Robert Miller added another one to the win column last Saturday at Fernley 95A Speedway, working his way from a 12th starting position to the lead and holding it to the checker. Only Malen Gonzalez was able to run with Miller, but never got close enough to make a pass. Troy Foulger led the rest of the pack home to finish third, followed by Travis White and Paris Archie. Miller, doing double duty, also won the Pro Stock main driving B.J. Pearson’s No. 84 “Nuclear Banana.” Miller beat Rob Grace to the checker, with Gary Never and James Greenwalt finishing third and fourth. Engine trouble sidelined Street Stock points leader Dwight Bolton prior to the main, and Rick Miller charged through the field to take the win. Miller was followed home by Jake Baker, J.T. Stark, Michael Bartlett, and Jim Erie. Joe Frock once again dominated the Dwarf car field, winning his seventh main of the season. Shane Ramthun took over Bobby Wilson’s ride and came home second, followed by Roy Peterson and Vuki Wilson subbing for Jeff Foster. Dennis Crook won the Super Stock 4 main, with Justin Busch second. Danielle Paine finished third, with Aaron McIlvain and Kenny Schmitt rounding out the top five. And Jim Paulk won his second main of the season and second in a row in the Pure Stock division. Points leader Rich Innis was second, followed by Trevor Quell and Shawn Burton. The racers will take a break before returning on October 3 for the final points race of the season. A demolition derby, mud bog and chain races are on the program for tonight, starting at 6 p.m.
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Kevin Harvick had a no good, awful, terrible, really bad day at Chicagoland last Sunday when a dispute with Jimmie Johnson over real estate ended in a 42nd place finish. This led to a heated post-race discussion between the two, with Harvick physically expressing his displeasure. Harvick still has a big hole to dig himself out of, but at least he’s not last in the Chase standings due to a 25 point penalty NASCAR handed Clint Bowyer on Wednesday due to rear suspension irregularities discovered in pre-race inspection. It’s the latest in a history of penalties for Michael Waltrip Racing, which closes its doors at the end of the season. To paraphrase a line from Janis Joplin, closing’s just another word for nothing left to lose. So why not attempt to maximize the rules? It’s going to take a win or two top-five finishes at New Hampshire and Dover for either Harvick or Bowyer to continue to the next round. Harvick has the best shot, starting on the outside pole Sunday, while Bowyer is mired deep in the field. Denny Hamlin’s win at Chicago after an early spin that put him a lap down was nothing short of amazing. And his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates are also in good shape, with JGR cars in the top four positions in the Chase. Jeff Gordon sits 12th, the final driver to advance on points if he can hold onto the position.
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In Formula 1 action, the wheels fell off the Mercedes bus last week at Singapore. Neither Nico Rosberg nor Lewis Hamilton were on the podium for the first time in recent memory. In fact, mechanical woes put Hamilton out of the race with no points scored. He had built up a significant lead prior to that, and was still 41 points ahead of Rosberg. It was a good day for Ferrari, with Sebastian Vettel scoring his third victory of the season and teammate Kimi Raikkonen also on the podium in third. Second place went to Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, his best finish of 2015. The series is at Suzuka in Japan this weekend, with Friday’s practice sessions running on a wet track. The Mercedes duo seemed to be back on form in the wet, but this morning’s qualifying would tell whether that would truly the case.
