The last desert race for four wheeled vehicles ran this Saturday. A great car count and TV exposure is sure to boost this race and series.

SALT WELLS (Aug. 3) – The Carbon Off Road Fallon 250 is two races in one; it closes out the desert racing series for VORRA and is also an Ultra 4 regional. And this year there was a name change as the race now has a title sponsor; Carbon Off Road.

The Ultra 4 Unlimited part of the event began a bit after 2 p.m. and like the morning group, the racers were sent off one at a time in a staggered start. There were 57 drivers to challenge the dusty course.

Like the morning race, the lack of wind certainly made dust a challenge for all the drivers as they raced around the 40-mile loop. And overcoming that was the key to the victory.

“That whole race was insane from start to finish,” Jason Scherer said after scoring the victory. “We went out there, had a good lap and it got so dusty I thought there was no way we could have a shot because the pace was so slow. In the second lap I was in clean air, ran a killer lap and I think that’s what put us up front.”

When the first lap ended Cody Addington was on point followed by Paul Horschel. At that time they had a pretty big gap over Darren Henke, Scherer, last year’s winner Loren Healy and Brian Caprara. When the second lap ended it was Addington, Henke but Scherer was third,

Next time around Additon was nowhere to be found while Henke was leading Scherer followed by Shannon Campbell and Erik Miller. At that time the lead duo had almost a 10-minute lead over third and fourth place.

A pit stop by Scherer dropped him a considerable distance behind Henke while Campbell and Miller were holding down third and fourth.

In the final laps Darren Henke was leading the afternoon race until a late pit stop dropped him to third overall.

Then with a lap to go Henke made a pit stop and put Scherer in the lead. Then Scherer was informed that Campbell, who is now second, was closing the time gap between them.

In a race like this the official finishing position is calculated on a driver’s corrected time.

The result was that Scherer had to pass slower cars in the dust, which was increasing as the wind had stopped.

Jason Scherer racing through the dust to victory.

“I didn’t want to do it but I got a little pep talk from a friend of mine that told me, ‘you’re two minutes apart and if he (Campbell) gets clean air you’re not going to win this thing,” Scherer said. “And I went, ‘all right dude, it’s on.’ It took me a few minutes to gather it but I was the sun setting in the background and could pick up their lights in the dust. I just sorted of aimed at their dust and worked out good cause that was the sixth time I had see it.

“When I had one clean air lap I could really rip it. So we just held it wide open and went for it. It wasn’t the smartest things but I wanted this one pretty bad.”

As a result when the sixth lap began it was Scherer on point followed by Henke, Caprara and a closing Campbell.

In the end Scherer scored the victory then did what could be best described as a “Donutroll.” Trying to celebrate by doing donuts had an unexpected ending when he rolled the car upside down.

Jason Scherer doing an unexpected Donutroll after winning the unlimited race.

After getting his car rolled back on it wheels and during the post race interview he had some special thanks to offer. Especially since this was the car’s first win in two years although he’s had five second place finishes.

“I want to thank everybody on the Rubicon Express Team and Nitto Tires, those were insane. If you had seen the terrain out there it was like nothing else,” he said. “I wish my family was here but I’m glad all my friends and crew are. This is probably the hardest for them because they see the least of the racecourse and yet I had 20 of the best crew out here and I appreciate them. It’s a pretty neat deal to win one of these again.”

Campbell finished second six minutes behind Scherer. And like the rest he found the dust to be a challenge.

Shannon Campbell races through the dust to claim second overall in the unlimited race.

It was the most dusty, miserable so I just drove as easy as I could and tried not to wreck it,” he said. “About the last lap they told these guys left before me and I had to make some time up. There were only a few cars in between us and it got to where I was like one mile an hour out there as I just couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. Can’t believe we didn’t stop once, kept on trucking, went easy and I’m glad we made it.”

Then he thanked Nitto Tires, Monster Energy and well as the other sponsors on the car as well as his crew.

While some drivers were only to make one lap, nine of their fellow competitors never finished the race. Attrition is just part of this type of desert racing as drivers have to content with everything from playa to canyons.

