Fred Wojtek (44F) passes Justin McCoy (87) and sets his sights on Sam Cox (3) as the three exit turn 2 of the TOMS feature race held Saturday, May 31, 2025, at Rocket Raceway Park. (Photo by Brant Thurmond/Double T Media)
By Brant Thurmond
The Touring Outlaw Modified Series (TOMS) were back in action Saturday night at Rocket Raceway Park, in Petty, Texas.
Coming off an up and down season opener at Southern Oklahoma Speedway back on March 21 and 22, Blackwell native Fred “Fast Freddy” Wojtek was hoping to build off a strong rebound finish in the feature race.
However, with around 18 of the 25 laps completed, Wojtek’s motor blew and ended his night with a 17th place finish.
“We had a rod that is hanging outside the pan,” Wojtek said. “Another crappy night, but I guess it could be worse. It’s going to be a little bit before we are going to be able to race with the TOMS guys. We are going to have to get us a motor a built or fixed or see what we got here.”
Wojtek started 12th in the feature and moved up to ninth, before falling back to around 10th when the motor blew.
“It’s just more bad luck,” Wojtek said. “I hate to say that all the time. I had no warning that it was going to blow.”
Saturday’s night at Rocket Raceway Park started out pretty good for Wojtek, who finished second in his heat race behind Jack Sartain.
“We had a pretty decent heat race,” Wojtek said. “The car was a little tight in the heat race. We didn’t do anything to it for the feature.”
The race Saturday night was the series’ first full event since the opening weekend in March.
The race on April 4, was called after the heat races with a make up date set for May 2, however that race was rained out as well.
Mother Nature has been victorious in the last five of seven races for the TOMS.
Wojtek raced one race outside of the TOMS on May 10, at Abilene Speedway where he raced an IMCA Modified.
Wojtek started 13th in the feature race and moved up 10 spots to finish in third place.
Having been a few weeks since he last raced, Wojtek said it took him a few laps to find his rhythm and battled tight conditions most of the night.
“The car was tight on the throttle,” Wojtek said. “I was fighting it a lot. Every once and a while, I could find a good groove and pass a few cars but just couldn’t stay consistent. The track was a little different than what we normally run. I think this is the third time we have been on this track, so I don’t have a lot of notes for it. Hopefully, when we come back next time, we will be a little better.”
The next scheduled race for the TOMS is Saturday, June 14, at Southern Oklahoma Speedway, in Ardmore, Oklahoma.
At the time of this article, it is unclear if Wojtek will be competing at the next race.
Fred “Fast Freddy” Wojtek races down the front straight away towards turn one during the Touring Outlaw Modified (TOMS) feature race held Saturday, March 22, at Southern Oklahoma Speedway, in Ardmore, Oklahoma. (Photo by Brant Thurmond/Double T Media)
By Brant Thurmond
Heading into Friday’s Touring Outlaw Modified Series (TOMS) opener at Southern Oklahoma Speedway, Blackwell, Texas native Fred “Fast Freddy” Wojtek was hoping to put all the bad luck from the 2024 season behind him.
However, just a few laps into hot laps, the crew and others were having déjà vu as Wojtek was forced to pull his 44F car to the infield and ended up getting pushed back to the pit area by the tow truck.
The crew went to work quickly to diagnose the issue and found an issue with the rear end of the car.
“Long story short, we were low on oil and burned up the rear end of the car,” Wojtek said. “I think it might have had a quart of oil in it. That put an end to our night.”
With his night cut short, a decision was made to put in the work and replace it with a rear end from Wojtek’s spare car at his shop.
“Gerrit (Haynes) got here about 10:30 this morning with it and we pulled this one (broken rear end) out of it last night. And we put the replacement in this morning,” he said. “We got everything set where we needed it. We went out in hot laps and everything was good.”
Wojtek started first in the first heat race for the TOMS and after leading the opening two laps, he went off the edge of turn three and dropped back to seventh place.
“I know he (track owner John Webb) flattened it up over there, and I just wasn’t expecting it to hold the car like it used to,” Wojtek said. “My fault. I made a mistake. I went to the back; I think I passed one car there towards the end. It kind of messed our night up, and we should’ve been starting closer in the feature.”
