By: Paul Reichert
August 30, 2024
In the 60 years of racing competition at Tomah-Sparta Speedway there more than likely has never been a championship battle as exciting and chaotic as the title fight for the Hobby Stock division. After the situation between Matt Cleveland and Andy Moore happened back in June, it was anybody’s ballgame for the season points title. There were a few ties for the lead and the difference between as many as the top four drivers was only as little as six points. The fight for the championship would go all the way to the flying of the checkered flag at the end of the final feature of the season. Grant Wticraft would leapfrog both Mike Gratz and Seth Gnewikow to add his first ever track championship to the 2002 Rookie of the Year title. As for the feature, the third time was the charm for Tony Ciano as he scored a runaway first ever feature win at Tomah-Sparta.
The race fans were on the edge of their seats ready to settle the wild year for the Hobby Stocks with their feature wrapping up the night and the season. Last week’s winner Landon Lockington powered by Rookie of the Year champion Mike Gratz to lead the opening circuit. While a second feature win was on Lockington’s mind, Tony Ciano was charging through the field like a bull in a china shop. Ciano got to the front quickly then shot by Lockington on the outside to move into the number one position on lap two. While Ciano began to pull away from the fight over second between Lockington and Easton Riedner, the threesome fighting for the title found themselves towards the back of the field. Witcraft was doing what he had to do to keep Gratz and Gnewikow behind him. The second place battle was the best battle on the track as Lockington continued to hold off Riedner, who was driving his dad Brandon’s car after his wreck earlier in the month. Gnewikow got around Gratz to move up to fifth just past halfway of the finale, but was not making very much headway to catch up to Witcraft. Ciano was the fast qualifier all three times he came to Cranberry Country, and now he finally took his first ever feature victory by a whopping nine plus seconds. Witcraft remained ahead of his two title rivals to be crowned the 2024 track champion by five points over Gratz.
Mark Challet already had the Sportsmen championship locked up when he arrived at the track, but feature win number eight would be a bigger challenge. Veteran Sportsmen racer and former Great Northern Sportsmen champion Devin Schmidt powered by Challet to take the lead at the start. Schmidt’s experience racing at Tomah-Sparta with the Mid-Am Racing Series and the Great Northern Sportsmen Series showed as he maintained three or four car lengths on the newly crowned champion. Chalet tried to close the gap on Schmidt, but was not having much luck getting closer to the Minnesota racer. Schmidt would not make a single mistake during the last feature of the year as he pulled away from Challet to make a triumphant return to TACU Credit Union Victory Lane and proudly ring the Victory Bell.
Matthew Heim outran eventual Rookie champion Aubrie Leis to lead the first lap of the Hornet feature. Wausau racer Jacob Hintze was quickly powering through traffic to get around Heim for the top spot on lap two in his first trip to Cranberry Country. Hintze would soon have to contend with another fast race car as Glen Bush, Jr. sliced and diced his way through the field after starting sixth. Bush, Jr. caught up to Hintze and surged around him on the outside to settle into the lead on lap six. Another first time competitor was making things challenging for our Tomah regulars as Dells racer Jim Rhode powered by Hintze to take over second place just past the midway point of the race. Bush, Jr.’s mirror was filling up fast with the race car of Rhode looking to challenge for the top spot. Standing his ground on the inside line, Bush, Jr. kept Rhode in check as the laps ticked away. Hornet Hustle winner Jordan Finch got an opening to power by HIntze with two laps left to settle into third. Bush, Jr. put the cherry on top of the sundae with win number three this year to cap off his championship season.
Christopher Neal knew he had the Rookie title wrapped up going into the last TACU Credit Union Six Shooter feature of 2024, and on the very first lap he shot past A.J. Finnigan for the lead. You cannot let your guard down when Jay Raines is sniffing out the lead, and he charged by Neal to settle into the top spot on lap two. Even though he was behind the wheel of Ghage Moore’s HSRA ride, Raines was pulling away from the field in one of the better race cars. A sizable lead for Raines was erased by a yellow flag with three laps remaining as contact between Neal and Ryatt Dobbratz sent Neal spinning coming out of turn four. Raines pulled away title fighter Tim Murphy, Sr. on the restart and drove off with the checkered flag. Dobbrartz recovered to finish third and follow up his 2023 HSRA title with the TACU Credit Union Six Shooter championship.
