95A SPEEDWAY’S STRETCH RUN HAS BEGUN AND DRIVERS ARE FOCUSED ON GAINING AS MANY POINTS AS POSSIBLE OR LOCKING IN TITLES.

FERNLEY (Sept. 5) – Drivers on Saturday at the 95A Speedway were greeted by a smooth, fast track. The result was that fans in the stands got to see some hard racing but for a couple of drivers it was a special night.

“First of all I want to take my hat off to Matt Ramthun, Tony Lewis and the whole track crew that came out, ripped this track and worked it. I mean we went 30-laps without a yellow and it was just really, really nice, smooth and had lost of traction,” Robert Miller said after winning the IMCA main. “And this win goes to my crewman Steve that got burned earlier, he’s actually home now.”

After the traditional 4-wide salute to the crowd the IMCA field got in proper order and took the green flag. On pole Miller jumped into the lead followed by Travis White and Royce Goetz.

By lap 6 the battle was a three-way affair after Rocky Goetz joined the fun. Up front however it was a different story as Miller was in cruise mode and reeling in the slowest cars.

Once Miller caught the lap traffic he could afford to take his time and pass when the opportunity arose rather than forcing the issue.

“I didn’t know how big of a lead I had but I knew I was running hard so I didn’t want to get impatient,” he said. “So that’s why I was kind of waiting as I just don’t want to be the one making the mistake.”

Royce Goetz (78r) makes a late race pass on Travis White to take second in the IMCA main.

Behind him Royce Goetz was dueling with his brother Rocky and once that was settled he set his sights on second place White. In the final laps he would clear White and claim second.

Robert Miller (59) takes the checkered flag just as he laps Malen Gonzalez.

Up front Miller took the checkered flag just as he lapped Malen Gonzalez.

“I want to thank all my sponsors, R&J Landscaping, my brother Rand, Handyman, Friesen Chevrolet, Premier Auto Body and Tracy my cousin,” Miller said. “And I’m looking forward to try and wrap this thing up.”

While he probably clinched the IMCA championship as only the mains are counted Miller and Jake Holland are still dueling for the track championship. Here both drivers get to throw away their worst finishes and all the heats and mains count.

When the Pro Stocks lined up there was a new driver piloting B.J. Pearson’s Nuclear Banana car. It was Jay “Wingman,” Sears and he sat on the pole.

When the green waved Sears was off with Gary Nevers slotted in second Right after the start there was a caution when Ed Goss pulled into the infield with a race-ending problem.

On the green Sears was away, followed by Gordon Russell and Nevers. Soon Al Goss moved into fourth and made the duel for second at 3-way affair.

While he was in the lead no one could get close to Jay Sears (84). Here he passes David Rauscher.

Goss would work his way into second while Rob Grace came from the back and was a close third. Up front Sears was on cruise as he extended his lead.

Then Travis Peterson slowed and limped his way to the pits.

With three to go Goss slid down the front straight wall and came to a stop. The officials first threw a caution then stopped the race as they rushed to make sure Goss was all right.

That caution was a game changer as on the restart Sears got a slow start while Grace rocketed away and was never headed. Sears did finish second followed by Nevers and the Rauschers, Darrick and David.

Rob Grace takes a victory lap after winning the Pro Stock main.

At the awards ceremony Grace said, “I wanted to cool my tires down to give me a little bit more forward bite if I could. That’s what I was concentrating on and that last caution helped. I want to thank my motor builder Lonnie Grace and my crew chief Rob Malson for coming back on board and helping me.”

Two new drivers added to the Street Stock field, one was David Ausano and the other veteran Mark Hain, who is starting to race again after taking a few years off.

When the green waved Ausano, who was on pole, and Hain were side-by-side as they headed into Turn 1. Ausano got the lead but it was short lived as Dwight Bolton used an outside move to take the point.

Not far behind the leader was Rick Miller, who also used an outside move on Ausano to take over second. Then the chase began.

