Octane Fest fans began Saturday with morning and early afternoon races at Rattlesnake Raceway.
As the temperatures rise, so will the action at Rattlesnake Raceway.
As per tradition, drivers return to the ¼-mile dirt oval track for the July 4 celebration and racing today and Saturday.
The weekend’s racing features points action in all classifications with the highlight coming today with the fireworks show shortly after dark. Racing begins at 7 p.m. today and at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
Today, however, will consist of all classes and the Northern Nevada Outlaw Karts series. On Saturday, all classes resume with points races in addition to the Hobby Stock Classic.
In addition, children will be able to take a ride in a race car — at slow speeds — during intermission of the races, according to Lahontan Auto Racing Association Secretary Annette Rinehart.
“We’ve installed new bleachers, so those are ready to go,” she added. “We have big crowds and awesome racing.”
The title chases, meanwhile, are in full swing.
Scott Tenney leads the Hobby Stock class with 270 points and winner of four of the seven main events this season. Chris Christiano sits in second with 241 points, seven ahead of Shane Crazel.
Christiano has one win, three second and one third-place finish this season. Crazel also has one victory, but has not finished higher than fourth in six of the seven races.
In fourth sits Dennis Beuhn with 223 points followed by Sandy Clark (211), Jason Irwin (209), Tami Beuhn (201), Brooke Donahue (160), Aaron Benham (158) and Tony Taylor (137).
In the Gen-X class, Steve Eisele and Jeremy Christen are tied atop the leaderboard with 199 points, although Eisele competed with the Hobby Stock’s in the June 21 race.
Christen, meanwhile, is being chased by Christy Rasmussen (182) and Edwin Cedeno (176).
The IMCA Northern Sport Mods is a two-man race as Zachary Cail leads Pete Olsen 272-216. In the IMCA division, Robert Mull has a comfortable lead with 262 points followed by Travis White (176) and Cory Sample (130).
As for the Outlaw Karts, the beginners class features two drivers — Hayden Leach and Tanner Frock — with Leach leading Frock 150-141 through four races.
In Box Stock, Jensen Tenora leads the pack with 157 points followed by Xavier Frock (148) and Sarah Anderson (145).
The 250cc class is also tight as Jacob Dias leads with 157 points as Grasen and Shansen Tenora — both with 146 points — are tied for second.