FERNLEY - The clay oval at Reno-Fernley Raceway came back to life after being dark for a year. Fans enjoyed two nights, Friday and Saturday, of racing with a lot of wild action.

And several drivers took advantage of Lovelock's Saturday afternoon races to make a tripleheader.

"That was a real good fight and you know, the bottom was the spot so it was a matter of who could get there and not make a mistake," Robert Miller said after winning Saturday's IMCA feature. "I'd just like to thank Blade Racing and Buzz Allen, he owns the car and I drive for him."

There were 23 IMCA Modifieds that took the green Saturday night when their feature began. Scotty Slatter led the charge into Turn 1 while Dustin Jenks charged toward the front and took the lead before the lap ended.

Robert Miller was also on a charge and soon was on Jenks' back bumper. Three laps later Miller held the point and the fight was on as he and Jenks tore around the track.

Only one more caution slowed the pace but every time the green waved Miller took off with Jenks close behind. Despite his best efforts Jenks had to settle for second as a delighted Miller reached the checkered flag first.

The Pro Stock feature was a one-man show as Josh Ogg took the lead early on and just left everyone in his dust. Steve Stringer finished a distant second followed by Jack Randall.

"The car worked really good, we did a lot of work on it and it's finally paying off," Ogg said. "We had it pretty well dialed in and everything worked."

Saturday's Hobby Stock main was a close battle between two veteran drivers. Before it could be started however, the field had to be stopped to sort out a scrambled order.

Once that was set the green waved and they were off and running with Jerry Morrow holding the point. A quick caution two laps later bunched the field.

Shortly after the green waved both Italiano and Royce Goetz started battling for second. Four laps later Italiano, broke free, took the lead and began to motor away from the others.

With 14 laps to go, Carl Barlow took second and started reeling in the fleeing leader. They spent the final laps nose-to-tail but in the end, the victory went to Italiano.

"It was a fight and Carl Barlow was definitely on his way," Italiano said. "I never saw him, did not know he was there until the very last lap in Turn 3 when I was his fender. The car was really good tonight, the track was dry-slick and my car really likes a dry-slick track."

One former champion, Missy Natenstedt returned to action in a Hobby Stock where she finished fifth in her main and her 15-year-old daughter Kayla started her driving career in a Pure Stock Mini just two weeks after learning how to drive.

Kenny Martin was the Mod Mini winner when he was able to hold off Stephen Crook for the win. Tm Cremeans won the Pure Stock Mini main while Billy Wilson left everyone in his dust to claim the Dwarf Car victory.

Friday night was when the curtain rose on the oval after a year. Partners Rob Daly and Ty Erquiaga put a lot of work in bring the oval back to live and staffed it with a lot of veteran crewmembers.

While there were some glitches, everyone seemed very happy to be back at the facility.

The IMCA main didn't disappoint the fans, as it was another wild show these cars and drivers are known for.

Just before the green Dustin Jenks headed for a quick stop in the pits but that meant he would start in the back.

Once the green waved Joe Specchio grabbed the point the led the charge. Soon David Ausano took the lead only to be replaced by a charging Robert Miller.

After two cautions Miller began to fade with mechanical problems that would eventually sideline him. Jenks had his charge through the pack cut short when a problem led to his car's driveshaft coming off.

Up front Richard Mueller now was the leader but behind him Shawn Natenstedt and Jake Holland were heading toward the front.

In the final laps Holland saw a gap between Ausano and Natenstedt open up as they tore into Turn 3. He dove for it, diamonded the corner and came out the leader.

In the end Holland, a freshman-engineering student at UNR, claimed the victory followed by Jesse Gonzalez and Mueller.

"This is pretty much my first day in the car so I was trying to feel it out at the very beginning. The car was just hooked up and these guys set it up perfectly so I couldn't do anything wrong with the car," Holland said. "I got in a fight with Natenstedt and we had a really good battle but everything just worked out right."

Many drivers were making their first start of the year and one of them was Travis Petersen. When the pro stock main began Mike Reid was first on point until Scott Deutsch got past.

A caution on lap three bunched everyone up and right after the green Petersen took the point with Josh Ogg right behind him. After that Petersen just pulled away from everyone with Ogg running in lonely second - they finished in that order.

After the race Petersen said, "That was fast and fun and it was our first time out there with that car, which is a dream to drive. We've just been waiting for another track to come available and Fernley opened back up so we're happy to come out here and win the first Friday night they had. The car was a dream, the crew did what they were supposed to do and I want to thank my dad."

