WEST SALEM, Wis. — Ty Fredrickson and Paul Shafer Jr. were super late model feature winners Thursday night at the LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway as the raceway hosted “Night One” of the 57th annual Oktoberfest Race Weekend.
Fredrickson, from Webster, Minn., captured the 22-lap “Futures” super late model race ahead of Jerad DeBoer, Penn Sauter, Weston Marthaler and Tristan Swanson. The contest is open to drivers under the age of 30 that have never finished in the ‘top three’ of the Midwest Tour standings or that have not competed in any of NASCAR’s top series (Cup, O’Reilly or Trucks).
Shafer, competing out of Portage, Ind., won the 22-lap “Knights of Oktoberfest” super late model headliner. Shafer took the checkered flag in front Gabe Sommers, Casey Johnson, Justin Mondeik, Andrew Morrissey and fastest qualifier and new track record holder Dalton Zehr. The 22-lap main events honored Wisconsin racing legend, Tom Reffner, who passed away in 2023.
LaCrosse late models saw action in twin 22-lap feature races. Mike Litchfield scored the win in the opening feature over Jackson Lewis and Adam Degenhart. The second 22 lapper went to Nick Barstad over Tom Luethe and Skylar Holzhausen. Wisconsin racer Don “Thunder” Turner, in his 80s, competed in the late model events, adding to his record of having raced in all 57 Oktoberfest Race Weekends.
Dillon Sellner was the winner of the 20-lap area sportsmen main event, defeating Dave Edwards and Adam Cartwright. Ben Kohlmeier took home top honors in the 20-lap Hornets (four-cylinder) feature, besting Joey Johnson III and Jake Schomers.
Oktoberfest continues Friday, Saturday and Sunday with the 200-lap ASA Midwest Tour event highlighting Sunday afternoon’s action at the five-eights-mile paved oval
