By: Paul Reichert August 21, 2020
While we are deep into the ‘Dogs Days of Summer’, the weather did not stop another terrific crowd from coming out to witness even more competitive racing at Tomah-Sparta Speedway. It is always exciting to see a driver become a first time winner, especially after seeing that driver make great improvements throughout the season. Such is the case for TACU Credit Union Six Shooter driver Joshua Zacharias. With Madison struggling to open for racing, he has called Tomah his home this season. Tonight he held off the top dog of the class in Matt Moore to capture his first ever feature victory.
Joshua Zacharias took the lead at the start of the TACU Credit Union Six Shooter feature when Zach Schadde ran wide in turn one. Jestin DeLap, Sr. pursued Zacharias for a couple laps before opening night winner Steve Mueller took over second on lap three. A rare spin in turn one on lap five by Dan Frye brought out the caution flag. Sean Worman shot past Mueller to move into second before another yellow came out for a tangle in turn one between Frye and Todd Holerud. Worman tried to put a lot of pressure on Zacharias for the lead before Mueller got back around Worman for second at halfway. A lap later Matt Moore drove around Mueller to settle into second. Now Zacharias’ mirror would be full of the white and orange #90 machine. Zacharias was determined to hold the inside line with Moore hot on his heels. Moore tried to go to the outside, but his car was not working well to get around Zacharias. Moore tried to play a little bumper tag with Zacharias a few times, but those shots would not faze Zacharias. Down the stretch, Zacharias would fend off Moore’s final challenge to score his inaugural feature win and proudly ring the Victory Bell in TACU Credit Union Victory Lane.
In the Twisted Tea Modified feature, Nick Quinnell and Rick DeVito had a hard fought battle to start the race. Brad Wildes lost it in turn four on lap three to bring out the yellow flag. Derrin Salo lined up alongside Quinnell on the restart and just nosed ahead to lead lap four. Quinnell fought back to surge ahead of Salo to take over the lead on lap five. After battling alongside each other for a few laps, Quinnell charged past Salo to take a firm hold on the lead at halfway. By lap ten, we had a Modified freight train fighting over the lead. Quinnell showed the way with Salo right behind him, and Wildes in hot pursuitright behind Salo. Over the final six laps, Salo and Wildes tried looking for an opening to get them closer to the front. That opening never came as Quinnell kept them in check and drove off with his third win of 2020.
Bill Schott shot past Troy Dobbratz for the lead early on in the Coors Light Sportsmen feature. Jake Schiller began to close in on Schott for the lead over the next couple of laps. All of a sudden, Schott’s engine expired down the back straight on lap four and ended his night early. After an extensive cleanup, Jason Backus got into a side-by-side battle with Schiller for the top spot on the restart. Backus nosed ahead of Schiller at the line for several laps before finally powering ahead to take a firm grasp of the lead on lap nine. Just when it looked like Backus was ready to claim a second straight win, he got loose in turns one and two. That gave Schiller another chance at the win. Schiller dove under Backus down the back straight and nose ahead as the duo took the white flag. Schiller maintained his line on the inside and powered by Backus coming out of turn four to see the checkered flag first for his second win this year.
Aaron Hendricks got to turn one ahead of Landon Lockington to take the lead at the start of the Hobby Stock feature. Andy Moore was making his way through the field with ease as he went from fifth at the end of the first lap to take over second from Lockington the next lap. Moore began to eat away at Hendricks’ lead before he completed the pass on the outside to become the new leader on lap four. Brandon Riedner, making his third visit to ‘Daytomah’, began his forward progress to catch Moore for a third feature win. Riedner got around Matt Cleveland to break into the top three on lap five. Riedner whittled away at Hendricks’ advantage and roared by him on the outside on lap nine to settle into second. The previous two times he raced here Riedner would fight off the advances of Moore to score very popular wins. This time Riedner would have to come from behind to capture the win. That would not happen as Moore built up a huge lead and drove off with feature win number six on the season.
