By: Paul Reichert August 30, 2020
With all the talk and hype surrounding the inaugural Hobby Fest at Tomah Sparta Speedway going on for weeks, Mother Nature tried to ruin it all with heavy rains on Friday morning. Fortunately, Greg Oliver had a backup plan to run the show on Sunday afternoon. A huge crowd came out on a picture perfect Sunday to witness 35 of the best Hobby Stock racers from around the Midwest converge on ‘Daytomah’ for the biggest Hobby Stock race ever run in Wisconsin. Andy Moore is known as our ‘top dog’ in Hobby Stocks here at Tomah, but now he has to be considered the best in the state. Fighting back the challenges of top Sportsmen competitor Dave Trute over the final lap eight laps, Moore drove off with the biggest win and biggest payday of his career.
Rockford competitor Jim Robinson charged past Kolton Gurlaski to take the lead at the start of the 30-lap Hobby Fest feature. As those two battled over the lead, Christian Janssen and his 1964 Chevy Biscayne started to close up on both drivers. While those three drivers battled hard for the top spot, the rest of the field was trying to sort itself out. Coming out of the field make his presence known was Andy Moore. Moore drove by Jim Tate, Jr. to take over fourth on lap eight. Over the next several laps Moore slowly began to reel in the leading trio and eventually caught them as the crossed flags were displayed. Using his patented outside line, Moore began to pick off the top three one by one.
Moore disposed of Janssen for third on lap 17, quickly drove around Guralski for second on lap 19 and then powered his way around Robinson to take the lead with ten laps to go. Yellow flew with eight laps to go for Chuck Egli’s spin in turn two. While under the yellow, Robinson was having issues with his transmission and was forced to the pits. Dave Trute lined up alongside Moore on the restart, but Moore was able to drive away from Trute. Kyle Riedner spun out in turn two with four to go to bring out another yellow. Moore and Trute doubled up the same way again, and Moore was able to drive away from Trute on the final restart to capture the biggest payday in the history of ‘Daytomah’.
In the Twisted Tea Modified feature, rookie Antonio DeVito led his first ever feature lap. Derrin Salo made contract with DeVito entering turn one, but it did not stop Salo from assuming command of the race. Hot on Salo’s heels for a few laps was the ‘Wild Man’, Brad Wildes. Wildes dove low to get under Salo on lap five and become the new leader. Nick Quinnell would follow Wildes’ tire tracks and get under Salo for second a lap later. As Wildes pulled away from the field, Salo would not let Quinnell get away that easy. A hard fought battle for second began for those two drivers. Salo tired to look for an opening to wrestle second back from Quinnell, but never got that opportunity. Wildes woudl go unchallenged the rest of the way to score his fifth feature win of the year and gently rang the Victory Bell.
First time Tomah visitor Brian Wagner took the lead at the start of the Coors Light Sportsmen feature. Jason Backus immediately started to make his way through traffic to take over second by the end of lap one. Backus zoomed past Wagner to settle into the lead on lap two. While Mark Challet battled with Wagner over second, Tyler Satuer used the outside lane to rocket by both drivers to become the runner-up on lap four. By lap six, Challet finally worked his way around Wagner to take over third. Backus was slowly pulling away from Sauter as the race reached the halfway point. With six laps to go, Sauter began to slowly eat away at Backus’ lead. Unfortunately, Sauter was only gaining a few tenths of a second on Backus. Backus would end up out of reach of Sauter and drive off with his second feature in the last three weeks.
In the Hornet feature, Tom Luethe wasted little to assume the race lead. After a spin by Chris Christen down the back straight on lap four, Chandler Turner began to apply some pressure to Luethe. Turner began to lose ground to Luethe as Jordan Finch began to fill up Turner’s rear view mirror. Turner ran wide in turn two and allowed Finch to power by him to take over second on lap six. Yellow flew again on lap seven when Christen lost his right rear wheel in turn four. A wild incident happened on the restart that saw Kyle Riedner clip the end of the front straight wall and take out the Victory Bell. Riedner was a little bit shaken up from the hit, but thankfully was able to climb out of his car. Another restart did not last long as Scott Mahlum spun out in turn three. Finch got loose in turn two and allowed Turner to move into second with five laps to go. Turner looked high and looked low for an opening to get around Luethe. That chance never came as Luethe pulled away down the stretch to claim the victory.
Tim Murphy, Sr. changed to the front at the start of the TACU Credit Union Six Shooter feature. Murphy, Sr. ran wide in turn four on lap two, allowing Jestin DeLap, Sr. to take charge of the field. After a couple of laps, DeLap would have his hands full with Dan Frye and Bobby Frisch, who was guest driving Matt Moore’s car. Frye and Frisch were trying everything they could to force DeLap into a mistake, but DeLap, Sr. was not fazed by their challenges. As that threesome closed up on the slow car of Patrick Schadde, DeLap, Sr. got clipped by Schadde in turn three as he tried to make the pass. That would allow Frisch and Frye to take over the top two spots with three laps to go. Frisch would pull away from Frye in the final laps to capture his first ever victory at Tomah.
Action continues on Friday, September 4 with the final weekly race of the season at ‘Daytomah’. The Modifieds, Sportsmen, Hobby Stocks, Hornets and Six Shooters will battle one last time on the legendary 3/8th-mile and crown their 2020 season champions. Gates open at 5:00, qualifying begins at 6:00 and racing takes the green flag starting at 7:30. For more about Tomah-Sparta Speedway or the 2020 schedule of events, please call the office at 608-461-1920 or visit our web site at tomahspartaspeedway.com.
