RATTLESNAKE RACEWAY: DTC MARATHON

FALLON (Oct.8) – Rattlesnake Raceway ended its formal season with the 31st annual Dirt Track Championships. It’s a two-day event where the cumulative finishes determines a driver’s final position and the title for their class.

Sunday is the money day but got off to a slight late start so things were rolling just over an hour after they were schedule. Three big races were the highlighted the day.

The Nevada Pro Stock Association was ending its season as well as settling the championship battle between Shawn Natenstedt and Travis White. Both won their heat races and would start at the back of the pack when the 30-lap race began

When the green sent the 18-car field off Rocky Boice was briefly in the lead then things slowed due to a scramble and a restart was ordered.

This time Jeff Olschowka, driving Jesse Gonzalez’s car, shot into the lead. Behind him Natenstedt would work his way to fifth while White was also moving toward the front. It wouldn’t take very long before the leader encountered lap traffic.

Things went sour for Olschowka when he brought out a caution due to a flat tire. That put Robert Mull on point with Mike McMordie right beside him as NPSA uses side-by-side restarts.

Things almost for Natenstedt as he was punted up the Turn 1 banking and spun around by James Flowers, who had to pit to remove the nose body panels from his car. Since Natenstedt didn’t cause the caution he got his spot back.

On the restart Mull took off with Natenstedt, White and James Gonzalez in hot pursuit. The chase went on until there was only two or three laps to go when late caution came after Tyler Jones wound up in the front straight wall.

The restart was when Lady Luck played her hand and it wasn’t good for Natenstedt. He wound up stalled in Turn 1 after his steering wheel came off and would have to go to the rear of the field.

By now White was in second place and behind him Olschowka had been tearing through the traffic and was in third place.

In the final few laps Mull showed everyone he was not going to be caught and scored his first NPSA victory. Olschowka managed to finish second dropping White to third ahead of Gonzalez.

Natenstedt didn’t have enough time and wound up 14th.

“That was one race, I had to hold off Shawn there for three or four restarts then Travis.” Mull said at the victory ceremony. “I kept second guessing myself, should I start up top but had such a good drive off and able to clear them getting in and just hit my marks and keep it smooth. Got to thank my girl friend Gina as technically this is her car and I just drive it for her.”

He also thanked his parents for driving up from California, his sister and brother-in-law, his sons and nephew.

When he was given the $1,000 winner’s prize he said with a laugh that “the old lady is $1,000 richer.”

Olschowka said, “I have to thank Jesse Gonzalez and his wife Kari, they put this car together and let me drive it. I appreciate it and hopefully we can go forward with everything we’re doing here. And thanks to my own sponsors as without them we couldn’t be here.”

White came home third and unofficially seems to have won the championship. That won’t be official until the final tally of points and a throw away race is factored in.

“Hard fought all the way to the end,” White said. “Thought we might have something to win it there but Robert’s fast and I don’t know where Jeff came from, he came out of thin air.”

When asked how he ran the race, he added, “Just stay conservative and stay patient. Just race my own race and at the end of the day, the way I saw it if I didn’t win the championship there’s very few guys that have beat Shawn this year, he’s been tough to beat, dominate early so that’s a good crowd of guys to be in. Even with that I would have been happy but we pulled it off.”

Then he thanked Eternal Image for the wrap on the car, R&J Landscaping, Silver State Freight Brokerage, The Treasure Hut, Miller Entertainment and Battle Born Performance. And he added his wife and his family his brother and Nephew Cody White that helps him in the shop.

When the NPSA points were figured out and the throw away race considered the result was White is the 2017 champion by only three points over Natenstedt.

Saturday was a very long day into night and the Pro Stock main began sometime just before 2 a.m. and ended around 2:30. When the green waved Robert Mull and James Gonzalez led the charge.

The first caution came on Lap 2 and at that same time Natenstedt stalled on the front stretch. The distributor in his racer failed and he was towed to the pits to get a new one.

On this restart Gonzalez jumped into the lead only to slow again due to a car spinning in Turn 4 on Lap 7. This set off a couple of restarts but finally things got going again after another caution.

During one of the cautions Robert Miller’s weekend came to an end when his car broke several parts in the rear suspension. Olschowka’s night ended when he was squeezed onto the infield by a car he was trying to pass.

After that restart Travis White took the lead but there would be two more cautions to deal with. In end end White prevailed while Mull ended up second followed by Jay Sears and Mike McMordie.

