BATTLE Mountain, Nevada -- During his illustrious career, A. J. Foyt won at Indianapolis and at Daytona but never raced at Battle Mountain. As this writer watched the I.M.C.A. Modified events unfold tonight at the local raceway, we were reminded of that great driver. Defending Battle Mountain Raceway modified champion Ward Amberson turned in a clean sweep on the quarter-mile clay oval for his first feature win this year at his home track, his second overall. On this particular night, Amberson personified Foyt with his sleek red/orange number fourteen and with his scintillating driving. Starting in the fourth slot, Amberson passed Randy Artz and Nick Ayers between turns one and two on the initial lap to gain the lead. Ayers, the Nevada state point leader, nudged the flying Amberson a lap later at the same spot but, just like Foyt, Amberson had his front wheels on his Jet Mod chassis set for business and decided to checkout early. First to chase him was Ayers who tried to reel him in and, later, Artz took his turn. The result was the same----no cigar!! Artz chased Amberson to Lincoln Litchfield's checkered flag but the winner had too much for the Mopar powered Modified. Third went to current track point leader Joe Rigsby and fourth was Nick Ayers. As for the up to date track points, Rigsby leads with 210 over Artz' 207 while Ayers has 173. Fourth in points is Amberson with 172 as Mike Smith is listed fifth with 75. Amberson, on the comparison with Foyt: "The only thing I could be compared with him is that we both can't fit in a Midget car. If I could…" It was only one night but Amberson drove on the 'cushion of greatness'.
The 'Full Moon' syndrome visited the other two divisions tonight, starting with the first race of the night the Mini Mod heat. Winnemucca's Heinz Woelki caught in the wrong place in turn three on the second lap as he somehow got between two cars. The resulting collision sent Woelki's number fifty-seven truck on its side, proving that Heinz really has fifty-eight varieties. Battle Mountain's Brian Garner was the man of the hour in the Mini Mod division as he matched Amberson's sweep with one of his own by winning his heat, trophy dash and the twenty-lap feature. All of these races featured the match between brothers Brian and Tim Garner. Tim, who has won two features at his home track in Winnemucca this season, finished second to his brother in both the heat and the dash, but finished in fourth in the feature. Woelki finished a solid second to Brian in the feature.
Another Brian, this one Brian Thorp from Spring Creek, started from the outside pole and captured the Pro Stock feature. The top dogs at Battle Mountain took turns at the leader board as Thorp's number seven developed a push in turn four and handed the lead to Mike Dorning three laps into the event. Up to that point Dorning previously won his heat and the dash and was ready to convert the hat trick. It wasn't to be for Dorning as he encountered a variety of ills that sent him backwards in the standings. Defending champ Frank Itturiaga, also the current point leader, assumed the point. A lap later, Itturiaga spun out of the lead, handing the lead over to Thorp, thank you very much.
On lap twelve, Battle Mountain driver Calvin Hartley spun leaving two causing the yellow flag to unfurl. Hartley, making his first start this season, was unaware that he had lost a rear tire and roared down the back chute to rejoin the field. As he started to turn in three the tire folded under and the 'Full Moon' syndrome revisited the raceway for the second time that night and it deposited him on his top. Calvin was uninjured but his night was over.
At the restart, Thorp gained control once more and the posse was Terry Lister, another of the Spring Creek invaders. Thorp, point leader at Summit Raceway in Elko, took the checkered for his first feature at Summit this season. Lister finished second while Dave Wearin was third and Larry Rogers, who was in the neighborhood, finished fourth. Itturiaga, with his fifth place finish, extended his point lead to 223 over Dorning's 205.
Battle Mountain Raceway will hold their next race on Saturday night June 28 and a two-night show on Friday night July 11 and Saturday night July 12.
- Heat
- Ward Amberson, Randy Artz, Nick Ayers, Joe Rigsby
- Trophy Dash
- Ward Amberson, Nick Ayers, Randy Artz, Joe Rigsby DNS
- Feature
- Ward Amberson, Randy Artz, Joe Rigsby, Nick Ayers
- Heat
- Mike Dorning, Frank Itturiaga, Terry Lister, Brian Thorp, Larry Rogers
- Trophy Dash
- Mike Dorning, Frank Itturiaga, Terry Lister, Brian Thorp
- Feature
- Brian Thorp, Terry Lister, Dave Wearin, Larry Rogers, Frank Itturiaga,Denis Van Dorn, Bernie Sethaler, Calvin Hartley
- Heat
- Brian Garner, Tim Garner, Heinz Woelki, Kenny Tangreen, Brian Jonas
- Trophy Dash
- Brian Garner, Tim Garner, Heinz Woelki, Brian Jonas
- Feature
- Brian Garner, Heinz Woelki, Brian Jonas, Tim Garner, Kenny Tangreen DNS