Fred Wojtek (44F) races with Steven Ashcraft (56R) off turn two during the TOMS feature race held Saturday, March 22, at Southern Oklahoma Speedway, in Ardmore, Oklahoma. (Photo by Brant Thurmond/Double T Media)
Wojtek ended up finishing sixth in his heat race, but the good news is Wojtek was second quickest in his heat race with a best lap of 18.944 (lap six) and had an average lap time of 19.197. Mitchell Clement, who won the heat race, recorded a best lap time of 18.882 and an average lap time of 19.074, according to My Race Pass timing.
Wojtek started the feature race on the inside of the seventh row in 19th as the field started the feature three abreast.
Wojtek passed five cars in the feature race and ended up with a 14th place finish.
“We thought the track was going to slick off more than it did,” Wojtek said of his feature race. “It rubbered up towards the end of the race. We tightened the car up a little too much and I was fighting tight conditions all night.
“I wish we could’ve done better,” he said. “Our luck is just not with us lately. We are just going to keep plugging away and hopefully we will do better at the next one.”
Fred Wojtek (44F) leads Ryan Veal (11R) to the green flag during the first heat race of the night for the TOMS, Saturday, March 22, at Southern Oklahoma Speedway, in Ardmore, Oklahoma. (Photo by Brant Thurmond/Double T Media)
With two races in the books, Wojtek will now turn his attention to another two-race weekend on April 4 and 5, at Heart O’ Texas Speedway, in Waco and Kennedale Speedway Park, in Kennedale.
Wojtek finished eighth in the last TOMS race he raced at Heart O’ Texas on June 14, 2024. That same night he won his heat race after starting on the pole.
The last trip to Kennedale Speedway Park came on Aug. 16, 2023, where Wojtek finished 22 in the feature and third in the heat race.
The previous trip on April 8, netted better results with a fourth-place feature finish. The same night Wojtek won his heat race after starting in second.
(L to R) Wesley Veal (11), Troy Taylor (56) and Jason Ingalls (12) lead the field around during the parade laps of the TOMS Nationals race held Oct. 26, at Grayson County Speedway. (Photo by Brant Thurmond/Double T Media)
The 2025 Touring Outlaw Modified Series (TOMS) season will kick-off at 7 p.m. today March 21 at Southern Oklahoma Speedway, in Ardmore Oklahoma.
Tonight’s race will be night the first of two separate races this weekend at SOS. Both nights will have a hefty $1,500 to win purse and will pay $240 to start.
General admission to the track will be $20 and kids 6-12, military, and seniors will be $15. Pit passes will be $35.
For Blackwell native Fred “Fast Freddy” Wojtek the 2025 season opener will be a fresh start for him as he experienced a series of bad luck during the summer months of 2024.
Despite the bad luck, Wojtek finished eighth in the points in his second year with the series. He closed out the 2024 season with a fifth-place finish on the second night of the TOMS Nationals held Oct. 25 and 26, at Grayson County Speedway.
Wojtek will look to put 2024 behind him as he starts his third season as he will be on a different chassis in 2025.
“We decided to go with our GRT,” Wojtek said. “That car has been a proven winner for us, and it’s a car that I’m real comfortable with. We had a body put on it and made it more of an outlaw car. We did some updates on the front end and made the body where it’s more of an outlaw style body.”
Fred Wojtek (44F) leads the field into turn 1 during the Mod War 100 at Heart O’ Texas Speedway. (Photo by Brant Thurmond/Double T Media)
“We raced it at Grayson (during TOMS Nationals) and it was still pretty much set up IMCA,” Wojtek continued. “So, we updated some things on it, and we are going to go that route until we can get the MB (chassis) sold. We might try to buy something new or maybe not quite as old as what we have been running.”
For Wojtek, the GRT chassis has been a good car for him with success at the IMCA level.
“We have won a couple IMCA championships with the GRT,” he said. “Like I said, I’m real comfortable with the GRT and I know it really well. The GRT has been freshened up. Me and my dad tore it down to bare frame and then we put all new parts on it a couple years ago. So, everything that’s on it maybe has about six or seven nights on it with all the new parts on it.”
The 2025 season will have some different tracks on the schedule for Wojtek and the TOMS compared to the 2024 season with RPM, Rocket Raceway Park, Boothill Speedway and Ark-La-Tex Speedway.
Wojtek said he has experience at three of the four tracks with Boothill Speedway being the only one he has not raced at.
