BUZZ SODEMAN The Buzzman BUZZ SODEMAN / SPECIAL TO THE PVT Bruno Pella leads Jeff Connors into turn 4 at the Pahrump Valley Speedway, during a Dwarf car race Saturday. Advertisement

Several drivers swept their respective classes, while others continued their winning ways at the Pahrump Valley Speedway Saturday.

In the meantime, the often-overlooked crash crew was kept busy with several on track incidents besides their normal push and tow activities.

The entire tone of the evening began in the outlaw kart division as Austin Kiefer swept both the heat race and the feature. Austin's stepbrother, Cole Hammack, chased him to the checker in both races.

The broom came out in earnest in the super stock class. Frank Bridwell returned after taking a couple of races off. He led flag-to-flag in the heat race with Rick VanBuytene vainly trying to reel him in.

Being "back in the pack" led to considerable beating and banging, with many of the competitors being relegated to the pits for repairs. Early leader Dale Daffern was not only distracted by a flapping hood, but was also "aerodynamically challenged." After Bridwell dispensed with Daffern, it became a sprint race with VanBuytene again trying to play catch up.

In what has proven to be one of the most popular and competitive classes, the mini stocks broke the chain of repeat winners. Keith Young warmed up to his first feature win by finishing second in the first heat race (Terri Little claimed the checker). It was a daunting task as his starting position was deep in the field of the main event.

Early leader Tom Buckwater successfully withstood the challenges of Mike Lysinger and Andrew Oskilanec before he succumbed and limped into the pits.

Young may be the elder statesman in a class dominated by the young and sometime reckless. Second-place finisher Tony Martin gave Young all that he could handle with Bubba Ray following in third. Noticeably missing from this week's action was Dustin "Harry Potter" Oliver.

This likable teenager correctly diagnosed last week's engine demolition, but his broom would have been appropriate. Other mini stock heat winners included Rick Gast and Martin.

John Burch Jr. did his best impersonation of Tony Stewart's fence climbing. Burch's exploits were helped along after he and Buckwater fought for the same piece of real estate on the backstretch. Burch ended up on his lid and the race was halted as the red flag was displayed.

Burch emerged unscathed as the crash crew dealt with the dilemma of righting the car. This marks the second time that a mini stock has tried to exit the track in a non-traditional manner.

Pro-4's not only provided the crowd with another sweep but a repeat winner. Cory Little swept the division last time out and continued his torrid pace with convincing flag-to-flag from the pole position wins in the heat and feature. Marty Mclaugh, who appeared to battle a "down on power" car all evening, followed Little to the checker in both the heat and feature.

The crash crew dealt with another incident. This time, it was John Crawford, who lit up the frontstretch with a shower of sparks as he contacted the wall. Crawford emerged, evaluated the damage and left the track on the back of the hook with the Pahrump stripe, the track's equivalent to the Darlington stripe.

Take six equally prepared Nevada Cam Coupes and you have the recipe for some up-close and personal racing action. The savvy of wily veteran Bobby "Grumpa" Clark held off a hard-charging Brett Iverson. Clark withstood the early challenge of stepson Mark Gray in the heat and then hugged the low groove to keep Iverson in his rear-view mirror.

The feature had Clark completing the sweep, this time by a large margin, as Iverson had his hands full keeping Sam Stringer at bay. Iverson won the drag race to the checker to just nip Stringer for second.

Bobby Ewing, son of Dwarf car legend Jay Ewing, swept that class but found his full straightaway plus lead in the heat easier than his feature victory. Jeff Connors, who placed second in Ewing's heat win, made sure that Ewing would have to work for the sweep.

Connors dogged the winner right to the checker. Mark Ramey ensured his place on the podium by taking third. Pahrump resident Bobby Meeks and Ryan Cotrell nearly lapped the entire field in heat two with Cotrell claiming the win with Meeks second.

Before there were emission controls and high gas prices, there were what I "lovingly" refer to as "tuna boats." They call themselves "bombers." They are the rolling irons that have avoided the wrecking yard's car crushers and the popular demolition derby.

This is a Las Vegas-based "touring" group of cars that have set the standard for cars that can take a "lickin' and keep on tickin'." Heat winners were Fred Harding in a 1976 Monte Carlo and Anthony Finley in what appeared to be a 1975 or '76 Ford.

Back in the day, these automobiles would fall under the category of "jalopies." It became evident that these drivers have no fear in piloting these heavily fortified "Rambos'" on steroids and little regard for yellow flags. An elated Wade Pearson and his '76 Monte Carlo outlasted the field to seal the deal in the feature.

Perhaps the most popular vehicle was that driven by first time driver Clint Brownell, a 1975 Cadillac DeVille. Can you say, "indestructible?" Having owned an immaculate 1954 Cadillac Coupe as a senior in high school, I have a soft spot in my heart for these behemoths of the road.

"Racin' Jason" Pike took another step closer to hanging up his helmet as he captured his second straight IMCA modified feature victory. There were two things which stuck to his Dirt Works chassis, the bottom of the track and the front of Leland Hibdon's "Boone ready, Arkansas prepared" entry.

Pike used as much track as necessary and made his modified as wide as possible to keep Hibdon a bridesmaid. With the quality of cars and drivers that participate in this, the premiere class at PV Speedway, Pike has found that reaching the benchmark of 100 feature wins won't be a "cake walk."

It appeared that Pike might not even be around at the end as he got caught up in a four-car pileup (races are never won the first lap) in turn two just after the green was waved. Joe Rogers Jr. rounded out the podium. Josh Stringer and Tony Kinkade were heat winners. This marked a "shake down" for drivers Hibdon and Levi Kiefer who will be headed to the heartland to compete in the IMCA Supernationals in Boone, Iowa.

Dave Hall's "black magic" mixed up a super tacky racing surface that provided optimum traction and all out banzai racing.