Octane Fest winds up with an action packed Sunday at Top Gun and Rattlesnake Raceway.
FALLON, NV (June 14) – Octane fest wound up on Sunday with the Top Gun Raceway wrapping up the NHRA Pacific National event. While just east of downtown Rattlesnake Raceway ran their full second day program of racing.
Once again it took three heats to set the fields for both the Hobby Stock and IMCA main events.
“At the beginning we weren’t very good but toward the end we got them on the outside on the restart and with about five to go we got the lead so checked out,” Jeff Olschowka said after winning the IMCA main. “I couldn’t see them but I knew they were there and I felt it when my door got pealed a little bit.”
Then he thanked BMS Motorsports for all their hard work, Ferrari Race Engines and all those that help him.
When the green send the IMCA field off Fred White and Chris Neal were at the head of the pack. Less than a lap later Neal was on point
Four laps into the race the first caution came after Trevor Gurley did a quick spin.
On the green Mike Skender tried an outside pass but a lap later David Johnson was in a side-by-side duel with Neal. Behind the leaders Robert Miller had moved into third with Olschowka right behind him.
Fred White and Chris Neal spin while Jesse Gonzalez (21G) gets caught up in it and Carl Barlow tries to stop in time.
Then there was a tangle and both Neal and White spun into mud at the bottom of the track. Further back Malen Gonzalez had slapped the way while avoiding another car and broken his rear suspension so he was out.
On the restart Johnson led the charge with Skender and Saturdays’ winner Joel Meyer close behind. Only four laps later the race was stopped after Jesse Gonzalez slammed into the front straight wall.
He was all right but the same couldn’t be said for his car that had to be towed away.
Jeff Olschowka (121) takes the inside while Joel Meyers takes the outside as they both pass then leader David Johnson.
Racing would resume with Meyers and Olschowka both going around Johnson on either side of him.
Two laps of racing later the race was stopped again to check on Neal as he had spun.
This time when the green waved there was a three wide charge with Olschowka taking the outside line to grab the lead. But it was still a three-way duel with Meyers and Miller very close.
In the final charge to the checkered flag Olschowka managed to win by less than half a car length as he and Meyers were virtually side-by-side at the line and Miller was close behind.
What might be one of the closest IMCA races at Rattlesnake Raceway, Jeff Olschowka just edges Joel Meyers for the victory while Robert Miller is close behind in third.
Asked about what happened Meyers said, “We got into the lead and the yellows kept coming out and kept cooling the tires off and it would take about two or three laps and the tires would come back in and then the car would be really good again. But we had the last restart with three to go, I knew Robert was underneath and I knew that Jeff was going to be on the outside. He did a hell of a job passing me on the outside then we came back around trying to get him in three and four on the last lap but if it had been one more lap it would have been a pretty good showdown. That was probably one of the closest races here.”
He complemented Olschowka on racing clean and hard and added, “I think it was a heck of a race here in Fallon.”
Then Meyers thanked Brian and Ronnie as well as his Uncle Bill for their work on his car and sponsors Mobility Systems and CT Racing.
While the track was dry there was mud at the bottom of the banking and that would bring a few cars to grief during the Hobby Stock feature.
When the green waved and sent the 15 car field off Denis Buehn was side-by-side with Tim Wearin with the pack close behind them. Two laps later Dan Dias grabbed the point then had to slow when Shane Cazel spun bringing out a caution.
On the green Dias resumed his place on point while, behind him, Tony Taylor was picking off cars one by one as he made his way to the front. Six laps later Taylor was sitting in second.
The next caution came after David Ausano was sitting sideways on the back stretch, maybe due to contact with another car. Wearin’s car broke and would be towed to the pits.
Shane Cazel was one of a few drivers that wound up in the mud along the inside border of the track.
Then there was a restart followed immediately by a caution for debris on the track. And Cazel also wound up in the mud so he had to be pulled out.
Once racing resumed Dais was off with Taylor and Cody Morris in hot pursuit. Then one lap later there was another red flag as the back stretch had to be cleared.
Dennis Buehn (43J) and Jeff Tuttle had contact that sent both of them into the mud along the backstretch.
