FALLON (March 31) – Rattlesnake Raceway began its 2018 season here with great weather and some hard racing. Round out the racing card were the Outlaw Karts.
The IMCA main was action packed and many times the winner is not only lucky but handles the lap traffic the best.That and some hard, determined driving.
Chase Neiman takes a victory lap after winning the IMCA main event.
“The race was good, Jeff had a really fast car, I don’t know if we could have caught up to him but it ended up working out for us,” said Chris Nieman after winning the race. “I had no idea how close Cory (Sample) was, just wanted to hit my marks push off the bottom and I figured I could get it. Lap traffic was a little hairy, they were running those lines there and they weren’t giving any room so it was tough.”
Then he thanked Lonnie, Jack, Dan Fisher, my Grandma Cheryl, my dad, Custom Meats, GRT Racecars.
After a four-wide salute to the fans the 20-car field got into its starting order an the green waved. Up front Jeff Olschowka took off with Nieman in hot pursuit and the pack trailing. In the first few laps it appeared the race could be Olschowka’s but then things went wrong.
Heading down the front straight there was contact with the car of Tim Lamkey. This sent Olschowka’s car head on into the wall then it slid down the track with the throttle stuck wide open and the car spinning.
This caused a huge scramble and the officials called for a red flag stopping the race so they could get to Olschowka. Being dazed it took just a bit before he could shut the car down and stop the spinning.
Fortunately Olschowka was able to get out of the new but now wrecked car.
His father-in-law Joe Blackwell pulled out of the race as it was going to take some effort to get the wrecked car back into its trailer. As for Olschowka, apparently he was getting a private transport so he could be checked by a doctor.
After the clean up the field was reset back into its proper order and the green flag sent them off again. This time Nieman and Cory Sample were leading the pack with Shawn Natenstedt and Dave Sciaronni in third and fourth.
Two quick cautions slowed the pace and the officials had any further restarts done in single file.
For much of the IMCA main Chase Nieman was chased by Cory Sample.
Late in the race Nieman encountered lap traffic and had to figure a way around those cars. With everyone racing for position no one was going to give an inch so sometimes Nieman had to put his inside wheels on the berm to get around them.
Of course the traffic also slowed Sample down a bit. Right at the end there was a caution that set up a three-lap dash to the checkered flag.
Nieman took off and had a small gap when he crossed the finish line. Sample settled for the runner-up spot followed by Natenstedt, Sciaronni, Rocky Goetzan and Malen Gonzalez.
For one driver it was a special night as ninth place Andy Strait was also celebrating his birthday.
Second largest field of the night were the Street Stocks and when their main began 17 cars took the green. Up front Shayna Nieman was on point with Jeff Tuttle second and the pack following.
There was a quick caution when a car had a right front tire go flat. In these circumstances they give the car that had to pit two courtesy laps to get the problem fixed and come back onto the track.
Up front Nieman was on a charge with Randy Boyd and a charging David Ausano, who started in the back, giving chase. When the leaders encountered lap traffic Nieman even drove right between two of them as they exited Turn 4.
During the Hobby Stock main leader Shayna Nieman (black car) makes an “up the middle,” pass on two slower cars.
There was another caution when a car spun on the backstretch and wound up backwards. During one of the cautions it took a good amount of time to get the cars in their proper order.
All these cautions were counting against the time a class has to run its race. Complicating things was a wet track that it took over 30 minutes to wheel pack so it could be raced on so the hour was getting late.
When the green waved again Ausano made the most of it and used an outside charge to put him on point as he exited Turn 2 while Nieman slipped to third.
Two cautions followed and once again the officials made the field do single file restarts since there were four cautions within the first 11-laps. Not to mention time had run out.
David Ausano gets his season off to a good start as he wins the Hobby Stock main.
Up front a delighted Ausano claimed the victory with the charging Nieman taking second ahead of Randy Boyd and Ray Davis.
“It was awesome, the track was like one of the best I’ve raced on, Chris Lumsden did a really great job on the track,” Ausano said after the race. “I think I started in 18th and don’t think I got a scratch on the car so we had a real good night here. I did back to back championships then last year had the worst racing year of my life so I’m glad this year is starting off a little different.”
Ausano added that his friend Chris Christiano recently lost his mother Tami Lynn Budell so this season is dedicated to her.
Then he thanked sponsors Landa Muffler, D&L Tile, Green Cross Pharmacy, Carson’s Drilling and Rebel Glass.
When the Dwarf Cars began their main Kenny Martin was on point but a lap into the event there was a caution due to one car going slow.
On the restart Martin and Glen Sciaroni took off but not far behind was Joe Frock in the Flying 16 car. As they exited Turn 4 Frock took over the point and started to run away.
Back in the pack Tim Fitzpatrick worked his way into fourth and held off fifth place Roy Peterson. In front of them Frock claimed the victory followed by Martin and Sciaroni.
There were two other classes that ran this night.
The Mod Minis/SSR main was won by Stephen Crook although his brother Dennis Crook and Jesse James tried to make a race of it. On this night it was to no avail so Dennis had to settle for second while James finished third.
Right at the start of the Gen-X main one car slowed while Jesse Showe took the point. Later Robert Crane would take the lead until anther driver, whose name is unlisted in the results was second.
Eventually it appeared that Erika Smith might actually win her very first race. That is until the final corner before the checkered flag.
Another driver tried a banzai move and collected both of them. Showe was able to get past and claim the victory with Robert Crane taking second.