RESULTS
Hobby Stocks (Hobby Fest)
Feature: 1. Andy Moore, 2. Dave Trute, 3. Kolton Guralski, 4. Mike Krueger, Jr., 5. Christian Janssen, 6. Jim Tate, Jr., 7. Nick Bruley, 8. Jon Benninger, 9. Chris Flairty, 10. Justin Wagner, 11. Austin Fowler, 12. Chuck Egli, 13. Jordan Egli, 14. Darin Patnode, 15. Kaleb Hardy, 16. Ben Gannon, 17. Kyle Riedner, 18. Jeffrey LeFave, Jr., 19. Jason Bolster, 20. Jim Robinson, 21. Robby Robinson, 22. Brandon Riedner
Qualifying Heat #1: 1. Patnode, 2. Benninger, 3. Gannon, 4. LeFave, Jr., 5. Shane Radtke, Jr., 6. Aaron Hendricks, 7. Joey Johnson
Qualifying Heat #2: 1. Dunn, 2. Bolster, 3. Jim Wolfe, 4. Andy Raley, 5. Mark Challet, 6. Clint Hagstrom, 7. Kaleb Hardy
Qualifying Heat #3: 1. Fowler, 2. Wagner, 3. Mike Bollinger, 4. Alex Rud, 5. Chris Kern, 6. Landon Lockington, 7. Shelby Lockington
Odd Heat: 1. Janssen, 2. B. Riedner, 3. Trute, 4. Tate, Jr., 5. J. Robinson, 6. Flairty, 7. J. Egli
Even Heat: 1. Guralski, 2. R. Robinson, 3. K. Riedner, 4. An. Moore, 5. Kreuger, Jr., 6. Bruley, 7. C. Egli
Last Chance Qualifier: 1. Gannon, 2. LeFave, Jr., 3. Bollinger, 4. Kern, 5. Radtke, Jr., 6. Raley, 7. Rud, 8. K. Hardy, 9. A. Hendricks, 10. Wolfe, 11. Challet, 12. Johnson, 13. L. Lockington, 14. Hagstrom, 15. S. Lockington
Qualifying: 1. Trute 17.053, 2. K. Riedner 17.278, 3. Flairty 17.290, 4. Krueger, Jr. 17.369, 5. B. Reidner 17.370, 6. An. Moore, 7. Tate, Jr. 8. C. Egli, 9. Janssen, 10. Guralski, 11. J. Robinson, 12. Bruley, 13. J. Egli, 14. R. Robinson, 15. Benninger, 16. Raley, 17. Wagner, 18. Patnode, 19. K. Hardy, 20. Kern, 21. Gannon, 22. Wolfe, 23. Bollinger, 24. LeFave, Jr., 25. Bolster, 26. Fowler, 27. A. Hendricks., 28. Challet, 29, Rud, 30. Radtke, Jr., 31. Dunn, 32. L. Lockington, 33. Johnson, 34. Hagstrom, 35. S. Lockington
Twisted Tea Modifeds
Feature: 1. Brad Wildes. 2. Nick Quinnell, 3. Derrin Salo, 4. Rick DeVito, 5. Antonio DeVito Heat #1: 1. Wildes, 2. Quinnell, 3. Salo, 4. R. DeVito, 5. A. DeVito
Qualifying: 1. Quinnell 15.958, 2. Salo, 3. Wildes, 4. R. DeVito, 5. A. DeVito
Coors Light Sportsmen
Feature: 1. Jason Backus, 2. Tyler Sauter, 3. Mark Challet, 4. Brian Wagner, 5. Bill Schott, 6. Troy Dobbratz Heat #1: 1. Challet, 2. Backus, 3. Sauter, 4. Wagner, 5. B. Schott, 6. Dobbratz
Qualifying: 1. Backus 16.336. 2. Sauter, 3. Challet, 4. B. Schott, 5. Wagner, 6. Dobbratz
Hornets
Feature: 1. Tom Luethe, 2. Chandler Turner, 3. Jordan Finch, 4. Paul Finch, 5. Shawn McCarthy Heat #1: 1. Danny Frye, 2. Dakota Clauson, 3. Matt Krinke, 4. Jim Hendricks, 5. Amelia Marshall Heat #2: 1. Kyle Riedner, 2. T. Luethe, 3. Turner, 4. J. Finch, 5. McCarthy
Heat #3: 1. Scott Mahlum, 2. Mason Morphy, 3. Marc Luethe, 4. P. Finch, 5. Sammy Linnehan Qualifying: 1. Morphy 18.739, 2. McCarthy, 3. P. Finch, 4. Oliver, 5. M. Luethe
TACU Credit Union Six Shooters
Feature: 1. Bobby Frisch, 2. Dan Frye, 3. Jestin DeLap, Sr., 4. Sean Worman, 5. Josh Myer
Heat #1: 1. Austin Powers, 2. Clayton Haessig, 3. Todd Holerud, 4. J. Myer, 5. Patrick Schadde
Heat #2: 1. Steve Mueller, 2. Worman, 3. Traton Winecke, 4. Tristan Drazkowski, 5. Landon Lockington Heat #3: 1. DeLap, Sr., 2. Frisch, 3. Dan Frye, 4. Alex Liebsch, 5. Charlie Muller
Qualifying: 1. Frisch 19.409, 2. T. Drazkowski, 3. Jake Schomers, 4. McCracken, 5. Dan Frye
