Every June people flock to one of Nevada’s towns to celebrate several kinds of motorsports.

 

FALLON (June 11,12) – Octane Fest is an annual celebration of horsepower, speed and color put on in this Nevada town. Rattlesnake Speedway, Top Gun Raceway and the Churchill County Fairground host many events during the three days and nights the festival runs.

Rattlesnake Speedway has oval track racing both Saturday and Sunday afternoons and for one driver it was a great weekend.

“The track conditions were an improvement from Saturday, which I think resulted in better racing as we only had one caution early and went green after that till the end. The car was working really good for us over the weekend as we picked up three wins and a second place over the whole weekend,” Cory Sample said.

When the green waved on Sunday’s IMCA Modified main Dave Sciarroni took off with Jeff Olschowka givng chase. Behind the leaders Sample was on the move and headed toward the front.

The only caution for the race was when Olschowka lost the handle and spun in Turn 4. Once he got going again racing resumed.

By then Sample was third and wasted no time in taking the point while Shawn Natenstedt took second after he got past Alec Childs.

For Sciarroni he was slipping back and eventually finish sixth behind Don Childs. In fact Alec and Don had an almost race long duel to see who would wind up fourth.

But up front Sample wasn’t to be caught as he made it two in a row here. He also won Saturday’s IMCA main the packed up and headed for Susanville where he finished second and on Friday scored a win at Battle Mountain.

While Saturday’s IMCA race began with some contact up front and a scramble involving several cars the result was the same as Sample scored the victory. He did mention the track was a bit tricky to drive then and this time Olschowka was second with Natenstedt third.

The biggest fields of the weekend were in the Hobby Stock division. And two different drivers won on each afternoon.

When the green sent the 16 cars off on Sunday Bob Vaden and Dave Ausano led the charge. Ausano soon had the point and by the fifth lap was catching the slowest cars.

The first caution came when Michael Bartlet spun then that was soon followed by another when Robert Weaver and Tori Edgington tangled.

At each restart Ausano had to hold off Jett Tuttle, who soon pitted when his front bumper came loose and was dragging.

At lap 16 there was another caution for debris then later when Mikki Beuchat spun after contact with Tami Buehn.

There would be one more caution when Tuttle returned only to have his front bumper come loose again. Up front Ausano seemed to be in command but behind him Chris Christiano had the better handle on the dry slick track.

Vaden tried his best to catch Ausano but just couldn’t close the gap and in the last laps dropped to third after Christiano passed him.

Finally, Christiano caught Ausano and after some side-by-side dueling used the outside line to take the lead and steam off to the victory. Saturday’s winner Cody Morris wound up fourth.

Asked the key to his win Christiano said, “patience and not over powering the car. I’ve got a bone stock motor and the lack of power helped, as I wasn’t spinning tires. Everybody else got a lot of power, burned their tires off, mine stayed cool and I kept traction the whole race.”

Then he thanked Cob Production, Irwin Auto and Diesel Repair, his boss and his fiancée Jordan.

On Saturday 18 cars took the green but up front young Cody Morris was making the best of his pole position. Soon however he was being chased and pressured by David Ausano.

Lap after lap they tore around the track then had to work their way through lap traffic. Not an easy task for either of them.

But in the end Morris claimed the victory with Ausano second ahead of Jason Irwin and ToriEdgington.

After the dust settled Morris said,”I started up front and saw one car, Dave Ausano the whole race and it was just him and me. The way he explained it was that we were like two robbers and cops were chasing us. So we’re trying to get as fast as we can through traffic.

Then he thanked Parsons Drilling, Grace Racing, Eternal Images, Fallon Airmotive, Franks Automotive and his parents.

The Super Stock 4 class is slowly building its numbers at the track. On Sunday when their main began Rich Innis was on point with Galen Reese second.

Within a lap Dennis Crook, in his new car used the outside line to grab the lead.

