Bell finishes 20th in first race of year

Carson City's Mackena Bell made her debut in the K&N Pro Series East last Saturday. It was a learning experience for the series rookie, who had only limited practice in the car before the race. After losing two laps on a pit stop for repairs, Bell received two "lucky dogs" and finished 20th in the 30-car field. A subsequent disqualification moved her up to 19th place officially. Bell said that with a race under her belt, she feels much more confident heading into the race at South Boston Speedway next Saturday.

•••

Another local racer was in action last weekend as well. Hunter Colodny raced a Legends car at Toyota Speedway in Irwindale, Calif., on Saturday night. Colodny qualified third and was running in third when he was taken out on the last lap, finishing 13th and the last car on the lead lap. His big brother Dallas, last season's Rookie of the Year, will start his season in the Late Model division at Irwindale tonight after finishing fifth in points in the division last season. Both brothers are driving for the High Point Racing team.

•••

Here at home, Rattlesnake Raceway in Fallon has a playday today with their season opener scheduled for next Saturday night. IMCA Modified, Pro Stock, Hobby Stock, Bomber, Mini Mod, Gen-X, and Rat Mod divisions are all on the opening night card. Racing starts at 6 p.m. with heat races. Lovelock Speedway's season opener is today at 1 p.m. IMCA Modifieds, Hobby Stocks, Pro Stocks, Sport Mods, Dwarfs, Outlaw Karts, and 360 Sprints will make up the program. Reno-Fernley Raceway still is closed. There are no plans for racing at the dirt oval this season, and I'm trying to track down rumors that the road course may be back in operation under new management.

•••

Racers, if you own an Impact Racing driving suit, helmet, belts, or any other gear from that company, you need to check the date of manufacture. SFI, the organization that issues and administers standards for specialty/performance automotive and racing equipment, filed suit against Impact on March 26, alleging that Impact was manufacturing and using counterfeit SFI labels and patches. SFI also announced that it had decertified Impact products. Hans Performance Products has also sued Impact for using counterfeit Hans Helmet clips. SFI sought a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against Impact, as well as monetary damages. Impact filed an appeal, and in a hearing on April 1, SFI and Impact agreed to lift the decertification for products manufactured in 2009 and 2010. The decertification is still in effect for products manufactured prior to 2009. If you have Impact products without a date of manufacture, contact Impact Racing immediately and they will provide verification. Impact maintains that their products are safe, and are continuing to work with SFI to verify compliance to specifications, but you might want to check with your race sanctioning body to see if they are going to allow the use of Impact products.

•••

The Sprint Cup series has a rare weekend off, but both the Camping World Truck and Nationwide series are in action at Nashville this weekend. Also, the Formula 1 tour races in Malaysia at Kuala Lumpur this weekend. For those who thought the season opener at Bahrain was boring, last week's Australian Grand Prix was anything but. Rain, which caused both the Sprint Cup and Indycar series to postpone their races to Monday, merely made the F1 race more interesting. Defending champion Jensen Button was the first to switch to dry tires, and made them last to the end of the race, taking the checkered flag.

I think this is shaping up to be the most interesting F1 season in years.

• Roger Diez can be reached for comment at Racytalker@aol.com.