After Saturday’s race White said, “I’m starting to figure it out. Oh man that was patience, patience, patience, just had to sit back and wait for everybody to sort it out a little bit then it was go time.”

When the IMCA Modifieds were set to start their main Sunday it took two attempts to get things rolling. After the second on Robert Miller took off leading Don Childs but a spin by Fred White slowed things for a short time.

On the restart Miller took off while Childs and Wade Taylor began a duel for third while Chris Nieman was slotted into second. In fact it became a four-way dice for second after Joel Myers got in the mix allowing Miller to escape by virtue of getting past lap traffic.

Three cautions would slow the pace but on every restart, despite the efforts of Taylor, Miller just scooted away from the other drivers.

In the end Miller scored his second win and secured the IMCA Dirt Track Championship for that class. He was followed by Joel Myers, Taylor an Gene Kay.

On Saturday it took three attempts to get the IMCA main going but every time Miller jumped from his front row spot to take the point.

There would be three cautions that slowed the pace including one time when James Riggs ended up in a small mud pit on the backstretch.

For Miller being up front meant clear sailing to victory followed by Myers, Chris Nieman and Malen Gonzalez.

And besides winning the IMCA main Saturday there was an additional bonus as a person put up $1,000 for the winner. Something that Miller gratefully accepted.

So many IMCA Modifieds were on hand it took a B main on both days to set the final field.

The Hobby Stock field was a full one and when the green waved on Sunday Mikki Beuchat and Shayna Nieman were on the front row. Right after the start Nieman began to slide back while Chris Christiano took over second.

The first caution came after Dan Dias lost his rear bumper. Once that was cleared up it was go time for the group.

 

Later there was another caution for Dias as his right door panel, including the window net came loose so he was sent to the pits to fix that. Since he had a passenger on board the net is a safety requirment.

Two more cautions slowed things including the one where the drive shaft on Robert Miller’s car fell off putting him out for the night.

But up front Randy Boyd raced to his second victory of the weekend followed by Chris Christiano an Ray Davis. The win also secured the title for Boyd.

In Saturday’s Hobby Stock main first on point was Shayna Nieman followed by Mikki Beuchat. That is until Chris Christiano charged into the lead with Cody Morris second.

After two more cautions Christiano had company as Boyd had moved into second for a spell until he took over the lead. Behind them Beuchat and Dias were dueling over third.

Boyd scored his first victory of the weekend followed by Dias, Beuchat and Shane Cazel.

At the DTC the running order is reversed on Sunday and the Street Stocks closed out the weekend with Chris Christiano winning while Shane Cazel was the Saturday victor.

This lead to a tie between Jake Aker, who might have earned the title due to his better heat finishes on Sunday.

There were four 360 Sprint cars on hand and Wade Lumsden won on Sunday while Jeff Macedo was Saturday’s victory. In the overall points for the DTC Macedo came out on top by virtue of his better heat finishes.

A pretty good field of Dwarf Cars were present to contest their own DTC title. When Sunday’s main ended Christopher Winters came out on top but would ended up second overall as Doug McVae, Saturday’s winner ended up two points in the lead for the class championship.

The Mod Mini class also raced and on Sunday where Shaun Merritt scored his second victory locking up the DTC title which Jesse James only two points behind him.

Heat race finishes count towards a driver earning their class championship at the DTC. In Gen-X this was very true since after Sunday’s main there was a tie between Cody Kennemore and Tyler Cheek so either Kennemore won on a tie-breaker or both tied for their class title.

The weekend wrapped up the season for Rattlesnake but there one more event left. The Kris Kringle, a charity race used to gather gifts for the needy in Fallon, will be run the afternoon of October 21 then in the evening the annual awards banquet is held at the convention center.

OTHER RACING NEWS:

• The Northern Nevada Kart Club finished its 2017 season at Desert Park Raceway on Sunday.

Jack Schrady won the Junior 1 main while Issac Bourque was the Junior 2 winner and there were no kid kart drivers running that day. Jacob Ciari was the Senior 206 winner with Doug Hunter taking the Master victory while Jeff Wamre won the 125 Shifter main.

• Congratulations to both Lovelock Speedway champions. JD Jurad in IMCA and Hobby Stock champion Crystal Kotney.

REPORTER’S NOTE: There is a photo gallery after the results.

