By: Paul Reichert
July 18, 2025
Modified race vehicles are very unique as they resemble a hybrid of open wheel race cars and stock cars. Until the early 1970s, drivers were able to run their Modified race cars on both dirt and asphalt. Since then a Modified race car is either purposely built for dirt or asphalt, but both cars make for exciting and close quarters racing. The asphalt Modifieds were a regular part of the weekly racing action here at Tomah Sparta Speedway until 2023. Thanks to fan input, track owner Tim Brockhouse decided to bring back the Modifieds for a three race series. Former Modified champion Bill Schott put in a dominant performance to win the opening round of the Modified Mayhem Showdown.
The first feature of the three round Modified Mayhem Showdown saw Nick Quinnell surge past Chuck Muller to claim the top spot on the first lap. Yellow flew on lap four when Corey Swanson bounced off the back straight wall and spun into the infield. Bill Schott powered around Quinnell on the restart to settle into first place. The problems continued for Swanson when his suspension failed down the back straight on lap five and his race came to a halt in turn three. During the red flag period to take care of Swanson’s car, there was a report that another car was leaking fluid. After inspection, the classic vintage modified of Red Wing, MN racer Brian Schott was the culprit and sent to the pits. Quinnell put a lot of pressure on Larry DeVito for second when that battle boiled over on lap ten. Hard contact by Quinnell sent the fast qualifier and new track record holder around in turn three. As Schott began to pull away from the field, Rick DeVito and Muller had a great battle going on over the runner-up spot. Just past the halfway point of the race, Quinnell and Larry DeVito caught up to that duo and made the battle over second even more intense. Muller moved around Rick DeVito into second with nine laps left, and a lap later Larry DeVito powered around his brother for third. Schott had a full straight lead on the field as the 2021 Modified champion fired the first shot in the three race series.
Braxtyn Moore drove by Ashtin Quinnell to take the lead right from the start of the Hornet feature. A yellow slowed Moore’s effort to drive away from his competition on lap four as Paul Finch and Shawn Breese tangled in turn four. Finch tapped out accepting fault for the incident, but he also had to duck into the pits with a flat tire. Finch was able to rejoin the race at the back before the green flew. Moore would have to contend with Peterson on the restart, and Peterson would not let up putting the pressure on the rookie. As that battle heated up Finch was able to track down both Moore and Peterson. As the laps counted down, Peterson began to lose ground to Moore and fell into a battle over second with Finch. Moore enjoyed a leisurely Sunday drive on a Friday night to score his much anticipated first ever feature race win, which was wildly popular with the fans.
The Sixer feature started with a great side-by-side battle between the front row of Curtis Hellickson and Trenton Frye. Frye just nosed ahead of Hellickson to lead the first two laps, but the point leader got a run out of turn two as Hellickson moved into first on lap three. That would give Matt Moore the opportunity to take over second from Frye on lap four and begin his pursuit of Hellickson. It would not take long as Moore powered around Hellickson down the back straight on lap six to settle into the number one position. As Moore began to pull away from the pack, Hellickson would lose second to Frye with six laps left to run. The battle for the point lead was now on the track as Alivia Moore began to reel in Hellickson. Alivia drove around Helickson with two laps to go and eventually moved into the point lead. Back up front Moore pulled away with a sizable advantage for the victory and wrapped up a clean sweep of the division.
Noah Waughtal powered past Trinity Aasen to lead the early going of the High School Racing Association feature. Things were going smoothly until lap five when chaos ensued. The lapped traffic of Tymeka Eisberner and Destiny Schneider did not run the low groove like they are supposed to, and it happened in front of the leaders. Zachary Neal dove to the very bottom in turn three and came out of turn four with the lead. Caleb Arneson followed Neal’s move then powered under Neal down the back straight to move into first on lap six. Fast qualifier James Gratz, who reset the track record earlier in the evening, shot past Neal to take over second on lap nine. Gratz tried to close the distance between him and Arneson, but Arenson was long gone and hit the finish line first for the victory.
The Hippo feature saw a new guest driver compete with the regulars as Adam Moore got behind the wheel of one of these beasts for the first time. Christopher Neal just got ahead of David Estenson to take the lead at the end of the first lap. After starting at the back, Adam Moore made a daring three-wide move between Neal and Estenson down the back straight to find himself in the lead. Kevin Laufenberg also started at the back, but only needed four laps to move into second and seat his sights on Moore. Laufenberg tried to close the gap between him and Moore but was only barely chipping away at Moore’s advantage. No matter what race vehicle Moore gets behind the wheel of, he is able to get it to the front and keep it there. It was a dominant showing in Moore’s debut as he not only won the feature, but scored a clean sweep of the division. Not only was it the third clean sweep for a division on the night, but it was also the third feature race won by a Moore on the night.
The Central Wisconsin Racing Association Late Models return to Tomah Sparta Speedway next Friday, July 25 for their second of three races as we salute a living legend from the past. The great Marv Marzofka will be tributed with a pair of 30 lap feature races for the high powered CWRA drivers. The Sportsmen and Hobby Stocks from Tomah and Elko will clash again in round three of their V8 Border Battle Series, plus the Great North Legends and INEX Bandoleros will also be competing on the newly refurbished race track. Gates open at 5:30, the qualifying battles take to the track at 6 and the high powered close quarters racing takes the green 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 to learn more about Tomah Sparta Speedway and the 2025 schedule of events.