“I went to Ark-La-Tex a long time ago when I first started racing in 2006,” Wojtek said. “They had a $5000 to win stockcar race. I ran the heat race and got in a wreck and bent the frame and ended up loading up and going home. I think I’ve made about 15 laps on that track counting hot laps.
“We ran RPM in 2023 when they had a two-night show there,” Wojtek said. “The first night a piece of mud or something hit my kill switch, and we slipped back towards the back and then came back and got around 12th. The second night the track had some character to it. I think I ended up finishing second that night. So, I like RPM. It seems to fit my style well.”
Looking ahead to this weekend’s races at SOS, SOS has been a solid track for Wojtek in the past with an average finish of 8.8 with two top 5’s and four top 10’s.
Wojtek’s best finish at SOS in 2024 came on April 6 with a third-place finish in the feature race. On May 4, he finished eighth in the feature and on the final trip to SOS with the TOMS on July 6, he did not start the feature race after having issues in the heat race.
“I really like SOS. I’ve never won there, but I’ve always wanted to win at that track,” he said. “I like Oklahoma. It’s a little bit bigger than what we normally run on and I’m ready to win one there. Hopefully, this weekend we can get us a win there.”
2025 Wojtek Racing Sponsors
TAZ Well Service
Stinky Steve’s
Resist-All Electric
Schaeffer Racing Oil
Crabtree Motorsports
Pit & Grill
Abilene Race Rads
Wojtek Oilfield Services LLC.
All-Pro Clutch & Driveline
Patriot Mirror and glass
Neuline by 915
ACE Recovery
BEI Oilfield Services
Abilene Powder Coating
Double T Media
Bill Williams Tire Center
Special Thanks to crew and family
Dave, Jeff, Scotty, Harvey, Jamie, Buck, Gerrit, Ashley, Brynlea, Blane, Papa and Ryen.
The 2024 Touring Outlaw Modified Series (TOMS) officially wrapped up the season with the annual awards banquet held Saturday, Nov. 16, at the Hella Shrine Event Center, in Garland.
The banquet recognized the many accomplishments of the drivers across the series including the top 10 drivers in the final points standings.
“It was a challenging year for scheduling purposes,” TOMS series Director Keith Pirtle said in a Facebook post on the TOMS series page following the banquet. “We had 16 races originally scheduled, four rainouts, one track closure, one track with no water, and two races cancelled. But with the help of our supporting tracks, we completed a solid schedule of 12 races.”
Fred Wojtek (center) with his crew (l to r) Ricky Hughes, Dave Armstrong and Gerrit Haynes at Southern Oklahoma Speedway July 6, 2024. Photo by Brant Thurmond
The 2024 season had 101 different drivers and 350 total entries race with the series through 12 events according to the Facebook post. The series averaged 29.1 competitors each race, a slight increase compared to 2023, but as the season went on, more growth and potential growth.
“The big thing to look at is we had 17 new racers to race the TOMS series for the first time, with that and the feedback involved that racers will race our series next year,” Pirtle said. “We had three first-time winners.”
Fred Wojtek (44) battles Triston Dycus (13) in turn 2 during the feature race at the TOMS Nationals held Oct. 25 and 26, at Grayson County Speedway. Dycus was the 2024 TOMS points champion. Photo by Brant Thurmond
“The 2024 Season for the TOMS Series crowned Triston Dycus (Maypearl, Tx) as our series 7-time series champion,” Pirtle continued. “We had four racers in the top 12 that had not finished in the top of our series points. We also had 14 of our racers complete in more than 70 % of our shows. The TOMS Series continues to grow not only with steady counts but the growing respectful and appreciative competition. Simply put, we are a family.”
Pirtle continued in the Facebook post announcing the point fund prize money and thanking the series sponsors.
“The TOMS Series was proud to present a point fund of $40,000, which blows away any previous point fund that we or most local tracks have been able to present,” he said. “Of course, we cannot do that without the support of our major sponsors of Summit Racing Equipment, Hoosier Racing and Smiley’s Racing Product.”
Blackwell, Tx native Fred Wojtek, was among those that were honored as he finished in eighth place in the points in his second year in the TOMS series.
“Last year, I think we were second or third there for a long time and ended up fourth,” Wojtek said following the season finale at Grayson County Speedway on Oct. 26. “Second year with these guys, the bad luck kind of got us. I’m surprised we ended up in the top 10. It was a tough year, but we don’t give up.”