Only one caution slowed the pace but on the green Crook took off and it seemed there was nothing Reese could do about it.

However late in the race Crook got a flat and would have to pit, which gave Reese a huge lead. He took the gift and stormed away to the victory.

This was quite the reverse from Saturday when Crook won the main and Reese was the runner up.

Later Reese said, “I was running up there then Dennis Crook passed me on the outside. He got out in the lead and I didn’t know if I was going to be able to catch him or not cause we were coming up to lap traffic and I had to work around them. I got around then he pulled off the track and I was able to pull off the win.”

Then he thanked his pit crew Pat Dunham and Dave Williams, who used race Hobby Stocks with him and has joined the crew.

 

There were three Gen-X racers on Sunday and Chris Jimenez won after passing early leader Jesse Showe. On Saturday there were only two of them and again Jimenez won.

On Sunday the Rattlesnake Raceway Outlaw Karts took to their track inside the big oval. They have everything from Beginners, Box Stock, 250cc and 500cc karts racing.

The 250s were first up and Blake Rauscher chased by Joe Owen and Jacob Dias. A few cautions slowed the pace but in the end Rauscher won the day.

Next up were the Box Stock racers. They are young racers, some just up from the Beginners while others are more experienced.

First on point was Tommy Sorensen with Byrsyn Simeral first chasing then taking over the lead. After a scramble Simeral was still on point with Guage Felzke second and Even Gularte third.

Two late race cautions slowed the race at the end and led to a final charge to the checkered flag. Once again Simeral was on point and reached the checkered first ahead of Gelzke and Gularte.

Next were the Beginners. After one start IMCA racer Shawn Natenstedt showed up to do the “pace quad,” duties.

Once things got rolling Corbin Howse was on point and held it though most of the race until Austin Enox got past with two to go and hung on to claim the victory.

Finally the 500cc karts took to the track. It would take a trio of attempts before things really got rolling.

First on point was Gary Owen until Chris Annas got past him while Joe Owen took second. Two cautions would then slow things.

In the end Annas claimed the victory after leader Owen made a mistake in one of the final corners.

South of Fallon is the Top Gun Raceway, Northern Nevada’s only drag strip. They have a big meet for Octane Fest, part of the NHRA Pacific Division National Open Series.

There were a large group of Junior Dragsters, where drivers range from six to 17. Along with them were Junior Comp for older drivers as well as Sportsman and other classes including Top Comp dragsters.

Sunday’s and Saturday’s winners are listed in the Results part of this article.

The other venue for Octane Fest is the Churchill County Fairground. Things kicked off Thursday night with a contest to select this year’s Miss Octane Fest, which was Amy Nygren.

On Friday and Saturday nights there were Monster Trucks, including the return of “Ranger Joe,” from Reno with his new truck.

The Rattlesnake Outlaw Karts also raced both nights and those drivers had to contend with a flat track. They usually race on banked ones.

In addition there were UTV races and Tough Trucks, tractor pulls and fireworks Friday and Saturday. One thing that went over well with the crowd was the lower prices both for admission as well as food and water.

And all the nights ended with fireworks and a sock hop in one of the buildings.

Note: Fairground and Top Gun photos will be in a photo gallery published Tuesday evening.

This year LARA, the group that runs Rattlesnake Raceway was put in charge of Octane Fest and their president Chris Lumsden was pretty pleased.

He was quite pleased on how the shows at the Fairground ran although there are a few things that have yet to be smoothed out. While the crowd on Friday was a bit down Saturday’s more than made up for that.

One pleasant surprise for those attending the Fairground programs were the reduced costs of admission and concessions. In fact some were shocked to find a bottle of water would only cost a dollar.

He related the story of a mother when finding that out bought all her kids sodas. Apparently she was only to buy one bottle of water and have everyone share it.

Now there will be a review and starting the plans for Octane Fest 2017.

