It was a night of yellow flags, red flags, restarts, darkness, and fantastic racing at Fernley 95A Speedway on Saturday, August 18. Eighty-five entries in six racing divisions were on hand, plus eight Outlaw Karts.
The night started off with the Pro Stock division, which turned out to be the longest race of the evening. Josh Ogg of Sparks led the first few laps from pole, but Jesse Gonzales of Fallon soon hunted him down and passed for the lead, followed by Tonopah’s Fred White. Malen Gonzales, driving BJ Pearson’s car, advanced to fourth but flagman Kenny Newberry halted the race with a red flag when the track lights began to flicker. Track personnel went to the generator and found evidence of a second instance of sabotage. The problem was resolved and the lights were back on after a delay of about 35 minutes. When the race resumed, Malen Gonzales took over third, then slowed and stopped in turn three, bringing out the caution. It was the first of many caution flags in what became a very long race. Through all the cautions and restarts, Jesse Gonzales maintained his lead, with White, Carson City’s Gary Nevers, and Chris Coclich of Fernley taking turns at second place. The field shrank as various drivers sustained damage and retired, and at the checker it was Jesse Gonzales with the win, Coclich nipping Nevers for second at the flag, and Reno drivers Scott Doich and Darrick Rauscher fourth and fifth. Fallon’s Malen Gonzales and Reno’s Jack Randall were the heat race winners.
Two female racers led the early laps of the Pure Stock main, with Dayton’s Loghan Cologna leading until Fernley’s Bracee Langevin took the point. However, Fallon driver Al Bishop soon surged from the back row to take over and pull away while Langevin battled with Reno racer Travis Barr for second. After a brief excursion into the infield, Barr seemed to pick up speed and soon passed Langevin, then a fading Bishop to take over the lead. In the only race of the night that went green all the way, Bishop took the checker, followed home by Bishop, Langevin, Cologna, and Mark Serchio Jr. of Stagecoach. Bishop and Barr each won a heat race.
The Dwarf Car division provided the largest field of the night with 19 entries. By the time the race ended, attrition had reduced the field by half. It took two attempts to start the race, with Carson City’s Derek Rosse taking the early lead, followed by Gardnerville’s Robert Miller in his third Dwarf outing, Jesse Vankol of Portola, California, Winnemucca’s Rodney Sweet, and a horde of Dwarf cars. After another caution and restart, Miller took over the point while Reno’s Joe Frock advanced to third and Shane Ramthun of Carson City went from dead last to sixth. Then Miller’s engine blew, bringing out the first of what would be half a dozen restarts and caution flags for reasons varying from a lost wheel to a six-car pileup. Eventually the green flag flew for the last time, followed immediately by the checker and Frock took the win. He was followed home by Vankol, Rosse, Truckee’s David Richardson, and Frank Hinds of Lovelock rounding out the top five. Frock, Rodney Sweet of Winnemucca, and Quincy, California driver Jason Crosby were the heat race winners.
Randy Boyd of Dayton shot into the lead of the Hobby Stock main at the wave of the green flag, followed by Vinton, California driver David Woods, Dean Clark of Silver Springs, Fallon’s Pete Baglin, and the rest of the 15-car field. Meanwhile Carl Barlow of Silver Springs was charging through the pack from his last-place starting position to try and score his third back-to-front win in a row. And sure enough, before the halfway point in the race Barlow had taken over the lead with no help from caution flags. Shortly thereafter the race was halted by a red flag, due to track blockage in turn one when Boyd and Reno’s Richard Italiano came together in turn one. A restart, an immediate caution, then another restart, and Barlow maintained the lead until another red flag was displayed for a single-car accident involving Fernley’s Brittany Neese. This led to a green/white/checker finish, with Barlow holding off charging Dayton racer Royce Goetz to take yet another win. Baglin took third with Jake Baker of Reno and Sun Valley’s Rick Miller fourth and fifth. Goetz and Miller were the winners of the earlier heat races.
In the IMCA Modified race, fans witnessed a classic duel with a fantastic finish between two master drivers. Mark Skender of Fernley led the early laps from the pole, with Russell Rosario of Truckee in second. An early caution flag bunched the field for a series of restarts and cautions, during which Fernley’s Shawn Natenstedt took the lead and Robert Miller of Gardnerville moved into second. The pair ran in tandem, distancing themselves from the rest of the field, until the next caution. Miller took over the lead on the restart, and it looked like he had the race well in hand. But coming off turn four on the last lap, Natenstedt dove to the inside and nipped Miller by inches at the line. The pair got out of their cars and high-fived each other on the front straight after the race. Sparks racer Darren Manning finished in third, followed by Melissa Natenstedt of Fernley and Rosario. Miller and Shawn Natenstedt scored a heat race win each.
Action resumes at the Speedway on September 1 with a full racing program. Spectator gates open at 3 pm and racing begins at 6 pm. General admission is $8 with discounts for children, seniors, and military personnel. Visit www.fernley95Aspeedway.com for more information.