RESULTS
Strike Zone Modifieds
Modified Mayhem Showdown Feature (25 laps): 1. Bill Schott, 2. Larry DeVito, 3. Chuck Muller, 4. Nick Quinnell, 5. Rick DeVito, 6. Kirk Olson, 7. Bryan Schott, 8. Anthony DeVito, 9. Corey Swanson, 10. Brian Schott
Heat #1 (10 laps): 1. Rick DeVito, 2. Anthony DeVito, 3. Brian Schott, 4. Kirk Olson, 5. Bryan Schott
Heat #2 (10 laps): 1. Corey Swanson, 2. Bill Schott, 3. Larry DeVito, 4. Nick Quinnell, 5. Chuck Muller
Qualifying: 1. Larry DeVito 15.239 (New Track Record), 2. Bill Schott 15.260, 3. Corey Swanson 15.276, 4. Nick Quinnell 15.277, 5. Chuck Muller 15.477, 6. Anthony DeVito 15.825, 7. Rick DeVito 15.839, 8. Brian Schott 16.848, 9. Kirk Olson 18.836
Hornets
Feature (20 laps): 1. Braxtyn Moore, 2. Landon Peterson, 3. Paul Finch, 4. Tristan Finnigan, 5. Shawn Breese, 6. Ashtin Quinnell, 7. Joshua Schwartz, 8. A.J. Finnigan
Heat #1 (10 laps): 1. Tristan Finnigan, 2. Joshua Schwartz, 3. Ashtin Quinnell, 4. Tristan Drazkowski, 5 Caleb Uksas, 6. A.J. Finnigan, 7. Glen Bush, Jr., 8. Hunter Bush
Heat #2 (10 laps): 1. Paul Finch, 2. Braxtyn Moore, 3. Landon Peterson, 4. Shawn Breese
Qualifying: 1. Paul Finch 17.411, 2. Shawn Breese 17.498, 3. Landon Peterson 17.560, 4. Braxtyn Moore 17.570, 5. Ashtin Quinnell 17.842, 6. Glen Bush, Jr. 17.909, 7. Tristan Finnigan 18.018, 8. Hunter Bush 18.430, 9. Joshua Schwartz 18.736, 10. Tristan Drazkowski 18.840, 11. A.J. Finnigan 19.270
Sixers
Feature (15 laps): 1. Matt Moore, 2. Trenton Frye, 3. Alivia Moore, 4. Curtis Hellickson, 5. Christopher Neal, 6. Ghage Moore
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Landin Frye, 2. Curtis Hellickson, 3. Ghage Moore, 4. Christopher Neal, 5. Austin Shirk
Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. Matt Moore, 2. Alivia Moore, 3. Trenton Frye, 4. Dustin McCracken
Qualifying: 1. Matt Moore 18.025, 2. Alivia Moore 18.055, 3. Dustin McCracken 18.069, 4. Trenton Frye 18.298, 5. Landin Frye 18.319, 6. Curtis Hellickson 18.335, 7. Christopher Neal 18.589, 8. Ghage Moore 18.719, 9. Austin Shirk 20.655
Finish Line Towing High School Racing Association
Feature (15 laps): 1. Caleb Arneson, 2. James Gratz, 3. Zachary Neal, 4. Noah Waughtal, 5. Adria Day, 6. Trinity Aasen, 7. Lilly Estenson, 8. Izaak Odegard, 9. Parker Thompson. 10. Ryan Allen, 11. Jeremiah Neal, 12. Taylor Aasen, 13. Destiny Schneider, 14. Tymeka Eisberner, 15. Eric Gratz
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Taylor Aasen, 2. Jeremiah Neal, 3. Eric Gratz, 4. Destiny Schneider, 5. Tymeka Eisberner
Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. Noah Waughtal, 2. Lilly Estenson, 3. Ryan Allen, 4. Izaak Odegard, 5. Parker Thompson
Heat #3 (8 laps): 1. Zachary Neal, 2. James Gratz, 3. Adria Day, 4. Caleb Arneson, 5. Trinity Aasen
Qualifying: 1. James Gratz 18.005 (New Track Record), 2. Caleb Arneson 18.279, 3. Adria Day 18.419, 4. Zachary Neal 18.509, 5. Trinity Aasen 18.601, 6. Noah Waughtal 18.706, 7. Lilly Estenson 18.730, 8. Ryan Allen 18.887, 9. Izaak Odegard 18.911, 10. Parker Thompson 19.103, 11. Eric Gratz 19.239, 12. Jeremiah Neal 19.288, 13. Taylor Aasen 19.361, 14. Destiny Schneider 20.097, 15. Tymeka Eisberner 20.768, 16. Russell Allen 22.272
Hippos
Feature (15 laps): 1. Adam Moore, 2. Kevin Laufenberg, 3. James Gratz, 4. Christopher Neal, 5. Glen Bush, Jr., 6. David Estenson
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Adam Moore, 2. Kevin Laufenberg, 3. James Gratz, 4. Christopher Neal, 5. Glen Bush, Jr., 6. David Estenson
Qualifying: 1. Adam Moore 18.989, 2. Kevin Laufenberg 19.119, 3. Christopher Neal 19.335, 4. James Gratz 19.459, 5. David Estenson 20.034, 6. Glen Bush, Jr. 20.130
Novelty
Relay Race (5 laps): 1. Matt Moore and Ghage Moore, 2. Joshua Schwartz and Christopher Neal, 3. David Estenson and Derrick Van Orden, 4. Adria Day and Landin Frye