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RESULTS

2016 Octane Feast – Fallon, Nevada

Rattlesnake Raceway:

• Sunday, June 12

IMCA Modified:

+ Heat #1: 1. Cory Cample, 2. Dave Sciarroni, 3. Alec Childs, 4. Joe  Blackwell.

+ Heat #2: 1. Shawn Natenstedt, 2. Joe Olschowka, 3. Don Childs, 4. Fred White.

DNS: Jake Aker.

+ Main: 1. Cory Sample, 2. Shawn Natenstedt, 3. Jeff Olschowka, 4. Alec Childs, 5. Don Childs, 6. Dave Sciarroni, 7.Fred White, 8. Joe Blackell, 9. Jake Aker.

Hobby Stocks:

+ Heat #1: 1. Bob Vaden, 2. Jeff Tuttle, 3. Cody Morris, 4. Chris Christiano, 5. Michael Bartlet, 6. Edwin Cedeno.

+ Heat #2: 1. David Ausano, 2. Tori Edgington, 3. Mikki Beuchat, 4. Ray Miller, 5. Tim Russell.

+ Heat #3: 1. Shne Cazel, 2. Chuck Davis, 3. Robert Weaver, 4. Alex Knlestedt, 5. Tami Buehn.

+ Main: 1. Chris Christiano, 2. David Ausano, 3. Bob Vaden, 4. Cody Morris, 5. Tori Edgington, 6. Mikki Beuchat, 7. Shane Cazel, 8. Michael Bartlet, 9. Alex Kniestedt, 10. Robert Weaver, 11. Tami Buehn, 12. Edwin Cedeno, 13. Ray Miller, 14. Jeff Tuttle, 15. Chuck Davis, 16. Tim Russell.

Super Stock 4:

+ Heat: 1. Galen Reece, 2. Travis Showe, 3. Dennis Crook, 4. Janet Lyford, 5. Rich Innis.

DNS: Tom Vokovich.

+ Main: 1. Galen Reece, 2. Rich Innis, 3. Tom Vokovich,4. Janet Lyford, 5. Dennis Crook, 6. Travis Showe.

Gen-X:

+ Heat: 1. Chris Jimenez, 2. Jesse Showe, 3. S. Hornback.

+ Main: 1. Chris Jimenez, 2. Jesse Showe, 3. S.Hornback.

Rattlesnake Outlaw Karts:

Beginner:

+ Heat #1: Corbin Howse, 2. Logan Cassel, 3. Kaden Detomasi, 4. Carson Foster, 5. Alexis McBroome, 6. Payton.

+ Heat :2: 1. Austin Enox, 2. Jaden Allec, 3. Ryatt Older, 4. Aaliyah Galindo, 5. Lylah Sorensen

+ Main: 1. Austin Enox, 2. Corbin Howse, 3. Jaden Allec, 4. Ryatt Older, 5. Alexis McBroome, 6. Logan Cassel, 7. Carson Foster, 8. Kaden Demomasi, 9. Lylah Sorensen, 10. Leyton Albury, 11. Aaliyah Galindo

Box Stock:

+ Heat #1: 1. Tommy Sorensen, 2. Evan Gularte, 3. Guage Felzke, 4. Ragen Shupe, 5. Hayden White

+ Heat #2: 1. Brysyn Simeral, 2. Rowyn Shupe, 3. Robert McBroome, 4. Ollie Gibbins.

+ Main: 1. Brysyn Simeral, 2. Guage Felzke, 3. Evan Gularte, 4. Rowyn  Shupe, 5. Robert McBroome, 6. Tommy Sorensen, 7. Ragen Shupe, 8. Hayden White, 9. Ollie Gibbins.

250’s:

+ Heat: 1. Blake Rauscher, 2. Joe Owen, 3. Jacob Dias, 4. Tristin Annas, 5. Evan Rauscher.

