By: Paul Reichert
June 22, 2025
Every now and again we all need to take a break from our daily lives. Some just need to sit in a quiet place and enjoy the serenity of the moment. Others find an activity that helps to relieve the stress of everyday life. Many drivers from around Wisconsin came to Tomah Sparta Speedway to blow off some steam while entertaining the race fans with some good clean hard hitting competition during the first edition of Wreckfest. All sorts of vehicles came to entertain the race fans despite the warm and windy conditions, but in the end everyone enjoyed a great day of rubbing and racing.
We started with a Burnout Contest as the competitors had 30 seconds to do their smokiest smoke shows. It looked like Daniel Polzin and his 1953 Chevy Pickup Truck would score the win, but Josh Baker and his Mustang Convertible put on one heck of a smoke show to take first place.
The Relay Race featured two drivers competing as a team. One driver ran a lap then hit the rear bumper of his partner and they ran the next lap. That tag-a-thon ran for four laps with the top two from each of the three heats advancing to the feature. Just like they dominated their heat race, the team of Dietrick Ellis and Mike Garms dominated and ran away with the feature victory.
It felt like we were in London for the Double Decker Race. In this race the car on the bottom controls the gas and the break, while the car on top does the steering. The heat race saw Austin Rauch and Trevor Salber run away with the victory over Jamie Cliver and Mark Hagen. Those same two cars met in the feature later. Contact on the last lap got Rauch and Salber beached on one of the tires protecting the newly paved asphalt while Cliver and Hagen drove away to the checkered flag win.
Remember the Australian Pursuit race run back in the 1980s? In that event the car running in last was black flagged until one was left. That is the premise behind the Ultimate Eliminator Race. Three heats were run with the top three advancing to the main event. Some good cars got caught up in incidents during the heats and the feature that knocked them out. In the end, Noah Ulrich outlasted the field in the feature to score the victory.
The Red Rover Race was the most unique race of the day. Drivers started in the turn four zone and had to drive to the turn one zone. They had to avoid being the last car to reach that zone or overshooting that zone. Then they drove in reverse back to the turn four zone while avoiding trying to be that ‘odd driver out’. Four heats were run with each winner going on to the big show. Deitrick Ellis outlasted the competition in the feature to become the Red Rover champion.
The Obstacle Course Race challenged the drivers with two big tractor tires placed on the back straight and coming out of turn four. Each driver had to completely drive around each tractor tire before continuing on their way. We saw the most contacts and action going around those tractor tires. The ‘Ranger Danger’ pick-up of Jace Katzenberger took a tumble down the back straight in one of the heats, but fortunately he came out of the incident unharmed. The top two from the four heat races would run the A-main. Nick Hope had contact with another car that sent him tumbling before even getting to the back straight tire on the first lap of the feature. The good news was that Hope came away from the incident unshaken and unstirred. Noah Ulrich got a good enough start to leave the competition in his dust and take the feature win.
A late addition to the program was the Forwards-Backwards Race. Drivers did the first of three laps normally around the track, then did a 180 on the front straight and ran the second lap in reverse before doing another 180 on the front straight and running the final lap also normally. Two heat races were run with the top two racing one final time. It looked like Noah Ulrich would complete a successful day at Tomah Sparta with another feature win until his car gave up the ghost after doing the second 180. Mike Garms took advantage of Ulrich’s misfortune to hit the finish line in first.
Kick off your 4th of July festivities with us at Tomah Sparta Speedway next Friday, June 27 with the annual running of our Freedom Classic. There will be a lot of on-track fireworks thanks to the Sportsmen, Hobby Stocks, Hornets, Great North Legends, INEX Bandoleros, Crown Vics and the American Super Cup Series. Make sure your kids’ race cars are at peak performance for the next Kids’ Box Car Races that will take place at intermission. We end the night with the biggest aerial fireworks show in Cranberry County thanks to Victory Fireworks. Gates open at 5:30, group qualifying goes live at 6 and the ‘edge of your seat’ racing competition hits the track at 7.
Call the track office at 952-994-1282, visit our website at tomahspartaspeedway.com and be sure to like the track’s Facebook page for more information about Tomah Sparta Speedway and the 2025 schedule of events.
RESULTS
Burnout Contest: 1. Josh Baker, 2. Daniel Polzin, 3. Jace Katzenberger, 4. Jeremiah Aspey
Relay Race
Feature (4 laps): 1. Dietrick Ellis/Mike Garms, 2. Tommy Weaver/Zack Dycus, 3. Jasper Bernarde/Thomas Winker
Heat #1 (4 laps/Top 2 advance): 1. Dietrick Ellis/Mike Garms, 2. Noal Deal/Jeffrey Riddle
Heat #2 (4 laps/Top 2 advance): 1. Tommy Weaver/Zach Dycus, 2. Ron Randal/Trevor Salber
Heat #3 (4 laps/Top 2 advance): 1. Jasper Bernarde/Thomas Winker, 2. Noah Ulrich/Rick Slozes
Double Decker Race
Feature (4 laps): 1. Jamie Cliver/Mark Hagen, 2. Austin Rauch/Trevor Salber
Heat #1 (4 laps): 1. Austin Rauch/Trevor Salber, 2. Jamie Cliver/Mark Hagen
Ultimate Eliminator Race
Feature (10 laps): 1. Noah Ulrich, 2. Jeremiah Aspey, 3. Trevor Salber
Heat #1 (6 laps/Top 3 advance): 1. Noah Ulrich, 2. Jeremiah Aspey, 3. Julia Pirog
Heat #2 (6 laps/Top 3 advance): 1. Kyle Herr, 2. Kaden Schmidt, 3. Jasper Bernarde
Heat #3 (6 laps/Top 3 advance): 1. Trevor Salber, 2. L.J. Hahn, 3. Austin Rauch
Red Rover Race
Feature (4 laps): 1. Dietrick Ellis, 2. Rick Slozes, 3. Justin Holbrook
Heat #1 (4 laps/Winner advances): 1. Noah Ulrich, 2. Julia Pirog, 3. Nick Hope
Heat #2 (4 laps/Winner advances): 1. Deitrick Ellis, 2. Mike Garms, 3. Thomas Winker
Heat #3 (4 laps/Winner advances): 1. Rick Slozes, 2. Tommy Weaver, 3. Noah Deal
Heat #4 (4 laps)/Winner advances): 1. Jamie Cliver, 2. Justin Holbrook, 3. Jace Katzenberger
Obstacle Course Race
Feature (3 laps): 1. Noah Ulrich, 2. Rick Slozes, 3. Nick Randal
Heat #1 (3 laps/Top 2 advance): 1. Noah Ulrich, 2. Eugene Olson
Heat #2 (3 laps/Top 2 advance): 1. L.J. Hahn, 2. Austin Mulligan
Heat #3 (3 laps/Top 2 advance): 1. Nick Randle, 2. Nick Hope
Heat #4 (3 laps/Top 2 advance): 1. Rick Slozes, 2. Justin Holbrook
Forwards-Backwards Race
Feature (3 laps): 1. Mike Garms, 2. Tommy Weaver, 3. Noah Ulrich
Heat #1 (3 laps/Top 2 advance): 1. Tommy Weaver, 2. Mike Garms
Heat #2 (3 laps/Top 2 advance): 1. Noah Ulrich, 2. Justin Holbrook