Jordan Finch drove to the lead at the start of the Hornet feature. Yellow flew on lap three when Scott Mahlum and Bryan Wallace tangled in turn four. Josh Schaller drove around Finch on the restart to take over the top spot. Chandler Turner also powered around Finch to move into the number two position. A lap later, Finch would be dismissed from the top three by last week’s feature winner Mason Morphy. Turner was doing his best to keep up with the guest driver of the Paul Finch and Ron Pearson car. Schaller maintained about a two car length on Turner as the laps clicked off. Eric Breitenfeldt, visiting Tomah for the first time from Wausau, dove under Morphy to take over third with three laps to go. Morphy did everything he could to close the gap on Schaller, but he was large and in charge to claim his first ever feature win at ‘Daytomah’.
Action continues next Friday, August 28 with the inaugural running of Hobby Fest. Hobby Stock competitors from across the Midwest will converge on ‘Daytomah’ for big money in the biggest Hobby Stock race ever run in Wisconsin. The Modifieds, Sportsmen, Hornets and Six Shooters will also be in action. Gates open at 5:00, qualifying starts at 6:00 and racing action begins at 7:30. For more information 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
Twisted Tea Modifieds
Feature: 1. Nick Quinnell, 2. Derrin Salo, 3. Brad Wildes, 4. Rick DeVito Heat #1: 1. Quinnell, 2. Salo, 3. Wildes, 4. R. DeVito
Qualifying: 1. Salo 16.070, 2. Wildes, 3. Quinnell, 4. R. DeVito
Coors Lights Sportsmen
Feature: 1. Jake Schiller, 2. Jason Backus, 3. Troy Dobbratz, 4. Bill Schott Heat #1: 1. Backus, 2. B. Schott, 3. Schiller, 4. Dobbratz
Qualifying: 1. Backus 16.452, 2. Schiller, 3. B. Schott, 4. Dobbratz
Hobby Stocks
Feature: 1. Andy Moore, 2. Brandon Riedner, 3. Aaron Hendricks, 4. Matt Cleveland, 5. Alex Rud Heat #1: 1. Landon Lockington, 2. A. Hendricks, 3. Austin Schott, 4. Shelby Lockington
Heat #2: 1. B. Riedner, 2. An. Moore, 3. Cleveland, 4. Rud, 5. Mark Melchiori
Qualifying: 1. B Riedner 17.776, 2. An. Moore, 3. Rud, 4. Melchiori, 5. Cleveland
Hornets
Feature: 1. Josh Schaller, 2. Chandler Turner, 3. Eric Breitenfeldt, 4. Mason Morphy. 5. Garret Strachota Heat #1: 1. Jake Schomers, 2. Andrew Lamb, 3. Matt Krinke, 4. John Clauson, 5. Matt Renning
Heat #2: 1. Schaller, 2. Strachota, 3. Shawn McCarthy, 4. Turner, 5. Jordan Finch
Heat #3: 1. Breitenfeldt, 2. Scott Mahlum, 3. Morphy, 4. Bryan Wallace, 5. Amelia Marshall
Qualifying: 1. Morphy 18.703, 2. S. McCarthy; 3. Breitenfeldt, 4. Turner, 5. Wallace
TACU Credit Union Six Shooters
Feature: 1. Joshua Zacharias, 2. Matt Moore, 3. Tim Murphy, Sr., 4. Sean Worman, 5. Steve Mueller Heat #1: 1. Josh Myer, 2. Cameron Riggs, 3. Mike Morrison, 4. Cory McCarthy, 5. Charlie Spry
Heat #2: 1. Murphy, Sr., 2. Tristan Drazkowski, 3. Todd Holerud, 4. Traton Winecke, 5. Al Bartels Heat #3: 1. M. Moore, 2. Worman, 3. Zacharias, 4. Dan Frye, 5. Mueller
Qualifying: 1. M. Moore 19.255, 2. Murphy, Sr. 3. Frye, 4. T. Drazkowski, 5. Worman