It was an odd and rough year for Wojtek, who had a stretch of three straight DNF’s during the summer months.
The bad luck started at Southern Oklahoma Speedway on July 6, when a broken lifter arm on the rear end of his 44F car ended his night during the heat race.
Wojtek and his team worked to get it repaired and ready to go prior to the next race July 20, at Grayson County Speedway.
However, his night was cut short again following a broken drive shaft.
Wojtek did not race the next scheduled TOMS race at Waco on July 26, but did make another trip to SOS on Aug. 3.
Fred “Fast Freddy” Wojtek at the 2024 Mod War at Heart O’ Texas Speedway on Sept. 21. Photo by Brant Thurmond
Wojtek finished second in the heat, however the bad luck continued as he only made around two laps in the feature before fuel issues forced him to pull to the infield. It was later discovered that there was water in the fuel.
Even though Wojtek had a stretch of bad luck during the summer months, he did see some success to start the season back on April 6.
Wojtek finished third in the season opening feature race at SOS after finishing second in his heat race.
On June 14, Wojtek finished first in his heat race at Heart O’ Texas Speedway (HOT) and had a solid top 10 finish of eighth in the feature race.
Wojtek finished the season at the TOMS Nationals at Grayson County Speedway with an eighth-place finish on Oct. 25 and a fifth-place finish on Oct. 26.
“We had two decent nights to close out the season,” Wojtek said following the final race on Oct. 26. “Got in the redraw and redrew the three. We fell back two spots. These guys were pretty fast. We could have tightened it up a little bit. But all and all, way better than what we have been in the past and I’m happy about that.
“We had a good weekend and didn’t tear anything up,” he said. “We appreciate all our sponsors, and they are a big help. We couldn’t do it without them.”
Fred Wojtek (44F) and Rodney White (14x) race side-by-side off turn 2 during the feature race of the TOMS Nationals held Oct. 25 and 26, Grayson County Speedway. White won the feature race, while Wojtek finished fifth. Photo by Brant Thurmond
Wojtek thanked the series director Pirtle for the hard work his staff does to make sure the series runs smoothly during each race.
“We appreciate the TOMS series with Keith and all his staff,” Wojtek said. “These guys are really fun to race with and are really nice people.
“Congrats to Triston Dycus on his championship,” Wojtek continued. “He’s a helluva racecar driver. Congrats to all the TOMS guys in the top 10. It’s fun racing with them.”
As for 2025, Wojtek said he hopes to improve his racing program.
“We are going to work hard this winter and do some things, probably going to sell some cars, try to get one new or good used car. I’m not sure what the plan is yet,” Wojtek said. “We are going to up our program a bit. With these guys, you got to have good stuff and hopefully we can get all our sponsors back. We really appreciate them.”
Wojtek finished the 2024 season with two top 5’s and five top 10’s in the TOMS series, unofficially.
The following were the final points standings for 2024 season.
1 13J Dycus, Triston Maypearl, TX 12 1017
2 56 Taylor, Troy Midlothian, TX 12 971
3 12 Ingalls, Jason Longview, TX 12 966
4 82 Thomas, Max Eddie Wills Point, TX 12 945
5 3 Cox, Sam Flower Mound, TX 12 895
6 11x Veal, Wesley Princeton, TX 12 855
7 11R Veal, Ryan Princeton, TX 12 795
8 44F Wojtek, Fred Blackwell, TX 12 772
9 12b Gunwall, Bryan Brookston, TX 12 766
10 17 Turney, Trinten Wolfe City, TX 11 595
Wojtek also competed at Rocket Raceway Park on March 2 with the USRA Modifieds, where he finished third in his heat race and 10th in the B Feature.
Wojtek drove his IMCA modified racecar at Abilene Speedway on April 13, where he finished fourth in his heat and third in the feature.
He competed in the IMCA stockcar class on the same night and was fourth in the heat race and fourth in the feature, according to My Race Pass.
Other non-TOMS races included a stockcar race at Kennedale on May 25, where Wojtek finished seventh in his heat, second in the B feature and 10th A feature.
He recorded another top five finish in his IMCA modified at Abilene Speedway on June 8 with a third-place finish in both the heat and feature race.
According to My Race Pass, Wojtek competed in 17 feature races and had five top 5’s.
