By: Paul Reichert
May 14, 2021
After enjoying an exciting Chill Chaser Enduro on New Years’ Day at Tomah-Sparta Speedway despite the cold weather, the warmer weather has finally arrived and it is ready to usher in the 2021 racing season. This season will be filled with lots of excitement with new faces, new drivers in new divisions and even a brand new division debuting in 2021. Bill Schott started his 2020 season winning the first Sportsmen of the season en route to claiming both the Rookie of the Year and track championship titles in the division. Will it be deja vu all over again for ‘Fire Marshall’ Bill? Schott fought off the challenges of the top Modified drivers in the division to capture his first ever Modified feature win.
Bill Schott charged past Dan Howard to take the lead at the start of the Twisted Tea Modified feature. While Schott was opening up his advantage on the field, Howard was doing everything he could to hold onto the runner-up spot. A very hungry Nick Quinnell was looking high and low on Howard to wrestle away second. Coming from the back of the field, Derrin Salo charged up to fourth by lap six. As Schott maintained his lead on the field, the fight over second and third was getting hot and heavy. Quinnell was doing everything he could to find a way by Howard for second, and Salo was doing the same to take away third from Quinnell. Just past halfway, fast qualifier Denny Schott joined the fray to make it a more intense battle. With three laps to go, contact was made in turns one and two between Howard and Quinnell. Howard would slide back to fifth as Quinnell, Salo and Schott charged by him. Back up front, Bill Schott kept his distance from the field to drive away with his first ever Modified feature victory in his car’s first race.
Mark Challet led the early going of the Coors Light Sportsmen feature as he drove around Jack Larson. The ‘Minnesota Mafia’ made their presence known at ‘Daytomah’ as they made quick work of Larson on lap two. Keith Paulsrud led the way with Dillon Sellner and fast qualifier Jeremy Wolff in hot pursuit. Sellner moved to the outside of Paulsrud and drove around him to move into second on lap three. Sellner would quickly catch up to Challet and use the outside lane again to take over the lead on lap four. Two laps later Paulsrud powered his way around Challet to move into the number two position. Wolff would quickly dispatch with Challet to settle into fourth on lap eight. Wolff tried to find a way around Paulsrud in the second half of the race, but would not get that golden opportunity. Challet would have his hands full down the stretch with the debuting Dan Frye in the ex-Tyler Sauter ride. Sellner kept his lead of about four car lengths over Paulsrud in the final laps as the 2020 Tim Myer Memorial winner scored the win.
Minnesota drivers would also play factors in the Hobby Stock feature. Iowa driver Michael Quimby would lead the opening laps of the race before being caught and passed for the lead on lap four by Jesse Fischer. Nick Oxborough was slicing and dicing his way through the field as he was seeking the lead. On lap eight, Oxborough surged past Fischer to become the new leader. On Oxborough’s tail for the next few laps was HobbyFest champion Andy Moore. It all came to a head with five laps to go as the two made contact and spun out in turn four. Both drivers were sent to the back, and Fischer took over the lead. Right off the restart Fischer would be challenged by Mike Krueger Jr. Krueger Jr. nosed ahead at the line on laps 12 and 13, but Fischer fought back to reassume the lead coming to the white flag. Krueger Jr. went to the top side on Fischer and powered by him down the back straight to see the checkered flag first.
Dakota Clauson wrestled the top spot away from Bryan Wallace to lead the early going of the Hornet feature. On the move through the field was Mason Morphy. The new ‘bumble bee’ yellow on his race car made him easy to spot as he buzzed his way through the field. By lap six Morphy caught and passed Wallace to take over the runner-up spot. Morphy quickly began to track down Clauson and used the outside groove to power his way by to assume the race lead on lap eight. As Morphy built up his lead on the field, Clauson fell back into the clutches of both Wallace and Zach Oliver as a three-way fight over second ensued. Morphy checked out on the field as he captured the first feature race of the season.