The Rattlesnake Outlaw Karts were also in action. They run inside the big track on a smaller oval and this night there were some 500cc karts as well as the other classes.
The 250cc victory went to Bryson Simeral-Herron while Jaden Allec was the Box Stock winner and Alexis McBroome won the Beginner race. The 500cc main was held later during the intermission and Blake Rauscher ran away with that race.
The next scheduled race will be on April 14 and once again the Outlaw Karts will be part of the show.
REPORTER’S NOTE: There is a photo gallery after the results. Also remember one can find more photos from the night at www.melissasoutonalimb.smugmug.com.
OTHER RACING NEWS:
- A pair of racers with the Red Army from Nevada Kart Sport was at Willow Springs for the latest round of the SKUSA Pro Kart Challenge. Steve Ryckebosch (left middle) won in X-30 while Jure Gasper (right middle) was 4th. Nevada Kart Sport owner Rodney Rivera is on the left while his son Zach is on the right.
Nevada Kart Sport owner Rodney Rivera and his son Zach flank Steve Ryckebosch and Jure Gasper at the SKUSA race this week. Photo courtesy – Rodney Rivera.
- This week we’ll let the cat out of the bag as Teresa, host of Teresa’s Garage Radio Show, makes the full announcement of a special event this summer. This reporter is usually on the show and my racing part is at 2:15 p.m. while the show runs from 2 until 3 p.m. Hope you’ll give it a listen.
Teresa’s Garage Radio Show poster.
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RESULTS:
Rattlesnake Raceway – March 31.
(Unofficial Results, subject to change.)
Gen-X:
+ Heat: 1. Robert Crane, 2. Erica Smith, 3. Jesse Showe
+ Main (10-Laps): 1. Jesse Showe, 2. Robert Crane, 3. Unlisted, 4. Erika     Smith, 5. Cody Kennemore.
Mod Mine:SS4:
+ Heat 1: 1. Jesse James, 2. Rich Innis, 3. Unlisted.
+ Heat 2: 1.Dennis Crook, 2. Tom Vukovich, 3. Unlisted.
+ Main: 1. Stephen Crook, 2. Dennis Crook, 3. Jesse James, 4. Unlisted.
Dwarf Cars:
+ Heat 1: Tim Fitzpatrick, 2. Toy Roy Peterson, 3. Calvin Ryle, 4. Kenny Martin.
+ Heat 2: 1. Joe Frock, 2. Glen Sciaroni, 3. Skip Wise.
+ Main (20-Laps): 1. Joe Frock, 2. Kenny Martin, 3. Glen Sciaroni, 4. Tim Fitzpatrick, 5. Roy Peterson, 6. Skip Wise, 7. Calvin Ryle.
Hobby Stocks:
+ Heat 1: 1. Dan Dias, 2. Alex Kneistedt, 3. Cody Morris, 4. Chris Neal, 5. Chris Lumsden, 6. Todd Myers,7.Jimmy Berhorst.
+ Heat 2: 1. David Ausano, 2. Jimmy Ray Huffmon, 3. Randy Boyd, 4. Jeff Tuttle, 5. Rusty McMillian, 6.Crystal Kotney.
+ Heat 3: 1. Tim Russell, 2. Ray Davis, 3. Ray Miller, 4. Edwin Centeno, 5. Unlisted, 6. Shane Rasmussen, 7. Shayna Nieman.
+ Main (14-Laps): 1. David Ausano, 2. Shayna Nieman, 3. Randy Boyd, 4. Ray Davis, 5. Cody Morris, 6. Unlisted, 7.Jimmy Ray Huffmon, 8. Alex     Kneistedt, 9.Edwin Cedeno, 10.Dan Dias, 11. Tim Russell, 12. Chris Neal, 13. Chris Lumsden, 14. Jeff Tuttle, 15. Todd Myers, 16. Crystal Kotney, 17. Shane Rasmussen.
DNS: Rusty McMillian, Ray Miller, Jimmy Burhorst.
IMCA Modifieds:
+ Heat 1: 1. Dave Sciaronni, 2. Andy Strait, 3. Jeff Olschowka, 4. Barry Stone, 5. Jonathan Delavega, 6. Jake Holland.
+ Heat 2: 1.Cory Sample, 2. Royce Goetz, 3. Steven Anderson, 4. Anthony Messman, 5. Brad Schmidt.
+ Heat 3: 1. Shawn Natenstedt, 2. Malen Gonzalez, 3. Rocky Goetz, 4. Glen Plake, 5. Joe Blackwell.
+ Heat 4: 1. Chris Nieman, 2. Jay Bardley, 3. James Thibodeaux.
+ Main (19-Laps): 1. Chris Nieman, 2. Cory Sample, 3. Shawn Natenstedt, 4. Dave Sciaronni, 5. Rocky Goetz, 6. Malen Gonzlaez, 7. James Thibodeaux, 8. Jake Holland, 9. Andy Strait, 10. Royce Goetz, 11. Ty Gamble, 12. Barry     Stone, 13. Bard Schmidt, 14. Anthony Messman, 15. Steven Anderson, 16. Glen Plake, 17. Jonathan DeLavega, 18. Jay Bradley, 19. Jeff Olschowka, 20. Joe Blackwell, 21. Tim Lamkey.
DNS: Mark Skender.
Outlaw Karts:
+ Winners: Alexis McBroome (Beginner), Jaden Allec (Box Stock), Bryson Simeral-Herron (250cc), Blake Rauscher (500cc).
PHOTO GALLERY:
