By: Paul Reichert
July 26, 2024
Tomah-Sparta Speedway was one of the many homes to the Central Wisconsin Racing Association for many years, and race fans witnessed the rise of many great drivers that would become legends of the organization. Names like Dick Trickle, Tom Reffner, Jim Back, and Rich Somers helped to build the foundation for racing at Tomah-Sparta. Back in May we saluted a CWRA great that won the first ever CWRA title back in 1964 as Corey Jankowski swept the Everett Fox Classic features. In the CWRA’s return we saluted a living legend of the series as we honored Marv Marzofka for becoming the second CWRA track champion in 1965. Paul Paine, making his first ever trip to the legendary Tomah-Sparta, dominated both 30 lap features to win his winning streak on the CWRA to four straight feature wins.
The first 30 lap CWRA Late Model feature saw Larry Schotten and Jeff Weinfurter battle side-by-side for the opening circuit before Schotten powered under Weinfurter to take charge of the race on lap two. Schotten’s time up front lasted only two laps before Darek Gress charged past him to take command. Soon Gress’ mirrors would be full of the black machine of Paul Paine. On lap six Paine took to the outside to Gress and surged by him to become the new front runner. As Paine started to pull away from Gress, Mahlon Borntreger began to advance forward through the field. Borntreger dove under Gress down the back straight to claim second on lap 13. The chase was now on for Borntreger to catch Paine. Borntreger was able to slowly whittle away at Paine’s lead before he closed up on Paine’s rear bumper with seven laps remaining. Borntreger tried several times to take a peek to the inside of Paine hoping to get an opening. Nothing was able to materialize. Borntreger tried a couple times to use the outside lane, but he lost ground to Paine in the turns. Paine maintained a few car lengths on Borntreger down the stretch to hit the finish line first and capture the checkered flag.
Thayran Rezin outran Dan Linnehan to turn one to lead the first four laps of 30 lap CWRA Late Model feature two. Tyler Sauter got a run in turns one and two on lap five to dive underneath Rezin down the back straight to settle into the number one position. Darek Gress slowed down the back straight with an issue on his car on lap ten. Unfortunately Gress stalled the car at the ‘pit in’ entrance to bring out the caution on lap 11. Paul Paine would be the first to move to the outside for the restart, but he was struggling on the outside and fell back in line behind Sauter. Paine patiently bided his time waiting for the right moment to power around Sauter, which would happen with nine laps left. A strong run in turns one and two allowed Paine to dive under Sauter down the back straight and enter turn three with the number one spot. Former Modified racer Kevin Siedler went for a sidewinding spin in turn two with three laps to go to make the finish a nail biter. Paine pulled away from Borntreger on the single file restart and drove away with a clean sweep of both features. That gives Paine four straight CWRA feature wins thanks to his sweep of the twin features on the quarter-mile at LaCrosse nine days earlier.
Andrew Buhrow shot past Chris Bires to take the lead in his very first Hornet feature. Buhrow was piloting the race car normally driven by Brandon McCarthy as he turned over his CWRA Late Model to his dad Scott. The yellow flag flew on lap five when Tristan Finnigan and the returning Samantha Linnehan got tangled up on the back straight. Buhrow remained in control of the race on the restart, but closing the gap on the leader was Glen Bush, Jr. Bush would drive around Buhrow to lead the pack just past the halfway mark of the race. Finnigan was making his way quickly through the field after his earlier incident. WIth three laps to go Finnigan drove around Jordan FInch and into second, but it was too little too late to deal with Bush, Jr. The Hornet point leader extended his advantage as Bush, Jr. drove away with his first career Hornet feature win at Tomah and proudly rang the Victory Bell in TACU Credit Union Victory Lane.
The TACU Credit Union Six Shooter feature got off to a good start for A.J. Finnigan as he drove past Alex Lueth for the race lead. Ryatt Dobbratz made a serious power move underneath Finnigan to charge into the top position on lap three. Starting on the last row, last week’s feature winner Greg Brown began to make his way through the traffic on his quest for a second straight victory. Brown would charge past Christopher Neal to move up to second place by lap six. Try as he might, Brown was not able to make any sort of a dent in the large lead that Dobbratz had over him. For much of the second half of the race Brown would have to race his hardest to keep Tim Murphy, Sr. from taking second away from him. Dobbratz was unstoppable tonight as his second win this year added a little more ground in the points race.
Cole Scholze powered ahead of Mike Gratz to take the early lead in the Crown Vic feature. Bruce Backus drove around the Hobby Stock rookie leader to take over second spot on lap two. No matter who was behind the wheel of the 00 machine, it was still fast and able to keep Backus behind it. Backus tried many times in the 12 lap main event to close the gap on Scholze, but it was all in vain as Scholze kept Backus a safe distance behind him. With this being his first time in a Crown Vic race car, Gratz was learning how to handle one of these big race cars and was having fun doing it. Backus had nothing for Scholze as the Sparta native drove away with his first Crown Vic feature win of the year.
