By: Paul Reichert
August 16, 2024
Ever since the little dust-up between Andy Moore and Matthew Cleveland occurred back in June, the Hobby Stock division has been thrown completely wide open. There has been a tightening of the points race with a few ties for the championship lead and the top three or four within five points of each other. We have witnessed many new faces traveling to TACU Credit Union Victory Lane as well. Minnesota racer Jesse Fischer has claimed two wins on the year, veteran racer Raymond Hardy scored his first win in some time, and former race director Scott Riedner captured the checkered flag in the last two features. Landon Lockington continued the proud racing tradition in the Lockington family with his first ever feature win while holding off the drivers contending for the season championship.
Seth Gnewikow spun in turn one on the very first lap of the Hobby Stock feature. Amazingly the entire field was able to dive low and high to avoid him. Gnewikow was able to turn things around and immediately get back in the race, albeit half a lap behind. Landon Lockington led the field, but would have to deal with Grant Witcraft on his outside for much of the race. Witcraft was somehow making the outside lane work as he got ahead of Lockington at the end of laps six through nine. Lockington took advantage of Witcraft getting a little bit loose in turn four on lap ten to take the lead back. Witcraft gathered things back up and powered back by Lockington to lead lap 11. Witcraft got a bit more loose in turn four coming to three to go, and that allowed Lockington to take firm control of the race. Lockington left Witcraft to fight off Tony Ciano and drove away with his first ever feature win.
Rookie leader Aubrie Leis surged ahead of first time Tomah racer Austin Albrecht to lead the Hornet feature. Albrecht stuck to the inside line down the back straight to drive past Leis to take over the lead spot on lap two. Hornet Hustle winner Jordan Finch started in mid-pack and began to close in on Albrecht for the lead, which she would take over on lap five. As Finch tried to pull away from the rest of the field, her time up front would soon be challenged by Glen Bush, Jr. Starting towards the back of the field, Bush, Jr. drove the field as if they were standing still. After taking second on lap eight, the Hornet point leader began to close in on Jellybean and with four laps remaining Bush, Jr. drove around Finch to settle into the lead. Matt Moore, debuting in the Hornet class, took second from Finch with three laps to go but was unable to make up any ground on the leader. Bush, Jr. would take his second checkered flag win this year and add some more distance in the championship battle over Tristan Finnigan.
The TACU Credit Union Six Shooter feature saw A.J. Finnigan out-muscled Alex Lueth to the lead entering turn one. Tim Murphy, Sr. made quick work of the field to catch and pass Finnigan for the top spot on lap two. As Murphy, Sr. began to open up his lead on the field, Ryatt Dobbratz was coming fast and furious through traffic after starting shotgun. Dobbratz settled into second on lap six and was slowly trying to close up on Murphy, Sr. Unfortunately the breakout time of 19.300 seconds would be Dobbratz’s undoing. After going beyond the breakout time on laps nine and ten, Dobbratz was given the black flag for breaking out for a third straight time on lap eleven. Greg Brown would be the new runner-up, but there was just too much distance to make up in too few laps for Brown to do anything. Murphy, Sr. would hit the finish line first and ring the Victory Bell in TACU Credit Union Victory Lane.
A spirited opening lap of the Crown Vic feature saw Bruce Backus and Cole Scholze make contact in turn two, which allowed Backus to take command of the race. Scholze would remain within a couple car lengths and keep the battle for the lead interesting the rest of the way. Jay Raines made his debut in the Crown Vic division and he was doing a very respectable job of driving while trying to stay in touch with the leaders. Scholze tried for many laps to find a way around Backus, but was not able to make a move for the lead. Backus stood his ground on the inside to claim his second feature win of 2024.
Logan Backus surged ahead of Gunnar Nagy to lead the opening laps of the Finish Line Towing High School Racing Association feature. The yellow flag flew on lap four for a spinning James Gratz in turn one. The restart did not get very far with Noah Waughtal got into Backus in turn three and spun him out. Point leader Curtis Hellickson assumed command of the race, but yellow was becoming the popular color of the night and would not let Hellickson drive away from the field. Another solo spin by Gratz happened in turn two on lap six. It just was not Backus’ night as he spun in turn three on lap eight thanks to contact with Zachary Neal. Gratz was having a tougher night than Backus as he spun for a third time with five laps remaining. The beneficiary of these yellows was Monty Odegard as he was looking to fight Hellickson over the lead. Hellickson quickly pulled away on the final restart from Odegard and drove off with his second win this season and added some more ground in the points race with just one race to go.
