By: Paul Reichert
June 18, 2021
Another great crowd turned out at Tomah-Sparta Speedway for not just a normal night of racing. On this night we remembered a Sportsmen racer that was the class of the division some 20 years ago and taken from us too soon. A number of visiting drivers came to ‘Daytomah’ with some extra money on the line during the 7th Annual Tim Myer Memorial Shootout. In the end, the local racers would wind up the big winners on the night. Tuffy Myer proudly took the Myer name back to victory lane as he won the Hornet feature, while former Sportsmen champion David Borntrager dominated the Sportsmen feature to claim his first Myer Memorial trophy.
The 25 lap Tim Myer Memorial Sportsmen feature got off to a rough start with Jason Backus and Henry Vian tangling in turn one. Vian had some front end damage but it was repaired, while Backus did not have any damage. David Borntrager shot under James Hendricks, Jr. to take the lead at the start. Hendricks was fending off challenges to his runner-up spot as 2019 Sportsmen champion Borntrager began to slowly edge away. Contact between Jason Stark and Hendricks on lap six saw Stark lose a lot of ground in his quest for the top spot. Chris Weber was starting to make his way forward through the field in his quest for the Tim Myer Memorial Trophy. Weber got by Dan Frye to break into the top five on lap seven, then disposed of Tomah newcomer Jake Biever to settle into fourth place on lap ten and powered his way underneath Stark to claim the third place podium spot on lap 12. Weber would track down Hendricks quickly and moved to his outside to take over second on lap 16. The problem was that Borntrager had a quarter of a lap lead when Weber made that move. Weber was trying to close the distance between Borntrager and him over those final nine laps, but Weber was not making much of a dent into Borntrager’s massive advantage. Borntrager would not be denied tonight as he scored his first feature win since July of 2019.
Tristan Drazkowski led the opening lap of Oops! Saloon and Grill by Angie Hornet feature, but Tuffy Myer surged past ‘Draz Jr.’ to assume command of the race on lap two. Both Zach Oliver and defending division champion Shawn McCarthy were trying to catch up to Myer but both got into their own tussle over the runner-up spot. As the leaders were coming upon the slower car of Kyle Cottone and put him a lap down, Cottone made contact with Myer and spun him out. Officials determined that Cottone did not give the leaders ample room to pass, so Myer was given the lead back. The restart did not get very far when Drazkowski and Taylor Dawson pinched each other into the front straight wall. Paul Finch and Scott Mahlum piled into both of the disabled vehicles. Only Mahlum was able to fix his front end damage and returned to the race. Point leader Mason Morphy wasted little time on the restart as he surged past both McCarthy and Oliver to settle into the number two position. Morphy quickly caught up to Myer with five laps to go but was all over him to find the right moment and make his move. Morphy tried several times to go low, but Myer stood his ground and claimed an emotional first ever win at Tomah. Tuffy even gave his daughter Jazelynn a ride to TACU Credit Union Victory Lane to celebrate his win. You may remember that ‘Jazzy’ also won the Hornet feature on Myer Memorial night two years ago en route to claiming the track championship.
Brad Wildes made his season debut in a brand spanking new race car and took the green at the start of the Clark Powersport of Hillsboro Modified feature. Heat race winner Larry DeVito was maintaining second while holding back the rest of the field. Larry along with his brother Rick and their nephew Antonio were making their season debuts in brand new race cars as well. Coming through the field quickly were modified hot shoes Derrin Salo and Nick Quinnell. Both drivers made contact coming out of turn two on lap nine. Quinnell lost a lot of ground as Salo pulled away and set his sights on DeVito. As the laps clicked off, Salo was not able to eat up a lot of his deficit to DeVito. Back up front Wildes was long gone as he crossed the finish line first.
