By: Paul Reichert September 4, 2020
The COVID-19 situation may have played havoc with the start of the 2020 racing season at Tomah Sparta Speedway, but the ending to this most interesting season would be a very memorable one. Some of the biggest crowds ever were seen throughout the season at ‘Daytomah’–including tonight, as well as large fields keeping the pits full throughout the season. Sadly, the 2020 racing season came to its conclusion on Friday night but not without some exciting racing to end the season. Bill Schott, Alex Rud, Shawn McCarthy and Jestin DeLap, Sr. conquered their season long point battles to claim their first career track championships, while Brad Wildes and Dan Frye remained the drivers to beat as they repeated as their respective division champions.
Derrin Salo charged past Rick DeVito to lead early in the Twisted Tea Modified feature. Fast qualifier Nick Quinnell got around DeVito for second on lap three, while Brad Wildes worked the outside groove to also get around DeVito for third a lap later. Quinnell and Wildes got into their own battle for second while Salo was comfortably pulling away from both of them. Wildes tried the outside lane to get around Quinnell, but it was not working. Wildes tried to dive low, but Quinnell stood his ground and kept a tight hold on the runner-up spot. With the laps clicking away, Wildes again began to pressure Quinnell into a mistake. Quinnell would hold onto second as Salo drove off with his third victory of the year. Wildes ran third and claimed a second straight season championship.
In the Coors Light Sportsmen feature, Jason Backus was shot out of cannon down the back straight to assume command of the race. Jake Schiller got around Mark Challet for second on lap two. A lap later Challet got very squirrely out of turn two and nearly collided with Bill Schott. After reaching the halfway point of the race, Schiller was trying his best to catch race leader Backus. Over the final few laps, Schiller was making up a little more ground on Backus. Schiller closed up a little more as he worked around the lapped car of Troy Dobbartz. Backus kept Schiller in his rear view to claim his third win of the season. Schott finshied third and comfortably locked up the 2020 championship.
Aaron Hendricks shot past Tyler Stuber to take the lead at the start of the 20 lap Hobby Stock feature. Austin Schott and Mark Challet moved up to second and third by lap two, but were not making up any ground on Hendricks. Challet tried to go to the high side for several laps, but was unable to make the pass to get around Schott. Alex Rud took over fourth on lap six and started to slowly catch up to the battle for second. Challet was still looking for a way around Schott with Rud breathing down his neck. Rud stuck to the inside line and powered by Challet to settle into the number three spot with seven laps to go. With five to go, Rud began to challenge his own teammate for second. Even trying to use the lapped car of Shelby Lockington did not help Rud catch Schott. Hendricks was large and in change on his way to his first feature win of the season. Rud did some well deserved burnouts as he followed up his Rookie of Year crown last year with his first ever track championship.
In the 20 lap Hornet feature, Josh Schaller made quick work of Zach Oliver to assume the lead. Bryan Wallace took over third on lap four as the top three were separated by equal distance. Coming out of the pack on lap six was Andy Barney, driving his daughter Jaydin Schock’s car. Just before halfway Barney roared past Wallace to move into third. Barney began to close quickly on Oliver and charged past the 10 machine to take over second with seven laps to go. Fast qualifier Mason Morphy was following Barney’s tire tracks as he wrestled third away from Oliver a lap later. Meanwhile back up front, Schaller was in the next county as he ran away with his second feature win in the last three weeks. Morphy got loose in turn three and that allowed Oliver to take back third at the finish. Shawn McCarthy finished sixth in the feature, but that would be good enough to capture his first championship title.
A chaotic start to the 20 lap TACU Credit Union Six Shooter feature saw Landon Lockington turn Jestin DeLap, Sr. down the back straight while Tim Murphy, Sr. made contact with the turn three wall. The second try did not work out well either as Josh Myer tagged the outside wall hard coming out of turn two. Almost immediately, Myer climbed out of his car just fine as he collected parts and pieces from his accident. After battling side-by-side on the third try, Traton Winecke took advantage of Todd Holerud running wide in turn two to become the leader on lap three. Matt Moore was quickly making his way through the field and took over second from Holerud on lap six. Moore spent the next six laps closing the gap on Winecke. Moore moved to the outside but was struggling to get around Winecke. As they came up on the lapped car of Mike Morrison, Moore went outside again and powered by Winecke for the lead with five laps to go. Winecke was keeping up with Moore even through lap traffic, but Moore would not be stopped from claiming win number six on the season. Dan Frye got up to the third in the end, and that was good enough to secure the division championship for a second consecutive season.
In the High School Racing Association feature, Braydon Lockington shot to the top spot right from the green flag. Mitchell Berg moved into second on lap three and began to challenge Lockington for the lead. Berg tried to go to the outside groove on lap five. It looked like Berg would be the new leader, but he ran too hard through turn four and allowed Lockington to hold onto the race lead. Ashton Kinsey took over third by lap five, and started to close the distance on the leaders. Berg tried to mount even more pressure on Lockington for the lead down the stretch. Berg drifted wide in turn four coming to the white flag and allowed Lockington to drive away with his first HSRA victory.
The final event of the year for the Chaos Division was the Double Spin to Win race. Jestin DeLap, Sr. completed his spins the quickest to hold onto the top spot. DeLap, Sr. would have to fight off the challenges of Dustin McCracken to claim the win. For the second straight year we had a tie for the championship. It came down to second place finishes between DeLap, Sr. and McCracken. After finishing runner-up in the other two Chaos events, DeLap, Sr. claimed the Chaos division championship.
Four and six cylinder cars will converge on Tomah Sparta Speedway on Saturday, September 26 for the ‘Daytomah 200’ enduro, the final event of the 2020 season. If you are interested in participating, please check out the web site for the rules and all the info on the ‘Daytomah 200’. 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. Derrin Salo, 2. Nick Quinnell, 3. Brad Wildes, 4. Rick DeVito, 5. Antonio DeVito Heat #1: 1. Wildes, 2. Quinnell, 3. Salo, 4. R. DeVito, 5. A. DeVito
Qualifying: 1. Quinnell 16.339, 2. Wildes, 3. Salo, 4. R. DeVito, 5. A DeVito
Coors Light Sportsmen
Feature: 1. Jason Backus, 2. Jake Schiller, 3. Bill Schott, 4. Mark Challet, 5. Troy Dobbartz Heat #1: 1. Challet, 2. Schiller, 3. B. Schott, 4. Backus, 5. Dobbratz
Qualifying: 1. Backus 16.415, 2. Schiller, 3. B. Schott, 4. Challet, 5. Dobbratz
Hobby Stocks
Feature: 1. Aaron Hendricks, 2. Austin Schott, 3. Alex Rud, 4. Mark Challet, 5. Tyler Stuber, 6. Shelby Lockington
Heat #1: 1. A. Hendricks, 2. Rud, 3. Challet, 4. Stuber, 5. A. Schott, 6. Melchiori, 7. S. Lockington Qualifying: 1. Challet 18.535, 2. A. Hendricks, 3. Rud, 4. Mark Melchiori, 5. A. Schott, 6. Stuber, 7. S. Lockington
Hornets
Feature: 1. Josh Schaller, 2. Andy Barney, 3. Zach Oliver, 4. Mason Morphy, 5. Bryan Wallace Heat #1: 1. Oliver, 2. Wallace, 3. Morphy, 4. Barney, 5. Dakota Clauson
Heat #2: 1. Schaller, 2. Shawn McCarthy, 3. Amelia Marshall, 4. Scott Mahlum, 5. Jordan Finch Qualifying: 1. Morphy 18.607, 2. McCarthy, 3. Barney, 4. Schaller. 5. Oliver
TACU Credit Union Six Shooters
Feature: 1. Matt Moore, 2. Traton Winecke, 3. Dan Frye, 4. Dustin McCracken, 5. Sean Worman Heat #1: 1. John Clauson, 2. Josh Myer, 3. Zach Schadde, 4. Devin Glass, 5. Mark Morrison
Heat #2: 1. Dan Frye, 2. Tim Murphy, Sr., 3. Worman, 4. Landon Lockington, 5. Austin Powers Heat #3: 1. Joshua Zacharias, 2. McCracken, 3. Al Bartels, 4. M. Moore, 5. Winecke Qualifying: 1. M. Moore 19.435, 2. Worman, 3. DeLap, 4. Burbach, 5. Winecke
High School Racing Association
Feature: 1. Braydon Lockington, 2. Mitchell Berg, 3. Ashton Kinsey, 4. Dawsynn Richmond, 5. Joey Miller Heat #1: 1. Berg, 2. Lockington, 3. Kinsey, 4. Richmond, 5. Miller
Chaos
Double Spin to Win Race: 1. Jestin DeLap, Sr., 2. Dustin McCracken, 3.Tim Murphy, Sr., 4. Dan Frye, 5. Matt Moore, 6. Jonathan Burbach, 7. Clayton Haessig
