Fernley 95A Speedway held the next to last points race of the year on Saturday, September 1. Over 70 cars registered, including 23 IMCA Modifieds.
The Pro Stocks kicked off the night’s action, with Reno’s Jack Randall leading at the checker, until he thumped the wall on the exit of turn four, bringing out the caution. Malen Gonzalez of Fallon grabbed the lead on the restart with Fernley’s Chris Coclich and Jesse Gonzalez of Fallon in pursuit. As Malen stretched his lead, Jesse got by Coclich and the field began to string out with Fallon’s Rob Grace in fourth and a battle for fifth among Reno drivers Jim Klopp and Scott Deutsch, and Gardnerville’s Dwight Bolton. The flying Malen Gonzales had lapped up to fifth place when the checkered flag flew. The finishing order was Malen Gonzales, Jesse Gonzalez, Coclich, Grace, and Deutsch, who was one lap down. Heat race wins went to Deutsch and Malen Gonzales.
The Pure Stock division was up next, and Fallon’s Al Bishop quickly surged to the front and drove away. Reno’s Travis Barr advanced to second and began chipping away at Bishop’s lead while Justin Schilling of Silver Springs, Dayton’s Logan Cologna, and Mark Serchio Jr. of Stagecoach battled for third. Barr finally caught Bishop and passed him going into turn one, but Bishop got into Barr’s rear bumper and spun him. Bishop’s car stumbled on the restart with a sour engine and he limped to the pits, done for the night. Barr took the checker, followed by Schilling, Cologna, and Serchio in that order. Barr also won the single heat race.
Fernley’s Steve Singley led the early laps of the Mod Mini main, with David Paine of Paso Robles, California, Susanville’s Galen Hainline, and Dennis Crook of Reno in pursuit. Hainline, who retired from the last race with crash damage, soon worked his way past Paine, then took over the lead and drove away. The red flag stopped the race when Aaron McIlvain of Sparks hit the turn one wall after tangling with Reno’s Kenny Martin. When the race restarted, Will Richey passed Singley for second, while Paine and Crook fought over fourth place. Hainline once again drove away from the pack until another caution for the stalled car of Stephen Crook bunched the field. Hainline once again took off on the restart, and was first to the checkered flag. Ritchey finished second, Paine nipped Singey by a nose to take third, and Crook came home fifth. Crook and Hainline took a heat race win each.
Yerington driver Glenn Sciaranni had a tough night in the Dwarf car division, hitting the turn three tire wall on the first lap to cause a complete restart. Carson City’s Shane Ramthun took the lead on the second attempt at a start, but a red flag halted the action when Sciarani, with a stuck throttle, hit the concrete wall between turns three and four a glancing blow. When the race restarted, Gardnerville’s Robert Miller took over the lead, and Ramthun chased him to the checkered flag but couldn’t catch him. At the flag it was Miller, Ramthun, Yerington drivers Leroy Kay and Roy Peterson, with Carl Barlow in his first Dwarf outing rounding out the top five. Ramthun bested Miller to win the earlier heat race.
Both Barlow and Ramthun had to hustle out of their Dwarf cars to strap into Hobby Stocks for the next race. Barlow, as winner of the previous Hobby Stock main, was starting at the back and looking for his fifth consecutive victory (and fourth back-to-front win). Richard Italiano of Reno led the first lap driving Rocky Goetz’s number 10, but lost the lead to Verdi’s Tom Haxall, then spun to bring out the first caution. Rick Miller of Sun Valley took over the lead on the restart, but the caution flew again for Tyler Kentopp’s stalled car in turn four. Meanwhile, Barlow had advanced to sixth. Barlow picked up two more spots on the restart, then passed Silver Springs driver Dean Clark to take third. His next victim was Haxall, and Barlow was in second, a long way back from Miller. Then he caught a break when the caution came out again, caused by Carson City’s Samantha Shultz hitting the back straight wall. Two more caution periods followed in quick succession, and on the final green/white/checker restart, Barlow sailed past Miller to take his fifth consecutive Hobby Stock main victory. He stopped on the main straight, got out of his car, and climbed the fence ala Helio Castroneves or Tony Stewart. The crowd loved it! Miller ended up second, followed home by Haxall, Jake Baker of Reno, and Dayton’s Royce Goetz. Barlow won a heat race, as did Fallon’s Rob Carey.
The final race of the night was the IMCA Modifieds, with a field of 22 cars taking the green flag. A multi-car pileup on the first lap led to a complete restart, with Fernley’s Mark Skender taking the early lead. The track was getting very dusty, so the cars were stopped and the water truck laid down just enough to knock the dust down and the race resumed. Gardnerville’s Russ Cazier took the point on the restart, and again on another restart after a caution. Then a red flag for a three-car crash at start/finish halted the field again Jake Holland of Calpine, California took the lead on the next restart while Fernley’s Shawn Natenstedt advanced to second, a considerable distance behind. Holland’s lead went out the window with the next (and final) caution, and set the stage for one of the best racing duels all season. Holland and Natenstedt traded places and paint while Susanville’s Mitch Murphy ran just behind them for the best view of the battle. At the checker it was Natenstedt, Holland, Murphy, Darren manning of Sparks, and Gardnerville’s Robert Miller. Heat race winners were Will Zinn of Litchfield, California, Reno’s Adam Walters, and Cazier.
Fernley 95A Speedway closes out the season points battle on September 15. Spectator gates open at 3 pm, and racing starts at 6 pm. General admission is $8, with discounts for kids, seniors, disabled, and military personnel.