Joshua Zacharias took the race lead at the start of the TACU Credit Union Six Shooter feature. As Zacharias opened up his lead, a battle over second developed between Al Bartels, Jestin Delap Sr. and newcomer Brandon Adams. Six laps into the race, that trio would have to contend with the division’s ‘big dogs’ in the form of Matt Moore and Dustin McCracken. After juking and jiving their way through the traffic, Moore and McCracken took to the high line and disposed of that trio to take over second and third by lap nine. Both drivers were quickly eating away at Zacharias’ lead over the next few laps before Moore powered his way around Zacharias to assume the top spot with three to go. A lap later McCracken would follow suit and take the number two spot from Zacharias. Moore pulled away from McCracken down the stretch to hit the finish line first.
The new division debuting on opening night was the Soccer Moms. This division is a new variation of the Powder Puff race using the Mini Van division that runs at LaCrosse. Carina Hellickson took the lead at the start of the ten lap feature. Just when it looked like Hellickson would drive away with the division’s first feature, she would have to contend with Brittany Buchanan. Buchanan would drive around Hellickson with four laps to go and pull away to score the first ever Soccer Moms feature.
Action continues next Friday night, May 21 with the Wisconsin Mighty Bandos Traveling Series making their first of two appearances this season. The Chaos division runs its first event of the year with the 2nd Over the Line Wins event. All of this will take place along with the Modifieds, Sportsmen, Hobby Stocks, Hornets and 6 Shooters. Gates open at 5, qualifying begins at 6 and the first green flag flies at 7:30. For more information about Tomah-Sparta Speedway or the 2021 schedule of events, please call the track office at 608-461-1920, visit us on the web at tomahspartaspeedway.com or check out our Facebook page.
RESULTS
Twisted Tea Modifieds
Feature: 1. Bill Schott, 2. Nick Quinnell, 3. Derrin Salo, 4. Denny Schott, 5. Dan Howard, 6. Kevin Seidler
Heat #1: 1. Salo, 2. D. Schott, 3. B. Schott, 4. Howard, 5. Quinnell, 6. Seidler
Qualifying: 1. D. Schott 16.02, 2. Salo 16.25, 3. Quinnell 16.25, 4. Seidler 16.59, 5. Howard 16.63, 6. B. Schott 16.93
Coors Light Sportsmen
Feature: 1. Dillon Sellner, 2. Keith Paulsrud, 3. Jeremy Wolff, 4. Mark Challet, 5. Dan Frye, 6. Jason Backus, 7. Tony Holm, 8. Jack Larson, 9. Jim Hendricks
Heat #1: 1. Challet, 2. Dan Frye, 3. Larson, 4. J. Hendricks
Heat #2: 1. Sellner, 2. Paulsrud, 3. Wolff, 4. Backus, 5. Holm
Qualifying: 1. Wolff 16.32, 2. Sellner 16.43, 3. Backus 16.61, 4. Palusrud 16.68, 5. Holm 17.05, 6. Dan Frye 17.11, 7. Challet 17.29, 8. Larson 18.60, 9. J. Hendricks 18.95
Hobby Stocks
