By: Paul Reichert
July 8, 2022
The month of July at Tomah-Sparta Speedway is filled with exciting racing action with a different big event every Friday night. Last week we witnessed the debut of the Big 8 Late Model Series in the inaugural Firecracker 58. Coming up later this month are the Bandoleros and Legends, plus the second round of the Late Model Triple Crown. Tonight’s big event was the 3rd Annual Six Shooter Mania, an extra distance feature with a little more money on the line thanks to division sponsor TACU Credit Union. The top gun of the Six Shooter division got to the front with six laps remaining as Matt Moore scored another big checkered flag victory.
Matthew Heim powered by Tim Murphy, Jr. to take charge of the 20 lap Six Shooter Mania feature for the TACU Credit Union Six Shooters. Over the first third of the main event Heim would have a ton of drivers on his tail looking for the big $250 to win prize at the end of the rainbow. Drivers like Chris Brown, brother Greg Brown, Tim Murphy, Sr., Mike Gratz and Seth Gnewikow were putting a lot of heat on Heim for race lead. Heim withstood all of that pressure and held onto the top spot. Soon the Moore name would make its way to the front as not only Matt but also Andrew were bobbing and weaving their way through traffic. Matt Moore would catch up to Heim and motor by him on the outside for the lead on lap nine, and a lap later Andrew wrestled the runner-up spot away from Heim. The second half of the feature turned into a fight for the win between the two most recent feature winners. Andrew tried several times to look underneath Matt for the lead, but Matt would get a run out of turn two to pull ahead of the younger Moore. It would remain that way the rest of the way as the ‘Master of the Malibus’ drove to his fourth feature win of the year.
In the Modified feature Larry DeVito quickly got to the front to show the way at the start. Weston Marthaler powered his way past Jesse Vian to take over second place on lap two. Marthaler closed the gap over the next five laps on DeVito and then patiently waited for the right time to make his move. Marthaler stuck right behind DeVito as the 15 year old was content to just stay right behind the veteran racer. With six laps to go, Marthaler moved to the outside of DeVito as he made his move for the race lead. After battling side-by-side for a lap, Marthaler got a run in turns one and two to shoot past DeVito down the back straight to settle into the top spot. Marthaler maintained a four car length advantage on DeVito over the final four laps to claim his second checkered flag victory at ‘Daytomah’.
The Clark Powersport of Hillsboro Hobby Stock feature started off with a neck and neck battle for the lead between Landon Lockington and rookie racer Grant Witcraft. Lockington got a little loose coming out of turn two on lap three and that allowed Witcraft to surge in the lead for the very first time. As the field tried to sort itself out Witcraft began to open up a lead on the rest of his competitors. The usual fast suspects were having to work a little harder to get through traffic and that allowed Witcraft to remain at the top of the heap. The last thing Witcraft needed was a yellow flag to slow the racing. Unfortunately that happened with three laps remaining when Andy Muller had an issue with his race car’s radiator that left a trial of water in turns one and two.liquid on the track. Charles Vian, Jr. lined up alongside Witcraft for the restart and only needed a lap to get around the outside of Witcraft to become the new leader. While Witcraft was working hard to hold off Andy Moore, Vian, Jr. made his second trip to TACU Credit Union Victory Lane and ring the Victory Bell.
Travis Atkinson got around Justin Marshall to take the lead in the early going of the Command Post Saloon Hornet feature. Atkinson ran a little too wide in turns one and two on lap three, which allowed Tristan Drazkowski to drive under him and assume command of the field. Drazkowski tried to open up a lead on the field, but Paul Finch would have something to say about the outcome of the feature. Finch would run the outside groove to power his way around Kendon Thurk to settle into second on lap eight. After that pass things got a bit heated on track between Thurk and Mason Morphey. They made hard contact entering turn one on lap nine, then Morphey flat out turned Thurk down the back straight on lap ten to bring out the yellow flag. That late caution would benefit Finch on the restart as he charged past Drazkowski to settle into the race lead. While Drazkowski had his mirrors full of Matthew Heim over the final laps, Finch pulled away to cross the finish line first for the first time this year.
A few new challengers looked to end the reign of Carina Hellickson in the Soccer Moms division. Shelly White was doing her best to keep up with Hellickson in the early laps of their feature. By lap three Hellickson was in command of the race and pulled away. Not even the newcomers were able to put a dent in Hellickson’s lead as she drove off with her sixth consecutive feature win.
Action continues next Friday, July 15 with the first of two Fan Photo and Autograph Nights. We are doing two Fan Photo Nights with different divisions racing each night so every division gets to meet and greet the fans before the races. The Sportsmen, Hornets, Six Shooters and the Stop-n-Go Chaos race will be a part of the night. The Wisconsin Mighty Bandos Traveling Series make their season debut, while the Wisconsin Fastrac Legends race at ‘Daytomah’ for the first time in three years. Gates open at 5:00, qualifying begins at 6:00, Fan Photo and Autograph Night follows qualifying and green flag racing starts at 7:30.
