RENO, NV (Jan. 3) – Reno Cars & Coffee took advantage of the good weather to kick off the New Year with their first of the month meet. Lance Freitas, who runs the group, estimated there were between 150 to 200 cars and trucks for people to see.
In one area there was kind of a Corvette line with an Audi parked in it. There was also a 2021 C8 Corvette mid-engine with the hoods up to show luggage as well as the motor.
One of the more unusual vehicles is an off-road rig, a Jeep Grand Cherokee with a video camera mounted on a special frame. It’s part of the rigs Ascending Works uses for its work.
The owner Keith Bowlby said, “We run Ascending Works,a local film company but we don’t really do much local works here. We’re usually on the road in L.A., Colorado, Denver, and Florida shooting car content. We have a bunch of different variations of the rig, this is our off-road variation with a spring-head that allows us to hit bumps and it stays perfectly smooth.
The camera is a Red Cinema Dragon X and shoots in 6K resolution and it has a zoom lens. Using it takes teamwork and while she is not in the rig his wife Calli takes care of the back end.
“I have a driver, a 1st Assistant, who’s just doing focus, I control the camera and the director sits next to me in the back seat,” he said. “Sol Portraits is the driver, Corey Nuss is our 1st Assistant, I’m Keith Bobly and our director is Chris Fenner.”
Then he added,” We’re local here in Reno, we manufacture all these camera parts in house. We’re always looking for people to test so if you have a cool car and want to be filmed, just a shot or two please hit us up on our Instagram page @Ascendingworks. We’re always looking for a roster of people to come and play with us.
While the company does have a Facebook page Bolby said they don’t check that often. So Instagram and Twitter are the best ways to contact them. They also have a website, which has some previews of their work, and that is www.ascendingworks.com.
Another stand out car is owned by two visitors from Oregon, Goodshot and Coleette Tafua. It’s easy to see they are part of the Raider Nation.
Goodshot explained, “It’s all a Raider car and we call it “The BAB,” or The Bad Ace Beast. The car is a 2014 Dodge Charger RT, put a cold air intake in it and it has 390 horsepower. We got the crate motor there from Mopar.”
Both sides of the car, including the tires, have Raider decals and of course it is black. There is no doubting they are huge of fans of the team and they were in Reno visiting friends but live in Portland, Oregon.
“We are in the car club C3 out of Portland but we’re nation wide as well as world wide,” he said. “This is our car, me and my wife drive it all over where ever we go. We’re just down here to visit friends.”
At a Cars & Coffee meet one thing is evident; people will breath new life into an older car. A good example was one owned by Blair Williams.
“It’s a 196 3 Chevy 2 or Nova as a lot of people would know it by,” he said. “The car has been completely redone with the exception of the body and interior. New front end, rear gear, originally was an automatic but now it’s a 4-speed. Internals are a new dash, hydraulic clutch, new heads and headers.
“The motor is a 350 bored over 30 and the heads aere from a company I don’t believe exists any more. They are out of Australia, Iron Dirt Track Car Heads. The transmission used to belong to my dad and it’s a rebuilt Richmond 4-Speed.”
He explained the entire front end had to come apart to get the new suspension installed. They also found the car might have been in an accident so the right front body needs to be aligned a bit more. The car is now equipped with disc brakes all the way around.
“It was probably a two and a half year process from the first bolt to the attempt to drive it home from the shop,” he said.
These meets are a great way to meet fellow car people or to just view cars and admire the work some people have put into their vehicles. Next weekend Sparks Cars & Coffee as well as Carson Cars & Coffee will have meets of their own.
All the Cars & Coffee groups can be found on Face Book as they all have their own pages.
OTHER RACING NEWS:
• This year Ed Macedo is stepping down and had hoped the promoter at Winnemucca Regional Raceway was going to take it over. Unfortunately, according to Macedo, sponsorship problems killed that project.
As soon as possible I hope to have an interview with the Winnemuca promoter to see what happened and the options. But for now it appears that Lovelock Speedway may be dark for the second year in a row. Hopefully someone will step up and take over the track.
• The Dakar Rally is going on right now. For highlights one can go to www.youtube.com and see those. Also the Virginia Grand Prix has been posting highlights from Cycle News and after stage 2 an American, who won last year, was second but there is over a week’s worth of stages to go.
Instagram apparently is also posting highlights Another site to watch is www.advpulse.com as they are covering the rally as well.
• Teresa’s Garage Radio Show will be on the air Tuesday afternoon from 2 until 3 p.m. In the Reeno/Sparks area it can be heard either at 1180 AM or 1160 AM.
The show is also on a Podcast at amm.streamon.fm or can be seen live on Face Book. Co-host Emily Cook, a woman racer also has a line of merchandise to help her racing and one can find those at www.emilycookracing.com.
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We now have seven very appreciated sponsors supporting this site. Please patronize them as they not only support your sport but they help nvracingnews continue. Please let them know you heard about them through this site.
Our newest sponsor is G.I.S.L Land Services that, while having a global client base it has a Western U.S.A. Focus. Owner Greg Ekins is a long time off road motorcycle racer competing in the MRANN Series as well as the AMA National Hare and Hound series.
Among the services offers are Surface and Mineral Title Reviews and Cartographic Services. The website is www.gislandservices.com.
Another great sponsor is General Transmission and Power Train Specialists. The shop is located at 2515 Sutro Street in Reno, a few blocks below Hug High School.
Former motorcycle racer Pete Attashian is the owner and they not only service older and newer transmission but now have a section dealing with high performance units including those used for towing.
The phone number is 775-786-5888 and the shop’s website is www.generaltransmissionreno.com.
Another sponsor is fantastic race photographer Melissa Coker. If you have raced at Summit in Elko, Battle Mountain, Lovelock, Rattlesnake Raceway or Diamond Mountain Speedway she probably has a photograph of your car on the track.
She’s also been at the IMCA Duel in the Desert was well as the Wild West Tour and IMCA Super Nationals in Boone, Iowa. Melissa not only has photos of the cars, and many times drivers, but she can produce hero cards and even a book covering from your season.
To see her collections or to place an order please check her website at www.melissasoutonalimb.smugmug.com.
Two of our sponsors are first class motorcycle shops located in Reno.
Our first sponsor is Reno Motorsports (RMS). Not only do they have about anything a rider might want or need and the store also has a full service shop.
Their location is at 964 Terminal Way, by the intersection with Mill Street. Store’s phone number is 775-322-1499 and the site is, www.rms-renomotorsports.com.
The next shop is Moto-Source located at 3180 Mill Street. Once again they are a full service shop plus about any thing a rider might need or want.
The phone number is 775-856-3855 and the website is, www.moto-source.com.
The next sponsor is an excellent place if you need collision repair on your car or truck. It’s Concours Body Shop, located at 250 Telegraph Street in Reno and has a long history of first class repairs.
Brian Saul is the owner, a car enthusiast himself and he’s committed to continuing the shop’s reputation of quality work. Phone number is 775-329-4557 and the website is, www.concoursbodyshop.net.
Hungry, want a great place to eat, then try PJ&CO for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and it’s a great place to watch your favorite sports. If you’re a rider, well Wednesday evening is Bike Night, always a great time to see some great looking bikes and meet like-minded people.
The location is 1590 South Wells Avenue, just north of the round about. Phone number is 775-323-6366 and their website is www.pjandco.net.
Have a business targeted toward motorsports or an off road demographic? We are always looking for more sponsors and will expose your business to the racing and off road community in this area.
You can contact us either through the comment section of this site or on our Face Book page.
