BUZZ SODEMAN The Buzzman BUZZ SODEMAN / SPECIAL TO THE PVT Bob Clark leads the Pro-4 division's points standings at the Pahrump Valley Speedway. Advertisement

With just a handful of races left in the Pahrump Valley Speedway season, it's time for the championship contenders to step up before they become just pretenders.

This Saturday begins the track's version of "The Quest for the Cup." Here is how the respective division races stack up. Points are based on totals as of Sept. 2.

It looks as though Taylor Bonetti is secure atop the outlaw karts division. The young lady holds a 67-point lead over Shane Nunnally, averaging a 2.3 point edge.

Austin Kiefer is third. With the tenacity that Taylor has shown, I expect that this will be the final order of finish.

Outlaw kart champion Taylor Bonetti.

What started out as a "race to the finish" has turned into a cakewalk for Marty Mclaugh in the Pro-4 division. Steve and Eric Slusher, who had been nipping at the rear bumper of Mclaugh, have opted to switch to different classes. Steve recently debuted a Camaro super stock, while his brother, Eric, has joined the mini stock nation.

Kevin Williams, who inherited second place, sold his car to Terri Little. Terri debuted the car last race. According to the figures that are available, the "dog fight" will be for second place between Rob Connell (last race feature winner) and Cory Little, who saw his chances for a third straight feature win evaporate in the cloud of infield dust created by an out of shape racer.

Pro-4 champion Marty Mclaugh.

The charge for the checker takes on more importance in the Nevada cam coupes.

There are four legitimate challengers for the track championship. A blanket could be thrown over the bunch as just 87 points separate first from fourth. Sitting on the summit is Bob Clark, who is just 54 points ahead of a quickly closing Sam Stringer.

Stringer has been consistently in the top two the last few races. Third is Brett Iverson, who maintains a point average that is best in the class with a 42.1.

The long shot in this scenario is Mike Gray. Gray has been impressive in the early stages of the last couple of races but seems unable to keep the performance of his engine as the race proceeds.

This is a crapshoot, a roll of the dice, and I'm not about to try and predict a track champion in this class.

If the Pro-4's are tightly bunched, the top three in the super stock division must feel like sardines. The top three have been able to keep their cars competitive over the grueling schedule that promoter Dave Hall devised.

As of Sept. 2, Rick VanBuytene has made 19 of the 20 races, as has John Pietrorazio. Milo Petaros has appeared in every racing program.

These are the three who will determine who claims the championship at the end of the season. Twenty-eight points separate Petaros from division leader VanBuytene. I have felt that as the season has rolled along VanBuytene has seen a performance drop and that allowed Pietrorazio and Petaros to close the gap. Even though Pietrorazio has been close at the checker, it sounds like his engine is ailing a bit.

The class championship could come down to a spin of "The Wheel of Misfortune." Whoever falters in the next couple of races will determine the super stock champion, who will be tested to defend that title as Hall has promised a "large turnout" for the Super Stock Shootout Nov. 10-11.

The $1,000-to-win event should draw a large contingent of drivers' bent on taking Hall's money and running.

The largest division of competitors is the mini stock class. There are four drivers within 58 points of each other and they are consistently near the top when the checker falls. VanBuytene holds a 26-point lead over Rick Gast and a 34-point bulge over third place contender Bill Delahunte.

Sitting in fourth is Frankie England a mere 58 points behind. Bubba Ray could prove to be a "sleeper" in the mix. Ray has found the podium to his liking and is showing signs of capturing his second feature win of the season. Terri Little made a mid-season run but her performance has been hampered by a fading fuel pump.

Delahunte claimed the last feature with Ray right behind. This could turn into a "Saturday Night Smack Down." I don't see this division crowning a champion until the last night of racing.

The mini stocks have their 'own' night to look forward to, the Mini Stock Nationals Oct. 21.

Although I haven't received confirmation, I believe that Leland Hibdon claimed the IMCA modified track championship with his showing up just prior to leaving for Boone, Iowa.

In a pre-race interview a couple of weeks back, Hibdon indicated that he really wanted to be able to put a track championship on his resume. I'm not sure if his ill-handling, Larry Shaw prepared-modified gave him enough points to claim the title.

"Racin' Jason" Pike was just eight points from the top of the standings, but he is more concerned with reaching the coveted 100 IMCA feature wins. Jim Bonetti is third, but he has appeared in two less races than the top two.

The IMCA points officially came to an end with the Supernationals in Boone, so it'll be up to the calculator of Christi Hall.

Regardless of how things shake out, it has been a very competitive season of racing at the Pahrump facility.

Look for the upcoming big events to raise that level of competitiveness as outsiders attempt to steal the jackpot from the locals.

The next couple of months could bring about quite a few surprises stay tuned ...