QUINCY, CALIF. — Saturday marked the season’s end for the American Valley Speedway. It was a night to honor the track’s champions, all of whom won their races, while the fire was provided by visiting 410 winged sprint cars.



“It was a good car and all right but we had a bit of a motor problem at the end as it was kind of loading fuel,” John Gray said after winning the 25-lap sprint car feature. “As long as you stayed off the gas in Turns 3 and 4 and stayed on the gas in 1 and 2, you’re fine. The track’s good but in 1 and 2, you had to completely stop to get out of the corner.”



While that sounds simple it wasn’t and Lady Luck played a part in Gray’s victory.



The race took a while to get started when the car of Shane Matthews wouldn’t fire and two other cars stopped to change tires. Once things were set the green waved and Matt Shelton led the charge into Turn 1.



Two laps later the first caution waved after Jeff Griffin spun. Once racing resumed Gray used an inside pass, at the top of the back straight, to claim the lead. Three other cautions slowed the race’s pace but at each restart Gray left everyone in his dust.



Behind the leader Mark Tabor Jr., who won his heat rand a solid third and ended his night in that position. Tabor’s father, Mark Sr., finished seventh behind Sparks based racer Mike Monahan, who took sixth.



Up front, once he got the lead it wall all Gray’s race but at the very end Lady Luck gave him an ace as he ran out of fuel less than a half a lap after taking the checkered.



Up to then, it has been a fast, furious race with many drivers dealing with cars that were jumping around due to the moist and dry sections of the turns.



When the Modified race began Todd Aylward led the charge with Bill Pearson charging into the second spot. Further back Richard Papenhausen, who won both his heat and the trophy dash, was moving toward the front.



Pearson, who lives in Silver Knolls, grabbed the point on the sixth lap. By how Papenhausen was second and was intent on taking the top spot.



Lap after lap the leaders ran nose-to-tail until Papenhausen made the winning pass and took off. There were only two cautions to slow things down but at each restart, Papenhausen took off while, despite his best efforts Pearson would have to settle for the runner up spot.



“The race was good, car ran really good, the track was a little slick in spots but we hit the right set up,” Papenhausen said after the race. “When we took off I could tell I had a little better than Pearson did but he had the preferred line. So I just waited for the opportunity and snuck by him.



“Getting into Turn 1 and the middle was pretty good but when you got ready to exit 2, it was extremely dry there, lot of loose dirt and just zero traction coming off 2.”



Although Papenhausen has won several times the Modifieds were part of a four-track mini tour won by Matt Murphy, who wasn’t at this race.



The Pro Stock feature turned out to be a chase between two Reno based drivers. When the green waved Craig Nieman led the pack into the first turns while division champion Travis Petersen came roaring into third then second.



Then things slowed two laps later when there was a tangle between three cars. Once that was sorted out the field took off with Brian Wood on point with Petersen right behind him.



A few laps later, and before the next caution, Petersen took the lead with a charging Jay Sears in second. Now the chase was on as both local drivers battled for the lead.



One more caution slowed things down but in the end it was Petersen’s night and he celebrated his championship with two victory passes up and down the front straight.



Sears came home second followed by Nieman and Jack Randall, who had one of his best drives of the season.



Petersen, who won eight of his last nine races, said, “I guess that’s living the good life as we put our homework together this year and it’s paid off. It was either going to be me or Jay as he’s probably one of the fastest guys to race with in the Pro Stock class. I had a hard time hooking up in 3 and 4 where Jay was a little better than I was but we were better in the straights and Turns 1 and 2.



“I want to thank my Dad, my wife and my sponsors, Reno Mazda-Kia and First Horizon Home Loans. Without those guys, my team and my man Jason Goade, he got me here this weekend, I wouldn’t be here tonight. Hopefully we’re going modified racing next year but if we don’t sell the car, we’ll go pro stock racing.”



All season long Chase Nieman has been the class of the Mini Stock field and has won most of the season’s races. On this night the high school sophomore was on his A game and determined to end his season with a bang.



The Mini Stocks have the shortest feature so getting to the front in a hurry is necessary to win one of these races. When the green waved Joe Wood and Nieman were side-by-side as they stormed into the first turn.



They stayed that way until the second lap when Nieman finally took the lead and started to extend his advantage. Five laps into the event his lead evaporated when there was a caution.



On the green Nieman took off with Wood in hot pursuit. J.R. Svensson briefly held the second spot but soon Wood took it back. From that point on the race was Nieman’s as he reached the checkered ahead of Wood, Matthew Stewart and Svensson.



After cementing his title, Nieman celebrated by taking a victory lap around the track.



“I’ve raced go-karts since I was 5-years-old and I switched to cars at 11,” Nieman said. “And I knew I had the title clinched two races ago.



Nieman used to play football but a torn ligament ended those days and he now wears a brace on one leg. He does plan to defend his championship when the season resumes next spring.



Now the American Valley Speedway goes dark for a long winter’s sleep. According to promoter Curt Nieman the track will probably host 13 races next season, five more than this year.



•This weekend has something for almost every type of racing fan.



The Top Gun Raceway, located south of Fallon, starts the action on Friday with a Test and Tune session. On both Saturday and Sunday, timed runs on the drag strip begin at 9 a.m. as the track hosts the Big Bucks Super Comp Points race.



The annual round of the Old Timer’s Nationals will be staged at the Fernley Motocross Track, starting around 9 a.m., on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday evening, starting at 6 p.m., Rattlesnake Raceway hosts another of its six-division shows along with a demolition derby.

•Spanish Springs racer Josh Morros suffered several injuries last week but the worst was head trauma. He’s off medications that prevented brain swelling and his family is waiting for him to fully wake up from a medical induced coma.



So far signs are good as he’s become more responsive but the young racer still has a long way to go.



•NASCAR’S Nevada Quartet was at the Bristol Motor Speedway this past week for three night races on the half-mile bullring.



Kyle Busch won Wednesday’s Craftsman Truck event with T.J. Bell finishing 10th and Brendan Gaughan 13.



On Friday night, in the Nationwide race, a penalty dropped Busch from contention but he charged back to finish seventh. In Saturday’s Sprint cup event Busch finished second while his older brother Kurt Busch ended up 15th.