After several laps Miller was on Bolton’s back bumper as they tore around the track. Finally it turned into a side-by-side duel with Miller eventually using an inside move to take the lead.

Just then there was a caution and since the order reverts to the previous lap Bolton was on point for the restart. This time he held on and kept Miller at bay as they had the closest finish of the night.

Dwight Bolton (5150) is chased across the finish line by Rick Miller (88) in the Street Stock main.

At the victory ceremony Bolton dedicated his race to his grandfather Lloyd Mienzer, who passed away on Thursday and to crewmember Cito Diaz as it was his 44th birthday.

About the race Bolton said, “I had to hold my line, the track was good on the bottom and that’s where I stayed. We just ran the bottom and held out line. And I believe with this win we might have locked up this championship.”

He then thanked sponsors Silver Springs Napa Auto and Truck Parts as they’ve helped him from the beginning and expressed appreciation to track manager Matt Ramthun and Tony Lewis for giving the racers a great track.

When the Dwarf Car main began Glen Sciarani led the charge then Calvin Ryle took the point on the second lap. One more circuit and Joe Frock took the lead with Ryle giving chase.

The only caution came when Gene Winter’s motor let go and he was unable to coast to the pits. On the restart Frock took off but this time Bobby Wilson was right on his tail.

A few laps later Frock was clearly in the lead and roared away to claim another victory followed by Wilson and Ryle.

Joe Frock scores another victory in his Dwarf Car.

“Restarts always bunch the field up so we just had the one to content with. I know for the first couple of laps you’ve just got to hold your breath for a while but I knew after a few laps I could probably stretch it out on him,” Frock said later. “I just kept it smooth and straight and raced the track, that’s the secret.”

Then he thanked sponsors HRT Racing, Wild Island and Nature’s Bakery.

The Super Stock 4 race was almost an upset. All season Danielle Paine has been getting faster and faster as her confidence grows and it’s showing.

When the green waved on the Super Stock main Paine took off and then began to extend her lead. Behind her there was a three-way duel for second between Aaron McIlvain, Kenny Schmitt and Justin Busch.

Justin Busch (4j) used an inside move to get past early leader Danielle Paine.

Finally Busch took over second and began to close the gap between him and Paine. Finally he managed to draft his way into the lead as the pair stormed down the front stretch.

However Paine wasn’t about to give up and she chased Busch right to the checkered flag where they finished in that order.

Justin Busch wins another Super Stock 4 main event.

“I thought she was going to get me as Danielle’s getting faster but it was a pretty good night,” Busch said later. “They prepped the track, during the heat it was wet so the set up was totally different but at the end of the night it turned out good for all of us. And I need to thank Kimbell Equipment, my crew and family for their support.”

Any rookie usually dreams about winning their first race but that usually doesn’t happen for a few seasons. However this became a very special night for one rookie driver.

For most of the season the Pure Stock division has suffered due to lack of cars. However on this night they made up for that with a race long duel that ended with a surprise winner.

When the green waved Jim Paulk jumped into the lead with Rich Innis close behind him. There would be three cautions two of which came after Trevor Quell spun while Innis caused one of them with a spin.

For most of the Pure Stock main Jim Paulk was challenged by Rich Innis.

Up front Paulk put on a steady drive and while Innis seemed to have problems exiting Turn 4, the leader didn’t.

In the end Paulk scored his first main event win and scored an upset.

A rookie’s dream came true when Jim Paulk got his first ever victory in Pure Stocks.

“It’s my first place win for the season in my rookie year,” Paulk said later. “We finally just started getting the car tuned up and dialed into the track and it just felt good tonight. The heat race was so loose so we made a few changes and were hoping that was the right answer and it worked out.”

Then he thanked his crew chief Greg, who is his youngest son and has been helping his father every race. He also thanked girlfriend Arienne Hoskinson for her support as well as that from Auto Engineering and Honeymoon Motor Sports.

