Pictured from left to right are Glenn Dammer Pure Stock Champ, Greg Jaeger Six Cylinder Champ, Rob Weber Street Stock Champ, Scott Lawrence Super Stock Champ, Dean Yrjanainen Modified Champ.

 

Beeksma also made mention of the addition of a sixth racing division - the WISSOTA Midwest modifieds - to the weekly racing program at Ashland for the 2008 season. The addition of the class was officially announced back in September.

Dean Yrjanainen was honored for earning his third WISSOTA modified points title and sixth overall at Ashland. The popular Lake Nebagamon veteran driver wrapped up the title during the next-to-last regular race night, tallying the largest advantage of the five champs (69 points), and during the season he scored a division-best six heat wins and nine top-five feature runs.

He also won a lone feature win on June 9 - the 66th of his career here - but that win marked two significant achievements. He became the first driver in track history to score 50 feature wins in a single division at ABC, and he kept intact a string of 17 consecutive seasons with at least one A-main win here - the longest such active streak at the track.

Following Yrjanainen in the final mod points chase were two-time champ Jerry Hartman, who won on opening night just a few months after a frightening work-related injury. Bill Byholm chalked up two feature wins and landed third, followed by Rick Rivord. Shawn Kreyer and five-time track champ Jeff Spacek tied for fifth, while Scott Hudack, Ross Lightner, Nick Nelson and Mark Baxter completed the top ten.

Other drivers receiving points checks in the mod class included Kent Baxter, Robby Bunkelman, Steve Lavasseur, Mike Sauvola and Kelly Checkalski.

WISSOTA super stock driver Scott Lawrence assumed a familiar role - the 2007 title was his fourth straight here in the division. Lawrence, of Superior, set the standard among the supers with six heat wins and three feature victories - the latter giving him 35 A-main wins to move him to tenth on the track’s all-time win list.

The crown was also the seventh for Lawrence, who also won consecutive street stock titles here in 1997-’99. His trophy total trails only Don Copp’s eight ABC championships.

Lawrence finished 27 points ahead of Joe Oliver, who scored a track-best ten top-five feature runs. Third in super points went to 1993 champ Randy Spacek, and he was followed by Kevin Eder, Ron Hmielewski, three-time champ Duane Dunbar, Ken Truscott, three-time champ Brian Mikkonen, Rick Pzybylski and Todd Bonney.

Nick Oreskovich, Trevor Wilson, Art Hyde, Charlie Anderson and Wayne Stricker made up the super stockers finishing 11th through 15th and also received points fund checks.

Rob Weber of Washburn took his first and only feature win on July 7, but it helped him to his first WISSOTA street stock points championship at Ashland in 2007. Weber also used five other top-three feature runs to boost him to the top of the standings, and he was one of only two drivers in the division to finish in the top ten in every street stock feature run here.

The effort was Weber’s fourth top-ten points finish over the past five seasons, and he also led the division with eight top-five feature runs.

Steve Anderson took runner-up honors in the street stock chase for the third straight season and claimed his sixth straight top-five points effort, ahead of Greg Kuklinski, who led the class with four feature wins to push his track-best career total to 84. Cory Casari, John Kallas, George Dalbeck, Butch Kummer, Justin Paulsen, Rob Erickson and Joe Wolfe completed the top ten.

Others who benefited from the points fund included 11th-place Dennis Groom, Larry Haderly in 12th, 13th-finishing Bill Muhlig, Bruce Kalmon in 14th, and Tim Baum in 15th.

As the only driver to finish in the top ten in every six-cylinder feature in 2007, Greg Jaeger was awarded his first-ever ABC championship. The Mellen driver earned three feature wins, which tied Travis Swanson for best-in-class, and which also extended his string of consecutive seasons with three or more A-main wins to three.

Jaeger, who also serves as a member of the track’s Board of Directors, became the 13th different six-cylinder points champion in the past 14 seasons.

Finishing 18 points behind Jaeger was 2006 track champion Steve Stuart, who has finished in the top ten in all six seasons of his racing career. Scott Ovaska led the track with ten top-five finishes and wound up third, ahead of Swanson, Shawn McFadden, Jr, two-time champ Chuck Hawkinson, Pat Cook, Ken Tyykila, Warren Beede and Don Muzzy.

Following the top ten in six-cylinder points but also earning points checks were Jim Anderson, Adam Traaholt, Zach Pagels, Jim Pelto and Don Livingston.

The pure stock points battle was the closest, but Glenn Dammer used a track-best seven feature wins to collect his first-ever ABC points title. His final points margin was 15, and among the wins the Duluth, MN, campaigner chalked up was the Pure Excitement 25 at mid-season.

The ABC title was just one of Dammer’s season highlights, as he also shared the points honors at Superior and finished top-ten at Proctor, MN, despite missing several shows.

Tim Carbon made things interesting with clean sweeps of action during each of the last three race nights but settled for second in the final standings, trailed by 2005 champ Jim Eliason, who also led the division with ten top-five runs. Nathan Dees finished fourth for the second straight year, while Chad Carlson, the team car of Tammie Bretting and Paul Milanowski, Zene Anderson, Tim Carlson, Jeff Christman and the team effort of Ann Erickson and Tara Nelson filled out the top ten.

Pure stockers that finished 2007 in 11th through 15th included Darren Dudley, Brittany Kalmon, the team of Dustin Novak and Kevin Truchon, Lane Passuello and Roland Gordon, and they, too, drew from the points fund.

Rookie-of-the-Year honors were also handed out during the presentation. Ashland’s Chris Bretting, who drove what was essentially a Midwest modified for seven shows during the past summer here to gain valuable practice time, was the only true Raceway regular to qualify for the award in the modified class.

Kevin Eder of Ashland was named the super stock division’s top rookie after a fourth-place finish in track points. Eder also finished 31st in WISSOTA points to claim national honors as well.

Wakefield, MI’s George Dalbeck equalled Eder’s feat by finishing sixth at Ashland to be named the track’s top street stock rookie, while also finishing 24th in the national WISSOTA standings and ninth in Wisconsin state standings to earn national ROY honors.

Travis Swanson garnered three feature wins in his first season racing six-cylinders to claim the track’s top rookie honors in that class. The young Ashland driver’s father, Ron, is a former champion in the sixes.

Darren Dudley of Cable was named the top rookie in the pure stock class after an 11th-place performance which included a top-five and four top-ten feature runs.

Several other special awards were also presented during the program. For 2007 the Association named Nick Oreskovich of Mason as its Most Improved Driver, based on his five top-ten runs and 11th-place points finish during his rookie season in the super stocks.

The Sportsman of the Year award was presented to Ashland’s Scott Hudack, who has deservedly won this award before and has also finished top-ten in points 11 times in his 15 seasons in the modifieds.

Beeksma presented his fourth annual President’s Award to Mike Eder, for his continued and tireless efforts toward assisting the club over the past few seasons, including his service on the Association’s Board.

Door prizes were given out to many of those in attendance, and several drivers were awarded free pit spaces in a random drawing.

The ABC Raceway will be represented at the annual Media Day activities in Proctor in early May, and the club expects to begin action for its 44th season in mid-May.