Reno’s Hot August Nights Car Rally Is Cooler This Year

More police, fewer alcohol sales and cooler weather were helping to keep trouble to a minimum Friday at the Hot August Nights car rally where a riot broke out and more than 200 were arrested last year.

“Things have gone surprisingly well,” Reno Deputy Police Chief Jim Weston said. “The crowds seem to be well-mannered this year and friendly.”

Police last year blamed a large infusion of gang members from California for the melee that broke out Aug. 9. More than 200 people were arrested that night.

As of Friday, only 65 arrests had been made all week at this year’s tribute to hot rods, 1950s music, poodle skirts and Hula-Hoops. Forty-five of those arrests occurred Thursday night--half of them for “civil protective custody,” Weston said Friday.

“That means you are just too drunk to safely take care of yourself,” he said.

“And even most of those were local downtown people, not tourists or spectators here for Hot August Nights,” he said.

After months of meetings, local organizers and city officials worked out new plans to limit alcohol sales and shifted this year’s final cruise through downtown to Friday night instead of tonight.

High temperatures dipped from the 90s to the 70s on Friday. Rain caused postponement of drag races at the airport but other events were continuing as scheduled.

Some vendors reported smaller crowds, but local organizers said they still expected about 200,000 visitors by the end of the week, good for about a $100-million injection to the local economy.

“The auction at the Convention Center is hopping. There are more people than last year,” said Carol Infranca, spokeswoman for the Reno Sparks Convention & Visitors Authority.

She said some hotels still had rooms available, “and that hasn’t happened before.”

Weston said there was less concern about gangs this year.

“Our gang officers have worked closely with the police in the Bay Area as well as the I-80 corridor to find out what is going on,” Weston said.

“The Nevada Highway Patrol is working with us to monitor the flow of Hells Angels and other gang members who fly colors. And those numbers are down.

“The troublemaker crowd has decreased significantly,” he said. “There’s a lot less alcohol on the streets and fewer places you can buy alcohol.”