+ Main: 1. Jacob Dias, 2. Joe Owen, 3. Blake Rauscher, 4. Tristin Annas, 5. Evan Rauscher.

500’s:

+ Heat #1: 1. Gary Owen, 2. Kevin Kentopp, 3. Chris Annas

+ Heat #2: 1. Joe Owen, 2. Mark Dempsey, 3. Brandon Rosencrantz

+ Main: 1. Chris Annas, 2. Gary Owen, 3. Brandon Rosencrantz, 4. Mark Dempsey, 5. Joe Owen, 6. Keven Kentopp.

• Top Gun Raceway:

Junior Dragsters:

+ 6 to 9: 1. Emersyn Rose Pires, 11.995, 54.97 mph.

+ 10 to 12: 1. Braiden Chesleigh, 9.099, 68.78 mph.

+ 13 to 14: 1. Cade Poe, 7.904, 83.09 mph.

+ 15 to 17: Myka Lopez, 7.964, 79.83 mph

+ Jr. Comp: 1. A.J. Thomas, 6.951, 96.24 mph.

+ Super Pro: 1. Laurie Pickett, 10.103, 147.94 mph.

+ Pro Et: 1. Jim Grace, 9.501, 141.76 mph.

+ Sportsman ET: 1. Courtney Morris, 121.25, 111.37 mph.

+ Top Comp: Wally Jacks, no ET or mph listed.

• Saturday, June 11

IMCA Modified:

+ Heat #1: 1. Cory Sample, 2. Shawn Natenstedt, 3. Jeff Olschowka, 4. Don Childs.

+ Heat #2: 1. Dave Sciarroni, 2. Fred White, 3. Alec Childs, 4. Joe Backwell.

+ Main: 1. Cory Sample, 2. Jeff Olschowka, 3. Shawn Natenstedt, 4. Don Childs, 5. Alec Childs, 6. Dave      Sciarroni, 7. Joe Blackwell, 8. Fred White.

Hobby Stocks:

+ Heat #1:1. Cody Morris, 2. David Ausano, 3. Paul Shamlian, 4. Edwin Cedeno, 5. Tim Russell, 6. Robert      Weaver, 7. Shane Cazel, 8. Tami Buehn,  9. Alex Kniestedt.

+ Heat #2: 1. Jason Irwin, 2. Chuck Davis, 3. Jeff Tuttle, 4. Mikki Beuchat, 5. Bob Vaden, 6. Chris Christiano, 7. Ray Miller, 8. Michael Bartlet, 9. Tori Edgington.

Super Stock 4:

+ Heat #1: 1. Tom Vokovich, 2. Rich Innis, 3. Janet Lyford.

+ Heat #2: 1. Galen Reese, 2. Travis Showe, 3. Dennis Crook.

+ Main: 1. Dennis Crook, 2. Galen Reese, 3. Tom Vokovich, 4. Janet Lyford, 5. Travis Showe, 6. Rich Innis.

Gen-X:

+ Heat: 1. Chris Jimenez, 2. Jesse Showe.

+ Main: 1. Jesse Showe, 2. Chris Jimenez.

Top Gun Raceway – NHRA Pacific Division National Open

• Saturday, June 11:

Junior Dragsters:

+ 6-9: 1. Jessica Boradman, 12.541, 51.41 mph.

+ 10- 12: 1. Madison Gordon, 9.005, 72.11 mph.

+ 13-14: 1. Damon Bustamonte, 7.883, 82.08 mph.

+ 15-17: 1. Myka Lopez, 7.908, 81.01 mph.

+ Jr.Comp: 1. Justin Ball, 6.880, 95.62 mph.

+ Top Comp: 1. Justin Morgan, 7.842, 164.43 mph.

+ Sportsman ET: 1. Walt Stacy, 12.996, 99.47 mph.

+ Pro ET: 1. Joe Janusch, 10.824, 121.38.

+ Super Pro: 1. Chris Borges, 9.819, 136.81.