, 6. Chris Neal

Main: 1. Robert Miller, 2. Zach Cail, 3. Malen Gonzalez, 4. Shawn  Natenstedt, 5. Royce Goetz, 6. Steve McKellip, 7. Jeff Olschowka, 8. James Jurad, 9. Robert Mull, 10. David Johnson, 11. Jesse Gonzalez, 12. Carl Barlow, 13. Chris Neal, 14. Reldon Hatch, 15.Mark Skender, 16. Fred White, 17. Dave Sciarroni, 18. Dustin Chastain, 19. Wade Lumsden, DNS

Gen-X:

Heat: 1. Lee Ketten Jr., 2. Alex Katzenbach

Main: 1. Lee Ketten Jr., 2. Alex Katzenbach