Borntreger Dominates For First Career Big-8 Win
2025-08-08
By: Paul Reichert
The first two shows the Big 8 Late Model Series ran at Tomah Sparta Speedway were very exciting and intense as the best Late Model racers in the Midwest took on a very unique race track. Even though they did not race in Cranberry County during the 2024 season, the Big 8 Late Model Series had a new challenge in their return with new asphalt laid down earlier in the season over the old racing surface. The Borntreger family has had great success at Tomah Sparta over the years no matter what type of race car they were competing in. Allen, David, Andrew and Rose have had very competitive Legend, Sportsman and Late Model race vehicles and adapted very well to the unique layout of Tomah Sparta. On this night another Borntreger would add their name to the record books as a winner at Tomah Sparta. Mahlon Borntreger started on the pole of the Ron Meister Memorial, survived early and late yellow flags to lead the entire 58 lap showdown for his first career Big 8 Late Model Series victory.
When Tomah Sparta management decided to put down new asphalt in the turns over the old track, the racing and the speeds were expected to get more interesting. Even though that happened about three months ago, the Big 8 Late Models knew they could up the speeds even with the asphalt having time to cure. What was not expected was who would be the quickest driver at Tomah Sparta. Carson Phillips, who was making his first trip ever to Cranberry County, stunned everyone by setting fast time and resetting the track record with a blazing lap of 14.603 seconds. That obliterated the previous track record of 15.586 set by Dale Nottestad during the inaugural Big 8 race at Tomah Sparta in 2022. In fact, all 13 drivers that were in attendance at Tomah Sparta ran a lap faster than Nottestad's old track record.
In heat race number one, Mahlon Borntreger powered past his brother Allen to take the lead. Allen would have his hands full with holding off 2023 Big 8 Tomah winner Jon Reynolds, Jr. as the fight over second got very exciting. Reynolds, Jr. looked high and looked low, but could not find that opportunity to get by Allen. Mahlon would lead all 12 laps to score the victory, while Allen held off the three-time Big 8 Late Model Series champion to take second.
Andrew Borntreger started on the front row in heat race number two, but veteran Jerry Mueller shot past the Legends driver to take the lead. Five-time Big 8 Late Model Series champion Jeremy Miller, racing for the first time ever at Tomah Sparta, stalked Borntreger for several laps looking for the runner-up spot. Miller would drive around Borntreger to take second halfway through the race. Joe Hunter, the owner of J2Go Racing who happens to be from the Tomah area, was excited to see Miller go for the win on his hometown track. MIller, however, was not able to close up the gap enough as Mueller hit the finish line first.
A plethora of Borntregers would occupy the first three positions at the start of the 58 lap Ron Meister Memorial feature for the Big 8 Late Model Series. Mahlon, piloting Rose's race car, powered underneath Andrew to lead the early few laps of the race. Allen followed Mahlon's lead and also drove by Andrew on the low side to give the 2023 Tomah Late Model Triple Crown Champion the runner-up position on lap three. Jesse Bernhagen spent the first four laps making his way around multi-time Big 8 champions Jeremy Miller and Jon Reynolds, Jr. to leap up to fourth. Bernhagen, the winner of the inaugural Big 8 race at Tomah in 2022, quickly caught up to Andrew Borntreger before he shot by him to settle into third on lap seven and begin his pursuit of the other two Borntregers. Andrew would fall back to sixth as Miller and Reynolds, Jr. drove past him, but he gathered himself back up and would rally back to return to the top four. First Andrew got back around Reynolds, Jr. on lap 13 for fifth, then would drive back around Miller to settle into fourth on lap 15. Racing up front remained the status quo as Allen Borntreger and Bernhagen continued to pursue Mahlon Borntreger. Both drivers benefitted from a yellow flag just before halfway with fast qualifier Carson Phillips and Andrew Borntreger tangled and spun in turn two. Everyone was able to go high to avoid getting caught up in their incident. It was a rare sight to see both drivers tap out at the flag stand to accept blame for the incident. Despite that unusual 'double tap', both drivers ended up restarting at the back.
Allen Borntreger got loose in turn two on the restart, and that allowed Bernhagen to get alongside him in the fight over second. The battle got a bit heated and a bit testy at times, but Allen would come out ahead in second at the halfway mark of the race. Bernhagen would reset after that battle with Allen and spent several laps waiting for another opportunity to go for second. As we approached 15 laps left to run, Bernhagen knew it was time to go as he made contact with the back of Allen's machine. Allen would fall all the way back to fifth as Bernhagen, Jerry Mueller and Jacob Gille shot by him. The second and last caution flew with only six laps to go after a solo spin by Phillips in turn three. The restart allowed Mahlon Bornterger to pull away from the field, while the race would be over for Bernhagen as he suffered a flat tire in turns one and two. The other competitors had to make some evasive moves to prevent a major calamity from happening. Despite being off the pace, Bernhagen's car was still running and he ran the final six laps of the race. Mueller and Gille moved up to podium places after that, but they had very little time left to track down Mahlon Borntreger. Borntreger would complete a rare Big 8 start-to-finsh performance and end the night doing victory doughnuts in turns one and two. Not only would it be Borntreger's first career Big 8 win, he would become the 55th different feature winner in Big 8 history.
Only two races remain in the 2025 season for the Big 8 Late Model Series and they will be at the biggest year-end specials in the Midwest. The penultimate showdown takes place at the 60th running of the National Short Track Championships on Saturday, September 13 at Dells Raceway Park in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. The granddaddy of year-end specials has gotten even bigger with the rescheduling of the combined TUNDRA Super Late Model Series and Alive for 5 Series Badger State 100, which now joins the show on Sunday, September 14. The entry form for the Dave Rottiger Memorial will be posted soon on big8latemodels.com. Fans can purchase tickets for the 60th National Short Track Championships online at dellsracewaypark.com, or if you cannot make it to Dells Raceway Park be sure to check out the live stream broadcast of the event on pitrow.tv.
