By: Paul Reichert May 28, 2021
While Friday night kicked off a huge Memorial Day weekend of parties and remembrances, the fans at Tomah-Sparta Speedway were transported back in time to the heydays of the track. The Upper Midwest Vintage Racing Series made their first appearance of the season as they helped to get the unofficial start of the summer season underway. The action on the track brought back great memories of when Trickle, Reffner, Back and Marzofka were battling each other on the old quarter-mile. Jim Kulseth would fend off the challenges of former LaCrosse racer Dan Linnehan down the stretch to drive off with the victory.
The old Moose Peterson replica race car, now being piloted by Justin Jessup, took the lead at the start of the Upper Midwest Vintage Racing Series feature. Making his way the field was Jim Kulseth. Yellow slowed the action on lap three when Lloyd Wilkinson spun and tagged the outside wall in turn one. Kulseth wasted little time on the restart as he powered his way around Jessup to assume command of the race. As the laps clicked away, Kulseth would soon have a challenger for the lead and the win on his heels. Veteran racer Dan Linnehan, who had rebuilt and restored Todd Korish’s old Sportsman racer, was also making his way through the field. Linnehan powered his way past Jessup to take over second by lap eight. Linnehan began to close the gap between him and Kulseth over the final seven laps. Linnehan cut the lead down to just a couple of car lengths but was not able to finish the job. Kulseth kept Linnehan in his rear view mirror as he scored his first win of the season.
In the Sportsmen feature, Dan Frye surged by Jim Hendricks to take the lead early in the race. You would think that Frye would start to pull away once in themlead. Somehow Hendricks was able to keep up with the former Tyler Sauter racecar. Hendricks was proving that his first ever fast qualifying honor earlier in the evening was no fluke. Hendricks never fell more than four car lengths behind Frye during the race. While he was not able to close the gap, Hendricks was hoping for a bobble by Frye to give him a chance to secure his first ever feature victory. Frye was able to keep a little distance between him and Hendricks to see the checkered flag first and score his maiden Sportsmen win.
We are not sure what number of retirement tour this is, but Joey Johnson was back in action and feeling young again. He took the lead at the start of the Hobby Stock feature. Shelby Lockington and ‘Big Bertha’ charged their way by the ageless veteran mto move into the race lead on lap three. Reigning division champion Alex Rud began to make his presence known. He moved up to second by lap five and quickly began to catch up to Lockington. Rud used the outside groove to get around Lockington to become the new leader on lap seven. Right behind Rud was Andy Moore, who following in Rud’s tire tracks to surge into the top spot on lap eight. A lap later Rud suffered a mechanical issue that ended his night early. Johnson and Lockington got locked up in turn one and spun out with five laps to go. On the restart, Nick Oxborough drove past Thomas Farra to take over second place. Oxborough tried to close the gap over those final five laps, but Moore opened up his lead and drove off with his second win of the year..
In the Oops! Saloon and Grill by Angie Hornet feature, newcomer Jamie Pearson drove around Bryan Wallace to take the lead at the start. While Pearson began to open up his lead on the field, there would be a trio of challengers that were looking to take over the lead. Kyle Riedner, Zach Oliver and veteran racer Taylor Dawson were on a mission for the front as they made their way through the field. Riedner got around Oliver for third on lap six, and a lap later Oliver gave up third spot to Dawson. On lap nine Dawson wrestler second way from Riedner. Dawson closed the gap on Pearson as he powered around the outside to take over the lead on lap twelve. While Dawson began to pull away from the field, Oliver and Riedner caught Pearson to make the battle over second a three-way fight. Oliver dove low to take second from Pearson with three to go, and a lap later Riedner followed suit and became the new third place runner. Dawson checked out on the field and the former Mid-Am Racing Series driver captured his first checkered flag of 2021.
Joshua Zacharias took the lead at the start of the TACU Credit Union Six Shooter feature. Zacharias tried to lap Dawsynn Frye, but they got tangled up with each other in turn one on lap three. The first restart did not get very far with Landon Lockington and Curtis Hellickson also getting mixed up in turn one. Taylor McMullen was now the leader and he was pulling away from the field on the restart in his season debut Matt Moore was slicing and dicing his way through the pack as he took over second on lap seven. Zachary Morgan cut a tire and tagged the outside wall in turn three on lapeight. Moore lined up alongside McMullen on the restart and he quickly bolted into the lead. McMullen was doing everything he could to hold onto the runner-up
spot. Veteran ‘Daytomah’ race Dustin McCracken was also cutting his way through traffic in his quest for the win. McCracken would catch McMullen with three laps to go and made quick work of the black 22 machine. Moore was long gone once McCracken took over second with two laps to go and notched his second feature win this season.
Action continues next Friday, June 4th as the Midwest Dash Series makes their annual trip to ‘Daytomah’ with a big 30 lap feature race. Will a local racer steal the thunder of the series regulars like Steven Rozek did last year? The Midwest Dash competitors will join the Modifieds, Hobby Stocks, Hornets and Six Shooters to help celebrate Stacy Heim’s birthday. The fans will also join in on the celebration with lots of giveaways throughout the night. Gates open at 5, qualifying begins at 6 and the close racing takes the green flag at 7:30.
For more information about Tomah-Sparta Speedway or the 2021 schedule of events, please call the track office at 608-461-1920 or visit us on the web at tomahspartaspeedway.com.
