Road racing begins at Fernley

Last weekend, I went out to Reno-Fernley Raceway early on Saturday to check out the first official race on the new paved road course.

The event was sanctioned by the National Auto Sports Association (NASA), probably the fastest-growing racing organization in the country. There was a good turnout of more than 100 cars, despite temperatures that reached into the triple digits.

I saw a few friends and acquaintances from my road racing past and also met Brian Hunt, a Carson City resident who is heading up the Northern Nevada NASA chapter. Brian will be in charge of NASA events at Reno-Fernley Raceway and is looking for people who are interested in getting into racing on the ground floor. NASA has another race at Reno-Fernley coming up on Aug. 9-10 and they need people to staff the event. Flaggers, communications people, timing and scoring, pit and grid marshals and people to fill a variety of other functions are needed. I can highly recommend volunteering as an entree into motorsports. It's how I got started some 34 years ago, waving a flag at Sports Car Club of America races.

Brian says NASA will provide training for the volunteers so all you need to bring is an interest in motorsports and a willingness to work. You can contact Brian at 884-9299 or check out the Northern Nevada NASA website at nasanornev.com. You can also send Brian an email at nasanornev@charter.net.

It's summertime and that's classic car show time. Hot August Nights is just around the corner, but if you want to see some terrific classic cars without the crowds, the hassle and the hype, check out the Silver Dollar Car Classic right here in Carson City this coming weekend. The show kicks off with the popular street dance on Friday night, right across from the Carson Nugget on Carson Street. Live rock 'n' roll, dancing, food, drinks and cars are on the agenda and admission is free!

On Saturday morning, the show moves to Mills Park, kicking off with a delicious pancake breakfast with all the trimmings, served up by the Dayton Township Kiwanis. After breakfast you can spend the day strolling the park and drooling over some of the most beautiful automotive art you'll ever see. Vendor booths with all kinds of items from die cast models to sunglasses to performance parts and delicious food will tempt your pocketbook, too.

Saturday evening some of the participants will parade their cars at Champion Motor Speedway while the rest gather at Mills Park for the drive-in movie that has become a Silver Dollar tradition. Again, the public is invited and the admission is free. The show wraps up Sunday with another scrumptious breakfast, a poker run and the awards ceremony, all at Mills Park. It's great fun, so bring the whole family.

This is another one of those Sundays when race fans will be glued to the tube. NASCAR Winston Cup visits Pocono Raceway for the second time this season. It reminds me of a story about a driver (I believe Michael Waltrip) who was asked about his favorite part of Pocono. His reply was, "The tunnel." The questioner, puzzled, said, "Most drivers hate the tunnel turn." Waltrip replied, "Not the tunnel TURN! I meant going through the tunnel when I'm leaving this place!"

Open-wheel racing is also well represented today, with the Indy Racing League taking on Michigan International Speedway in a 400-mile contest that promises the series' usual tight side-by-side racing. And the rival Champ Cars will be ripping up the streets of Vancouver, BC, as Paul Tracy tries to win two Canadian races in a row. Hey, it's too hot to work in the yard anyway!

In my feature story on Carson City kart racer Nick Halen on Friday, I mentioned that the two major sanctioning organizations in national kart racing had announced a merger. I have a little more information on that from Steve Halen. It appears that the super-expensive "moto" motorcycle-based engines used by Superkarts USA will be relegated to regional racing only, with the national series using the more restrictive (and considerably less expensive) ICC engine. Good news for drivers like Nick, who have lots of talent but smaller bankrolls.

Roger Diez is the Nevada Appeal motorsports columnist