By: Paul Reichert
September 6, 2024
Back in April at Tomah-Sparta Speedway’s preseason staff meeting, the schedule was unveiled with three enduro races taking place before the start of season, in the middle of the season and after the season came to its conclusion. Several staff members talked about doing a season championship for the enduro drivers with this triple crown of enduro races at Tomah-Sparta. So you have the staff of ‘Your Hometown Race Track’ to thank for this special series for our enduro drivers. The big question in the Daytomah 200 Enduro was “Who wants to lead?” as a driver took the lead but later suffered some sort of mechanical issue that put them laps down or out of the race for good. A newcomer to enduro racing had a surprisingly strong car as Rob Dubnecay was the last man standing from the leader ‘hot potato’ to capture the Daytomah 200 victory in just his second ever enduro race.
Before we started the field of 43 drivers on their 200 lap nonstop journey, we held an Ugly Contest and a Beauty Contest for the best and worst looking cars. Levi Thompson was crowned the worst car at Tomah-Sparta Speedway in the Ugly Contest, while Travis Herber and his pristine white car was the most beautiful car in Cranberry Country. The race got off to a fast start with Garett Strachota, tied for the lead in the Triple Crown standings, surged into the top spot. Matt Moore, who had a rough go in the Summer Sizzle enduro in July, was able to power around Strachota for the lead position on lap four. There was early smoking trouble for Louie Ansolabehere, who came to a stop in turn one on lap five to cause the first stoppage of the night. Luckily there was no fire in the 66 machine and it was pushed into the infield. Red returned on lap 25 when Charlie Thompson was sitting nose first in the front straight wall. Thompson, Richard Weber and Alex Liebsch tangled with each other and that was the reason for the predicament Thompson was in. Strachota needed just a lap after the restart to charge back by Moore to retake the lead on lap 26. While Strachota was having a great ride, Dylan Sather took a wild roll down the front straight on lap 28 after colliding with another car. After the wreck Sather was able to drive back to the pits, make repairs and eventually return to action. Luke Geisler, last year’s Big Cheese Enduro winner at LaCrosse, met up with the turn three wall on lap 63 to end his night sooner than he wanted. Charles Vian, Jr. got spun out in turn four and tagged the outside wall hard to stop the action on lap 79. Vian, Jr. was able to keep going but only lasted about ten more laps before his night came to an early finish. A new player entered the lead spot on lap 83 as the blue 77 of Rob Dubnecay powered by the black 77 of Strachota. Shortly after that pass Strachota suddenly slowed on the back straight with an issue on his car that brought his quest for the win and the championship to an abrupt halt. Zach Liebsch’s struggles in the race came to an end when he backed his machine into the turn four wall on lap 91.
22 cars were still running as the crossed flags were displayed with Rob Dubnecay showing the way. Soon Dubnecay would have to contend with a constant threat in any enduro in the form of Troy Tuma. The winner of the Impact Survival Series enduro at Norway, MI a few weeks ago would surge ahead of Dubnecay down the back straight to become the newest leader of the pack on lap 104. Tuma had to narrowly avoid a collision between Addyson Botcher and Charlie Thompson on the front straight on lap 141, which got quickly broken up. The red flag brought racing to a halt 34 laps from the end when Christina Barnett hit the wall at the end of the front straight. Barnett somehow was able to fire up her car again, get back to racing and incredibly finished in 7th despite not being at a speedy race pace. Moments before that red was displayed Tuma suddenly pulled into the infield with a mechanical issue that prevented him from bagging another enduro win. Once he was able to get himself back on the lead lap, Dubnecay took over command of the race on lap 167. The red flag appeared one last time with just 18 laps to go when Cole Strasser came to rest against the turn three wall. Strasser’s paint scheme paid homage to Cole Trickle and his City Chevrolet car from Days of Thunder, which marks the 35th anniversary of its release next year. It would be any easy drive for Dubnecay the rest of the way as he hit the finish line in first place in just his second ever enduro race. Not only would Dubnecay proudly ring the VIctory Bell in TACU Credit Union Victory Lane, but Alex Liebsch and his 27 cow machine got to ring it as well. Liebsch came home in second place, albeit four laps in arrears, to become the inaugural Tomah-Sparta Enduro Triple Crown Champion.
With the running of the Daytomah 200 Enduro in the books, we have reached the end of the 2024 racing season. Track promoter Greg Oliver wants to thank everyone for being a part of another successful racing season at Tomah-Sparta Speedway this year. From the race teams for putting on an action packed and thrilling show every Friday night, to the race fans for making the choice to spend their Friday nights supporting ‘Your Hometown Race Track’. From the entire track staff and their hard work to put on the best possible show week in and week out, to the sponsors who support the local auto racing scene and help to keep Tomah-Sparta Speedway a great entertainment destination.
If you have not liked the track’s Facebook page, make sure you do today. For starters the announcement will be coming soon on when the form for the 2024 Champions Banquet will be available on tomahspartaspeedway.com. This year’s Champions Banquet will take place on Saturday, October 26 and will happen once again at Club 16 in Sparta. The track’s Facebook page will be the best source to keep up to date during the offseason on the upcoming 2025 season, which will tentatively start in May.
RESULTS
Daytomah 200 Enduro (200 laps): 1. Rob Dubnecay 200, 2. Alex Liebsch 196, 3. Tim Peterson 195, 4. Shawn Carpenter 192, 5. Wyatt Lenser 186, 6. Jon Francois 181, 7. Christina Barnett 181, 8. Brianna Duda 181, 9. A.J. Finnigan 178, 10. Travis Herber 178, 11. Addyson Botcher 174, 12. Charlie Thompson 167, 13. Troy Tuma 166, 14. Tim Schmitz 166, 15. Marshall Rohrer 160, 16. Isaiah Holzer 143, 17. Eric Breitenfeldt 143, 18. Seth Scholl 124, 19. Garrett Strachota 91, 20. Charles Vian, Jr. 85, 21. Scott Riedner 84, 22. Cole Strasser 81, 23. Dustin Grozkreutz 75, 24. Dylan Sather 74, 25. Austin Finnigan 73, 26. James Gratz 71, 27. Zachary Neal 64, 28. Zach Liebsch 59, 29. Scott Duda 56, 30. Luke Geisler 54, 31. Tristan Finnigan 51, 32. Dalton Finnigan 45, 33. Monty Odegard 43, 34. Jeremiah Jacobson 36, 35. Alex Klawitter 32, 36. Matt Moore 28, 37. Levi Thompson 25, 38. Joe Rogich 23, 39. Eli Kappauf 23, 40. Chris Sather 19, 41. Richard Weber 11, 42. Cole Baker 9, 43. Louie Ansolabehere 4
