RENO, NV (Nov. 6) — This weekend Rattlesnake honored its champions and handed out special awards. Here in Reno, on Sunday Reno Cars & Coffee started the month with is usual meet by the Keitzke Starbucks.
REPORTER’S NOTE: Due to physical problems was unable to attend the banquet. Want to give a special thanks and appreciation to Krystle McCart Gilmore for listing the special awards and sending pictures that I can use. If anyone wants prints please check with her as she has the originals.
• Rattlesnake Raceway held its annual awards banquet on Saturday, November 5. The point’s championships were based on track members.
In the IMCA classes Shayna Nieman won that title while Stuart Satathite was second overall. The points difference was 493 for Nieman while Satathite wound up with 464 points and is the Rookie of the year.
In the Modified group Wade Lumsden was the only track member so he earned that championship.
In IMCA Stock Cars Jesse Gonzalez was the champion while new promoter Rusty McMillian was the runner up for the season as well at earning Rookie of the Year honors.
In the regular car classes Cooper Lee is the Gen-X champion with 510 points. He also won the Cornu Family Most Improved Driver award.
Not far behind with 504 points was Kent Knisley in second just two points ahead of third place Joseph Cook while Jerome Kleve was Rookie of the year.
Moving into the Hobby Stock class Angela Dias was the winner with 442 points. Clayton Holloway ended up second while Ray Elder was third while Robbie Schostag is the Rookie of the Year..
Bob Vaden, in what is apparently his final season racing, is the Bootlegger champion with 534 points. Second place was Ray Blankenship, with 491 points while third place Stuart Satathite earned 415 points during the regular season and was the Rookie of the Year.
There were other special awards given out. Receiving the Stephanie Benham Volunteer of the year was Alex Kniestedt while the Dennis Kirn Best Sportsmanship award went to Joseph Cook. And this year’s Mark Lee Hard Luck award went to Kent Knisley.
Now everyone gets some time off but after the New Year it will be time for working on the race car and getting ready for the spring when the green flag waves again.
• As usual Reno Cars & Coffee had its first meet of the month on Sunday. With the treat of incoming weather the turn out was modest and another reason might have been Saturday’s cruise over to Apple Hill.
As usual there were a few Corvettes and a Porsche or two. Then there was a different car owned by Jay Darrenougue.
“It’s a 4-door ’57 Chevy Belair and I try to keep it looking stock like the hubcaps and everything,” he said. “I decided not to paint it, just keep waxing it very year.
While it might look stock he has made some changes to the car.
“I put a 305 in it out of a Camaro and same thing with the transmission,” he said. “I also added a fan to help keep it cool and have power disc brakes so it’s my daily driver.”
The car appears to sit lower in the back and he explained that was the way they usually sat. If a person went hotrod they usually raised the rear end of the car.
Asked about the reaction when he drives the car he said, “I do get a lot of thumbs up. You know the front end has that look about it with that big bumpere and all the chrome,” he said. “People like that.”
He has three cars, including this one that are entered in Hot August Nights although not always in the same year
Then he added, “It’s sure easy to work on but fun to have. The latter model cars are a little harder to work on.”
A little further up the line was an American exotic owned by Seth McDonouth.
“This is a 2000 Dodge Viper RT10,” he said. “It’s not the coupe, more desirable for most people, but I like popping the top off when the weather is right. It’s stock for now but has a new set of wheels that are from a Gen 4 Viper.”
As far as modifications go he explained it’s hard to find parts for that.
“I’ve owned it for about 5 months and put 2,500 miles on it. I’ve gone up the Mt. Rose Highway and it does especially well with fresh tires on it. Before I had 2005’s, which were hard as hell. I don’t know how anyone can drive on 2005 tires. “
As expected in a meet like this, usually there aren’t more than a couple of motorcycles in the mix. One of them is owned by J. Jensen.
“This is a 2022 Kawasaki Gen 6 ZX10R that has a 1,000cc motor,” he said. “It’s mostly stock but changed the exhaust with a mid-pipe and slip on. It’s really smooth, all the electronics makes it really nice, definitely wants to go.”
He does have some plans for the bike and a goal he wants to achieve
“I’ve had the bike about six months and just hit 4,000 miles today,” he said. “I want to be able to hit 200 miles an hour on this one so I’m going to do a little bit of engine work ,get it nice and tuned on the dyno so it makes over 200 horsepower, but I want to keep the stock wheel base.”
He’s planning to test that speed next year out at Top Gun Dragstrip. In the meantime he’s a bit cautious of the mountain roads.
“I crashed on Geiger last year (He’s had a couple of friends go down on that road}. The truck route is fun, it’s a little bit slower paced but it’s more technical.”
Next weekend, depending on the weather Sparks Cars & Coffee will have its first meet of the month. Time is 10 to noon Sunday and the location is the Starbucks located on Disc Drive.
OTHER RACING NEWS:
• Two local racing series will bring the curtain down on their 2022 seasons this coming week. One can save time by registering on-line
- Out at Fernley 95A MX track BBMX will have round 11 of its series. Host club IS the Reno chapter of the Old Timers.
- To the east, at the Lovelock Speedway the Mason Valley Dirt Squirts has hosting Blood, Sweat and Gears race. Nice thing is that the roads are paved to the Speedway.
- Saturday gets going with the Pee Wee race followed at 11 a.m. by the Mini Bikes, Women and Bombers. Several classes have very close point’s races so championships could be decided then,
– Sunday, starting at 10 a.m. is when the big bikes get their turn on a long course. Once again to be classed as a finisher a rider must complete one full lap.
• Teresa’s Garage Radio Show is on the air from 2 until 3 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. In northwest Nevada, it can be heard over the air at 1060 AM AND 93.7 FM.
There is also a Podcast at amm.streamon.fm or it can be seen live on Face Book. The show is focused on all things automotive, trends, new developments and trivia.
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• One of our sponsors is General Transmission and Power Train Specialists owned by former motorcycle racer Pete Attashian. The shop is located at 2515 Sutro Street in Reno, a few blocks below Hug High School.
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