The 3/8 mile clay oval at Reno-Fernley Raceway hosted the first Saturday night event of the 2010 season last weekend.
The fields for the mains were augmented when track officials got a call from the Lovelock track after the heat races had been run. Lovelock's night had been rained out, and their racers wanted to finish the evening at Reno-Fernley. Officials asked the crowd if they wanted to wait for the Lovelock racers to arrive, and the response was enthusiastically positive.
When the Lovelock cars arrived, green flags flew for good. There were four divisions.
Billy Wilson dominated the Dwarf car field, winning the heat and then the main ahead of Frank Hinds, Bobby Niles and David Richardson.
In the Hobby Stock division, Rocky Goetz bested Billy Church, Brian Moore and Jimmy Berhorst in the main, with Moore taking the heat race win.
Jeff Olschowka captured the Pro Stock victory with Dean Cichowicz, Rob Grace and Joe Specchio Jr. chasing him to the checkered flag. Olschowka also won the first heat race and Ken Gotchal took the second one.
Veteran Robert Miller won the Modified main with Shawn Natenstedt in hot pursuit followed home by Rich Hill and Will Zinn. Zinn and Walter Ball took the heat race wins.
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After threatening to do so several times, Kyle Busch finally accomplished his record-setting "triple," winning in all three of NASCAR's top series at the same track on the same weekend at Bristol.
There was a bit of an asterisk to his Nationwide Series win, as he punted points leader Brad Keselowski out of the way to take the checkered flag. Many non-Kyle fans questioned why he got away with no penalty when Carl Edwards was fined money and points and put on probation for th same type of move earlier in the season. Reaction to Kyle's feat was predictable, as both his fans and detractors commented in forums like SPEED's Wind Tunnel.
I think my favorite was the e-mail that said that the writer would rather pass a kidney stone than watch Kyle win a race. Busch is certainly not lacking in confidence, however. In an interview last week he said that he wants to race in the Indy 500, but only after he wins his first Sprint Cup title, and he wouldn't mind if NASCAR just gave him the trophy and the check right now.
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Busch will have no opportunity to repeat his feat this weekend, as the Cup series is off, Nationwide is at Montreal, and the Camping World trucks ran last night at Chicagoland. Montreal should be interesting as usual, with a mix of Nationwide regulars, road course ringers, and Canadian starters.
Marcos Ambrose is determined to avenge his last-lap loss in 2009, and given his recent performance at Watkins Glen, he is a good bet to do so.
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The Rolex Series also is running at Montreal, and the IndyCar series will take to the Chicagoland track tonight for a race under the lights.
Will Power captured the Mario Andretti Road Course Championship at Infineon Raceway last weekend, a fitting comeback after a nearly career-ending crash at the Sonoma track. Power also is leading the overall points chase with Dario Franchitti in second and Franchitti's teammate third and leading the A.J. Foyt oval trophy points.
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Formula One is back in action this weekend. The series visits Spa Francorchamps in Belgium, the longest and one of the fastest circuits on the schedule.
The F1 championship is still is very much in doubt with Red Bull's Mark Webber just four points ahead of McLaren's Louis Hamilton. Sebastian Vettel and Jensen Button are not far behind. There was rain for Friday's practice, and the weather at Spa is notorious for its unpredictability, which could make for a very interesting race.
Webber would very much like to give himself a win for his 34th birthday, which is today. But it's unlikely it will be lovingly presented to him by teammate Vettel, as the rivalry between the pair continues hot and heavy.