The afternoon race was slightly held up as three cars from the morning race had to be cleared off the course. This entailed towing them to a safe area but didn’t take too long so the second race actually got started earlier than it did a year ago.

The day actually began at dawn when the production and limited classes began their race on the same 40-mile racecourse. Some of those early racers compete with VORRA and this event ends their traditional summer desert races before they return to California for a final short track event.

The first group launched a little after 6 a.m. and John Heimstra led the charge and would have clean air, at least for a while. Next off the starting line was Jay Schroeder and the chase was on.

At the end of the first lap Schroeder was on point followed by Heimstra, Kevin Adler and Albert Contreras. This group were so fast they had to be held at the finish line so the second, and much larger group could be launched.

There were several classes racing, including a pretty good field of UTV racers in the second group.

Once the first group leaders were allowed to start their second lap things would seem to be scrambled. However transponder timing would keep track of things and even help adjusting the times.

Once again a driver’s corrected time gave them their finishing position.

Back in the pack disabled Army veteran Tim Hall, in his third year of racing, used a steady driver to place his UTV 23rd overall.

Handicapped Army veteran Tom Hall raced in the UTV class.

Hall uses hand controls as he lost both legs in Iraq and spent over two years at Walter Reed Hospital. His co driver is a high school friend that served in the Marines.

Former desert motorcycle racer Sean Berryman was the only Sportsman racer. It was his first desert race in a buggy and he drove to a respectable 26th place finish.

Former desert motorcycle racer Sean Berryman tried his hand at desert racing in a Sportsman buggy.

But up front Bruce Field and his son Pat, from San Jose, California, were on a charge. They swapped sitting in the driver’s seat and reached the finish line first, giving them the win in Class T with an elapsed time of 5:03:31.

The father-son team of Bruce and Pat Field crossed the finish line first in the morning race.

Asked about the course Pat said, “It’s rough for sure. The first couple of laps it was nice, you could hold a good pace, this last lap it was rutted and bring it in. That’s all you can do.”

Then his father said, “It was pretty consistent, he got the rougher laps though. Towards four, five, six it got pretty rough.

Bruce Field and his son Pat celebrate being the first to reach the finish line in the morning race.

Then the elder Field thanked his wife for putting up with them as well as Lucas Oil, General Tire, Airmotive, CNX Racing and K&N Air Filters.

Reaching the finish second was Jackson, Wyoming resident Norris Brown. He won Class 10 and on corrected time was first overall in the morning racing.

“I borrowed my wife’s car for the weekend,” he said after overcoming a 10-minute deficit at the start. “The dust, there’s no break, there’s no place you can relax and get out of it. Lap 2 and 4 were fun because I could see here and there. Other than you catch lap vehicles that started behind you and guys that came in and pitted. The only guys that had problems, they did it themselves, either rolled over and stuff.”

Norris Brown, driving his wife’s Class 10 buggy won the overall in the morning race.

Then he thanked Mark Johnson, who prepped the car and took his busy weekend from family to bring it up from California as the car lives in Riverside at his prep shop. He also thanked his wife Layne as she owns the car, Don Blakely from Salt Lake, Dave Ackley and his dad.

Eric Pucelik was third and Dave Schneider, in a 4800 truck, won his class and placed fourth with an elapsed time of 5:14:53. The first UTV was Amin Patel, who ended up seventh overall with a time of 5:22:02.

Dave Schneider was fourth overall but won the 4800 class.

Back in the pack the UTV 1937 started with Shelby Hall Baker driving for the first four laps. She’s the granddaughter of off road legend Rod Hall.

Shelby Hall Baker drove the first four laps in a UTV owned by Reno dealer Michael Winkel.

For the final two laps Mike Winkel, who owns a dealership in Reno and the car, got into the driver’s seat with another co-driver and tackled the course where they ended up 40th overall.

Another person testing the desert racing waters along with his brothers is Reno resident Randy Ryckebosch. They are veteran go-kart racers just branching into this type of racing.

Randy Ryckebosch takes off. He and his brothers are veteran go-kart racers.

They took their brand new UTV and raced to a 66th place finish.