RESULTS
Upper Midwest Vintage Racing Series
Feature (15 laps): 1. Jim Kulseth, 2. Dan Linnehan, 3. Justin Jessup, 4. Mick Breckenridge, 5. Ed Reynolds, 6. Paul Dolphi, 7. Adam Burrows, 8, Ray Burrows, 9. Jim Olson
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Justin Jessup, 2. Adam Burrows, 3. Jim Olson, 4. Paul Dolphi, 5. Ray Burrows Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. Dan Linnehan, 2. Ralph Cottone, 3. Jim Kulseth, 4. Mike Breckenridge, 5. Ed Reynolds, 6. Lloyd Wilkinson
Sportsmen
Feature (10 laps): 1. Dan Frye, 2. Jim Hendricks Heat #1 (5 laps): 1. Dan Frye, 2. Jim Hendricks Qualifying: 1. Jim Hendricks, 2. Dan Frye
Hobby Stocks
Feature (15 laps): 1. Andy Moore, 2. Nick Oxborough, 3. Thomas Farra, 4. Aaron Hendricks, 5. Shelby Lockington, 6. Tucker Bodendorfer, 7. Joey Johnson, 8. Alex Rud
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Alex Rud, 2. Andy Moore, 3. Thomas Farra, 4. Nick Oxborough, 5. Shelby Lockington, 6. Tucker Bodendorfer, 7. Aaron Hendricks, 8. Joey Johnson
Qualifying: 1. Andy Moore, 2. Nick Oxborough, 3. Thomas Farra, 4. Alex Rud, 5. Tucker Bodenhdorfer, 6. Aaron Hendricks, 7. Joey Johnson, 8. Shelby Lockington
Oops! Saloon and Grill by Angie Hornets
Feature (15 laps): 1. Taylor Dawson, 2. Zach Oliver, 3. Kyle Riedner, 4. Jamie Pearson, 5. Bryan Wallace, 6. Shawn McCarthy, 7. Amelia Marshall, 8. Jordan Finch, 9. Paul Finch, 10. Sammy Linnehan, 11. Scott Mahlum, 12. Ryan Oetzel, 13. Brandon Bergstrom, 14. Kyle Cottone, 15. Jim Hendricks, 16. Nick DeJawa, 17. Mason Morphy
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Shawn McCarthy, 2. Ryan Oetzel, 3. Brandon Bergstrom, 4. Kyle Cottone, 5. Nick DeJawa, 6. Jim Hendricks
Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. Taylor Dawson, 2. Zach Oliver, 3. Kyle Riedner, 4. Jamie Pearson, 5. Scott Mahlum, 6. Dakota Clauson
Heat #3 (8 laps): 1. Bryan Wallace, 2. Paul Finch, 3. Amelia Marshall, 4. Sammy Linnehan, 5. Jordan Finch, 6. Mason Morphy
Qualifying: 1. Mason Morphy, 2. Taylor Dawson, 3. Sammy Linnehan, 4. Kyle Riedner, 5. Paul Finch, 6. Zach Oliver, 7. Jordan Finch, 8. Jamie Pearson, 9. Amelia Marshall, 10. Dakota Clauson, 11. Bryan Wallace, 12. Scott Mahlum, 13. Shawn McCarthy, 14. Brandon Bergstrom, 15. Ryan Oetzel, 16. Jim Hendricks, 17. Kyle Cottone, 18. Nick DeJawa
TACU Credit Union Six Shooters
Feature (15 laps): 1. Matt Moore, 2. Dustin McCracken, 3. Taylor McMullin, 4. Chuck Muller, 5. Jestin DeLap Sr., 6. Matt Hime, 7. Todd Hollerud, 8. Tim Murphy Sr., 9. Andy Muller, 10. Joshua Zacharias, 11. Tory Lockington, 12. Brandon Adams, 13. Clayton Haessig, 14. Devin Glass, 15. Greg Brown, 16. Ashton Kinsey, 17. Scott Buhrow, 18. Jonathan Walling, 19. Josh Myer, 20. Zachary Morgan, 21. Landon Lockington, 22. Curtis Hellickson
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Devin Glass, 2. Landon Lockington, 3. Greg Brown, 4. Josh Myer, 5. Curtis Hellickson, 6. Landon Lockington, 7. Ashton Kinsey, 8. Jonathan Walling
Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. Tim Murphy Sr., 2. Andy Muller, 3. Matt Heim, 4. Jestin DeLap Sr., 5. Todd Hollerud, 6. Clayton Haessig, 7. Dawsynn Frye, 8. Scott Buhrow
Heat #3 (8 laps): 1. Matt Moore, 2. Dustin McCracken, 3. Joshua Zacharias, 4. Chuck Muller, 5. Brandon
Adams, 6. Taylor McMullen, 7. Zachary Morgan, 8. Andrew Buhrow
Qualifying: 1. Matt Moore, 2. Dustin McCracken, 3. Jestin DeLap Sr., 4. Tim Murphy Sr., 5. Chuck Muller, 6. Todd Hollerud, 7. Taylor McMullen, 8. Clayton Haeesig, 9. Joshua Zacharias, 10. Dawsynn Frye, 11. Andrew Buhrow, 12. Matt Heim, 13. Andy Muller, 14. Zachary Morgan, 15. Brandon Adams, 16. Scott Buhrow, 17. Tory Lockington, 18. Landon Lockington, 19. Greg Brown, 20. Curtis Hellickson, 21. Devin Glass, 22. Jon Walling, 23. Ashton Kinsey (NO TIME), 24. Josh Myer (NO TIME)
