By: Paul Reichert August 14, 2020
We have had great crowds and great racing action all season long here at Tomah-Sparta Speedway despite the situation we have all been dealing with. No doubt there were big crowds and awesome racing action back in the day when Tomah first opened back in 1964. The Upper Midwest Vintage Racing Series made their annual appearance and transported us back in time to the early years of Tomah when Dick Trickle, Moose Peterson and Jim Back raced here. Veteran racer Ralph Cottone dominated the feature event to score an easy victory.
Ralph Cottone wasted little time in taking the lead at the start of the Upper Midwest Vintage Racing Series feature. Bob Fitzpatrick ran second and stayed within a few car lengths of Cottone. Making his way through the field was Larry Bolster. Bolster got around Darrell Paasch for third on lap three and slowly began to reel in the leaders. By lap six, Bolster would charge past Fitzpatrick for second. Bolster became the new leader two laps later as he powered past Cottone on the outside. Cottone was able to stay close to Bolster after that pass was made. Bolster ran wide coming out of turn two on lap 11 and tagged the outside wall. That allowed Cottone to retake the lead and Fitzpatrick to take over second. While Bolster was forced to retire after that incident, Cottone opened up his advantage on Fitzpatrick. Cottone and his Bobby Allison Coca-Cola retro car could not be stopped as he took the checkered flag, celebrated big in TACU Credit Union Victory Lane and proudly rang the Victory Bell.
The Coors Light Sportsmen feature got off to a rough start as Jake Schiller lost it in turn four. Troy Dobbratz and Mark Challet suffered damage in the aftermath, but Challet was quickly able to make repairs and got back in the race. Bill Schott drove past Schiller to assume the race lead. Jason Backus tangled with Tyler Sauter to bring out the yellow on lap seven. Sauter tapped on the roof of his car, accepting responsibility for the incident. Backus moved back to second on the restart and quickly charged past Schott to claim the race lead. Sauter began to climb back through the field to get back up front. Sauter was helped by a yellow with two laps to go for Henry Vian’s spin in turn four. Backus and Sauter lined up alongside each other for the final restart, but Backus quickly pulled away from Sauter in the final two laps to score his second win of the year. This was Backus’ first appearance since his big wreck back in early June.
Aaron Hendricks shot past rookie Shelby Lockington to take the lead early in the Hobby Stock feature. As Hendricks began to pull away from the field, Andy Moore began to make his way through the field and got up to second by lap three. Just before halfway, Moore caught Hendricks and the pair would battle side-by-side for the rest of the race. It appeared that Moore’s car was struggling to compete on the outside as Hendricks would power ahead out of turn four every time. As the laps clicked off, Moore started feeling racy as he was starting to pull even again with Hendricks. Coming out of turn two on the final lap, Moore got a big run on the outside and powered past Hendricks to take his fifth victory of the season.
Bryan Wallace and Jordan Finch tangled in turn one at the start of the Hornet feature. Andrew Gardner took the lead on the second try to get the race going. Zach Oliver’s problems continued as he spun out from a flat tire on lap four. Sammy Linnehan got a run on the outside of Gardner on lap four to take over the top spot. While the top runners were struggling to make their way through the field, Mason Morphy was scratching and clawing his way to the front. Morphy shot past Linnehan on the outside to claim the race lead on lap seven. Morphy began to build his lead on the field as both Scott Mahlum and point leader Shawn McCarthy finally started to make their way to the front. Mahlum and McCarthy moved into third and fourth with five laps to go, and then they got around Linnehan to move into second and third on the next to last lap. It would be too little too late as Morphy had too much of a lead for them to overcome and captured his first ever feature win at ‘Daytomah’.