While I have more photos than can be shown here there is another source of quality photos from the DTC which I recommend. To see those go to www.melissasoutonalimb.smugmug.com.

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RESULTS:

Rattlesnake Raceway – Dirt Track Championships.

• Sunday, Oct. 8

Nevada Pro Stock Association:

+ Heat Winners: #1 Shawn Natenstedt, #2 Travis  White, #3 Jay Sears.

+ Main (26-Laps): 1.Robert Mull, 2. Jeff Olschowka, 3. Travis White, 4. James Gonzalez, 5. Jeffery Hudson, 6. Scott Flowers, 7. James Flowers, 8. Rocky Boice, 9. Mike McMordie, 10. Al Goss, 11. Victor Rich, 12. Bryan Hammond, 13. Tyler Jones, 14. Shawn Natenstedt, 15. Jay Sears.

DNS: James Greenwalt, Robert Miller.

IMCA:

+Main: 1. Robert Miller, 2. Joel Myers, 3.Wade Taylor, 4. Gene Kay, 5. Don Childs, 6. Fred White, 7. Shaun LaRocque, 8. Bryon Hutchinson, 9. Anthony Messman, 10. Steven Anderson, 11. Jeff Macedo, 12. Joe Blackwell, 13. Chris  Nieman, 14. James Riggs, 15. Jim Turner, 16. Josh Gish, 17. Alec Childs, 18. Steve McQueen, 19. Jim Smith, 20. Mark Skender, 21. Jay Bradley.

DNS: Maylen Gonzalez, Barry Stone, Will Fryckman, Todd Myers.

Hobby Stock:

+ Main: 1. Randy Boyd, 2. Chris Christiano, 3. Ray Davis, 4. Shane Cazel, 5. Cody Morris, 6. Jimmy Berhorst, 7. Jake Aker, 8. Tami Buehn, 9. Alex Knelstedt, 10. Jordan Shelton, 11. Chris Lumsden, 12. Crystal Kotney, 13. Rory Bradley, 14. Mike  DeWinter, 15. Dan Dias, 16. Shane Boyd, 17. Mikki Beuchat, 18. Jeff Tuttle.

DNS: Shayna Nieman, Colby Russell, Bradley  Scramlin, Craig Nieman, Robert Miller.

Street Stock:

+ Main: 1. Chris Cristiano, 2. Shayna Nieman, 3. Jay Bradley, 4. Jake Aker,  5. Crystal Kotney, 6. Mikki Beuchat, 7. Darren Ballentine, 8. Richard  Longacre, 9. Shane Cazel.

DNS: Craig Nieman, Robert Miller.

360 Sprints:

+ Main: 1. Wade Lumsden, 2. Jeff Macedo, 3. Bruce Ferrier, 4. Unlisted.

Dwarf Cars:

+ Main: 1. Christopher Winters, 2. Doug McVae, 3. Nick Winters, 4. Glen Sciaronni, 5. Kenny Martin, 6. Skip Wise, 7. Vernon Hasenkamp, 8. Roy Peterson, 9. Dan Geil.

DNS: Phil Hitchcock, Scott Gavin, Gene Winters.

Mod Mini:

+ Main: 1. Shaun Merritt, 2. Kevin Reuter, 3. Jesse James, 4. Tyler Cheek, 5. Cody Kennemore, 6. Steve Crook Sr., 7. Ryan Belli, 8. Tom Vukovich, 9. Stephen Crook.

DNS: Fred Kregge, Travis Showe, Rich Innis, Suzi Schmitt.

Gen-X:

+ Main: 1. Tyler Cheek, 2. Tyler Eckles, 3. Cody Kennemore, 4. Colt Lawson, 5. Katie Robinson, 6. Will Evenson, 7. Larry Robinson, 8. Fred Kregge, 9. Ryan Belli.

DNS: Cameran Wilhelm, Shane Boyd, Suzi Schmitt.

• Saturday, Oct. 7

Nevada Pro Stock Association:

+ Heat Winners: #1 Shawn Natenstedt, #2 Travis White, #3 Jeff Olschowka, #4 Robert Miller.

+ Main (20-Laps): 1. Travis White, 2. Robert Mull, 3. Jay Sears, 4. Mike      McMordie, 5. David Paine, 6.      Shawn Natenstedt, 7. Jeff Olschowka, 8. James      Flowers, 9. James Gonzalez, 10. Al Goss, 11. Victor Rich, 12. Rocky Boice,      13. Robert Miller, 14. Gordon Russell, 15. James Greenwalt, 16. Bryan      Hammond,      17. Scott Flowers, 18. Jeffery Hudson.

