Ty Fredrickson Makes History at Oktoberfest
By: Kevin Ramsell
West Salem, WI - 17-year-old Ty Fredrickson came into the 57th Annual Oktoberfest Race Weekend with one goal: win the Appalachian Sucker Punch ASA Midwest Tour presented by Five Star Race Car Bodies Oktoberfest 200 on Sunday.
Not only did the second-generation driver win the 200, he dominated by holding off five-time Midwest Tour champion Ty Majeski to accomplish this goal.
“That was nuts,” Fredrickson exclaimed in victory lane. “People can’t hold him (Majeski) off like I did, but just played the air right and just managed my stuff. We were really good today; we got track position early when we could get it easily and just execute it on the restarts— that was by far the biggest thing.”
The two Ty’s battled for the lead on numerous restarts in the last 80 laps of the race. It was on the restart on lap 120 where Fredrickson would get by Majeski and would continue to do the same on the next restarts.
“The bottom is obviously better, but it's just so hard to fire off. Me and him, we're both a little tight on the restart,” Fredrickson explained. “It was really good, a respectful race between me and him, and I knew he was one of the guys in the field that doesn't need to rough anyone up to get the win, but, yeah, I'm just super happy tonight.”
Majeski, who was looking for his sixth Oktoberfest 200 victory along with a $12,500 “Ultimate Challenge” where he was challenged to start from the rear of the field, accepted that challenge. It didn’t take long for Majeski, as he was up to second by lap 65.
“He executed the restarts well,” Majeski said. “I was door to door with him every time we went into turn one. I felt like I did whatever I could and just needed him to slip once and he didn't. He did a really good job.”
Justin Mondeik would finish third with Jacob Goede running fourth.
With his fifth-place finish, Casey Johnson joined Majeski as a five-time champion in the Appalachian Sucker Punch ASA Midwest Tour presented by Five Star Race Bodies. He won the title with recording no victories in the 2026 season, the first time for an ASAMT champion who was in a close battle for the title with Penn Sauter, who finished seventh, and Paul Shafer Jr., who finished sixth.
“Yeah, I mean, definitely it was really tight coming into this weekend. We've had our ups and downs with the Midwest Tour,” Johnson explained. “We got a couple DNFs, so we're really close, things close things up on us, a little more than I'd hoped, but yeah, we had to run a really careful race today, which isn't exactly what I'd like to do. I think we had some more speed in that car. I think we could have gotten in the top three pretty easy. Those two out front were pretty good, but we just played it really smart, saved some tires in case we had a late race restart, and yeah, it all took out for us.”
Fredrickson’s victory along with father Dan’s four victories make the second father/son duo to win the Oktoberfest main event. They join Tom and Bryan Reffner, where Tom is a three-time winner and his son Bryan won in 1984.
Dan Fredrickson was one proud father on this day.
“Damn near tearing up here. This race means so much to us because it’s just like my favorite race and probably where I had the most success,” Dan Fredrickson said, fighting back tears. “
“And, you know, Ty Majeski probably the best at this, and we just whooped his ass, so I am a proud father today.”
After taking a few moments to collect himself, Dan Fredrickson wanted to make his statement for his son.
“My son works so hard to get an opportunity to get to the next level, and we all do,” Fredrickson exclaimed. “My family, myself, and given everything we could give, and we can't get the direction that we deserve. To beat Majeski handily means the world, because it just proves that my son deserves an amazing opportunity in upper ranks!”
This was the second victory for Ty Fredrickson at Oktoberfest this weekend, as he won “The Futures” on Thursday night.
A full replay is available on tracktv.com.