WEST SALEM, Wisc. — Five-time ASA Midwest Tour champion Ty Majeski added his name to a unique list as he became a four-time winner of the Oktoberfest 200 at the 55th Annual Oktoberfest Race Weekend at the La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway.
Majeski joins Dan Fredrickson and Travis Sauter as four-time winners, he is one win away from tying Joe Shear, who leads all drivers with five wins in the pinnacle race for the annual fall race event.
“This is really special for us. The shop is just two miles from here,” Majeski said in victory lane. “It was a strong field, Johnny (Sauter) had me nervous. He was really good very late in that last run, and I was like I don’t know if we have anything for him. We made a couple minor adjustments and we thought he pushed his stuff too hard. He looked pretty free when he went by me. It was a cat-and-mouse game. Do you let him lead or do you ride more, I decided to keep the lead and it ended up being the right decision.”
Majeski took the lead from Johnny Sauter on the restart on lap 122 as the two lined up side-by-side after a competition caution. Majeski got a run out of turn two and didn’t give the lead back for the rest of the race.
Behind him, Andrew Morrissey had wild day. On lap 5, he and Dalton Zehr made contact on the backstretch causing Zehr to ride his right side up the wall, then the two came to a stop in Turn Three. Morrissey was able to drive his car to the pits for repairs, but Zehr was done for the day.
Morrissey’s crew made the repairs and got him back out. Morrissey worked his way back through the field, by the halfway mark he was already up to sixth place. With 51 laps to go, he put himself in a podium position but was not done.
On lap 182, the two-time Oktoberfest 200 winner got by Sauter for the second spot.
Morrissey had his best chance after the last competition caution on lap 180, but Majeski was just too strong and Morrissey couldn’t contend for the win.
“Not sure what happened, I got together with the 119 (Zehr) out of two and got us turned into the wall. I really didn’t think I was going to be able to keep going, but I grabbed a gear and took off. The wheel was straight, but wasn’t right. The guys did a good job of taping it up,” Morrissey said about the incident. “It would have been interesting to see how the car would have been if not stuck in the wall, but it was pretty good with the tow knocked out. It’s kind of a bummer, but a decent day.”
Michael Hinde made the trek up from Florida to take home the third position in his first Fest start. He was having a strong run while battling with Ty Fredrickson for third on lap 126, The two made contact in Turns One and Two causing Hinde to spin. Both were sent to the rear for the incident. Hinde restarted 17th and worked his way up to the podium position.
“I felt like I had a good car at the beginning of the race, and thought we were one adjustment away from a race-winning car,” Hinde said. “I felt like they made that adjustment in the second half, and unfortunately got involved in that wreck and had to go to the rear and we didn’t have a lot of laps left, but it was a lot of fun.”
Gabe Sommers finished fourth and successfully defended his ASA Midwest Tour title and is now a two-time champion. Sommers came into the finale with a 21-point lead over Levon Van Der Geest, but Van Der Geest encountered electrical issues on lap 18. His crew was able to fix it but was six laps down and out of contention. He finished 21st.
Justin Mondeik rounded out the top five with Kody King coming in sixth. Bryce Miller was seventh with Johnny Sauter hanging on to an eighth-place finish. Jonathan Eilen and Derek Kraus rounded out the top ten.
Ty Fredrickson finished 14th after his altercation with Hinde but was announced as the 2024 ASAMT Rookie of the Year.
To watch a replay of Sunday’s race, visit tracktv.com — an affiliate of SPEED SPORT TV.