Tolsma began his racing career in go-karts at the age of nine, before moving into sprint cars, running as high as USAC, where he won four track championships.
Driving the #61 IWX Motor Freight Chevrolet Silverado for Steve Coulter's Xpress Motorsports team, he started 16th but finished 29th after wrecking early in the race.
Running 15 races, he had 5 top-tens, including his first career win at Mesa Marin Raceway, where he held off fellow rookie Stacy Compton for the final twelve laps.
Tolsma teamed with Coulter to run full-time in 1998, grabbing his first career pole at Indianapolis Raceway Park, and had ten top-ten finishes.
Late in the season, Coulter shut down his Truck team, and Tolsma split the year driving for Liberty Racing, Phil Bonifield, and Dominic Dobson.