FALLON - Much warmer temperatures greeted both racers and fans Saturday at Rattlesnake Raceway. Due to the holiday weekend fewer cars were on hand but the racing was no less intense and one local driver claimed his first modified victory.

"It's my first modified win and been along time coming but I guess in the first season, it's great," Jay Sears said. "I've been constantly working on the car, trying to be competitive and tonight it was on rails and great. I was worried about the changes we made but once we got on the gas and they dropped the green, I knew we were good."

Prior to the start Walter Ball had to pit with fuel regulator problem but he would return many laps down. On the green Adam Walters grabbed the point with Sears right behind him.

Walters is driving a new car that was owned and raced by Bill Smith. Despite many challenges Walters found his new horse would hold off all challengers.

Unfortunately he overused his right rear tire and began to drop back. That gave Sears the lead and he took off.

"Adam was fast and he was great," Sears said. "He just melted down the right rear and once he blistered the tire he was done."

Malen Gonzalez tried his best but was unable to close on the flying Sears. Even after the only caution the situation remained the same with Sears just checking out.

After taking the checkered flag he stopped on the front straight to wave to the crowd and answer questions from the announcer, Steve Evenson.

Back in the pits Sears thanked his supporters and sponsors, which included Western Central Petroleum, Sierra Valley Truss, Todd T., Richard P., his father as well as wife and daughter.

First on point when the Pro Stocks began their feature was Mike Prein but behind him Jesse Gonzalez was on a mission using the outside line to sweep past that pack.

A short time later Gonzalez grabbed the lead with Robby Grace giving chase followed by the pack. After a caution, with eight to go, Gonzalez took off again and was never headed as he stormed away to claim the victory.

Behind him Grace was second followed by local Josh Ogg and Chris Coclich.

Even though it appeared a rookie might claim the Hobby Stock victory the race itself was a real shoot-em-up.

When the green waved Jimmy Berhorst and Sandy Clark disputed the lead for just a brief time until Randall Patten swept past them on the outside. A caution for debris slowed the field on lap 7 as a broom handle fell out of Berhorst's car.

By then Clark was on point with rookie Mike Olsen holding second and would soon take the point. Behind the leaders points leader Richard Italiano was moving through traffic as was Dean Clark and last week's winner Dwight Bolton.

The result was a mob fighting for the lead but Olsen held them off until there were two laps to go. That's when second place Italiano had contact with a slower car and was sent backwards into the front stretch wall.

The officials stopped the race as they raced to make sure Italiano was unhurt, which he was. They also sent the other driver to the pits for rough driving.

On the restart Dean Clark, who always takes his girlfriend Cherrish Guillermo as a passenger, jumped into the lead and took off. Behind him Dwight Bolton tried but had to settle for second while Italiano made a dramatic charge from the back to finish fifth behind Missy Natenstedt, who trailed third place Alec Childs.

In that final charge to the checkered Olsen spun out of contention in the final turn.

"This was sweet today and after last week's wreck it was a good comeback," Clark said. "The 55j (Mike Olsen) kept saving the bottom and left the top open so I gassed it and the track was fast, stupid fast. I owe a big thanks to all my sponsors for their help and my girlfriend for all the momentum she gives me."

Bomber driver Annette Rinehart has come so close to getting her first victory and on this night seemed headed to achieve that goal.

While others had problems he led most of the race while being chased by Chris Jimenez. Unfortunately with only a few laps to go Rinehart slid out of contention.

Up front Jimenez took the victory while Alex Pettit, who almost caught him, had to settle for second. Bryan Kaster and Timothy Hoult took the next two places.

Earlier in the evening there was a scary looking wreck during the Bomber heat race. Carley Martin, driving with her veteran racer father Arnie in the passenger seat, found she couldn't turn the car and slammed into the outside wall on the backstretch.

"It was pretty exciting," the elder Martin said later.

The impact knocked over a concrete block where the wall ends for the on ramp from the pits then moved the backstretch wall over and knocked two blocks off that. Fortunately neither driver nor passenger was hurt although the same can't be said for the mangled car.

Asked about the incident the younger Martin said, "I couldn't turn but the impact was less than I expected it to be."

All action was stopped for a long period while the track crew put the blocks, that form are the outer wall of the speedway, back in place.