Call the track office at 608-461-1920, visit our web site at tomahspartaspeeway.com or check out the track’s Facebook page for more information about Tomah-Sparta Speedway and the 2022 schedule of events.
RESULTS
TACU Credit Union Six Shooters
Feature (20 laps): 1. Matt Moore, 2. Andrew Moore, 3. Dustin McCracken, 4. Matthew Heim, 5. Mike Gratz, 6. Greg Brown, 7. Chris Brown, 8. Seth Gnewikow, 9. Tim Murphy, Sr., 10. Matthew Cleveland, 11. Tim Murphy, Jr., 12. Chuck Muller, 13. Jon Beanken, 14. Landin Frye, 15. Tory Lockington, 16. Austyn Blank, 17. Thomas Farra, 18. Trenton Frye, 19. Tristan Drazkowski
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Matthew Heim, 2. Tory Lockington, 3. Jon Beanken, 4. Landin Frye, 5. Thomas Farra, 6. Trenton Frye, 7. Tim Murphy, Jr.
Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. Seth Gnewikow, 2. Matt Moore, 3. Dustin McCracken, 4. Tim Murphy, Sr., 5. Austyn Blank, 6. James Muller
Heat #3 (8 laps): 1. Mike Gratz, 2. Matthew Cleveland, 3. Andrew Moore, 4. Chris Brown, 5. Chuck Muller, 6. Greg Brown, 7. Tristan Drazkowski
Qualifying: 1. Andrew Moore 19.096, 2. Matt Moore 19.187, 3. Chuck Muller 19.276, 4. Dustin McCracken 19.425, 5. Mike Gratz 19.487, 6. Seth Gnewikow 19.631, 7. Greg Brown 19.680, 8. Tim Murphy, Sr. 19.714, 9. Chris Brown 19.833, 10. James Muller 19.961, 11. Tristan Drazkowski 20.083, 12. Austyn Blank 20.088, 13. Tim Murphy, Jr. 20.170, 14. Matthew Heim 20.207, 15. Thomas Farra 20.304, 16. Jon Beanken 20.312, 17. Trenton Frye 20.867, 18. Tory Lockington 20.900, 19. Landin Frye 28.857
Modifieds
Feature (15 laps): 1. Weston Marthaler, 2. Larry DeVito, 3. Jesse Vian
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Weston Marthaler, 2. Larry DeVito, 3. Jesse Vian
Qualifying:. 1. Weston Marthaler 16.149, 2. Larry DeVito 19.639, 3. Jesse Vian 17.162
Clark Powersport of Hillsboro Hobby Stocks
Feature (15 laps): 1. Charles Vian, Jr., 2. Grant Witcraft, 3. Andy Moore, 4. Aaron Hendricks, 5. Shelby Lockington, 6. Landon Lockington, 7. Andy Muller
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Grant Witcraft, 2. Landon Lockington, 3. Andy Muller, 4. Shelby Lockington, 5. Andy Moore, 6. Charles Vian, Jr., 7. Aaron Hendricks
Qualifying: 1. Andy Moore 17.785, 2. Shelby Lockington 18.782, 3. Andy Muller 18.879, 4. Grant Witcraft 19.033, 5. Landon Lockington 19.877, 6. Charles Vian, Jr. NO TIME, 7. Aaron Hendricks NO TIME
Command Post Saloon Hornets
Feature (15 laps): 1. Paul Finch, 2. Tristan Drazkowski, 3. Matthew Heim, 4. Bryan Wallace, 5. Jamie Pearson, 6. Mason Morphey, 7. Justin Marshall, 8. Dustin McCracken, 9. Josh Schaller, 10. Shawn Breese, 11. James Hendricks, Sr., 12. Kendon Thurk, 13. Tirstan Finnegan, 14. Amelia Marshall, 15. Travis Atkinson, 16. Andrwe Gardner
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Shawn Breese, 2. Matthew Heim,3. Tristan Drazkowski, 4. Kendon Thurk, 5. James Hendricks, Sr., 6. Justin Marshall, 7. Travis Atkinson, 8. Tristan Finnegan, 9. Dustin McCracken
Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. Andrew Gardner, 2. Mason Morphey, 3. Paul Finch, 4. Bryan Wallace, 5. Amelia Marshall, 6. Jamie Pearson, 7. Mike Carlson, 8. Josh Schaller
Qualifying: 1. Mason Morphey 18.361, 2. Paul Finch 18.510, 3. Jamie Pearson 18.698, 4. Josh Schaller 18.785, 5. Bryan Wallace 18.882, 6. Mike Carlson 18.924, 7. Amelia Marshall 19.126, 8. Andrew Gardner 19.193, 9. Kendon Thurk 19.240, 10. Dustin McCracken 19.273, 11. Tristan Drazkowski 19.298, 12. Tristan Finnegan 19.625, 13. Justin Marshall 19.748, 14. Travis Atkinson 20.054, 15. Matthew Heim 20.124, 16. Shawn Breese 20.192, 17. James Hendricks, Sr. 20.200
Soccer Moms
Feature (8 laps): 1. Carina Hellickson, 2. Becky Dobbratz, 3. Shelly White, 4. Karen Clutchpedal
