By: Paul Reichert
June 12, 2020
A ‘chamber of commerce’ day of weather brought out another huge crowd for a third straight week to Tomah-Sparta Speedway to witness for another action packed night of racing. We continue to welcome visiting drivers from Madison, Rockford and Elko to play at ‘Daytomah’. A large contingent of Elko drivers ran in the Hobby Stock division, looking to end Andy Moore’s dominance. While Adam would be behind the wheel of his brother’s car tonight, it led to the same result as the 19 machine beat the ‘Minnesota Mafia’ to capture the win.
A huge group of Power Stock drivers from Elko came to Tomah to race with their own track unsure about when they will race. Ben Gannon started on the pole for the Hobby Stock feature and led the opening two laps. Adam Moore, behind the wheel of his brother’s race car for the night, quickly drove his way up the front as he got past Gannon for first on lap three. Moore was unable to pull away from second as the ‘Minnesota Mafia’ was teaming up to close up on Moore. Gannon, 70 year old Tom Quade, Joe Prusak and Matt Frye hooked up to try to stay on Moore’s tail. Gannon found new life in the closing laps as he began to catch Moore. Thanks to lap traffic, Gannon got to within a car length of Moore. However, that would be as close as Gannon got to Moore as the field crossed the finish line.
The night started with the first ever Powder Puff Race as the ladies got behind the wheel. Tara Frye, driving her husband’s car, battle early on with Carina Hellickson, behind the wheel of Matt Moore’s car. Frye began to slowly pull away, but making her way through the field was Linda DeVoe in Ron Pearson’s Hornet car. DeVoe got by Hellickson for second and slowly began to close down on Frye. As they came upon the lapped car of Allison Hendricks, DeVoe went to the inside entering turn one while Frye went to the high side. When they got to the back straight, DeVoe came out with the race lead. DeVoe pulled away from Frye over the final laps to score her first win after turning her first laps at Tomah the night before. DeVoe proudly skipped her way to ring the Victory Bell in TACU Credit Union Victory Lane.
Brad Wildes took the lead quickly at the start of the Twisted Tea Modified feature. Wildes would open up his advantage on the field as Keenan Shaw and Rick DeVito fought over second. Nick Quinnell and fast qualifier Derrin Salo tried to find an opening to drive past the second place battle, but they continued to wait for that golden opening. Yellow flew on lap twelve when Shaw and DeVito made contact in turn two and tangled. That moved Quinnell up to second and Salo into third. On the restart, Wildes stepped on the gas and pulled away to capture his second win of the season.
Jason Backus and Bill Schott renewed their week one battle in the Coors Light Sportsmen feature. This time around the lead was a hot potato. First Backus showed the way, then it was Schott in the top spot before Backus took it back on lap seven. Schott got loose coming out of turn two on lap ten, allowing Backus to pull away. The Sportsmen ran their feature within the Modified feature, and when Shaw and DeVito tangled in turn two Backus was too late to make a move and ran right into both cars. That gave the lead to Schott, but his time up front did not last long on the restart as Dave Trute powered past Schott to take the race lead. Known as the top Sportsmen driver in Wisconsin for several years, Trute drove away with the victory.
In the Hornet feature, Paul Finch started on the pole and jumped out to the early lead. Finch, who was behind the wheel of point leader Ron Pearson’s car, started to open up his advantage on the field. A driver on the move in the feature was rookie Zach Oliver. Oliver followed Finch’s tire tracks and motored past Mason Morphy for second just before the mid-race mark. Morphy fell out of the top three on lap ten as Shawn McCarthy took over third. Oliver closed to within five car lengths of the 2019 Mini-Stock Champ, but Finch was unstoppable as he crossed the finish line to claim the win in his first race of the season
Tristan Drazkowski led the way early on in the TACU Credit Union Six Shooter feature. Draz Jr., who was making his season debut, pulled out to a healthy lead as the field got the crossed flags at halfway. Making their way through the field yet again were Matt Moore and Dan Frye. Some might think of them as teammates, but it always seem that they work together well.. Both drivers got up to second and third just before haflway and began to close up on Drazkowski. Moore went to the high side to drive his way by Drazkowski for the lead with five laps to go. Two laps later, Frye got around Draz Jr. for second. Moore left the field in his wake in the final laps as he captured his second straight win.
Action continues next Friday, June 19 with Tomah-Sparta Speedway’s biggest event of the season, the 6th Annual Tim Myer Memorial Shootout. The Twisted Tea Modifieds, Coors Light Sportsmen, Hobby Stocks, Hornets and TACU Credit Union Six Shooters will compete for the chance to win in this prestigious event and remember one of Tomah’s best drivers ever. After making their debut at LaCrosse recently, the High School Racing Association will run their first race at Tomah. Gates open at 5:00, qualifying starts at 6:15 and racing takes the green flag 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. Brad Wildes, 2. Nick Quinnell, 3. Derrin Salo, 4. Anthony DeVito, 5. Rick DeVito
Heat 1: 1. Quinnell, 2. R. DeVito, 3. Salo
Qualifying: 1. Salo, 2. Brad Wildes, 3. Quinnell
Coors Light Sportsmen
Feature: 1. Dave Trute, 2. Bill Schott, 3. Jason Backus
Heat 1: 1. Backus, 2. B. Schott, 3. Trute
Qualifying: 1. Backus, 2. B. Schott, 3. Trute
Hobby Stocks
Feature: 1. Adam Moore, 2. Ben Gannon, 3. Tom Quade, 4. Joe Prusak, 5. Matt Frye
Heat 1: 1. Austin Schott, 2. Alex Rud, 3. Tyler Stuber
Heat 2: 1. Ad. Moore, 2. Prusak, 3. M. Frye
Qualifying: 1. Ad. Moore, 2. M. Frye, 3. Tom Quade
Hornets
Feature: 1. Paul Finch, 2. Zach Oliver, 3. Shawn McCarthy, 4. Bryan Wallace, 5. Mason Morphy
Heat 1: 1. Jordan Finch, 2. Sammy Linnehan, 3. Scott Mahlum
Heat 2: 1. Kyle Riedner, 2. Amelia Marshall, 3. Wallace
Qualifying: 1. Finch, 2. Oliver, 3. McCarthy
TACU Credit Union Six Shooters
Feature: 1. Matt Moore, 2. Dan Frye, 3. Tristan Drazkowski, 4. Steven Mueller, 5. Tim Murphy, Sr.
Heat 1: 1. Joshua Zacharias, 2. Sean Worman, 3. Conrad Joe Nelson
Heat 2: 1. Emery Groves, 2. Murphy, Sr., 3. Cameron Riggs
Heat 3: 1. Dustin McCracken, 2. Mueller, 3. M. Moore
Qualifying: 1. M. Moore, 2. Drazkowski, 3. D. Frye
Powder Puff Race: 1. Linda K. DeVoe, 2. Tara Frye, 3. Sylvia Wippenfurth, 4. Carina Hellickson, 5. Allison Hendricks, 6. Kaitlyn Wood
