FERNLEY, NV – It was a wild night when 95A Speedway opened its 2019 season Saturday. Except for a cooling wind the track was tacky, fast, ready for action and two classes delivered just that.
There was supposed to be a 21-car IMCA field but three care were unable to start so 18 took the green flag for their 25-lap main. It was another wild affair with plenty of cautions.
The IMCA main came down to a duel between winner Ryan McDaniel (10) and Robert Mller.
After the checkered flag California driver Ryan McDaniel came out on top but it wasn’t easy as he had car problems.
“We were broke on lap 3 and I was just trying to hang on,” he said. “The guys were running me over at the end and it was just not good. The spring bucket in the right front broke.”
Then he thanked sponsors DRI Shocks, Naake Suspension, Donco Plumbing and McDaniels Motorsports.
It took two attempts to get the race going and on the green McDaniel and Robert Miller led the charge. Then the first of many cautions ensued.
When the green waved again the yellow came out immediately as a car lost its drive-line and had to be towed to the pits. Then there was some debris to be cleaned up as well.
Right after the green waved again another caution came out due to a car stopping in Turn 4 and later after another attempt at getting things going there was another slow car limping into the pits.
After all this the officials notified the drivers that the restarts would be in single file.
Once again McDaniel was on point but Miller had his hands full as Chris Nieman was pressing him for the second spot.
The next caution came when a car stopped on the front straight while, at that same time Jay Bradley spun in turn 1.
When things got going again Miller was free from Nieman and set his sights on the leader. In the final laps McDaniel, who also set the fastest lap of the race, was able to hold on to claim the victory with Miller close behind in second and Nieman taking third.
There were 19 Hobby Stocks that took the green when their main began. Up front it became evident this race was a brother duel as Rocky Goetz led his Royce. After only a few laps the car of Kevin Kentopp Jr. had an engine problem and brought out a caution as he needed to head for the pits.
On the restart there was another quick caution as a car spin in Turn 2. Once the racing resumed Goetz was back chasing his brother but behind them a race stopping incident happened.
Going into Turn one the car of David Pain slipped up the track and clipped the left rear of the car Jeff Willis was driving. After the car turned sideways it rolled four times then was hit by the car of Ray Miller, who was unable to avoid it.
The officials stopped the race as the emergency crew rushed to the scene. Miller was unhurt but the same could not be said of his car and the one that Willis had been driving was totaled.
The totaled car of Jeff Willis(66) and the car of Ray Miller, who was unable to avoid him sit as the emergency crew checks to see everyone is all right. The incident stopped the Hobby Stock main until it was cleaned up.
It was a testament how well the safety equipment required helped protect both drivers.
Apparently while trying to get out Willis suffered a cut on his head but the medic on scene was able to treat that. However it took some time to clean up the mess and get the field back in order.
On the restart Rocky Goetz used an outside move to take the point from his brother Royce. Behind them Shane Cazel joined the fight and was also challenging for the lead. Then things slowed as two cautions for debris held things up.
Finally the racing resumed and Cazel took over second while Rick Miller moved up and made it a four-way duel for the lead.
The next caution came when Kentopp’s car wound up in the back stretch wall and apparently collected another car. Adding to the excitement was a small fire in Kentopp’s car but the emergency crew made short work of that although the race was stopped again.
Royce Goetz takes the lead from his brother Rocky in the Hobby Stock main.
Finally things got rolling again but this time Royce Goetz was on point with his brother Rocky right behind him.
In the final laps it was a Royce family one-two followed by Cazel and Rick Miller in fourth place.
After the dust settled Goetz said, “It was a fun race, had to battle my brother. He raced me clean and I tried to race him as clean as I could. We had a lot of fun, brand new car and I guess we hit it right on the spot.
Then he thanked his family for their support and his sponsor Auto Marine Machine.vu
Lately the tracks in this region are working on getting the Sport Mod class going again. On this night six of them would take the green flag but to took two attempts to get things rolling.
Up front Ryan Sensson and Craig Nieman were disputing the point but an inside move put Nieman into the lead. Then there was a caution after a car spun in Turn 2.
There was another caution with a short red flag due to a problem Andy Welch’s car had. Once that was cleared up the racing resumed.
During the B Mod race eventual winner Craig Nieman held off Ryan Svensson.
Once again Nieman was on point although Svensson was making him work for it. A few laps later jimmy Ray Huffman took over second but by now Nieman was pulling away from everyone and had a huge lead.
Then another caution for debris wiped out any advantage the leader had. On the green Nieman took off with Huffman giving chase but soon he yielded the spot to Svensson.
In the end Nieman won the race, despite some problems with his new car, followed by Svensson and Huffmon.
Asked about the race Nieman said, ”It was a little rough, took a bit to get it figured out, car wasn’t running very good but made it happen. It was tacky, three and four was pretty rough car was running terrible got to figure out what’s wrong with it.”
Then he thanked his wife for putting up with his racing as well as Gunslinger Chassis and the Napa store in Quincy.
The track is also working on building up what are called Gen-X cars or Mini Stocks at other tracks. On this night four of them took the green flag.
In the field was rookie Halee Vaden making her first ever start racing. She did a good job with a steady drive.
Ray Blankenship wins the Gen-X main.
The race was all Ray Blankenship as he just ran away from Kevin Ruder, who won the heat race but had to settle for the runner up spot.
After the race Blankenship said, “It was fun and a nice track.”
Then he thanked his employer WT Auto Sales for their support.
Next up for 95A Speedway is Saturday, April 27 when the restricted 360 Sprint cars make their first appearance of the year.
OTHER RACING NEWS:
• Remember Teresa’s Garage Radio Show is on from 2 until 3 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. This week the special guest is a track announcer.
Teresa’s Garage Radio Show will have a special guest this week.
I have a preview section at 2:15 and you can listen to us over the air here in Reno and Sparks, stream the show on the Internet or watch us live on Face Book.
Hope you’ll check the show out.
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RESULTS:
Fernley 95A Speedway – April 13
Gen-X:
+ Heat Race: 1. Kevin Ruder, 2. Ray Blankenship, 3. Jesse Showe, 4. Halee Vaden.
+ Main (15-laps): 1. Ray Blankenship, 2. Kevin Ruder, 3. Jesse Showe, 4. Halee Vaden.
Sport Mod:
+ Heat #1: 1. Craig Nieman, 2. Jason Emmit, 3. Shayna Nieman, 4. Rusty McMillian.
+ Heat #2: 1. Andy Welch, 2. Ryan Svensson, 3. Jimmy Ray Huffmon.
+ Main (25-Laps): 1. Craig Nieman, 2. Ryan Svensson, 3. Jimmy Ray Huffmon, 4. Shayna Nieman, 5. Jason Emmit, 6. Andy Welch.
Hobby Stocks:
+ Heat #1: 1. Royce Goetz, 2.Ronnie Goetz, 3. Michael Burns, 4. Tom Haxal, 5. Jimmy Burhorst.
+ Heat #2: 1. Rocky Goetz, 2. Kevin Kentopp Jr., 3. J.T. Stark, 4. Shane Cazel, 5. David Paine.
+ Heat #3: 1. Cameron Knight, 2.Richard Italiano, 3. Rick Miller, 4. Cody O’Brien, 5. Robert Crane.
+ Heat #4: 1. Shane Boyd, 2. Jeff Wills, 3. Mark Serchio, 4. Ray Miller.
+ Main (24-Laps): 1. Royce Goetz, 2. Rocky Goetz, 3. Shane Cazel, 4. Rick Miller, 5. Richard Italiano, 6. Shane Boyd, 7. Tom Haxal, 8. J.T. Stark, 9. Cameron Knight, 10. Michael Burns, 11. Mark Serchio, 12. Robert Crane, 13. Ronnie Goetz, 14. Cody O’Brien, 15. David Paine, 16. Kevin Kentopp Jr., 17. Jimmy Burhorst, 18. Jeff Willis, 19. Ray Miller.
IMCA Modifieds:
+ Heat #1: 1. Robert Miller, 2. Royce Goetz, 3. Walter Ball, 4. Fred White, 5. Barry Stone.
DNS: Adam Walters.
+ Heat #2: 1. Jeff Olschowka, 2. Duane Cleveland, 3. Ryan McDaniel, 4. Paris Archie,5. Jimmy Lipke.
+ Heat #3: 1. Malen Gonzalez, 2. Chris Nieman, 3. Jay Bradley, 4. Robert Robies, 5. Gene Kay.
DNS: Adam Walters.
+ Heat #4: 1. James Thbodeaux, 2. Cory Sample, 3. Mark Skender, 4. Riley Simmons, 5. Steve McQueen.
+ Main (25-Laps): 1. Ryan McDaniel, 2. Robert Miller, 3. ChrisNieman, 4. Duane Cleveland, 5. Mark Skender, 6. Royce Goetz, 7. Fred White, 8. Robert Robles, 9. Steve McQueen, 10. Barry Stone, 11. Cory Sample, 12. James Thibodeaux, 13. Jay Bradley, 14. Malen Gonzalez, 15. Riley Simmons, 16. Jeff Olschowka, 17. Paris Archie, 18. Walter Ball.
DNS: Gene Kay, Adam Walters, Jimmy Lipke.
