By: Paul Reichert August 6, 2021
As we enter the dog days of summer the crowds continue to make their way to Tomah Sparta Speedway to enjoy the action packed racing that has made this track what is has been for over 50 years. The crowd is always excited to see a driver capture their first race win, no matter if it is a heat race or the feature. Brandon Adams may have started a new trend with his first ever feature win in last week’s Six Shooter Mania event. We saw three first time winners at ‘Daytomah’ in the heat races earlier in the night, and Chad Leis fought off the field over the final four laps to score his first ever Hobby Stock feature win.
The start of the Hobby Stock feature featured a hard fought back and forth battle for the lead between Chad Leis and Alex Rud. Leis finally got a run out of turn two to surge ahead of Rud and take control of the top spot on lap three. Rud would stick right behind Leis after that and waited for the right moment to take the lead back. As those two fought over the race lead Andy Moore was coming through the field but not in his usual ride. Moore moved up to third by lap seven in his first time running the car previously driven by Brandon Gallagher. Mike Krueger, Jr. was sticking right behind Moore as they ran in tandem through traffic. After battling Moore for several laps Krueger, Jr. powered past Moore and took over third with six laps to go. Krueger, Jr. stuck to the outside lane as he got ahead of Rud for second. Krueger, Jr. tried several times to get around Leis, but Leis got a good run out of the turns to hold on to the lead and score his first career feature victory at ‘Daytomah’.
In the Clark Powersport of Hillsboro Modified feature Larry DeVito charged past brother Rick for the number one position at the start. Last week’s feature winner Kevin Seidler lost control coming out of turn two and bounced off the back straight wall to bring out the yellow flag on lap two. Derrin Salo quickly got around Rick DeVito for second on the restart and set his sights on Larry DeVito for the lead. Salo needed only two laps to catch the rear of DeVito’s car then moved to the outside to power around him to become the race leader. While Salo began to pull away from the field Bill Schott was closing the gap on Larry DeVito. Schott tried to look under DeVito for the runner-up spot but they made contact that allowed DeVito to get away from Schott. Salo was long gone as he cruised to an easy second win of the year.
Dan Frye surged ahead of Jim Hendricks, Jr. for the lead at the start of the Sportsmen feature. Hendricks, Jr. would stick close behind Frye like he always does and tried to make a race out of it. Hendricks, Jr. was looking for a way by Frye for the lead but could not find room under him or get a good run on the outside. Hendricks got loose coming out of turn two with five laps to go and that allowed
Frye to open up his lead. Frye would pull away over the final five laps to drive and take the checkered flag first for win number five.
In the Oops! Saloon and Grill by Angie Hornet feature first time heat race winner Justin Marshall settled into the top spot at the start. Marshall was doing his best to hold off a huge swarm of cars behind him that were hungry to take the lead. Matt Bean was one of those drivers in that swarm and he pushed a little too hard. On lap six he tried to go low on Marshall but instead they made contact and spun out in turn two. Shawn McCarthy assumed the number one position on the restart and began to pull away. Tristan Drazkowski did his best to keep pace with the defending track champion but would be caught by Sammy Linnehan at the midway point. Rookie Jamie Pearson was running at a torrid pace as he shot past his fellow competitors to get all the way up to third with four laps to go. Pearson would battle Linnehan for second on the final lap, but McCarthy was far and away the class of the field as he notched his first victory of the season.
In the TACU Credit Union Six Shooter feature Devin Glass shot past Tory Lockington to lead at the start. Glass was pulling away from the field as Matt Moore began to make his way through traffic to move into second place by lap four. Just as Moore was making his move around Glass to take over the lead the yellow flag came out as Austyn Blank spun out in turn one. Moore wasted little time on the restart as he shot past Glass to settle into the lead. Shortly after that move Glass began to fall deep into the field as Charles Vian, Jr. and Tim Murphy, Sr. took over second and third places. Back up front Moore had a ‘Sunday drive’ on a Friday night as he hit the finish line first for the fourth time in 2021.
Joey Miller took the early race lead in the High School Racing Association feature. Curtis Hellickson drove around Miller in turn two to assume command of the race on lap two. Mitchell Berg was quickly cutting through the traffic to challenge Hellickson for the lead. Kelsey Clements drove into turn three a bit too hard and tagged the outside wall on lap seven to bring out the caution. Berg needed only two laps on the restart to shoot past Hellickson to move into the race lead. Berg would leave the field in his wake down the stretch and claim the victory.
This week’s Chaos event was the wild and wacky Outhouse Race, where the drivers had to stop and grab a certain length of toilet paper before finishing their lap. The comical part of the race was when Matt Moore forgot to cinch up and had some paper stuck to him when he exited the porta potty. Clayton Haessig was the first to go and he turned the fastest time in the race to claim the “King of the Porta Potty” throne.
Bring yourself and the kids out early to Tomah Sparta Speedway next Friday, August 13 for another round of Kids’ Rides following qualifying. Give the kids a night they will never forgot as they have the chance to ride in a real race car. The Modifieds, Sportsmen, Hobby Stocks, Hornets and Six Shooters will
be a part of the racing program that night. Gates open at 5, qualifying fires up at 6 and the door handle to door handle racing action begins at 7:30.
Please call the track office at 608-461-1920, visit our web site at tomahspartaspeedway.com or check out the track’s Facebook page for more information about Tomah-Sparta Speedway and the 2021 schedule of events.