Tim Murphy, Sr. battled with Todd Holerud at the start of the TACU Credit Union Six Shooter feature. Josh Myer made an aggressive move in turn one on lap two to take over the top spot. Dan Frye suffered a mechanical issue and dropped out, but his teammate Matt Moore began to climb his way to the front. Moore cracked the top five on lap three, moved up to third by lap five, took over second from Murphy on lap six and drove around Myer on lap seven to settle into the lead. You would think Moore would pull away from Myer over the second half of the race. Instead, Myer was able to keep up with Moore and stayed within four car lengths of the leader. Behind them a hot and heavy battle for third was going on between Dustin McCracken, Al Bartels and Sean Worman. McCracken powered past both Bartels and Worman to claim third with four laps to go. Back up front, Myer was unable to mount a late rally as Moore captured his fourth win of the year.
This week’s Chaos event was the Tire Race, where the competitors had to balance a racing tire on their hood was driving around ‘Daytomah’ for four laps. Dan Frye lost his tire while leading the race, but Matt Moore was able to do the best balancing job to take the win in the race.
Action continues next Friday, August 21 with the Modifieds, Sportsmen, Hobby Stocks, Hornets and Six Shooters. We will get the kids ready for back to school with the annual Backpack Giveaway at intermission. Gates open at 5:00, qualifying starts at 6:00 and the racing action begins 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
Upper Midwest Vintage Racing Series
Feature: 1. Ralph Cottone, 2, Bob Fitzpatrick, 3. Pat Echlin, 4. Darrell Paasch, 5. Justin Jessop, 5. Larry Bolster
Heat #1: 1. Cottone, 2. Jessop, 3. Echlin, 4. Fitzpatrick, 5. Paasch, 6. Bolster
Coors Light Sportsmen
Feature: 1. Jason Backus, 2. Tyler Sauter, 3. Bill Schott, 4. Jake Schiller, 5. Henry Vian Heat #1: 1. Backus, 2. B. Schott, 3. Sauter, 4. Mark Challet, 5. Schiller
Qualifying: 1. Sauter 16.332, 2. Backus, 3. Schiller, 4. Challet, 5. Vian
Hobby Stocks
Feature: 1. Andy Moore, 2. Aaron Hendricks, 3. Alex Rud, 4. Shelby Lockington, 5. Landon Lockington Heat #1: 1. An. Moore, 2. A. Hendricks, 3. Rud, 4. Joey Johnson, 5. S. Lockington
Qualifying: 1. An. Moore 17.955, 2. Austin Schott, 3. Rud, 4. A. Hendricks, 5. S. Lockington
Hornets
Feature: 1. Mason Morphy, 2. Scott Mahlum, 3. Shawn McCarthy, 4. Sammy Linnehan, 5. Jordan Finch Heat #1: 1. J. Finch, 2. Andrew Gardner, 3. Chris Christen, 4. Jim Hendricks, 5. Matt Renning
Heat #2: 1. Mahlum, 2. Linnehan, 3. Morphy, 4. Zach Oliver, 5. Amelia Marshall
Heat #3: 1. Dakota Clauson, 2. Chandler Turner, 3. McCarthy, 4. Bryan Wallace, 5. Paul Finch Qualifying: 1. McCarthy 18.720, 2. Morphy, 3. Turner, 4. Oliver, 5. P. Finch
TACU Credit Union Six Shooters
Feature: 1. Matt Moore, 2. Josh Myer, 3. Dustin McCracken, 4. Al Bartels, 5. Sean Worman Heat #1: 1. Tim Murphy, Sr., 2. J. Myer, 3. Tory Lockington, 4. Todd Holerud, 5. Rick Babcock Heat #2: 1. Dan Frye, 2. Worman, 3. Bartels, 4. Clayton Haessig, 5. Jestin DeLap, Sr.
Heat #3: 1. Charlie Muller, 2. Joshua Zacharias, 3. M. Moore, 4. McCracken, 5. Traton Winecke Qualifying: 1. M. Moore 19.471, 2. Worman, 3. Winecke, 4. Frye, 5. McCracken
Chaos
Tire Race: 1. Matt Moore, 2. Dustin McCracken, 3. Jestin DeLap, Sr., 4. Tim Murphy, Sr., 5. Clayton Haessig