The Mini Mod feature was all Dennis Crook as he took the point when the green was waved. Behind him the race was for second and the battle raged until Justin Busch slammed the wall exiting Turn 2 and brought out the red flag.

Behind the leader Will Ritchey and Stephen Crook battled for second while they closed the gap with the leader. While Dennis Crook reached the checkered first his brother made a last lap pass to take second and was closing with his brother.

"That was awesome and I was pretty excited," Dennis Crook said later. "But I knew that everybody was on me the whole time."

When the 318 Rat Mod feature began David Woods was on point with Barry Napps and Duncan Lee giving chase. It took Lee only a few laps to grab the lead but he and Napps would swap the lead a few times during the race.

In the end Lee took the victory followed by Sean Renfro and Napps.

The night ended with the GenX feature that was another hard fought race.

It only took a couple of laps before Brandon Hall used an outside pass to claim the lead followed by Steve Foster. Next to lead was Aaron Behnam, who soon was engaged by Foster as they staged a side-by-side battle.

The lead fight then became a four-way duel as two other cars joined in. In the final laps the lead quartet caught slower cars and who ever could get through the traffic would be the winner.

With less than five to go Foster took the lead but now points leader John Schilling was in hot pursuit. At the finish Foster held on to claim the win followed by Schilling and Cody Thunder.

The track was pretty slick and you'd have to burp it through the corners," he said back in the pits. "It was a hard fought battle and I wasn't sure who was going to get it."

•This week's racing begins Friday evening as the North Nevada Rally returns after a year's absence.

The event is based at Sturgeons Casino in Lovelock and the night stages begin around 7:30 p.m. on desert dirt roads. On Saturday, starting at 11 a.m., the cars assemble in the Empire Farms area north of Winnemucca Dry Lake then the competitors start a series of back-and-fourth stages.

As usual in a rally, both cars and motorcycles actually race the clock and not each other. Their combined times will determine the overall places and winners.

And the weekend ends with a breakfast in Sparks when the trophies will be handed out.

On Saturday evening the American Valley Speedway in Quincy, Calif., will be in action with racing starting at 7 p.m. while at 6 p.m. Rattlesnake Raceway hosts another of its multi-class shows.

Area motocross racers will journey to Gardnerville was the Sierra MX series hosts its next event at the new track, located close to the fairgrounds.

OTHER RACING NEWS

•NASCAR's Las Vegas trio spent the weekend at the Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina. On Saturday evening Kyle Busch started sixth and won the Nationwide race. He then finished third in the Coca Cola 600, while brother Kurt won the race Sunday evening.

While Brendan Gaughan was credited with 32nd place he was almost overcome from exhaust fumes and needed a replacement driver for his car to finish.

RESULTS

Rattlesnake Raceway - May 29

IMCA Modifieds:

Heat Winner - #1 Adam Walters, #2 Shawn Natenstedt

Main (30 Laps) - 1. Jay Sears, 2. Malen Gonzalez, 3. Shawn Natenstedt, 4. Don Childs, 5. Brian Milburn

Pro Stocks:

Heat Winners - #1 Jesse Gonzalez, #2 Jack Randall

Main (30 Laps) - 1. Jesse Gonzalez, 2. Rob Grace, 3. Josh Ogg, 4. Chris Coclich

Hobby Stocks:

Heat Winners - #1 Dean Clark, #2 Richard Italiano

Main (30 Laps) - 1. Dean Clark, 2. Dwight Bolton, 3. Alec Childs, 4. Missy Natenstedt, 5. Richard Italiano

Bombers:

Heat Winner - Chris Jimenez

Main (15 Laps) - 1.Chris Jimenez, 2. Alex Pettit, 3. Bryan Kaster, 4. Timothy Hoult, 5. Kyle Olsen

Rat Modifieds:

Heat Winner - Barry Napps

Main (20-Laps) - 1. Duncal Lee, 2. Sean Renfro, 3. Barry Napps, 4. Mark Lee, 5. David Woods

Mini Mod:

Heat winner - Stephen Crook

Main (20 Laps) - 1. Dennis Crook, 2. Stephen Crook, 3. Will Ritchey, 4. Brian Flanagan, 5. Larry Miller

GenX:

Heat Winners - #1 Cody Thunder, #2 Jesse James

Main (25 Laps) - 1. Steve Foster, 2. John Schilling, 3. Cody Thunder, 4. Aaron Benham, 5. Devan Oberman