Air Cooled Drag Racing Monthly

NORTHERN NEVADA DRAG DAY

ARTICLE BY GREG URRUTIA / PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF GREG URRUTIA

Dateline -  Early 1950's, Fallon Naval Air Station . . .
A group of Drag Racers based in Nevada began racing wherever they could find strips of pavement long enough to accommodate them. A few short years later the group makes plans to secure land and build their own track with the purpose to engage in and perfect the art of two-lane combat. They Succeeded. Property south of Fallon, on the Schurz Highway was secured and leased on a long term basis. The local businessmen and Sherriff's department called the plan a Success. The Drag Racers call it . . .

TOP GUN RACEWAY! (cue soundtrack "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins)

Dateline - Present Day, Nevada Desert . . .
Friends Jerry Matsko, Jason Fuller, and Richard Allison all VW fanatics and racers, pool their resources to bring us the first Annual Northern Nevada Drag Day. As frequent visitors to Top Gun Racway, they proposed and pitched a VW Drag Racing event to the staff. Their idea was embraced, a date was set, and the word was spread through the VW community. Sponsors included J. Bros Racing, Fuller Collision Center, and Ron's Refrigeration who put together a purse of $500.00 was pledged to the winner's. To make it a bit more interesting a Jackpot fund was created by the racer's ($10.00 each). Our group out of Sacramento had three Racecars pledged to attend. One car had to cancel in the eleventh hour. Our alarm sounded at 4am giving us plenty of time to make the trek to Fallon. Funny thing, Jerry Matsko told me that was the time they were getting to sleep following a marathon session in Racecar preparation. It was great to see Dee and Doug Berg and crew already in place when we rolled into the raceway. Also there to lend a hand and show their support was Cliff Witham who made the trip from Idaho, and ACDRM's Erik "The Red" Ormosen.

A total of 12 Racers signed in for the day's event including:

Dean Nilson ('56 Bug), Nathan Cole ('70 Bug), Jeff Newcomb ('57 Ghia), Jason Fuller ('56 Bug), Richard Allison ('68 Ghia), Jason Gardner ('63 Buggy), Mike Werry ('66 Bus), Robert Texeria ('63 Bug), Doug Berg ('67 Bug), CJ Dudley ('67 Bug), Greg Urrutia ('60 Bug)
Theo (Ghia)

The racers got to run three time trials before eliminations. The corrected altitude of 6700ft had many scrambling to make fuel/air adjustments. The day was hot and windy making for a less than ideal racing surface.   A 3 tier ladder was put together grouping cars running 0-13.99, 14.00 - 15.99, and 16.00 and up. A Top Eliminator round decided the race winner.





Pairing up in the final round was Dean Nilson and Nathan Cole. When the dust settled, Dean Nilson was crowned the event winner.