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Three weeks of racing took its toll on car count at Saturday night's action at Pahrump Valley Speedway.

It has been a season of ebbs and flows for both the car counts, spectator counts and more importantly, for individual racers.

Weather certainly hasn't been conducive to anything other than holing up in an air-conditioned environment. High temperatures and equally high degrees of humidity have sent many individuals scurrying for cooler climates.

When I left for the track on Panorama, it was 109 degrees in the shade with humidity levels bordering on or more than 25 percent.

The usual legion of fans sit in varying degrees of weather to watch the survivors of the past two weeks' racing action.

Two weeks of beating and banging ultimately have affected the car count. At least one driver, who doesn't have the luxury of a shop to work on his race car, said that the current weather conditions don't quite inspire "crawling around or under a race car" and preparing it for the rigors of a Saturday evening of battle.

Like the car count, certain drivers experienced the highs and lows. One driver that had the ultimate high was Jonny Petaros, winner of the super stock main event.

Petaros accomplished something that Milos Petaros, to my knowledge, was unable to accomplish - winning a feature event.

What makes this story even more noteworthy is that he did it in Milos' old car, campaigned for nearly a decade. This is a memory that will never be quenched and will grow in its retelling as the years roll by and the number of grandchildren increase.

Petaros' maturation and confidence has been evident, at least to this scribe, in recent weeks and it was only a matter of time that he would realize that he could be a contender.

Petaros held off the stout challenge of Peanut Gott, who would retire from the action on the white flag lap because of a fire in the engine compartment. Gott seemed to find the correct combination of getting the power to the rear wheels that precipitated the super stock shoot-out.

Once Gott exited the action, Eric Henderson finished a distant second, followed by Bill Couch in Dan Snowden's car. Rounding out the top five were Ron Moffatt and Merlin Whitson.

Heat winners in the super stock division were Corey Simoneau and Henderson.

Todd Nunnally continues to ride the wave of success, not only conquering dry slick conditions but also a sticky track.

If Nunnally's victory circle celebrations are any indication, he is on an extended high. Thus far over the season, Nunnally has kept the big dogs nipping at his heels while he has earned one Modified victory after another; Saturday was no exception.

Early leader Jeff Talley continues to be plagued by what appears to be a brake issue that has left the driver searching for answers in this high-powered class. Once Talley was eliminated from competition, Nunnally assumed the point while veteran Donny Berger dogged the eventual winner.

The closest Berger would get would be just off the driver's side door of Nunnally. First time visitor Gary Harris would round out the podium. Dave Jurist was also relegated to the pits after an unexplained loss of power. Nunnally made it a sweep by winning the heat as well.

Haley Nunnally has already nabbed her first ever feature win in the outlaw karts but Saturday evening was even more special for the young lady. She not only garnered the feature victory but she did it on her birthday. I can't think of a better way to celebrate a birthday than hopping out of a race car in victory circle and being handed a trophy.

Add the applause of the crowd and the flashes of several flash bulbs and you have all the ingredients of a sugar high.

Chasing his sister to the checkered flag was Shawn Nunnally, who claimed the heat win. Matt Talley experienced a breakdown in the heat that eliminated him from further action.

Another driver celebrating a high was Gott, who had his first opportunity to drive his new Nevada Cam Coupe. Seems his grandma put up $100 for a dash for the cash with fellow competitor Terry Hiser.

Ms. Hiser would like to thank Peanut's grandma for the generous contribution, as she put the cash away, as quickly as she put away the youngster.

Eric Slusher was one of the drivers who experienced an unexpected downward spiral. Slusher, who has dominated the Southwest Modified Mini Stock division, saw last year's mini stock track champion, Rick Gast, jump into the lead at the drop of the green flag. Gast parlayed his great launch into a flag-to-flag win.

For whatever reason, Slusher wasn't around at the end and left the track before the evening's festivities ended. Slusher was running in second at the time of his departure, elevating Jeff Mitchell into the runnerup spot. Rounding out the rest of the field were Keith Young and John Dearborn. Dearborn experienced the further indignity of being lapped by Gast.

Gast also completed a sweep by taking one of the two heat races while Don Wilde literally blew away the competition in the other heat. Wilde lapped the fourth place car twice and the third place finisher once.

Another driver who realized the drop from a high to a low was Robert Pearson, last race feature winner. Pearson visited the pits twice after suffering two flat tires, which continues to be a problem that has befallen several of his fellow competitors in the Mini Stock class.

Prior to the cars taking to the track for wheel pack, Jonathan Burch's father was putting air in two brand new tires. According to Mr. Burch, "Tires have become a vulnerable target for other drivers to take aim at," that essentially takes a competitor out of contention.

The mini stock feature was won by Joe Rogers Jr., who had track announcer Ray Elam announce that this would be the last race for him in the class.

I have been informed, since communications between he and I have become a mere trickle, that "I'm treading on thin ice."

Rogers is preparing a modified that he purchased as a roller (a frame with tires, minus the complete drive train) from former modified driver Donnie Parker.

Parker has found team roping more lucrative and less stressful than racing a modified.

Rogers lapped every car except second place finisher, Tony Martin. Completing the podium was Brandon Madan. Rounding out the top five were Richard Weseman and Burch. Heat winners were Martin and Rogers.