Jackson Martindale made the long trip from the Rockford area worth it as he led the opening circuit of the last Finish Line Towing High School Racing Association feature. James Gratz tried to make a hole under Martindale for the lead entering turn one, but instead they collided and got Peyton Payne and fast qualifier Alivia Moore mixed up in their incident. Rookie champion Noah Waughtal assumed command of the race on the restart with his teammate Caleb Arneson hot on his heels. Soon Arenson would have to deal with Monty Odegard, who powered around the LaCrosse HSRA champion to capture the runner-up spot on lap four. Now the chess match for the top spot would begin between Waughtal and Odegard. Odegard would not push the limits as Gratz did, but instead bided his time in hopes for a mistake by Waughtal to pounce for the lead. Waughtal stood his ground on the inside line as he kept Odegard behind him and hit the finish line first for the second time in 2024. Curtis Hellickson maintained third spot in the feature to become the second HSRA champion.
Going into the final feature of the first season for the Crown Vic division, Bruce Backus and Cole Scholze found themselves tied for the lead. Whoever won the feature would be the inaugural champion of this new entry level division. Backus shot past Matthew Heim for the lead at the start but Scholze would find power around Backus to take charge of the race on lap two. Backus was doing everything he could to stay within shouting distance of Scholze to take another run or two for the lead. Late in the going Backus began to have issues with his car and a wisp of smoke began to show from the rear of the car. That may have resulted from contact in the heat with Scholze that sent Backus lightly into the berm on the back straight. While Heim powered by Backus on the final lap of the race, Scholze was long gone as he wrapped up his fourth victory of the year and wrapped up the inaugural Crown Vic title.
The weekly racing for the 2024 season may have come to an end, but the racing action is not quite done yet for the year at Tomah-Sparta Speedway. Next Friday, September 6 the final leg of the inaugural Tomah-Sparta Enduro Triple Crown will take place with the Daytomah 200 Enduro. Four and six cylinder cars, and maybe even a few mini-vans, will compete non-stop in an exciting and thrilling 200 lap enduro around the legendary Tomah-Sparta oval. If you thought the Hobby Stock title race was crazy, six drivers still have a chance to be the inaugural Tomah-Sparta Enduro Triple Crown Champion. Two drivers that had good showings in the first two enduros, Jason Witte and Garrett Strachota, are tied for the championship lead. The winners of our first two enduros, Troy Tuma in the Chill Chaser and Adam Hayden in the Summer Sizzle, are tied for third in points. Two drivers that had one good enduro run and one bad enduro run, Matt Moore and Alex Liebsch, are tied for fifth. This enduro will have plenty of twists and turns to leave you on the edge of your seat. Pit gates open at 5, fan gates open at 6 and this 200 lap race of never ending chaos and mayhem goes green 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 to learn more information about Tomah-Sparta Speedway and the 2024 schedule of events.
