Saturday was an action packed night in Fernley with five divisions racing.
(FERNLEY, April 23) – 95A Speedway had a big night with the second round of the new Northern Nevada Pro Stock Association Series plus a visit by the BCRA Midget series. Unlike the last event, this time the weather was nice although cooling through out the evening. But on the track, the action was hot and getting hotter.
After a troubled run to the checkered flag winner Robert Miller said, “I was down on oil pressure and started running warm about halfway through. I was watching the pressure decrease so I laid back a little bit. But it really hooks up and I did pace myself, got into second, the class is really picking up and I hope it continues to grow.”
Then he thanked B.J. Pearson, who owns the Nuclear Banana car, and the crew for getting it ready to run.
There were 17 Pro Stocks on hand but three of them were unable to make the feature race so 14 answered the green flag. Up front Gene Kay, driving Scotty Slatter’s car, took off and led the charge.
Two laps into the 30-lap contest Rob Grace fell from contention when he spun. By this time Miller had moved to fifth and one the restart charged into second.
The next caution, two laps later was when James Greenwalt spun. On the restart Miller began to challenge Kay whose car was beginning to smoke due to a motor problem.
Six laps later Miller got beside Kay and then took the lead right before another car spun and brought out a caution.
Once the green waved again Miller took off but this time he was chased by James Gonzalez and Antonio Aragon.
By now Miller was aware of this car’s problem but he was able to pull away from Aragon, who was now second, when they exited the corners.
In the last laps Aragon tried his best but had to settle for the runner-up spot with Gonzalez and Gary Nevers taking third and fourth.
At the awards ceremony, Pearson said that next time he’s going to go to a Hoosier tire rather than the Goodyears he used. And that they’ll look at the motor before the next series event.
The IMCA Modified field was also 14 cars and all of them answered the green. Once the race began Robert Miller used an outside move to take the point then lost it to James Thiboudeaux.
Two laps into the race a spin caused the first caution. On the restart Travis White moved up to second while Cory Sample slotted into third.
Soon after the restart Miller made a mistake and wound up hitting the wall. As a result he headed for the pits and was out of the race.
Up front Sample would take third ahead of Mike White, who later slipped to sixth at the end. Now the battle was for third between Travis White and Shun LaRaoque.
There would be one more caution and, once again, on the restart Thiboudeux roared away leaving everyone in his dust. Sample could never close the gap so settled for second head of White and LaRoaque.
“It was nice starting up front, clean air and no trouble,” Thiboudeaux said later.
Then he thanked his car owner Jim Deyoe as well as sponsors Central Nevada Maintenance, Tonopah Steel that the 2016 Shaw chassis they are using.
Eight Street Stocks took the green when their feature began. This class is showing some growth but up front two adversaries from last year were going to decide just who was going to win.
On the start Rick Miller led the charge only to be slowed a lap later when one car lost its hood on the back stretch and Michael Burns car stopped on the front straight.
Once things got cleaned up racing resumed with Miller up front and Dwight Bolton right behind him. Eventually Miller pulled a gap only to have it close in the late stages of the race.
In the final laps Bolton got beside Miller and took the point. Now it was Miller’s turn to challenge him.
At the checkered Bolton took the win followed by Miller and Jake Baker.
“With a couple of laps to go I was able to get along side Miller coming out of Turn 2,” Bolton said. “My plan tonight was to be patient, which isn’t my style. I’m trying new Goodyear Tires and in combination with the track they worked pretty good. I was surprised. And I want to dedicate this win to my pit crew, Mike and Mike.”
This year Joe Frock is on a roll, especially after placing second in a national Dwarf Car event earlier in the month. And on this night he was still on a roll.
Kenny Martin led first but behind him Frock was on a charge from the back of the pack. A quick caution due to a spin slowed things just a bit.
Once racing resumed it only took one more lap for Frock to take command of the race. Then he had to slow again for another caution.
One more caution would slow things but at ever restart Frock just took off and showed his heels to the pack. At the end Dan Geil was second head of Timothy Fitzpatrick and Calvin Ryle.
“The race was good and the track perfect,” Frock said at the awards ceremony. “I need to thank sponsors Damron Racing, Wild Island and my crew Johnny Randall.