Before we enter the homestretch of the 2024 racing season, one more division gets their night in the spotlight next Friday, August 2. The Hornets get to race for a little more feature purse money in an extended feature during their annual Hornet Hustle. While the Sportsmen and the Hobby Stocks will not be deciding their season championships for at least a month, two visiting divisions will be crowning the new kings of their divisions. Both the INEX Great North Legends and the INEX Bandoleros make their last appearance of the year at Tomah-Sparta with their points championships on the line. WIll Ayrton Brockhouse pull off a clean sweep of the season in the Legends? Can Bentley Thompson have a great night to capture a second straight title with the Bandoleros? The kids will get a thrill from taking a ride in an actual stock car during the Kids’ Rides after qualifying. Gates open at 6, the battle to be the king of the qualifying mountain begins at 6:15 and the fast and furious on-track competition fires up at 7:30.
Call the track office at 608-461-1920, visit our website at tomahspartaspeedway.com, and be sure to like the track’s Facebook page for the latest information on Tomah-Sparta Speedway and the 2024 schedule of events.
RESULTS
Central Wisconsin Racing Association Late Models
Feature #1 (30 laps): 1. Paul Paine, 2. Mahlon Borntreger, 3. Darek Gress, 4. Jeff Weinfurter, 5. Mark Mackesy, 6. Tyler Sauter, 7. Dan Linnehan, 8. Thayrin Rezin, 9. Larry Schotten, 10. Kevin Siedler, 11. Shelby Lockington, 12. Scott Buhrow, 13. Monte Gress, 14. Thomas Farra
Feature #2 (30 laps): 1. Paul Paine, 2. Mahlon Borntreger, 3. Tyler Sauter, 4. Mark Mackesy, 5. Thayrin Rezin, 6. Dan Linnehan, 7. Larry Schotten, 8. Shelby Lockington, 9. Kevin Siedler, 10. Scott Buhrow, 11. Jeff Weinfurter, 12. Thomas Farra, 13. Darek Gress, 14. Monte Gress
Qualifying: 1. Dan Linnehan 16.433, 2. Mahlon Borntreger 16.447, 3. Tyler Sauter 16.502, 4. Paul Paine 16.567, 5. Mark Mackesy 16.591, 6. Darek Gress 16.736, 7. Jeff Weinfurter 16.909, 8. Larry Schotten 17.051, 9. Thomas Farra 17.059, 10. Kevin Siedler 17.384, 11. Scott Buhrow 17.493, 12. Monte Gress 17.536, 13. Shelby Lockington 17.958, 14. Thayrin Rezin NO TIME
Hornets
Feature (15 laps): 1. Glen Bush, Jr., 2. Tristan Finnigan, 3. Jordan Finch, 4. Samantha Linnehan, 5. Aubrie Leis, 6. Andrew Buhrow, 7. Chris Bires, 8. Austin Leis, 9. Josh Schwartz (DQ)
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Andrew Buhrow, 2. Chris Bires, 3. Josh Schwartz, 4. Austin Leis, 5. NIck Lesczykski
Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. Jordan Finch, 2. Samantha Linnehan, 3. Tristin Finnigan, 4. Glen Bush, Jr., 5. Aubrie Leis
Qualifying: 1. Samantha Linnehan 18.808, 2. Jordan Finch 18.811, 3. Glen Bush, Jr. 19.048, 4. Ashtin Quinnell 19.086, 5. Aubrie Leis 19.756, 6. Josh Schwartz 20.030, 7. Andrew Buhrow 20.063, 8. Chris Bires 20.157, 9. Nick Lesczykski 22.510, 10. Austin Leis 26.125. 11. Tristan Finnigan (DQ)
TACU Credit Union Six Shooters
Feature (15 laps): 1. Ryatt Dobbratz, 2. Greg Brown, 3. Tim Murphy, Sr., 4. Christopher Neal, 5. A.J. Finnigan, 6. Alex Lueth
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Ryatt Dobbratz, 2. Greg Brown, 3. Christopher Neal, 4. Tim Murphy, Sr., 5. Alex Lueth, 6. A.J. Finnigan
Qualifying: 1. Christopher Neal 19.486, 2. Ryatt Dobbratz 19.710, 3. Greg Brown 19.822, 4. Alex Lueth 19.894, 5. A.J. Finnigan 20.323
Crown Vics
Feature (12 laps): 1. Cole Scholze, 2. Bruce Backus, 3. Mike Gratz
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Cole Scholze, 2. Bruce Backus, 3. Mike Gratz
Qualifying: 1. Bruce Backus 20.501, 2. Mike Gratz 20.722, 3. Cole Scholze 20.734
