LOVELOCK, NV (April 15) — After being dark for over a year Lovelock Speedway came back to life this weekend. The event was the Berta Graham Memorial sponsored by the Evenson Law Office.
Graham was a long time supporter of the track and Evenson, a local resident, used to race there. Prior to the heat races several competitors did parade laps to honor her memory.
First up was the Gen-X class and it was an easy victory for Lovelock resident Kent Knisley. He got the honor of taking the first victory at the reopened track.
Next to take the green were the IMCA Stock Cars and leading the charge was Rusty McMillian with Zach Cail giving chase.
There three cautions that bunched the field and changed the order. After the final caution McMillian, who resides in Fallon, was in control and took the victory followed by Marie Curtis and third place Ryan Belli.
There were only a trio of Bootleggers that took the green and Ray Blankenship just ran away for the victory. Behind him the battle for second ended when John Minor claimed that position while Ryan Parkhurst ended up third.
The race of the night was the Hobby Stock main. On the green Jesse Gonzalez jumped into the lead but close behind him was Mikki Beuchat.
For most of the race these two Fallon racers were either nose-to-tail or virtually side-by-side when Beuchat was challenging for the lead.
At the end they took the checkered flag Gonzalez, who won and Beuchat were nose-to-tail. Finishing third was Bad Schmidt while Jimmy Berhorst ended up fourth.
The night ended with the IMCA Modified feature where extra money awaited the winner. Prior to the start the field lined up and were introduced to the fans.
On the green McDaniel and Paris Archie were side-by-side diving into the first turn. Soon McDaniel had the advantage and Zach Cail moved into second place.
Two cautions slowed the pace and in one of them Cail dropped to the back of the pack. He soon charged toward the front where he and Shawn Natenstedt had a many lap duel for second.
Up front McDaniel was driving a fast, careful race. There was a hole in the middle of Turns 3 and 4 but he was able to avoid that.
At the checkered McDaniel, who came all the way from Olivehurst, California scored the win while Natenstedt was second, Cail wound up third while Dave Sciarroni finished fourth.
Asked about the race McDaniel said, “There was a big hole between three and four and I knew in these cars you just can’t run them through something like that. I was glad we got the outside on the start and I just knew we had to hit the marks. Car freed up a little bit, but other than that it felt pretty decent.”
Back home McDaniel is involved with baseball so we probably won’t see him until after June. He was off this weekend and comes to any show he can.
“I need to thank Vanderbuilt Race Cars, McDaniel Motorsports, Ethan Dotson Racing and J Car Racing. There’s so many people and everyone contributes as it’s hard to go and do this as it costs so much to travel, Just appreciate the support so much.”
Next up for Lovelock Speedway is a Friday-Saturday show on May 12-13.
REPORTER’S NOTE: James Grace was also taking pictures including those in a victory circle he set up. He’s also on Facebook at Grace Photography & Productions. Grace not only does photographs but he also can make hero cards for drivers.
OTHER RACING NEWS:
• Daveys Amercian Racing is usually on at 6 p.m. Wednesday evenings. One can see the show on Face Book and get into the chat was well.
Davey covers national series as well as racing in the western United States. His focus is on oval tracks.
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RESULTS:
Lovelock Speedway – April 15
• IMCA Modifieds:
- Heat Winners: #1 Paris Archie, #2 Ryan McDaniel.
- Main: 1. Ryan McDaniel, 2. Shawn Natenstedt, 3. Zach Cail, 4. Dave Sciarroni, 5. Alec Childs.
- DNF: Walter Ball, Travis White, Kaity Sample, Cole Jones.
- DNS: Andrew Peckham, Steven Anderson.
- DQ: Paris Archie.
• IMCA Stock Car:
- Heat Winner: Rusty McMillian.
- Main: 1. Rusty McMillian, 2. Alyssa Jones, 3. Marie Curtis, 4.Ryan Belli.
- DNF: Zach Cail.
• Bootleggers:
- Heat Winner: Ray Blankenship.
- Main: 1. Ray Blankenship, 2. John Minor, 3. Ryan Parkhurst.
• Hobby Stocks:
- Heat Winners: #1 Jesse Gonzalez, #2 Mikki Beuchat.
– Main: 1. Jesse Gonzalez, 2. Mikki Beuchat, 3. Brad Schmidt, 4. Jimmy Berhorst, 5. Don Deiter, 6. Grayson Olschowka, 7. Ryan Parkhurst, 8. Hailey Conroy, 9. Debbie Gordo.
• Gen-X:
- Heat Winner: Kent Kinsley.
– Main: 1. Kent Knisley, 2. Colton Blankenship, 3. Cooper Lee.