RESULTS
Hobby Stocks
Feature (15 laps): 1. Tony Ciano, 2. Landon Lockington, 3. Easton Riedner, 4. Grant Witcraft, 5. Seth Gnewikow, 6. Mike Gratz
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Mike Gratz, 2. Grant Witcraft, 3. Easton Riedner, 4. Tony Ciano, 5. Seth Gnewikow, 6. Landon Lockington
Qualifying: 1. Tony Ciano 18.035, 2. Easton Riedner 18.280, 3. Grant Witcraft 18.621, 4. Seth Gnewikow 18.924, 5. Landon Lockington 19.003, 6. Mike Gratz 19.109
Sportsmen
Feature (15 laps): 1. Devin Schmidt, 2. Mark Challet, 3. Jason Bolster
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Devin Schmidt, 2. Mark Challet, 3. Jason Bolster
Qualifying: 1. Mark Challet 16.637, 2. Devin Schmidt 16.712, 3. Jason Backus 16.851, 4. Jason Bolster 19.870
Hornets
Feature (15 laps): 1. Glen Bush, Jr., 2. Jim Rhode, 3. Jordan Finch, 4. Jacob Hintze, 4. Tristan Finnigan, 6. Matthew Heim, 7. Samantha Linnehan, 8. Jamie Pearson, 9. Aubrie Leis, 10. Ashtin Quinnell, 11. Logan Groskreutz, 12. Austin Leis, 13. Colten Pennel
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Jacob Hintze, 2. Matthew Heim, 3. Aubrie Leis, 4. Ashtin Quinnell, 5. Logan Groskreutz, 6. Austin Leis, 7. Colten Pennel
Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. Jordan Finch, 2. Jim Rhode, 3. Tristan Finnigan, 4. Jamie Pearson, 5. Glen Bush, Jr., 6. Samantha Linnehan
Qualifying: 1. Jim Rhode 18.783, 2. Samantha Linnehan 18.878, 3. Glen Bush, Jr. 19.134, 4. Jordan Finch 19.187, 5. Colten Pennel 19.307, 6. Jacob HIntze 19.517, 7. Ashtin Quinnell 19.532, 8. Aubrie Leis 19.855, 9. Matthew Heim 20.353, 10. Logan Groskreutz 20.641, 11. Austin Leis 25.434, 12. Tristan Finnigan (DQ), 13. Jamie Pearson (DQ)
TACU Credit Union Six Shooters
Feature (15 laps): 1. Jay Raines, 2. Tim Murphy, Sr., 3. Ryatt Dobbratz, 4. A.J. Finnigan, 5. Christopher Neal
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Jay Raines, 2. Ryatt Dobbratz, 3. Tim Murphy, Sr., 4. A.J. Finnigan, 5. Christopher Neal, 6. Greg Brown
Qualifying: 1. Jay Raines 19.371, 2. Ryatt Dobbratz 19.401, 3. Greg Brown 19.449, 4. Tim Murphy, Sr. 19.651, 5. Christopher Neal 19.740, 6. A.J. Finnigan 20.913
Finish Line Towing High School Racing Association
Feature (12 laps): 1. Noah Waughtal, 2. Monty Odegard, 3. Curtis Hellickson, 4. Caleb Arneson, 5. Zachary Neal, 6. Logan Backus, 7. James Gratz, 8. Russell Allen, 9. Peyton Payne, 10. Gunnar Nagy, 11. Alexis Beard, 12. Alivia Moore, 13. Jackson Martindale
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Zachary Neal, 2. Russell Allen, 3. Logan Backus, 4. Alexis Beard, 5. Jackson Martindale, 6. Raelyn Dobbratz, 7. Gunnar Nagy
Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. Caleb Arneson, 2. James Gratz, 3. Monty Odegard, 4. Alivia Moore, 5. Noah Waughtal, 6. Peyton Payne, 7. Curtis Hellickson
Qualifying: 1. Alivia Moore 19.093, 2. Monty Odegard 19.387, 3. Curtis Hellickson 19.438, 4. Caleb Arneson 19.676, 5. James Gratz 19.710, 6. Peyton Payne 19.885, 7. Noah Waughtal 20.025, 8. Raelyn Dobbratz 20.207, 9. Jackson Martindale 20.224, 10. Zachary Neal 20.374, 11. Logan Backus 20.557, 12. Russell Allen 20.610, 13. Gunnar Nagy 20.864, 14. Alexis Beard 21.022
Crown Vics
Feature (10 laps): 1. Cole Scholze, 2. Matthew Heim, 3. Bruce Backus
Heat #1 (6 laps): 1. Cole Scholze, 2. Matthew Heim, 3. Bruce Backus
Qualifying: 1. Cole Scholze 19.853, 2. Bruce Backus 20.799, 3. Matthew Heim 21.088