There are only two more points races left in the season so for most drivers every point is critical. Even if they don’t win a division championship earning the best possible placing is still important.

OTHER RACING NEWS

• After an absence of a dozen years NASCAR moved the Southern 500 back to its traditional home and date at Darlington Raceway. And four Nevada natives were among the drivers competing.

In Saturday’s Xfinity event Kyle Busch started 36th then charged through the field and finished second. Brendan Gaughan started sixth but ended up 13th while T.J. Bell had clutch problems that dropped him to a 36th place finish after starting 27th.

At the end of Sunday night’s Sprint Cup event Kurt Busch came back from a late spin to finish seventh while Kyle Busch ended up seventh and locked up a place in this year’s championship chase. T.J. Bell made one of his rare Cup starts from 43rd, was moving up until an incident sent him to the pits for repairs and he wound up 37th for the night.

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RESULTS

Fernley 95A Speedway – Sept. 5

IMCA:

Heat #1: 1. Robert Miller, 2. Malen Gonzalez, 3. Travis White, 4. Don Childs

Heat #2: 1. Royce Goetz, 2. Alec Childs, 3. Larry McCracken, 4. Carl Barlow

Heat #3: 1. Mark Skender, 2. Rocky Goetz, 3. Bill Pearson, 4. Connor Tatum

Main (30-Laps): 1. Robert Miller, 2. Royce Goetz, 3. Travis White, 4. Rocky Goetz, 5. Bill Pearson, 6. Mark Skender, 7. Malen Gonzalez, 8. Alec Childs, 9. Larry McCracken, 10. Don Childs, 11. Carl Barlow, 12. Connor Tatum

ProStocks:

Heat #1: Jay Sears, 2. Gordon Russell, 3. Rob Grace, 4. David Rauscher, 5. Ed Goss, 6. Travis Peterson

Heat #2: 1. Gary Nevers, 2. James Gozalez, 3. Al Goss, 4. Darrick , 5. James Greenwalt

Main (25-Laps): 1. Rob Grace, 2. Jay Sears, 3. James Gozalez, 4. Gary Nevers, 5. Darrick Rauscher, 6. David Rauscher, 7. James Greenwalt, 8. Al Goss, 9. Gordon Russell, 10. Travis Peterson, 11. Ed Goss

Street Stocks:

Heat: 1. Dwight Bolton, 2. Rick Miller, 3. David Ausano, 4. Mark Hain, 5. Paul Shamlin, 6. Jim Erie

Main (20-Laps): 1. Dwight Bolton, 2. Rick Miller, 3. David Ausano, 4. Mark Hain, 5. Jim Erie, 6. Paul Shamlin

Dwarf Cars:

Heat #1: 1. Joe Frock, 2. Bobby Wilson, 3. Billie Canham, 4. Gene Winter, 5. Roy Peterson

Heat #2: 1. Matt Hagemann, 2. Glen Sciarani, 3. Calvin Ryle, 4. Jeff Foster

Main (20-Laps): 1. Joe Frock, 2. Bobby Wilson, 3. Calvin Ryle, 4. Glen Scairani, 5. Billie Canham, 6. Matt Hagemann, 7. Roy Peterson, 8. Jeff Foster, 9. Gene Winter

Super Stock4:

Heat #1: 1. Danielle Paine, 2. Kenny Martin, 3. Dennis Crook, 4. Steve Crook Sr.

Heat #2: 1. Justin Busch, 2. Kenny Schmitt, 3. Aaron McIlvain

Main (20-laps): 1. Justin Busch, 2. Danielle Paine, 3. Aaron McIlvain, 4. Kenny Schmitt, 5. Dennis Crook, 6. Kenny Martin, 7. Steve Crook Sr.

Pure Stocks:

Heat Race: 1. Rich Innis, 2. Jim Paulk, 3. Trevor Quell

Main (12-Laps): 1. Jim Paulk, 2. Rich Innis, 3. Trevor Quell