DNS: Eddie Stidham, Tyler Jones.

IMCA:

+ Main: 1. Robert Miller, 2. Joel Myers, 3. Gene Kay, 4. Malen Gonzalez, 5. Shaun LaRocque, 6. Don Childs, 7. Jim Turner, 8. Jim Smith, 9. Barry Stone, 10. Steven Anderson, 11. James Riggs, 12. Steve McQueen, 13. Chris      Nieman, 14. Fred White, 15. Byron Hutchinson, 16. Jeff Macedo, 17. Wade Taylor, 18. Joe Blackwell, 19. Alec Childs, 20. Anthony Messman, 21. Will  Fryckman, 22. Mark Skender, 23. Jay Bardley, 24. Todd Myers.

DNS: Josh Gish.

Hobby Stock:

+ Main: 1. Randy Boyd, 2. Dan Dias, 3. Mikki Beuchat, 4. Shane Cazel, 5. Ray Davis, 6. Cody Morris, 7. Shane Boyd, 8. Jimmy Berhorst, 9. Shayna Nieman, 10. Jake Aker, 11. Chris Christiano, 12. Crystal Kotney, 13. Jordan      Shelton, 14. Tami Buehn, 15. Steve McKellip, 16. Rory Bradley, 17. Mike DeWinter, 18. Colby Russell, 19. Jeff Tuttle, 20. Bradley Scramlin, 21. Craig Nieman, 22. Robert Miller.

DNS; Chris Lumsden. Alex Kneistedt.

Street Stock:

+ Main: 1. Shane Cazel, 2. Richard Longacre, 3. Jake Aker, 4. Mikki Beuhat, 5. Chris Christiano, 6. Crystal Kotney, 7. Darren Ballentine, 8. Craig Nieman, 9. Danielle Arroway.

DNS: Robert Miller.

360 Sprint Cars:

+ Main: 1. Jeff Macedo, 2. Wade Lumsden, 3. Brice Ferrier, 4. Unlisted.

Dwarf Cars:

+ Main: 1. Doug McVae, 2. Skip Wise, 3. Christopher Winters, 4. Glen Sciaronni, 5. Nick Winters, 6. Phil Hitchcock, 7. Dan Geil, 8. Kenny Martin, 9. Scott Gavin, 10. Vernon Hasenkamp, 11. Gene Winters, 12. Roy Peterson.

Mod Mini:

+ Main: 1. Shaun Merritt, 2. Jesse James, 3. Kevin Reuter, 4. Tyler Cheek, 5. Tom Vukovich, 6. Cody Kennemore, 7. Fred Kregge, 8. Stephen Crook, 9. Rich Innis, 10. Steve Crook Sr., 11. Travis Showe, 12. Ryan Belli.

DNS: Suzi Schmitt.

Gen-X”

Main: 1. Cody Kennemore, 2. Tyler Cheek, 3. Tyler Eckles, 4. Will Evenson, 5. Katie Robinson, 6. Colt Lawson, 7. Larry Robinson, 8. Fred Kregge, 9. Ryan Belli, 10. Cameran Wilhelm, 11. Shane Boyd.

DNS: Suzi Schmitt.

• Northern Nevada Kart Club – Race #9

Desert Park Raceway – Oct. 8

+ Junior 1 LO206 (14-Laps): 1. Jack Schrady, 2. Brooks Anderline, 3. Isaiah Nobles, 4. Landon Kwapich, 5. Korey Sander, 6. Heavyn Hill.

+ Junior 2 LO206 (14-Laps): 1. Issac Bourque, 2. Bryce Berry, 3. Chase Dulude, 4. Tanner Schultz, 5. Wyatt Sander,      6. Deehamee Malone.

+Senior/Master LO206 (14-Laps): 1. Jacob Ciari (Senior), 2. Doug Hunter  (Master), 3. Steve Dow, 4. Kelly Chinander, 5. Nat Sombatsiri, 6. Mike McMullen, 7. Alec Beaudion, 8. Christian Cerceau.

+ 125 Shifter (18-Laps): 1. Jeff Wamre, 2. Mitch Kennedy, 3. Cody McKenny.

PHOTO GALLERY: