LOVELOCK, NV (Sept. 11) — Lovelock Speedway Silver State Racing has its third two-day show this weekend. It was also a special race as it was held on the 20th anniversary of 911; terrorist attack on America. Saturday’s event was called September Showdown, Remembering 911.
To commemorate the event track announcer Davey Munoz, with the promoter’s blessings, had first responders at the track with their unit trucks. Most of the cars were lined up with the two driven by Ray and Colton Blankenship, that had large American flags on them, positioned by the flag stand.
The ceremony honored all military and veterans as well as the First Responders from the Lovelock Fire Department and visiting units from Moab, Utah. Prayers were offered and taps played as well as the national anthem. As the First Responders left Munoz saluted each of them.
Then It was time to run the main events for each class. First up were the Hobby Stocks and seven of them took the green flag. First on point was Tom Haxall with Brayden Stepper giving chase.
Behind the leader Dan Dias, who started from the back was moving forward. Dwayne Inlow brought out two cautions as the rear housing in his car started then failed.
On the restart Stepper briefly led after an outside pass then faded after going wide in Turn 1. Now Dias was second and the chase was on.
In the remaining laps Dias tried the both the outside and inside but neither worked at first. Finally exiting Turn 4 and heading toward the checkered flag he went for it and barely got ahead of Haxall to score the closest finish of the night. The winning margin was 0.018 or just under two hundredths of a second.
Later Dias said, “The track was very wet, treacherous in a lot of places. I was trying to find traction all night long but not until about the last five laps was able to make some moves. I had to make a risky decision at the end and crossed the finish line sideways.”
Then he thanked Dias Family Racing.
Seven sprint cars took the green but as soon as he gave it the gas the drive line in Jeff Macedo’s car failed. On the restart Bobg Cooney took off and left everyone in his dust. On his way to sweeping the weekend the only car Cooney didn’t lap was runner up Josh Bolt.
When the five mini stocks took the green it appeared the race would be between Colton Blankenship and Aisnleigh Evenson. Unfortunately she got sideways in Turn 3 and her sister Mallory could avoid hitting her car.
As she was complaining about her neck the medics were summoned. Seems her shoulder straps got her neck but she was all right. After that she headed for the pits while her sister continued.
Blankenship then took off and lapped the entire field on his way to the victory. After the race he explained the race was all right and had no problems with dust or lap traffic.
Only four dwarf cars were there and when the green flag waved Joe Fock was on point with Dan Geil in hot pursuit. In fact Geilwas able to briefly take the lead only to surrender it to Flock.
From then on Dan Geil faded but Isaak Geil took up the chase. At the finish Flock won by less than a half second over Geil.
Later Frock said, “It was a difficult race for us. Car was set up for dry and they watered the track shortly before our race so the car was completely off. Was lucky to get the win.”
Then he added, “It was a nice night with the 911 tribute, saluting the First Responders and military members in attendance. That was the best part of the night. Hopefully the fans enjoyed it.”
Finally it was time for the Bootleggers, the largest class of the night. Their numbers were helped by some Lovelock drivers that are now competing in the class.
Right after the green Taggart Garland briefly pulled onto the infield then rejoined the race. When the green waved again Ray Blankenship used an inside move to take the point and was being chased by Logan Sage and Garland.
While Blankenship was leading there was a three-way duel for second between Garland, Jeff Elerick Jr. and Jon Allen while Sage as a little ways back in fifth.Up front Blankenship was in the cat bird’s seat.
As the race progressed more and more cars started using the Turn 4 berm, which was throwing more and more dust. Finally the flagman had a caution as he could hardly see the cars exiting Turn 4.
After some discussion the officials decided to end the race early with a green-white-checkered. Before throwing the green the flagman warned everyone to stay off the berm so they could race.
Once the green waved Blankenship was off and left everyone in his dust. He would finish over two seconds ahead of runner up Garland and third place Jeff Elerick Jr.
Back in the pits Blankenship said, “That was dusty, fun and we had a lot of rocks catching up on the track but we’ll definitely be back. The last two laps before they threw the caution you couldn’t see the car in front of you, it was almost like a desert race. I have to thank my boss W.G. from Fallon Auto Sales.
• On Friday only three classes ran and there were a couple of test and tune sessions. Bob Cooney won the Sprint Car main, Ainsleigh Evenson won the Mini Stock main with her sister Mallory second and Logan Sage was the Bootlegger winner.
Next up for Lovelock is a Friday-Saturday show on the weekend of October 1 & 2 with a 7 p.m. start to the racing.
OTHER RACING NEWS:
• Tuesday from 4 until 8 p.m. is another cruise in at the south Steak ‘N Shake.
• Teresa’s Garage Radio Show is on the air from 2 until 3 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. In Northwest Nevada it can be heard over the air on 1060 AM.
There is also a Podcast at amm.streamon.fm or it can be seen live on Face Book. The show is focused on all things automotive including trends, new developments and trivia.
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• Tread Connection is our newest sponsor, the local franchise is owned by Blake Sobiloff. The business brings the tire store to the customer so they don’t have to take time off work or even leave home.
Once the tires are ordered Sobiloff picks them up and arrives in a van loaded with start of the art equipment where the customer’s car is located. He observes all safety protocols and tires can be ordered and paid for on line.