One disappointment was the BCRA Midgets. Apparently 15 were promised but with Bobbie Wilson, a local driver showing up there were only seven.
And Alex Shutte dominated the night winning the heat and main. Once the green waved on the feature there was no catching him although for a spell the top four were close together.
In the end Shutte won the night followed by Brian Gard, Shwan Dodenhoff and the ageless master Floyd Alvis coming home fourth.
Next up for track is a Dwarf Car regional race, the Dave Richardson/Leroy Kay Memorial race. It’s a two-day affair beginning Friday, May 6 and continuing on Saturday, May 7 with the main events.
OTHER RACING NEWS
- I’m on Teresa’s Garage radio show on Tuesday right around 2:15 p.m. It’s a great show that focuses on women that are involved in racing or the automotive industry.
• The top two NASCAR series were at Richmond this weekend and three Nevada drivers competed.
In Saturday’s Xfinity race Brendan Gaughan started 15th and finished 7th. On Sunday, at the Sprint Cup event, Kyle Busch started ninth and finished second while older brother Kurt started seventh but wound up 10th at the finish.
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RESULTS:
Fernley 95A Speedway – April 23
BCRA Midgets:
+ Heat: 1. Alex Shutte, 2. Shawn Dodenhoff, 3. Brian Gard, 4. Taylor Simas, 5. Floyd Alvis.
DNF: Bobbie Wilson.
+ Main (25-Laps): 1. Alex Shutte, 2. Brian Gard, 3. Shawn Dodenhoff, 4. Floyd Alvis, 5. J.P. Williams, 6. Taylor Simas, 7. Bobbie Wilson.
Pro Stocks:
+ Heat #1: 1. Gene Kay, 2. Gary Nevers, 3. Rob Grace, 4. Darrick Rauscher, 5. Mike McMordie.
+ Heat #2: 1. James Gonzalez, 2. Al Goss, 3. Rocky Boice, 4. Gordon Russell, 5. Eddie Stidham.
+ Heat #3: 1. Robert Miller, 2. Antonio Aragon, 3. Mike Learn, 4. James Greewalt, 5. Tyler Jones.
+ Main (30-Laps): 1. Robert Miller, 2. Antonio Aragon, 3. James Gonzalez, 4. Gary Nevers, 5. Darrick Rauscher, 6. Rob Grace, 7. Al Goss, 8. Mike McMordie, 9. James Greenwalt, 10. Tyler Jones, 11. Rocky Boice, 12. Gene Kay, 13. Mike Learn, 14. Ed Goss.
DNS: Eddie Stidham, David Paine, Gordon Russell.
IMCA:
+ Heat #1: James Thiboudeaux, 2. Shaun LaRoaque, 3. Travis White, 4. Joe Frock, 5. Vincent Evenson, 6. Paris Archie, 7. Adam Walters.
+ Heat #2: 1. Robert Miller, 2. Cory Sample, 3. Mike White, 4. K.C. Kubicheck, 5. Mark Wauge, 6. Mark Skender, 7. Dan Pieretti.
+ Main (30-Laps): 1. James Thiboudeaux, 2. Cory Sample, 3. Travis White, 4. Shaun LaRoaque, 5. K.C. Kubicheck, 6. Mike White, 7. Royce Goetz, 8. Mark Wauge, 9. Adam Walters, 10. Joe Frock, 11. Dan Pieretti, 12. Vincent Evenson, 13. Paris Arcie, 14. Robert Miller.
Street Stocks:
+ Heat #1: 1. Rick Miller, 2. Chris Christiano, 3. Travis White, 4. George Owen.
+ Heat #2: 1. Dwight Bolton, 2. Jake Baker, 3. Michael Burns, 4. Randy Boyd.
+ Main (20-Laps): 1. Dwight Bolton, 2. Rick Miller, 3. Jake Baker, 4. Randy Boyd, 5. Chris Christiano, 6. Travis White, 7. George Owen, 8. Michael Burns.
How come you guys don’t have the outlaw kart results from Fernley on this day? Thanks.
I usually don’t get those and they aren’t posted. However if I can find someone out there that
would send them to me I’ll sure post them. Need to find out when they are racing again.
Awesome that would be great! My boy got his first win last weekend. When they post results I’ll send them to ya 🙂