The Scoop
TYLER DEMARS – BAYPORT SENIOR CHASES SPORTMOD CHECKERED FLAGS
Posted on: Thursday May 15, 2025
Bayport High School senior Tyler DeMars poses next to his IMCA northern sportmod in the pits at Outagamie Speedway in Seymour.
Tyler DeMars has graduated from racing winged, micro sprints as a youngster to wheeling a sportmod in one of the toughest regions in the country.
The 18-year-old senior at Bayport High School in suburban Green Bay is still searching for that first feature win in the ultra-competitive IMCA northern sportmod class. DeMars is in his third season of racing in the greater Green Bay area after racing in Upper Michigan at Escanaba Speedway for two and one-half years.
“I ran my cousin Brett Labre’s micro sprint up at Escanaba for six nights because many of the locals were sick of the same guy who was winning up there,” DeMars said. “Even though we live in Howard, my Dad (Greg) is from up that way, and it was a way I could race at my age.”
Tyler DeMars after a win at Escanaba Speedway. (Lanaville Photography)
DeMars skipped racing in 2020, but returned to Esky in ’21 with his own winged 500 micro sprint. DeMars won a feature in his second night out. DeMars was close to securing a points title, but wound up 2nd and third, respectively in back-to-back seasons at the Upper Peninsula dirt oval.
After the micro sprint racing was done, DeMars decided to race closer to home. In 2023, DeMars Dad took the plunge and purchased a sportmod. “Getting involved with the winged micros was a good start, because you’re somewhat limited as to what adjustments you can make on those cars,” DeMars said. “Locally, the sportmod class is very tough. There are almost always big numbers, and at many tracks it’s tough enough just to make the show, especially at tracks like 141 Speedway, Seymour or Luxemburg. To me, just making the feature is sort of like a win.”
Tyler DeMars in action at Outagamie Speedway in Seymour. (danlewisphoto.net)
According to DeMars, when you look at any typical sportmod feature lineup at a track in northeastern Wisconsin, you can go down the list and find anywhere from 10 to 15 drivers who’ve already earned feature wins at some point in their respective careers. “I’m still looking for that first one,” DeMars quipped.
Not that he hasn’t come close. Last year, DeMars came within a whisker of winning at Outagamie Speedway in Seymour. DeMars led 13 laps in a feature race that was littered with yellow flags. “I got passed late in that race, and I’ve have some really close ones too at both 141 and Luxemburg,” DeMars said.
DeMars has what he’d almost call the “perfect” after school job. He works for Chad Nelson and Co. at Victory Signs in Suamico, lettering (among other things) race cars. “It’s a great gig working there after school,” DeMars admitted. “How that deal came about, was I went in there to get a wrap done on my race car. I was working at PDQ car wash for two years and honestly, I was getting sick of it. I went and asked when those guys could get my wrap done? At that time, they were looking for some part time help. I knew Andrew Engels who worked there, too. So, after working there for a couple of months, I then got offered a five day a week gig after school. It’s really cool when you are racing on the track, and you are racing against guys and you had a hand in lettering their cars. That’s a cool thing about working there. You meet a lot of drivers working there, and that’s cool, too. Victory Sign is a very busy place.”
DeMars race car sits on a 2021 Rage chassis. “The car actually came from Iowa, and initially it was Jarett Franzen’s,” DeMars said. “Then, Jake Carpenter got a hold of it. Jake only raced in two nights and at the time, he needed a new car. Jake said to me “I don’t like the color of the frame, and I don’t want to tear it down to a bare chassis. So we got the car.”
The learning curve has been a steep one at times for DeMars, especially when it comes to learning the setups on the cars by simple trial and error. “My dad has no experience with racing, But Jake (Carpenter) has been great with helping us learn about this stuff,” DeMars said. “We’ll even bring the car to his house and he lets us use his scales and lift. He’s been great. Jake does all of the tin work for our car, too.”
DeMars and his father do all of the maintenance on DeMars’ No. 21 machine. Tyler handles all of the tire prep associated with the racing program. Carpenter lends a hand when he’s available, as does Tristan Tingley. “My classmates at Bayport think what I do is pretty cool,” DeMars said. “Once in awhile, they’ll even come out and watch me. Others have no actual clue what it is that I race. Sometimes, it takes a little bit of explaining on my part.”
After he graduates from Bayport in June, DeMars will begin a gas utilities program at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College (NWTC). “It’s a nine month program, and I literally start it the day after I graduate from Bayport,” DeMars said. “Dad works for Public Service, so hopefully I can get a foot in the door there.”
You can catch DeMars weekly at Outagamie Speedway and 141 Speedway this summer. “I wouldn’t mind giving Luxemburg a try sometime this summer, too,” DeMars said. “We are doing this racing thing for fun. We are taking things as they come, and we enjoy chasing it every week.”
DeMars team of marketing partners for 2025 includes Xtreme Flooring, Anderson Auto & Trailer Service, Jersey Mike’s Subs, Everbreeze Property Maintenance LLC, Jessica Schroeder – Ropson Reality Group, Arrow Auto Inc., The Lorelei, Wade’s Pit Stop, Rage Chassis, C.R.I. Development LLC and Victory Sign.