Andy Muller traded in his Six Shooter for a Hobby Stock and led the opening two laps of the feature. Muller was pursued by Thomas Farra, who worked the outside lane to power past Muller for the lead on lap three. Farra also had a menacing presence on his tail as Andy Moore also got around Muller for second. It only took Moore a lap to also use the outside groove to get around Farra for the top spot. Opening night feature winner Mike Krueger, Jr. was slicing and dicing his way through the field in his quest for his second win this year. Krueger, Jr. overtook reigning track champion Alex Rud for third at the halfway mark. Three laps later Krueger, Jr. would catch and power his way by Farra to move into second. Try as he might Krueger, Jr. was not making any inroads into Moore’s advantage as the orange 19 machine would drive away to his third straight victory.
In the TACU Credit Union Six Shooter feature, Matt Heim surged ahead of Tim Murphy, Sr. to assume the early race lead. Last week Heim nearly had the feature won until Matt Moore caught him on the final lap. Would it be a different story this week? Moore was knifing his way through the traffic in pursuit of another checkered flag. Taylor McMullen drove around Murphy, Sr. to claim second on lap four. Moore made quick work of Murphy, Sr. for third on lap six, then charged by McMullen on lap seven to take second spot. Dustin McCracken bounced hard off the turn two wall to bring out the yellow flag on lap nine. Moore wasted little time on the restart and powered around Heim to settle into the race lead. Moore pulled out to a sizable lead as he drove off with his third checkered flag of the season.
Carina Hellickson hopefully learned a lesson from the first Soccer Mom feature back on opening night. Hellickson was driving too hard in the corners and that allowed Brittany Buchanan to catch her and win the inaugural Soccer Mom feature. This time around Hellickson drove a smart race and kept the competition in her rear view as scored the win in the 10 lap feature.
Action continues next Friday, June 25 with a couple divisions making their season debuts after being rained out earlier this season. The High School Racing Association finally makes their season debut as does the Wisconsin Mighty Bandos Traveling Series. Joining them will be the Hobby Stocks, Hornets, Six Shooters and the Upper Midwest Vintage Racing Series will pays ‘Daytomah’ a second visit this year. The highlight of the night for the fans will be Cheap Date Night as we help the race fans save some money for the concession stand with gate admission just $5. Gates open at 5, qualifying fires up at 6 and the first on-track racing action takes place at 7:30.
Please call the track office at 608-461-1920, visit our web site at tomahspartaspeedway.com, or check out our Facebook page for more information about Tomah-Sparta Speedway or the 2021 schedule of events.
RESULTS
Sportsmen
Tim Myer Memorial (25 laps): 1. David Borntrager, 2. Chris Weber, 3. James Hendricks, 4. Jason Stark, 5. Jake Biever, 6. Dan Frye, 7. Jeremy Wolff, 8. Jason Backus, 9. Chad Smith, 10. Henry Vian
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Jason Stark, 2. James Hendricks, 3. David Borntrager, 4. Dan Frye, 5. Henry Vian
Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. Jake Biever, 2. Chris Weber, 3. Jason Backus, 4. Chad Smith, 5. Jeremy Wolff
Qualifying: 1. Chris Weber, 2. Jeremy Wolff, 3. Jason Backus, 4. Chad Smith, 5. Jake Biever, 6. James Hendricks, 7. David Borntrager, 8. Henry Vian, 9. Dan Frye, 10. Jason Stark
Oops! Saloon and Grill by Angie Hornets
