Action fast and furious at Fernley

The IMCA Modified main at Fernley 95A Speedway last Saturday night was fast and furious. Early leader Mark Skender spun and went to the back, then Cory Sample collided with Robert Miller while battling for the lead, and they both went to the tail of the pack.

Through it all, Josh Ogg was right there with the leaders. After leading through several late-race restarts, Ogg took the checkered flag as it flew ahead of recent winner Melissa Natenstedt. Travis White, Sample, and Jeff Olschowka rounded out the top five. It was Ogg’s first main event win in the IMCA Modified division, and he got a huge ovation from the crowd.

Attrition was the name of the game in the Pro Stock division, as Malen Gonzalez captured the win over a fast Ken Gotchal, with Travis Peterson and Rob Grace in tow. The rest of the field had dropped out by the time the checkers flew.

Brian Moore won his second Hobby Stock main in a row, besting Jake Baker, Carl Barlow, Tom Haxall, and Rand Boyd, while Dennis Crook held off Justin Busch, Kenny Martin, and Jesse James for the Super Stock 4 victory.

Finally, Shane Boyd showed a remarkable turn of speed to take the Pure Stock victory over Anthony Adams, Rich Innis, and Mark Serchio Jr. The track is dark this weekend, but racing returns next Saturday night.

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Carson City’s Mackena Bell has been a busy girl in NASCAR’s K&N Pro Series East. After finishing 12th last Friday at Five Flags Speedway in Florida, she’s racing again tonight at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Va. Bell finished 11th at Langley last year, and is looking for her second top-10 finish of the season there tonight. She currently ranks 15th in the season point standings.

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It’s a road-racing weekend for NASCAR, with the Sprint Cup series at Sonoma and Nationwide cars at Road America. Road racing with NASCAR is always entertaining, and having raced at Sonoma I particularly enjoy the in-car camera shots. It’s one of the “wild cards” in the lead-up to the Chase, and we may see a surprise winner tomorrow. In fact, there has been a different winner at Sonoma in each of the last nine races. If I were to bet on a 10th different Sonoma winner, I’d put my money on Marcos Ambrose. He should have won a few years back, but he learned a hard lesson about shutting down the engine to save fuel on a steep uphill part of the course.

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The Nationwide drivers lost practice time due to weather on Friday. I’ve been to Road America in June, and thunderstorms are a fairly frequent occurrence in the area. Hopefully things will be dry for the race today, but the Nationwide series has rain tires, and they have been known to race in the wet.

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Formula 1 is back in Europe, racing this weekend in Austria for the first time since 2003. The race is at the Red Bull Ring, formerly known variously as the Osterreichring and the A1 ring. To no one’s surprise, the Mercedes cars of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg traded fast time in Friday’s practice. But the Canadian Grand Prix proved the team is not as invincible as previously thought. Have they solved the technical issues that hobbled the team in Canada? If not, Williams, Ferrari, Red Bull, and the rest of the field are ready to take it down.

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NASCAR Silly Season has started early. Word is Carl Edwards will drive for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2015, joining former Roush teammate Matt Kenseth in the Toyota camp and making JGR a four-car team. Further rumors have Edwards running under M&M/Mars sponsorship while Kyle Busch will bring Monster Energy up from the Camping World Truck and Nationwide series as primary sponsor on his Cup car. Meanwhile, Greg Biffle is still in contract negotiations at Roush-Fenway, and hopes to ink a new deal to stay with the team.

And for you drag racing fans, the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series is at New England Dragway & Motorsports Park in Epping, N.H., this weekend, with TV coverage on ESPN2 and WatchESPN.