He also can scan tires to check tread wear and see if any alignment is needed. A good service for fleet owners as they can track which vehicles might need new tires. There are discounts for First Responders, Active Duty Military, members of the National Guard and Reserves as well as Veterans.
His primary area is Reno and Sparks. One can contact him directly through the phone number, 775-870-3600 or through the Face Book page. There is also a national website at, www.treadconnection.com.
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Owner Greg Ekins is a long time off-road motorcyle racer, who competes with MRANN and the AMA National Hare and Hound Series. The website is www.gislandservices.com.
• Next sponsor is General Transmission and Power Train Specialists owned by former motorcycle racer Pete Attashian. The shop is located at 2515 Sutro Street in Reno, a few blocks below Hug High School.
The shop services older and new transmissions and has a section for high performance units as well as those used for towing. Phone number is 775-786-5888 and the shop’s website is, www.generaltransmissioinreno.com.
• Racing photographer Melissa Coker is another sponsor. If you raced at Summit in Elko, Battle Mountain, Lovelock, Rattlesnake Raceway or Diamond Mountain Speedway she probably had a photo of your car on the track. She also produces hero cards and memory books and her website is, www.melissasoutonalimb.smugmug.com.
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Their phone number is 775-856-3855 and the website is, www.moto-source.com.
• Concours Body Shop, located at 250 Telegraph Street in Reno is another sponsor. The shop does quality collision repair for cars and trucks.
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RESULTS:
Lovelock Speedway Silver State Racing
• September Showdown, Remembering 911 – Saturday, September 11:
Hobby Stocks:
+ Heat Race: 1. Brayden Stepper, 2. Tom Haxall, 3. Alex Kniestedt, 4. Angela Dias, 5. Dwayne Inlow, 6. Michael Barlett, 7. Dan Dias.
+ Main (20-Laps): 1. Dan Dias, 2. Tom Haxall, 3. Alex Kniestedt, 4. Brayden Stepper, 5. Michael Barlett, 6. Dwayne Inlow, 7. Angela Dias.
Sprint Cars:
+ Heat Race: 1. Jeff Macedo, 2. Bob Cooney, 3. Chevy Brown, 4. Josh Bolt, 5. Kurt Goddard, 6. Justin Bolt.
DNS: James Brown.
+ Main (16-Laps): 1. Bob Cooney, 2. Josh Bolt, 3. Chevy Brown, 4.Justin Bolt, 5. James Brown, 6. Kurt Goddard, 7. Jeff Macedo.
Dwarf Cars:
+Heat Race: 1. Joe Frock, 2. Dan Geil, 3. Isaak Geil, 4. Glen Sciarani.
+ Main(20-Laps): 1. Joe Frock, 2. Isaak Geil, 3.Dan Geil, 4. Glen Sciarani.
Mini Stocks:
+ Heat Race: 1. Ainsleigh Evenson, 2. Colton Blankenship, 3. Angelo Rallo, 4. Jeff Elerick.
+ Main (10-Laps): 1. Colton Blankenship, 2. Angelo Rallo, 3. Mallory Evenson, 4. Ainsleigh Evenson, 5. Jeff Elerick.
Bootleggers:
+ Heat #1: 1. Taggart Garland, 2. Ray Blankenship, 3. Jon Allen, 4. Logan Sage, 5. Danner Barrick.
+ Heat #2: 1. John Minor, 2. Jeff Elerick Jr., 3. Matt Cardin, 4. Maverick Boney, 5. Raymond Lopez.
+ Main (14-Laps): 1. Ray Blankenship, 2. Taggart Garland, 3. Jeff Elerick Jr., 4. Jon Allen, 5. Logan Sage, 6. Raymond Lopez, 7. Matt Cardin, 8. Maverick Boney, 9. John Minor, 10. Danner Barrick.
• September Showdown – Friday, September 10:
Sprint Cars:
+ Heat #1: 1. Bob Cooney, 2. Justin Bolt, 3. Jeff Macedo, 4.Richard Zeiter, 5. James Brown.
+ Heat #2: 1. Josh Bolt, 2. Jordan Garreston, 3. Chevy Brown.
+ Main (20-Laps): 1. Bob Cooney, 2. Jordan Garretson, 3. Josh Bolt, 4. Chevy Brown, 5. Jeff Macedo, 6. Richard Zeiter, 7. Justin Bolt, 8. James Brown.
DNS: Jeff Cluver.
Mini Stocks:
+ Heat Race: 1. Kent Knisley, 2. Ainsleigh Evenson, 3. Mallory Evenson, 4. Jeff Elerick.
+ Main: 1. Ainsleigh Evenson, 2. Mallory Evenson, Jeff Elerick,4. Kent Knisley.
Bootleggers:
+ Heat: 1. Jeff Elerick Jr., 2. Logan Sage, 3. Matt Cardin, 4. Danner Barrick, 5. Raymond Lopez, 6. John Minor, 7. Jon Allen.
+ Main (20-Laps): 1. Logan Sage, 2. Matt Cardin, 3. Jeff Elerick Jr., 4 Danner barrick, 5. Jon Allen, 6. Raymond Lopez.
DNF: John Minor.
