Gardnerville’s Miller rallies for 90th career victory

Fernley 95A Speedway hosted a double points race last Saturday night, the extra points added due to the June 6 rainout.

With that added incentive, Robert Miller of Gardnerville charged from mid-pack at the start of the IMSA Modified main and took the win, scoring his 90th career Modified main victory. Winnemucca’s Cory Sample, the 2014 track champion, was second. He was followed by Reno’s Jake Holland, Royce Goetz of Dayton, and Fallon driver Travis White. Track manager Matt Ramthun was aboard B.J. Pearson’s No. 84 Pro Stock, starting at the back and finishing second behind Fallon’s Rob Grace. Derrick Rauscher of Reno was third, followed by Carson City’s Gary Nevers and Gordon Russell of Elko. Points leader Dwight Bolton of Gardnerville extended his lead by winning the Street Stock main, with Jesse Vankol of Reno, Sun Valley’s Rick Miller, Reno driver Jake Baker, and J.T. Stark of Sun Valley second through fifth. Super Stock 4 point leader Kenny Martin had a convincing lead in the main until it disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Kenny Schmidt took over and held it to the checker with Aaron McIlvaine following him home in second. Third through fifth place finishers were Dennis and Stephen Crook of Reno and Carson City’s Danielle Paine. Defending champion Rich Innis had a hiccup partway through the Pure Stock main, but recovered to take the win ahead of Fernley’s Shawn Burton, Jim Paulk, Trevor Quell, and first-time racer Genevieve Diebler. The track is dark this weekend and next, returning to action on July 11.

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Another local driver will be racing this weekend at the other end of the country. Gardnerville’s Kyle Gimple will co-drive the No. 75 Compass 360 Audi S3 in the Continental Sports Car Challenge at Watkins Glen in upstate New York. The team switched to Audi from Honda this season, and it’s still doing development work on the cars, but Gimple is optimistic about the progress the team has been making.

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Locally, it’s officially classic car season. The Karson Kruzers are holding their annual “Run What Cha Brung” car show at Fuji Park today. So if you want to check out some exotic iron, head that direction. My advice is to go early and stay in the shade.

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The NASCAR Sprint Cup series makes its closest visit to northern Nevada this weekend, racing at the Sonoma road course. Past winners at Sonoma are a who’s who of NASCAR stars and champions, but it’s also a bit of a wild card. It will be entirely possible we will see another new winner and Chase contender crowned on Sunday. The most likely suspects are previous Sonoma winners who have not won yet this year. They are 2012 winner Clint Bowyer; Kasey Kahne, the 2009 winner; 2008 winner Kyle Busch; and Tony Stewart, who won in 2005 and 2001. And let’s not forget A.J. Allmendinger, who won at Watkins Glen last year and has numerous road course victories in IndyCar.

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Speaking of IndyCar, the series visits Auto Club Speedway in Southern California this weekend. To compensate for the expected high temperatures at the track, IndyCar has mandated rear wing angles increasing rear downforce by as much as 300 pounds. It’s just the latest tweak to the new aero kits, adding another variable to the search for balance many teams are struggling with. Of course, the added wing will increase drag as well, affecting straightaway speed. It will remain to be seen whether the Chevy camp or the Honda crowd will benefit the most from the change.

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Last weekend’s Formula One race in Austria was, as expected, another Mercedes benefit. But this time it was Nico Rosberg with the pole and the race win, while teammate Lewis Hamilton had to settle for second in both categories. The point gap between the two has dropped to 10, with Hamilton still in the lead. But the 1-2 Mercedes finish added to the already staggering lead the team has in the constructors’ championship race. Mercedes has amassed 328 points to 192 for Ferrari and 129 for Williams and a mere 55 for Red Bull in fourth place.