Carl Barlow was the Hobby Stock winner while Skeeter Donaldson took the Pure Stock Mini feature. The Mod Mini winner was Kenny Martin while Gene Kay won the Dwarf Car feature.

OTHER RACING NEWS

•This weekend the 38th Virginia City Grand Prix will be run on the Comstock. On Friday night several former champions will be at a public gathering, starting at 7 p.m., upstairs in the Delta Saloon.

Saturday's race is for the pros and experts while the amateurs get their chance Sunday. As usual 10 a.m. is the start time for both days.

On Sunday, starting about 10 a.m., the Nevada GFI motocross series hosts its next round at the Mustang Motor Plex.

•Three of NASCAR's Nevada Quartet were in action this weekend at the Phoenix International Raceway.

In Friday night's Nationwide event Brendan Gaughan started 14th and finished 7th while Kyle Busch started fifth and finished 10th. Kurt Busch started and finished third in Sunday's Sprint Cup event while brother Kyle didn't fare so well starting second and ending up 17th.

RESULTS

Reno-Fernley Raceway

•Saturday, April 18

IMCA Modifieds:

Heat Winners - #1 Steve Boucher, #2. Jesse Gonzalez, #3. Robert Miller, #4. Dustin Jenks

Trophy Dash - Robert Miller

B Main (15) Laps - 1. Rich Hill, 2. Nick Reid, 3. Unlisted, 4. Joe Specchio, 5. Adam Walters

Main (30-Laps) - 1. Robert Miller, 2. Dustin Jenks, 3. Shawn Natenstedt, 4. Bill Church, 5. Richard Mueller

Pro Stocks:

Heat Winner - Scott Deutsch

Main (25-Laps) - 1. Josh Ogg, 2. Steve Stinger, 3. Jack Randall, 4. Scott Deutsch, 5. Mike Reid

Hobby Stocks:

Heat Winners - #1 Missy Natenstedt, 2. Carl Barlow

Trophy Dash - Richard Italiano

Main (25-Laps) - 1. Richard Italiano, 2. Carl Barlow, 3. Jeff Wilson, 4. Royce Goetz, 5. Missy Natenstedt

Mod Minis:

Heat Winners - #1 Stephen Crook, 2. Kenny Martin

Main (15-Laps) - 1. Kenny Martin, 2. Stephen Crook, 3. Skip Wise, 4. Dan Anderson, 5. Justin McIlvain

Pure Stock Minis:

Heat Winners - #1 Lynda Crook, #2 Tim Cremeans

Main (12-Laps) - 1. Tim Cremeans, 2. Doug Davis, 3. Matt Sherman, 4. Skeeter Donaldson, 5. Lynda Crook

Dwarf Cars:

Heat Winner - Billy Wilson

Main (10-Laps) - 1. Billy Wilson, 2. Skip Hempler, 3. Randell Schultz, 5. Dave Richardson

•Friday, April 17

IMCA Modifieds:

Heat Winners - #1 Nick Reid, #2. Robert Miller, 3. #Darren Manning, #4 Tom Purcell

B Main (25-Laps) - 1. Dustin Jenks, 2. Jesse Gonzalez, 3. Bill Pearson, 4. Mitch Murphy, 5. Adam Walters

Main (30-Laps) - 1. Jake Holland, 2. Jesse Gonzalez, 3. Richard Mueller, 4. Rich Hill, 5. Maylan Gonzalez

Pro Stocks:

Heat Winners - #1 Travis Petersen, 2. Al Goss

Main (25-Laps) - 1. Travis Petersen, 2. Josh Ogg, Steve Stringer, 5. Scott Deutsch

Hobby Stock:

Heat Winners - #1 Billy Holloway, 2. Steve McGee

Main (25-Laps) - 1. Carl Barlow, 2. Richard Italiano, 3. Jerry Morrow, 4. Steve McGee, 5. Royce Goetz

Pure Stock Minis:

Heat Winner - Skeeter Donaldson

Main (20-Laps) - 1. Skeeter Donaldson, 2. Matt Sherman, 3. John Schilling, 4. Lynda Crook, 5. Arron McIlvain

Mod Minis:

Heat Winner - Stephen Crook

Main (25-Laps) - 1. Kenny Martin, 2. Stephen Crook, 3. Unlisted, 4. David Woods, 5. Don Anderson

Dwarf Cars:

Heat Winner - Randell Schultz

Main (20-Laps) - 1. Gene Kay, 2. Leroy Kay, 3. Randell Schultz, 4. Mark Levrett