The reason was that Dennis Buehn and Jeff Tuttle had tangled and both were mired in the mud. Once that was cleared off racing could resume.
This time, although it hadn’t worked before, Taylor chose the outside line and made it stick.
Tony Taylor used an outside pass to take the lead from Dan Dias (69) late in the Hobby Stock main.
“I didn’t know if it was going to work as it was a Hail Mary but I’ll try anything once,” he said later.
Not on point he put a gap between himself and Dias only to see it disappear when Jordan Riley got stuck in the mud. Both Riley and Tuttle would need pushes back to the pits.
With three to go Taylor took off while Morris used an outside move to claim second and drop Dias into third place at the end.
Tony Taylor takes a victory lap after a perfect weekend. He won both Hobby Stock races at Rattlesnake and on Friday notched another victory at the Lovelock Speedway.
Afterwards a delighted Taylor said, “I swept both races plus Lovelock on Friday Night. It was a very dry slick track and was harder than heck to get up front and Dan Dias is a very fierce competitor. And I need to thank my wife Anne Taylor, CMF Fabrication, Patriot Graphic as well as Edgington Motors.”
Earlier that morning the Outlaw Karts ran their full program and once again Trey Walters topped the 250cc field. Two other drivers also had sweeps with Robert McBroome winning the Box Stock main and Guage Felzke scoring another victory in the Beginner division.
The track’s next points race is June 27 when Mad Metal mud races will round out the show.
• Top Gun Raceway was also in action Sunday. Somewhere around 65 Junior Dragsters were on hand which bodes well for the sport as these youngsters are the stars of tomorrow.
Over 60 Junior Dragsters were on hand at Top Gun Raceway. This is where the stars of tomorrow earn their racing spurs.
In addtion to the ET classes there were Super Comp racers and some others following the Pacific Division series. And the speeds ranged from the youngest finished the quarter mile around 51 miles an hour to Top Comp fast qualifier Melissa Fedrick, who posted a top speed of 198.06 mph.
Drag racing can have some interesting combinations. Here an Altered and a Dragster launch for their qualifying runs on Sunday.
LATE ADDITION:
Got the Funny Car results on Tuesday. Tony Trimp with an ET of 7.645 seconds turned in the fastest speed Sunday as he ran 177.72 mph.
OTHER RACING NEWS
- NASCAR visited Michigan this weekend and Kyle Busch scored his first victory after recovering from injuries he received earlier this year. He started 11th in Saturday’s Xfinish event and finished first.
On Sunday rain shortened the Sprint Cup event and Kurt Busch came from 24th to win that race. Kyle on the other had started 10th and was involved in a wreck that dropped him to 43rd at the finish.
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RESULTS
Rattlesnake Raceway – Sunday, June 14
IMCA Modifieds:
Heat #1: 1. Robert Miller, 2. Carl Barlow, 3. Fred White, 4. Jake Holland, 5. Zach Cail, 6. Jeff Macedo
Heat #2: 1. David Johnson, 2. Malen Gonzalez, 3. Joel Meyers, 4. Mike Skender, 5. Trevor Gurley
Heat #3: 1. Chris Neal, 2. James Thibodeaux, 3. Jeff Olschowka, 4. Jesse Gonzalez, 5. Robert Mull
