The ABC Raceway - Home of The Red Clay Classic.

by Nick Gima Ashland, WI, May 23 -- The ABC Raceway kicked off its 2009 AmsOil Dirt Track Series season with a six-division show that produced some wild moments and a few landmark feature wins. The program, presented by the Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce, saw 110 entries compete on a cool, clear night, and on a smooth, fast race track that some drivers struggled to get a hold of.
Robby Bunkelman of Abbotsford survived a thrilling three-car dogfight for the WISSOTA Modified feature win, repeating his efforts from opening night 2008 here. Bunkelman started from the pole but could not get away from Steve Lavasseur’s consistent challenges, as the front half of the field stayed in very close formation, due mostly to several restarts for spins and a couple wrecks that ended a top-ten run for mod rookie Destin Lorimor and a top-three effort for Bill Byholm. After a third caution slowdown during those first two laps, Al Uotinen shot past Lavasseur into second spot, and three more restarts over the next three laps gave Uotinen the chance to set up Bunkelman for a pass for the lead after the lap 6 redo. But as quickly as the Superior veteran took over the point, he just as quickly lost it, coasting into the pits with a broken racer after leading just a couple of laps. Bunkelman found himself leading again, but Lavasseur tailed him close, with Duane Dale joining the mix and actually swiping second late in the run. The threesome battled to the very end, with Bunkelman finally prevailing just ahead of Lavasseur, who edged Dale at the line. Ross Lightner and Wayne Stricker trailed at a distance in fourth and fifth. “I started to lose my brakes during those last five laps,” said Bunkelman after the run. “It was tricky; I could barely touch them.”
In a crazy back-and-forth affair, Kevin Eder stole the lead back from Randy Spacek with five laps left to win his second career WISSOTA Super Stock feature at ABC. Eder started fifth and worked his way into second place behind Eric Olson after three successive restarts slowed the early pace. He then moved into the lead for the first time on lap 4 and stayed there until just after the caution lights came on for debris from Dave Elliott’s car littered the track on lap 8. On lap 9 Spacek, who restarted third, slipped past Olson into second and began making a charge on Eder along the upper groove of the extra-wide racing line. Spacek’s momentum finally paid off on lap 11, as he swept by Eder for the lead. Behind them, defending super stock champ Scott Lawrence pulled alongside Olson in a door-to-door battle for third, and Brian Mikkonen and Joe Oliver duplicated that in their fight over fifth place. Eder suddenly found extra bite on the bottom groove and drew back by Spacek on lap 15, and from there the Ashland racer pulled away for his fifth career ABC Raceway win. “I knew the 22 (Spacek) was there,” Eder told the hometown crowd afterwards. “That made it real exciting.” Olson fought back to reclaim third from Lawrence, and fifth went to Mikkonen. During heat-race action earlier in the program, Lawrence and Art Hyde were battling for top-five spots in the second super stock qualifier when they tangled, causing their cars to grind to a halt with Hyde’s car straddling the front-stretch concrete retaining wall as well as resting on top of Lawrence’s. Both cars seemed to suffer excessive damage, but amazingly enough, both drivers made the call for the feature.
Cory Casari battled all race long with defending track champ Larry Haderly to collect his 20th career ABC win in the WISSOTA Street Stock feature. Casari, of Hurley, won a three-wide battle for the lead on the opening lap and held on from there, as Haderly snuck several peeks to the inside to challenge. Along with John Kallas, the lead trio pulled away from the pack until spins by rookie Kyle Weber and Butch Kummer on consecutive laps tightened the pack. Over the final five laps, however, Casari maintained his advantage, pulling to a car-length lead at the line, ahead of Haderly, Kallas, Greg Kuklinski and Dennis Groom. “We changed a few things before the feature, with some help from Butch Kummer,” Casari explained in Victory Lane afterwards.
Pat Cook of Washburn took control of the WISSOTA Midwest Modified 15-lap headliner on lap 2 and was not to be caught, collecting his first career WISSOTA-sanctioned victory. Cook moved quickly from the second row into the lead before the second restart, brought about by a Jimmy Latvala spin after some aggressive bumping and banging for position. From there Cook was smooth and fast, first running away from Taylor Leuthner, then from Mickey Nosser, and finally from a fast-closing Rick Przybylski, as the final 13 laps clicked off non-stop. Mid-mod rookie Travis Swanson and Lance Solem completed the top five. “There’s no better place to get it (first WISSOTA win) that right here at my home track,” Cook proudly stated in Victory Lane.
Scott Ovaska of Marengo won a year ago here on opening night, but it was because of a disqualification to the original winner. On this night, he made sure the Six-Cylinder feature win was all his. Ovaska led from the pole and paced all 15 laps en route to the victory. Ovaska headed 2008 ABC champ Pat Beeksma during the early laps and after a lap 4 spin by DeJay Mihalek forced a restart. The field was brought to a standstill after that, however, when third-running Chuck Hawkinson got loose and spun, collecting several close-running trailers which forced Don Muzzy’s car to turn onto its roof. After the lengthy red-flag stop, Dale Coddington slipped past Beeksma and pursued Ovaska for the final 11 laps, but Coddington’s only opportunity to overcome the leader came after a Zach Pagels spin on lap 10, but he couldn’t take advantage. “This one I earned,” an elated Ovaska proclaimed during his first visit to Victory Lane. Beeksma held on for third, ahead of Shawn McFadden, Jr, and a charging Neil Adamczak.
The wildest finish of all came in the final race of the evening, as Superior’s Chad Carlson slipped by to take the Pure Stock feature win. Carlson, the 2008 ABC champion, ran in the top five throughout most of the ten-lap event, as Dustin Follett slipped to the inside on Austin Blom and Ken Tody, Jr, and took the early lead. But after the race’s only stoppage - on lap 4 for Joe Wolfe’s spin - Follett rode the extreme outside line around the red-clay oval. This allowed Tody to charge back and threaten to take the lead, which he finally did on lap 7. Tody looked to have things in hand until the final corner, when Follett dove low and leaned his race car against Tody’s. As the two slid up the banking of turn 4 Follett’s car lifted up on its passenger-side wheels, opening up the low lane for Carlson to slip past and win the drag race to the checkered flag. Follett’s car landed on all fours just in time to salvage second place, while Jeff Christman followed in third, ahead of Blom and Tim Carlson.
Next Saturday’s race program will be presented by WITC-Ashland Campus, with hot laps set for 6:15 pm and racing starting at 7. “Race Night” will air live on WBSZ, 93.3 FM, from 4:30-6 pm with at-the-track news and weather updates. The ABC Raceway is located 3-1/2 miles south of Ashland on State Highway 13 and one mile west on Butterworth Road. For raceday information call (715) 682-4990.