Feature: 1. Mike Krueger, Jr., 2. Ken Scott, 3. Jesse Fischer, 4. Alex Rud, 5. Nick Oxborough, 6. Andy Moore, 7. Eric Montour, 8. Shelby Lockington, 9. Austin Stark, 10. Michael Joines, 11. Julie Jorgenson, 12. Adam Moore
Heat #1: 1. A. Stark, 2. Rud, 3. Montour, 4. S.Lockington, 5. Johnson
Heat #2: 1. Krueger Jr., 2. Scott, 3. Ad. Moore, 4. Jorgenson, 5. Leis
Heat #3: 1. An. Moore, 2. Oxborough, 3. Fischer, 4. Joines
Qualifying: 1. An. Moore 17.71, 2. Scott 17.95, 3. Oxborough 17.95, 4. Krueger Jr. 18.31, 5. Fischer 18.35, 6. Ad. Moore 18.35, 7. Joines 18.86, 8. Leis 19.40, 9. A. Hendricks 19.54, 10. Jorgenson 19.56, 11. Johnson 19.68, 12. Rud 19.75, 13. S. Lockington 19.79, 14. Montour 19.86, 15. A. Stark 20.79
Hornets
Feature: 1. Mason Morphy, 2. Dakota Clauson, 3. Bryan Wallace, 4. Zach Oliver, 5. Paul Finch, 6. Jamie Pearson, 7. Sammy Linnehan, 8. Jordan Finch, 9. Scott Mahlum, 10. Shawn McCarthy, 11. Andrew Gardner, 12. Amelia Marshall, 13. Cameron Riggs, 14. Tristan Drazkowski, 15. Jim Hendricks, 16. Kyle Cottone
Heat #1: 1. Drazkowski, 2. Riggs, 3. J. Hendricks, 4. J. Finch, 5. Marshall, 6. Cottone
Heat #2: 1. P. Finch, 2. Pearson, 3. Linnehan, 4. Gardner, 5. McCarthy, 6. Dawson
Heat #3: 1. Clauson, 2. Wallace, 3. Morphy, 4. Oliver, 5. Mahlum
Qualifying: 1. Morphy 18.54, 2. Dawson 18.61, 3. K. Riedner 18.74, 4. Linnehan 18.80, 5. Oliver 18.86, 6. McCarthy 18.89, 7. Wallace 19.03, 8. P. Finch 19.04, 9. Clauson 19.07, 10. J. Pearson 19.43, 11. Mahlum 19.72, 12. Gardner 19.72, 13. Marshall 19.82, 14. J. Finch 19.83, 15. Drazkowski 19.83, 16. J. Hendricks 20.15, 17. Riggs 20.43, 18. Cottone 22.22
TACU Credit Union Six Shooters
Feature: 1. Matt Moore, 2. Dustin McCracken, 3. Joshua Zacharias, 4. Brandon Adams, 5. Al Bartels, 6. Jestin Delap Sr., 7. Tim Murphy Sr., 8. Chuck Muller, 9. Andy Muller, 10. Todd Hollerud, 11. Steve Scholze, 12. Dawsynn Frye, 13. Andrew Buhrow, 14. Clayton Haessig, 15. Matt Hime, 16. Zachary Morgan, 17. Landon Lockington, 18. Devin Glass, 19. William Petty, 20. Josh Myer
Heat #1: 1. L. Lockington, 2. Heim, 3. Morgan, 4. Buhrow, 5. Brown, 6. Petty
Heat #2: 1. Dawsynn Frye, 2. Murphy Sr., 3. Delap Sr., 4. Zacharias, 5. A. Mueller, 6. Adams, 7. Glass
Heat #3: 1. Scholze, 2. McCracken, 3. C. Mueller, 4. Bartels, 5. Haessig, 6. Holerud, 7. M. Moore
Qualifying: 1. M.Moore 19.14, 2. Delap Sr. 19.42, 3. McCracken 19.47, 4. Murphy Sr. 19.54, 5. Holerud 19.69, 6. A. Mueller 19.75, 7. C. Mueller 19.78, 8. Adams 19.86, 9. Bartels 19.98, 10. Zacharias 20.02, 11. Scholze 20.03, 12. Dawsynn Frye 20.10, 13. Haessig 20.58, 14. Glass 20.63, 15. Morgan 20.66, 16. Buhrow 20.79, 17. Hime 20.80, 18. L. Lockington 21.42, 19. Petty 21.70, 20. Brown 21.83, 21. Myer (NO TIME)
Soccer Moms: 1. Brittany Buchanan, 2. Carina Hellickson, 3. Tara Frye, 4. Shelly White, 5. Marjorie Brabant