RESULTS Hobby Stocks
Feature (15 laps): 1. Chad Leis, 2. Mike Kreuger, Jr. 3. Andy Moore, 4. Alex Rud, 5. Aaron Hendricks, 6. Shelby Lockington, 7. Jason Bolster
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Shelby Lockington, 2. Aaron Hendricks, 3. Alex Rud, 4. Mike Krueger, Jr., 5. Jason Bolster, 6. Andy Moore, 7. Chad Leis, 8. Andy Muller
Qualifying: 1. Jason Bolster, 2. Andy Moore, 3. Alex Rud, 4. Chad Leis, 5. Aaron Hendricks, 6. Andy Muller, 7. Shelby Lockington, 8. Mike Krueger, Jr. (NO TIME)
Clark Powersport of Hillsboro Modifieds
Feature (15 laps): 1. Derrin Salo, 2. Larry DeVito, 3. Bill Schott, 4. Rick DeVito, 5. Kevin Seidler Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Larry DeVito, 2. Bill Schott, 3. Derrin Salo, 4. Kevin Seidler, 5. Rick DeVito Qualifying: 1. Kevin Seidler, 2. Derrin Salo, 3. Bill Schott, 4. Larry DeVito, 5. Rick DeVito
Sportsmen
Feature (15 laps): 1. Dan Frye, 2. Jim Hendricks, Jr. Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Dan Frye, 2. Jim Hendricks, Jr. Qualifying: 1. Jim Hendricks, Jr., 2. Dan Frye
Oops! Saloon and Grill by Angie Hornets
Feature (15 laps): 1. Shawn McCarthy, 2. Jamie Pearson, 3. Sammy Linnehan, 4. Paul Finch, 5. Tristan Drazkowski, 6. Greg Oliver, 7. Jim Hendricks, Sr., 8. Justin Marshall, 9. Bryan Wallace, 10. Mason Morphy, 11. Zach Oliver, 12. Matt Bean
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Justin Marshall, 2. Tristan Drazkowski, 3. Zach Oliver, 4. Jim Hendricks, Sr., 5. Greg Oliver
Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. Sammy Linnehan, 2. Paul Finch, 3. Bryan Wallace, 4. Shawn McCarthy, 5. Jamie Pearson, 6. Mason Morphy
Qualifying: 1. Shawn McCarthy, 2. Mason Morphy, 3. Paul Finch, 4. Jamie Pearson, 5. Sammy Linnehan, 6. Bryan Wallace, 7. Zach Oliver, 8. Tristan Drazkowski, 9. Matt Bean, 10. Greg Oliver, 11. Justin Marshall, 12. Jim Hendricks, Sr.
TACU Credit Union Six Shooters
Feature (15 laps): 1. Matt Moore, 2. Charles Vian, Jr., 3. Tim Murphy, Sr., 4. Joshua Zacharias, 5. Chuck Muller, 6. Tory Lockington, 7. Mike Gratz, 8. Clayton Haessig, 9. Todd Holerud, 10. Matt Heim, 11. Landon Lockington, 12. Peter Thompson, 13. Cameron Riggs, 14. Chris Brown, 15. Jonathan Walling, 16. Brian Gardner, 17. Austyn Blank, 18. Devin Glass, 19. Andrew Moore, 20. Taylor McMullen
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Chris Brown, 2. Jonathan Walling, 3. Matt Heim, 4. Austyn Blank, 5. Brian Gardner, 6. Ashley Tauscher
Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. Taylor McMullen, 2. Tim Murphy, Sr., 3. Clayton Haessig, 4. Tory Lockington, 5. Joshua Zacharias, 6. Landon Lockington, 7. Andrew Moore
Heat #3 (8 laps): 1. Matt Moore, 2. Devin Glass, 3. Chuck Muller, 4. Peter Thompson, 5. Todd Holerud, 6. Mike Gratz, 7. Cameron Riggs
Qualifying: 1. Matt Moore, 2. Taylor McMullen, 3. Chuck Muller, 4. Cameron Riggs, 5. Andrew Moore, 6. Todd Holerud, 7. Joshua Zacharias, 8. Peter Thompson, 9. Clayton Haessig, 10. Mike Gratz, 11. Tory Lockington, 12. Devin Glass, 13. Tim Murphy, Sr., 14. Landon Lockington, 15. Matt Heim, 16. Austyn Blank, 17. Brian Gardner, 18. Chris Brown, 19. Ashley Tauscher, 20. Jonathan Walling, 21. Charles Vian, Jr. (NO TIME)
High School Racing Association
Feature (10 laps): 1. Mitchell Berg, 2. Dawsynn Frye, 3. Bryadon Lockington, 4. Joey Miller, 5. Curtis Hellickson, 6. Seth Gnewikow, 7. Charlie Thompson, 8. Kelsey Clements, 9. McKenna Rudolph
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Curtis Hellickson, 2. Mitchell Berg, 3. Braydon Lockington, 4. Seth Gnewikow, 5. Charlie Thompson, 6. Dawsynn Frye, 7. Joey Miller, 8. Kelsey Clements, 9. McKenna Rudolph
Qualifying: 1. Mitchell Berg, 2. Braydon Lockington, 3. Dawsynn Frye, 4. Seth Gnewikow, 5. Charlie Thompson, 6. Curtis Hellickson, 7. Kelsey Clements, 8. Joey Miller, 9. McKenna Rudolph
Chaos
Outhouse Race: 1. Clayton Haessig, 2. Mike Gratz, 3. Alex Rud, 4. Jonathan Walling, 5. Tristan Drazkowski, 6. Tim Murphy, Sr., 7. Andrew Lamb, 8. Rick Porter, 9. Matt