Right after the first two groups started Ultra 4 owner Dave Cole had a few seconds to give some comments. This year the King of the Hammers is being carried as a six-part series on NBC Sports, which airs Thursday at 7 p.m. Pacific Time.

“We’re having a lot more people watching the races,” Cole said after being asked about the impact of TV. “It gets more sponsors involved, which gets more racers involved. It’s exposure for the sport, gets the drivers in front of more people, which hopefully relieves the financial burden for them on racing and gets more sponsorship for them as well. It’s just good stuff and it’s all good.”

As far as VORRA goes he said, “They’ve never been on TV and they’ll be on September 22nd.”

Series executive and owner Dave Cole was a very busy guy during the Fallon 250.

Next up for the series here will be the Nitto Tires Ultra 4 Nationals on October 21,22 at Wild West Motorsports Park. Those wishing to purchase tickets in advance should to go www.wildwestmotorsportspark.com and follow the link.

OTHER RACING NEWS

• NASCAR returned to its roots this weekend as the action was at Darlington Raceway. And three native Nevadans competed in two series.

In Saturday’s Xfinity race Brendan Gaughan started ninth but finished 16th. The Sprint Cup raced the Southern 500 on Sunday and Kyle Busch ended up 11th while older brother Kurt’s night ended in a wreck and he was credited with finishing 34th.

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His shop does quality work and if you need their services remember they support racing so please support them.

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If you are into karting or want the most cost effective way to start racing then Nevada Kart Sport is where you want to go. It’s the only full service kart shop in our region and even retails karts.

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Carbon Off Road Fallon 250 – September 3, 2016

Salt Wells, Nevada

• Afternoon Results:

+ 1. Jason Scherer, 4:37:45, 2. Shannon Campbell, 4:43:09, 3. Darren Nenke, 4:45:38*, 3. Brian Caprara, 4:45:38*, 5. Tom Wayes, 6. Erik Miller, 7. Levi Shirley, 8. Jon Cagliero, 9. Mike Bou, 10. Bailey Campbell, 11. Jason Bond Waits, 12. Andrew McLaughlin, 13. Rod Kaven, 14. Loren Healy, 15. Eric Miramon, 16. Don Fisher, 17.Gary Ferravanti Sr., 18. Fabio Manno, 20. Gary Ferravanti Jr., 21. Mike Trebino, 22. J.P. Gomez, 23. Brian Tilton, 24. Dustin Sexton, 25. Luke Horschel, 26. Justin Foxworthy, 27. Troy Stone, 28. Brian Wood, 29. John Picken, 30. Wayland Campbell, 31. Dave Bovich, 32. Kenneth Goodall, 33. Joe Hutchins, 34. Cody Waggoner, 35. Richard Eilenberger, 36. Matt Trebino, 37. Alex Wacker, 38. Matt Nieman, 39. Brendon Thompson, 40. Jeremy Ealand, 41. Cody Addington, 42. Shane      Chiddix, 43. Joe Varga, 44. Wayne Hartwig, 45. Jimmy Haughy, 46. Paul Horschel, 47. Edwin Abd, 48. Scott Foley, 49. Marcos Gomez*, 50. Charley McDowell*, 51. Vance DeMars, 52. Jason Blanton*, 53. Raul Gomez*, 54. Matt      Thorson*, 55. Bruce Szemer*, 56. Jake Yeoman*, 57. Matthew McCowan*.

* – DNF

• Morning Results:

+ Overall, Class Winners: 1. Norris Brown, Cl. 10, 2. Bruce Field, Cl. T, 3. Eric Pucelik, 4. Dave Schneider, Cl 4800, 5. Jeren Gunter, 6. Kevin Rants, 7. Amin Patel, Cl UTV, 8. Phil Cagliero, 9. Sean Leonardini, 10. James Hubbard, 11. Logan Goodall, 12. Cade G. Rodd, 13. Jimmy Jack, 14.  Kyle/Jade Wickham, 15. Anthony Arreola, 16. Phil Blurton, 17. Roger Caballos, 18. Rick Wterbury, 19. Mike Jams, 20. Darian Gomez, 21. Kory Van Norman, 22. Steve Lopez, 22. Steve Lopez, 23. Tim Hall, 24. Rob Camilleri, 25. David Ackles, 26. Sean Berryman, Cl. Sportsman, 27. Justin Hall, Cl. 4500, 28. Ryan Bergamini, 29. Gary Taylor, 30. Brian Behrend, 31. Adam Arsenault, Cl. 4500, 32. Michael Ahlmeyer, 33. Sean McNamara, 34. Ryan Piggott, 35. Albert Contreras, 36. Bailey Cole, 37. Travis McCalla, 38. Bill Hermant, 39. Kurtis Harryman, 40. Chris Woo, 41. Max Baggett, 42. Mad Mike Bedwell, 43. Jay Schroeder, Cl. 9, 44. Jay Sadler, 45. Kevin Adler, 46. Scott Wooden, 47. Dylan Heiser, 48. Andy Brown, 49. Dennis Lapp, 50. Tim Price, 51. Sean McBride, 52. Gary Steele, 53. Ian Murray, 54. Justin Day, 55. Lucas Reich, 56. John Heimstra, 57. Sean Yudice, 58. Dan Wyrick, 59. Jordan Townsend, 60. Ron Schaefer, 61. Mike Ladd, 62. Morgan Derodeff, 63. Stephen Pappas, 64. Jason Arnold,      65. Bill Mintech, 66. Randy Ryckebosch, 67. Roger Tiscarero, 68. Darrell Johnson, 69. Aaron Osbourne*, 70. Victor Fontana*, 71. Darin Doucette*, 72. Paul Bickerton*, 73. Brian Hays*, 74. Ben Vadrozza, 75. Jason Ray*, 76. Ross Glave*, 77. Broc Ross*, 78. John Duckworth*, 79. Andrew Walker*.

*- DNF.

Morning Results By Class:

+ Class 1: 1. Stephen Pappas, 2. Aaron Osbourne, 3. Jay Schroeder, 4. John Heimstra.

+ Class 10: 1. Norris Brown, 2. Eric Pucelik, 3.Michael Ahlmeyer, 4. Max Baggett, 5. Gary Steele, 6. Bill Mintech.

+ 4500: 1. Kevin Rants, 2. Jimmy Jack, 3. Justin Hall, 4. Adam Arsenault, 5. Mad Mike Bedwell, 6. Sean McBride, 7. Jordan Townsend, 8. Mike Ladd, 9. Morgan Derodeff, 10. Victory Fontana, 11. Darin Doucette, 12. Paul Bickerton.

+ 4600: 1. Brian Behrend, 2. Sean McNamara, 3. Albert Contreras, 4. Kevin Adler, 5. Brian Hays, 6. Ben Varozza.

+ 4800: 1. Dave Schneider, 2. Jeren Gunter, 3. Sean Leonardini, 4. James Hubbard, 5. Cade G. Rodd, 6. Kyle/Jade Wickham, 7. Anthony arreola, 8. Rick Waterbury, 9. Steve Lopez, 10. Bailey Cole, 11. Kurtis Harryman, 12. Jay Sadler, 13. Andy Brown, 14. Dennis Lapp, 15. Justin Day, 16. Dan Wyrick, 17. Jason Ray, 18. Ross Glave.

+ Sportsman: 1. Sean Berryman.

+ Class T: 1. Bruce Field, 2. Robert Caballos, 3. Mike Jams, 4. Kory Van Norman, 5. David Ackles, 6. Gary Taylor, 7. Ryan Piggott, 8. Travis McCalla, 9. Bill Hermant, 10. Scott Wooden, 11. Dylan Heiser, 12. Tim Price, 13. Ian Murray, 14. Lucas Reich, 15. Sean      Yudice, 16. Jason Arnold, 17. Roger Tiscarero, 18. Darrell Johnson, 19. Broc Ross.

+ UTV: 1. Amin Patel, 2. Phil Cagliero, 3. Logan Goodall, 4. Phil Blurton, 5. Darian Gomez, 6.Tim Hall, 7. Rob Camilleri, 8. Ryan Bergamini, 9. Chris Woo, 10. Ron Schaefer, 11. Randy Ryckebosch, 12. John Duckworth, 13. Andrew Walker.