Feature (15 laps): 1. Tuffy Myer, 2. Mason Morphy, 3. Zach Oliver, 4. Shawn McCarthy, 5. Sammy Linnehan, 6. Bryan Wallace, 7. Jamie Pearson, 8. Matt Bean, 9. Scott Mahlum, 10. Amelia Marshall, 11. Andrew Gardner, 12. Tristan Finnegan, 13. Kyle Cottone, 14. Paul Finch, 15. Tristan Drazkowski, 16. Taylor Dawson, 17. Andrew Lamb
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Tristan Drazkowski, 2. Scott Mahlum, 3. Andrew Gardner, 4. Andrew Lamb, 5. Kyle Cottone, 6. Tristan Finnegan
Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. Tuffy Myer, 2. Mason Morphy, 3. Shawn McCarthy, 4. Paul Finch, 5. Jamie Pearson, 6. Matt Bean
Heat #3 (8 laps): 1. Taylor Dawson, 2. Zach Oliver, 3. Bryan Wallace, 4. Sammy Linnehan, 5. Amelia Marshall
Qualifying: 1. Taylor Dawson, 2. Mason Morphy, 3. Amelia Marshall, 4. Jamie Pearson, 5. Sammy Linnehan, 6. Shawn McCarthy, 7. Zach Oliver, 8. Paul Finch, 9. Bryan Wallace, 10. Matt Bean, 11. Jordan Finch, 12. Tuffy Myer, 13. Tristan Drazkowski, 14. Scott Mahlum, 15. Andrew Gardner, 16. Kyle Cottone, 17. Andrew Lamb, 18. Tristan Finnegan
Clark Powersport of Hillsboro Modifieds
Feature (15 laps): 1. Brad Wildes, 2. Larry DeVito, 3. Derrin Salo, 4. Nick Quinnell, 5. Denny Schott, 6. Rick DeVito, 7. Bill Schott
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Brad Wildes, 2. Bill Schott, 3. Rick DeVito, 4. Antonio DeVito
Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. Larry DeVito, 2. Denny Schott, 3. Derrin Salo, 4. Nick Quinnell
Qualifying: 1. Denny Schott, 2. Derrin Salo, 3. Nick Quinnell, 4. Bill Schott, 5. Larry DeVito, 6. Brad Wildes, 7. Rick DeVito, 8. Antonio DeVito
Hobby Stocks
Feature (15 laps): 1. Andy Moore, 2. Mike Kreuger Jr., 3. Thomas Farra, 4. Alex Rud, 5. Aaron Hendricks, 6. Andy Muller, 7. Mark Challet, 8. Shelby Lockington
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Aaron Hendricks, 2. Mark Challet, 3. Shelby Lockington, 4. Andy Muller
Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. Andy Moore, 2. Thomas Farra, 3. Mike Krueger Jr., 4. Alex Rud
Qualifying: 1. Andy Moore, 2. Mike Krueger Jr., 3. Thomas Farra, 4. Alex Rud, 5. Aaron Hendricks, 6. Andy Muller, 7. Shelby Lockington, 8. Mark Challet
TACU Credit Union Six Shooters
Feature (15 laps): 1. Matt Moore, 2. Taylor McMullen, 3. Tim Murphy Sr., 4. Jay Raines, 5. Andrew Moore, 6. Dave Clements, 7. Jestin DeLap, Sr., 8. Matt Heim, 9. Charles Vian, 10. Tristan Drazkowski, 11. Josh Myer, 12. Devin Glass, 13. Clayton Haessig, 14. Joshua Zacahrias, 15. Dustin McCracken, 16. Brian Gardner, 17. Chuck Muller, 18. Jonathan Walling, 19. Tessa Wilder
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Dave Clements, 2. Charles Vian, 3. Brian Gardner, 4. Devin Glass, 5. Jonathan Walling, 6. Tessa Wilder
Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. Tim Murphy Sr., 2. Dustin McCracken, 3. Jestin DeLap Sr., 4. Jay Raines, 5. Josh Myer, 6. Tristan Drazkowski, 7. Clayton Haessig
Heat #3 (8 laps): 1. Matt Moore, 2. Andrew Moore, 3. Taylor McMullen, 4. Landon Lockington, 5. Matt Heim, 6. Joshua Zacharias, 7. Chuck Muller
Qualifying: 1. Matt Moore, 2. Dustin McCracken, 3. Taylor McMullen, 4. Jestin DeLap Sr., 5. Chuck Muller, 6. Jay Raines, 7. Andrew Moore, 8. Tim Murphy Sr., 9. Matt Heim, 10. Tristan Drazkowski, 11. Joshua Zacharias, 12. Clayton Haessig, 13. Landon Lockington, 14. Josh Myer, 15. Dave Clements, 16. Devin Glass, 17. Charles Vian, 18. Brian Gardner, 19. Jonathan Walling, 20. Tessa Wilder
Soccer Moms (10 laps): 1. Carina Hellickson, 2. Tara Frye, 3. Brittany Buchanan, 4. Shelly White, 5. Haley Frye