Coming up on Sunday, August 25 is the newest marquee event at Tomah-Sparta Speedway that has grown into a big deal in the Midwest. HobbyFest has become a huge event for a long running division throughout Wisconsin, and the fifth edition promises to be the biggest running of the event ever. Besides the huge 30 lap main event, you will see the Sportsmen, Hornets, Six Shooters and the first ever traveling series to be a part of HobbyFest. After being rained out back in May, the Midwest Dash Series has had their Godfather 30 race rescheduled for HobbyFest 5. Gates open at 12, the race against the clock in qualifying fires up at 12:15 and the on-track battles for HobbyFest 5 glory sees the green flag at 2.
Call the track office at 608-461-1920, visit our website at tomahspartaspeedway.com and be sure to like the track’s Facebook page to learn more information about Tomah-Sparta Speedway and the 2024 schedule of events.
RESULTS
Hobby Stocks
Feature (15 laps): 1. Landon Lockington, 2. Grant Witcraft, 3. Tony Ciano, 4. Mike Gratz, 5. Seth Gnewikow
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Landon Lockington, 2. Grant Witcraft, 3. Tony Ciano, 4. Seth Gnewikow, 5. Mike Gratz, 6. Shelby Lockington
Qualifying: 1. Tony Ciano 17.706, 2. Grant Witcraft 18.452, 3. Mike Gratz 18.480, 4. Seth Gnewikow 18.731, 5. Shelby Lockington 18.833, 6. Landon Lockington 19.228, 7. Rob Christen 20.867
Hornets
Feature (15 laps): 1. Glen Bush, Jr., 2. Matt Moore, 3. Tristan Finnigan, 4. Jordan Finch, 5. Colten Pennel, 6. Ashtin Quinnell, 7. Shawn Breese, 8. Aubrie Leis, 9. Austin Albrecht, 10. Austin Leis
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Shawn Breese, 2. Austin Quinnell, 3. Austin Albrecht, 4. Austin Leis, 5. Aubrie Leis
Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. Jordan Finch, 2. Tristan Finnigan, 3. Glen Bush, Jr., 4. Matt Moore, 5. Colten Pennel
Qualifying: 1. Colten Pennel 18.853, 2.Tristan Finnigan 18.955, 3. Glen Bush, Jr. 19.225, 4. Matt Moore 19.258, 5. Jordan Finch 19.550, 6. Ashtin Quinnell 19.636, 7. Shawn Breese 19.675, 8. Aubrie Leis 19.718, 9. Austin Albrecht 20.270, 10. Austin Leis 25.539, 11. Joshua Schwartz NO TIME
TACU Credit Union Six Shooters
Feature (15 laps): 1. Tim Murphy, Sr., 2. Greg Brown, 3. Christopher Neal, 4. A.J. Finnigan, 5. Alex Lueth, 6. Ryatt Dobbratz
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Christopher Neal, 2. Greg Brown, 3. Alex Lueth, 4. A.J. Finnigan, 5. Tim Murphy, Sr., 6. Ryatt Dobbratz
Qualifying: 1. Greg Brown 19.414, 2. Tim Murphy, Sr. 19.469, 3. Ryatt Dobbratz 19.655, 4. Christopher Neal 19.717, 5. Alex Lueth 20.034, 6. A.J. Finnigan 20.258
Finish Line Towing High School Racing Association
Feature (15 laps): 1. Curtis Hellickson, 2. Monty Odegard, 3. Alivia Moore, 4. Noah Waughtal, 5. Russell Allen, 6. Trinity Aasen, 7. Caleb Arenson, 8. Logan Backus, 9. Gunnar Nagy, 10. James Gratz, 11. Zachary Neal, 12. Taylor Aasen
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Raelyn Dobbratz, 2. Noah Waughtal, 3. Russell Allen, 4. Logan Backus, 5. Gunnar Nagy, 6. Taylor Aasen
Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. James Gratz, 2. Curtis Hellickson, 3. Zachary Neal, 4. Alivia Moore, 5. Monty Odegard, 6. Trinity Aasen, 7. Caleb Arneson
Qualifying: 1. Alivia Moore 19.126, 2. Caleb Arneson 19.366, 3. Monty Odegard 19.376, 4. Curtis Hellickson 19.469, 5. Zachary Neal 19.643, 6. James Gratz 19.752, 7. Noah Waughtal 19.780, 8. Raelyn Dobbratz 19.900, 9. Trinity Aasen 20.103, 10. Russel Allen 20.253, 11. Logan Backus 20.498, 12. Gunnar Nagy 22.125, 13. Taylor Aasen NO TIME
Crown Vics
Feature (10 laps): 1. Bruce Backus, 2. Cole Scholze, 3. Jay Raines
Heat #1 (6 laps): 1. Cole Scholze, 2. Bruce Backus, 3. Jay Raines