Main: 1. Jeff Olschowka, 2. Joel Meyers, 3. Robert Miller, 4. James Thibodeaux, 5. David Johnson, 6. Fred White, 7. Mike Skender, 8. Zach Cail, 9. Carl Barlow, 10. Chris Neal, 11. Trevor Gurley, 12. Jeff Macedo, 13. Robert Mull, 14. Jesse Gonzalez, 15. Malen Gonzalez
Hobby Stocks
Heat #1: 1. Jason Irwin, 2. Shane Cazel, 3. Dennis Buehn, 4. Larry Conner, 5. Paul Shamlin
Heat #2: 1. Jeff Tuttle, 2. Cody Morris, 3. Tim Wearin, 4. Tami Buehn, 5. David Ausano
Heat #3: 1. Tony Taylor, 2. Dan Dias, 3. Chris Christiano, 4. Jordan Riley, 5. Dan Edgington
Main: 1. Tony Taylor, 2. Cody Morris, 3. Dan Dias, 4. Chris Christiano, 5. David Ausano, 6. Jason Irwin, 7. Tami Buehn, 8. Paul Shamlin, 9. Larry Conner, 10. Jeff Tuttle, 11. Shane Cazel, 12. Jordan Riley, 13. Dennis Buehn, 14. Tim Wearin, 15. Dan Edgington
Northern Nevada Outlaw Karts:
Beginner:
Heat #1: 1. Guage Felzke, 2. Brent Rauscher, 3. Kaisen Ternora, 4. Mallory Evenson, 5. Ainsleigh Evenson, 6. Christian Benham
Heat #2: 1. Michael Johnson, 2. William Jardine, 3. Hayden Leach, 4. Peyton Albury, 5. Ashley Dias
Main: 1. Guage Felzke, 2. Kaisen Ternora, 3. Michael Johnson, 4. Mallory Evenson, 5. Brent Rauscher, 6. Ainsleigh Evenson, 7. Peyton Albury, 8. Hayden Leach, 9. William Jardine, 10. Ashley Dias, 11. Christian Benham
Box Stock:
Heat: 1. Robert McBroome, 2. Evan Rauscher
Main: 1. Robert McBroome, 2. Evan Rauscher
250cc:
Heat: #1: 1. Shansen Ternora, 2. Trey Walters, 3. Jacob Dias, 4. Jensen Ternora
Heat #2: 1. Blake Rauscher, 2. Grasen Ternora, 3. Jayden Hopper
Main: 1. Trey Walters, 2. Grasen Ternora, 3. Blake Rauscher, 4. Shansen Ternora, 5. Jayden Hopper, 6. Jensen Ternora, 7. Jacob Dias
• TOP GUN Raceway – June 14
Funny Car: 1. Tony Trimp, 7.645 sec., 177.72 mph, 2. Bryan Hall, 7.828 sec, 177.67 mph.
Pro ET: 1. Jim Grace, 9.427 sec., 141.95 mph, 2. Jake Guadagnolo
#1 Qualifier: Kyle Morris, 132.71
Sportsman ET: Tami Phillips, 16.458 sec., 79.92 mph, 2. Reese Schoori
#1 Qualifier: Ed Bruflat, 79.74 mph
Top Comp: 1. David Cook, 8.434 sec., 128.65 mph, 2. Melissa Fedrick
#1 Qualifier: Melissa Fedrick, 198.06 mph
Super Comp: 1. Danny Valadez, 9/304 sec., 159.08 mph, 2. Bob Van Popering
#1 Qualifier: Mike Hiatt, 179.23 mph
Super Gas: 1. Darryl Mitchell, 10.302 sec., 150.88, 2. Tanner Hiatt
#1 Qualifier: Lauirie Pickett, 143.67 mph
Super Street: 1. Joe Janusch, 11.266 sec., 121.01 mph, 2. John Tobias
#1 Qualifier: Jake Guadagnolo, 116.81 mph
Super Stock/Stock Combo: Jim Rau, 11.214 sec., 113.97 mph, 2. Wes King
#1 Qualifier: Jim Rau, 120.000
Super Pro: Steve Wellman, 11.269 sec., 125.85, 2. Robert Butler
#1 Qualifier: Frank Barrett, 139.31
Junior 6-9: 1. Cy Mitchell, 12.25, 51.36 mph, 2. Macie Gordon
#1 Qualifier: Macie Gordon, 53.03 mph
Junior 10-12: 1. Maverick Molloy, 8.986 sec., 72.34 mph, 2. Joey Petrone
#1 Qualifier: Nolan Olivera, 72.06 mph
Junior 13-14: 1. Hannah Ellison, 8.037, 74.96 mph, 2. Cadie Del Toro
#1 Qualifier: Michael Crump, 82.45 mph
Junior 15-17: 1. Trey Vetter, 7.890 sec., 80.54 mph, 2. Brandon Savolt
#1 Qualifier: Colton Rainey, 80.53 mph
Junior Comp: Colton Raney, 6.864 sec., 100.11, 2. Brandon Marcheski
#1 Qualifier: Peyton Janulk, 98.52
