Motorsports Column for July 13

I'll kick off this week's ruminations with another report on how local racers are doing out of town.

Carson City Outlaw Kart racer Mackena Bell won her first QRC All Star Tour "A" main race in the 125cc class last Saturday night in Stockton, Calif. The 2002 Nevada Box Stock Champion has been a consistent top-five finisher in the series and was fastest qualifier on one occasion. She has also dipped her toes into the "Open" class with a 250cc kart and I expect she'll be at the front of the field in that category in short order. The Stockton win put Bell into a tie for second place in Tour points with four races remaining in the season.

Other local karters also did well at Stockton. Jay Primm set fastest qualifying time in the Box Stock field of 38 karts. He finished 10th in the "A" main, just behind Zachary Heinz, who also took second in his heat race. Kellcy Bell was fourth in the "C" main, and Jennifer Purcell finished fifth in her heat race and 10th in the "B" main.

Last week, we mentioned that former local kart racer T.J. Bell had a ride in the Craftsman Truck Series. Bell finished 25th at Kansas City after crashing on lap 94.

Speaking of Craftsman Trucks, former champion Mike Skinner of Susanville will return to the series for at least two races starting this weekend at Chicago. Skinner has some time on his hands after being released from his Winston Cup ride a couple of weeks ago. Skinner replaces Rich Bickle.

Some time back, I toyed with the idea of a periodic "crime report" on fines and penalties levied by NASCAR. Well, we've got a few goodies in the wake of the Daytona Pepsi 400. Michael Waltrip's No. 15 DEI team lost 25 driver and owner points as well as $25,000 for a "suspicious" carburetor and an unapproved roof strip. Kyle Petty's No. 45 team (the only Petty car to make the race, and then on a provisional) also lost 25 points and $25,000 for having illegal jacking bolts in the rear of the car. Finally, the No. 4 team received a $25,000 fine for an enlarged fuel cell and driver Stacy Compton was docked 25 points.

NASCAR has to enforce the rules, but I question the loss of points, because the infractions on both cars were found and corrected before the race. Therefore, they gave the teams no competitive advantage and the points penalties seem a bit excessive. However, NASCAR determined the infractions to be deliberate, not just an oversight or an accident, hence the points penalties. As an old racing engineer friend of mine once said, "Tighter rules just make cheating more expensive." Amen.

For those of you who missed my special column on the Brian Sweeney Memorial celebrity race at Reno-Fernley raceway, here's a brief recap. Top Gun Lieutenant Rob "Shooter" Simone won the main event and passed me on the last lap of the heat race to win that one, too. I spun on the first turn of the first lap in the main and worked my way through the field to finish fourth behind Simone, Scott Harjo of KBUL, and Top Gun Lieutenant Commander Robert "Jungle" Jones. T.J. Metzger of Channel 2 finished fifth, followed by Bill Meakin (aka "Sweet-talkin' Sam") of the Virginia City Register, Joe Hart of Channel 4, and Brent Boynton of Channel 8. I also have a piece of advice for you loyal readers. If you ever get the chance to drive a dirt stock car, take it. It's more fun than just about anything I can mention in a family newspaper.

Motorists in the Carson City area, beware. Bands of armed highwaymen are after your money. Oops, make that highway patrolmen. A flying squad of NHP motorcycle cops is roaming the area, writing tickets like crazy. They were on Highway 50 East in Dayton and Mound House last week, but are liable to pop up anywhere. Apparently they're trying to make up for budget shortfalls by levying speeding taxes on unwary motorists. This just bolsters my contention that traffic enforcement is far more about revenue than it is about safety.

Roger Diez is the Nevada Appeal motorsports columnist