By: Paul Reichert
August 7, 2020
Another warm but beautiful night welcomed the race fans back to Tomah-Sparta Speedway for more exciting and action packed racing at ‘Daytomah’. Another traveling series came to town as the Mid-American Stock Car Series, also run by Greg Oliver, put on another great show with a mix of Mid-American regulars and Sportsmen competitors. Ron Vandermier, Jr. nearly fell to the back early in the 40 lap feature, but gathered himself together to charge back to the front and claim the victory for the second year in a row.
Jake Schiller took the lead at the start of the Mid-American Stock Car Series feature. Ron Vandermier, Jr. got loose in turn three on the high side while battling Andrew Meyerhofer and fell to the back. When Steve Blair ran way too wide in turn one on lap ten, that gave Vandermier, Jr. his opening to drive around Meyerhofer to move up to second. Schiller’s mirror was filling up with the black #3 quickly. Vandermier, Jr. powered his was past Schiller to take over the race lead on lap 13. Just before the halfway mark of the feature, Tyler Sauter powered his way past Meyerhofer to take over third just before the halfway mark. Could Sauter come from half a lap back to challenge Vandermier, Jr. for the win? On lap 25, Sauter charged by Schiller to move into second. Late in the going, the leader was coming up on the lap traffic of Blair and Bill Schott. Blair backed off and allowed Vandermier, Jr. to go by. Vandermier, Jr. would have his hands full as he fought to drive past Schott. Vandermier, Jr. powered by Schott down the back straight on the final lap and pulled away from the field to claim his second straight Tomah victory and proudly ring the Victory Bell in TACU Credit Union Victory Lane.
In the Twisted Tea Modified feature, point leader Brad Wildes quickly jumped out to the early race lead. In hot pursuit of Wildes was fast qualifier Derrin Salo, who was second in points behind Wildes. Salo tried to go low on Wildes coming out of turn four on lap five, but the ‘Wild Man’ powered his way ahead of ‘The Flying Finlander’. Both drivers continued their hard fought battle for the top spot for several laps. Salo got loose coming out of turn two with six laps to go and that allowed Wildes to open up his advantage. Wildes drove away to his fourth win of the year and added to his point lead over Salo.
Scott Mahlum took the lead at the start of the Hornet feature. Rookie Zach Oliver was running second until his racing gremlins struck again and ended his night early. Point leader Shawn McCarthy was charging his way through the field as he got up to second by lap four. McCarthy would catch Mahlum and surge by him at the completion of lap six. As the leaders began to enter lap traffic, McCarthy used it to his advantage to pull away from Mahlum. Mahlum got loose in turn two with three laps to go, but Chandler Turner was not close enough to zoom past Mahlum for second. McCarthy was large and in charge tonight as he padded his point lead with victory number two on the year.
A huge log jam at the start of the TACU Credit Union Six Shooter feature allowed Traton Winecke to assume command of the race. Jestin DeLap, Sr. was able to break out of the log jam to take second on lap two. Sean Worman and Matt Moore were the next to break out of the huge pack and got into their own battle over third and fourth on lap four. Just before halfway, Moore drove around Worman to settle into third. Getting that huge lead would backfire on Winecke as DeLap and Moore began to close up on the leader. Moore would move to the outside lane as he powered around DeLap, Sr. for second down the back straight. Coming to the white flag, Moore would surge past Winecke for the lead. Moore pulled away on the final lap to take the checkered flag first for the fourth time this season.
The ever popular Outhouse Race was the featured Chaos event. Jestin DeLap, Sr. and Tim Murphy, Sr. posted the two fastest times to make the final runoff. Murphy, Sr. pulled off an impressive run to be declared the “King of the Porcelain Throne”.
Action continues next Friday, August 14 as the Upper Midwest Vintage Racing Series makes their annual appearance at ‘Daytomah’ and take us back in time to the heydey of short track racing in Wisconsin. The Sportsmen, Hobby Stocks, Hornets and Six Shooters will also be competing that night. Gates open at 5:00, qualifying starts at 6:00, and the first green flag flies 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
Mid-American Stock Car Series
Feature: 1. Ron Vandermier, Jr., 2. Tyler Sauter, 3. Jake Schiller, 4. Andrew Meyerhofer, 5. Jeff Thompson, 6. Bill Schott, 7. Steve Blair, 8. Mark Challet, 9. Devin Schmidt (DQ)
Heat #1: 1. Blair, 2. Schott, 3. Schiller, 4. Thompson, 5. Challet
Heat #2: 1. Vandermier, Jr., 2. Meyerhofer, 3. Schmidt, 4. Sauter
Qualifying: 1. Schmidt 15.965, 2. Vandermier, Jr., 3. Sauter, 4. Meyerhofer, 5. Thompson, 6. Schiller, 7. Blair, 8. Schott, 9. Challet
Twisted Tea Modifieds
Feature: 1. Brad Wildes, 2. Derrin Salo, 3. Nick Quinnell, 4. Rick DeVito, 5. Antonio DeVito
Heat #1: 1. Quinnell, 2. Salo, 3. Wildes, 4. R. DeVito, 5. A. DeVito
Qualifying: 1. Salo 15.994, 2. Quinnell, 3. Wildes, 4. R. DeVito, 5. A. DeVito
Hornets
Feature: 1. Shawn McCarthy, 2. Scott Mahlum, 3. Chandler Turner, 4. Paul Finch, 5. Mason Morphy
Heat #1: 1. Chris Christen, 2. Andrew Gardner, 3. Andrew Lamb, 4. Matt Renning, 5. Caleb Leis
Heat #2: 1. Mahlum, 2. Zach Oliver, 3. P. Finch, 4. Jake Schomers, 5. Sammy Linnehan
Heat #3: 1. Jordan Finch, 2. McCarthy, 3. Morphy, 4. Turner, 5. Amelia Marshall
Qualifying: 1. McCarthy 18.826, 2. P. Finch, 3. Oliver, 4. Turner, 5. Morphy
TACU Credit Union Six Shooters
Feature: 1. Matt Moore, 2. Traton Winecke, 3. Sean Worman, 4. Jestin DeLap, Sr., 5. Dustin McCracken
Heat #1: 1. Tim Murphy, Sr., 2. Landon Lockington, 3. Tory Lockington, 4. Ken Morris, 5. Mark Morrison
Heat #2: 1. Ronnie Osborne, 2. M. Moore, 3. Kevin Beyer, 4. Todd Holerud, 5. Clayton Haessig
Heat #3: 1. McCracken, 2. Joshua Zacharias, 3. Worman, 4. Dan Frye, 5. DeLap
Qualifying: 1. Frye 19.390, 2. M. Moore, 3. McCracken, 4. R. Osborne, 5. Worman
Chaos
Outhouse Race: 1. Tim Murphy, Sr., 2. Jestin DeLap, Sr., 3. Dustin McCracken, 4. Clayton Haessig, 5. Andrew Lamb
