Rattlesnake Raceway has several young champions and here are two of them.

FALLON (Nov. 23) – Racing champions, especially those that compete on short tracks, are a varied group. They come from all types of occupations and age groups.

This year, among its champions Rattlesnake Raceway had two that are in high school and compete in very different types of racing.

On the oval this year’s track champion is high school senior Zack Cail, who now races in the IMCA Modified division. And he’s no stranger to being a champion.

Zach Cail with his champion’s jacket and trophy at Rattlesnake Raceway’s awards banquet.

“Last season I drove a Sport Mod, won the championship in Lovelock, Fallon and for the state, so basically it was a repeat of my rookie year,” he said

After the Sport Mod class disappeared Cail moved into the modifieds even though he’s still driving the same car.

“This season, since I was still in the sport mod, was pretty scary,” he said. “But in the first couple of races I kept up and we found ourselves in the points lead at Fallon. At that point we decided to run every week and it was pretty crazy as we lost the lead to Malen Gonzalez at one point.

“After that I wanted to go as hard as we could for points but it got pretty scary for a while.”

Zach Cail at speed in his modified.

Sometimes being a bit down on power isn’t such a bad thing in dirt track racing as the driver doesn’t have to feather the throttle coming out of corners and can actually go faster through them. So their exit speed can be higher, which is an advantage.

“We still have the same motor but changed a couple of things although it’s the same car and body,” he said. “Not bad especially when dry slick comes into play.”

Cail explained that with four races to go in the season he had a 30-point lead in the championship although if he missed a race it would be lost.

“I knew we would win with two races left,” he said. “I won one main event and was in the top five and won three heat races. So towards the end I raced to get another main event win.”

Zach Cail heading for the checkered flag and his only IMCA victory this season.

This effort wasn’t easy as it took a lot of work to pull it off.

Asked what was special about the season he said, “Really not much, just the fact we’re still beating them with that ‘little guy motor,’ which was kind of a big deal to me. People can’t get over that but we did have a lot of problems although I knew that we could do it.”

Like with any racing effort Cail had support from his family and sponsors. He expressed his appreciation to CMF Fabrication, Dennis and Tami Buehn, Frank’s Automotive, Sheldon’s Pest Management, Stanley Dunham, his mother and Bret Wilkins.

He’ll graduate this spring but his racing future still up in the air.

“To be honest I don’t think we can afford to race next year. Might hang it up and save but obviously I would love to. If we don’t race next year I’m not 100% sure what I want to do.”

Although his racing future might not be certain Cail had done something many drivers only dream about as he’s won multiple championships.

The second champion actually races in mud, she’s a competitor in the Dynamic Diesel Mad Metal Mud Drag series.

These are drag races through mud and what the course lacks in distance is made up by the challenge of handling a vehicle in sloppy conditions. Not to mention trying to get to the finish line first.

Virginia Bushek with her champion’s jacket and trophy at Rattlesnake Raceway’s awards banquet.

This year’s champion in the Stock 4/6 Class earned her second title in as many years. She is 16-year-old Virginia Bushek from Silver Springs.

Racing is a family sport where sons and daughters follow their elders into competition. Bushek is a good example as racing is in her blood.

“I’ve always grown up with it, like my dad and uncle did it. I was finally able to and I got hooked,” she said. “I was about 13 or 14 and it’s not just the mud but Ultra 4 that I would like to do.”

She got her first chance to drive at age 13 and said that first race was much more than she expected.

“Being a passenger it totally different. Like it’s still exciting but when you’re actually driving its so different. But I love it though,” she said.

Virgiinia Bushek tearing through the mud at Rattlesnake Raceway.

Asked about the hardest challenge of mud racing she said, “That’s a good question, I’d say when you lose control.”

Her first championship came in the 2014 season.

“Last year I only had one second and third while the rest were all first place,” she said. “This year I’ve got two second places and the rest are all firsts.”

The series is short, only five or six races, so every win or good finish counts.

Asked about next season and the 4/6 Cylinder Class she said, “I want to stay in it, just because it’s fun and we’re the lowest class. But they might get rid of it so we’ll see.”

She explained the class hasn’t attracted many entries, “but lately we’ve been getting more and more. So the future is up in the air for now.”

Bushek feels this class is a good starting place for those interested in mud drags. One reason is the vehicles don’t need a lot of modifying to be race ready.

“My Jeep’s all stock, the only thing we did is put a few inch lift on it and changed the tires, and I stripped it down to make it lighter,” she said.

Virginia Bushek on a run where she beat her father Sean Bushek.

While the class doesn’t require fire suits or a harness she does wear a helmet.

And like any racer she has people to thank for their support.

“I need to thank my dad Sean, most definitely. And yes we did race together, I had a blast,” she said. “And his Jeep was the first one I ever raced.”

At first she was a passenger in her father’s Jeep, then he let her drive it twice before she got one of her own. She also expressed her appreciation to sponsors Big Red Motor Sports as well as Andy’s Photography.

Asked if she’s looking toward next season, she said, “Most definitely.”

Theses are only two of the Rattlesnake’s champions this year but they are the future, the next generation of racers. Now both of them are waiting to see what will transpire next season.

OTHER RACING NEWS

• NASCAR ended its season at Homestead, Florida this weekend. All three top series crowned their champions.

On Friday Erik Jones won the Camping World Truck championship and earned the owner’s title for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

On Saturday the Xfinity series ran and for a while it appeared that Kyle Busch might win the race. A pit lane penalty put him back in the pack then while trying to make a pass he ended up in a wreck dropped him to 30th at the finish.

Fellow Nevadans Brendan Gaughan went from 12th to 23rd while T.J. Bell started 35th but finished 39th.

On Sunday the Sprint Cup championship was up for grabs. Kyle Busch started third, fell back then rocketed to the lead and not only won the race but scored his first championship. Older brother Kurt started 15th and ended up sixth while Jeff Gordon wound up his career with an eighth place finish.

• Depending on the weather Livfast Exit 28 might have a practice session on Thanksgiving from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. and those times will be repeated for the sessions on Saturday and Sunday.

For further information please go to the track’s Face Book page; Livfast Exit 28.

• While the seasons have ended others are preparing for next year’s racing. Some will be going over the hill while others head for Bishop and a motocross series down there.

This past week Testa Motorsports in Gardnerville and Tech One Designs from Minden announced their combined team of motorcycle racers for next year. Currently there are 27 riders on the list, which follows this paragraph.

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TEAM ROSTER

• Team Testa/Tech One Designs roster:

+ 1. Chandler Munoz, 2. Sam McCord, 3. Sean      Botelho, 4. Ty Pedotti, 5. Emmett Pedotti, 6. “Rockin” Ramsey Pedotti, 7. Wyatt Brixey, 8. Ashtyn Shepard, 9. Cash Dunbar, 10. Collin McHaney, 11. Hadleigh “Happy” Kahabka,      12. Declan Kahabka, 13. Brandon Jacober, 14. Raymond Lloyd, 15. Aaron Siminoe, 16. Tommy Jackson, 17. Devin Zinda, 18. Kyle Zinda, 19. Kyle Dains, 20. Nate Dains, 21. Ashleigh Trapenese, 22. Greg Fawcett, 23. Jared      Mariscal, 24. Elija Auble, 25. T.J. Taylor, 26. Jeramiah Evans, 27. Austin Higley.