First-Time Winners, Bike Races Highlight ABC Show
by Nick Gima
Ashland, WI, July 16 -- Tyler Luger ran away with his first-ever six-cylinder feature win, while Paul Knauf, Nick Oreskovich and Ryan Adamczak each claimed their first win of the season as 82 cars and a lot of kids with bikes came to race at the ABC Raceway on Saturday night.
Luger sped away from the pole in last week’s “Six-Cylinder Summer Sizzler” and held a comfortable lead in the early stages before a flat tire forced a frustrating end to his fine run. On this night the Iron River campaigner started the 15-lapper from the outside of the front row and beat pole starter Bill Anderson into and through the first corner and would not give up the lead, despite two restarts and several tough challengers.
Tyler Hudack was the first to give Luger a run, taking second away from Anderson just before Don Muzzy’s spin with one lap in the books brought about the first caution slowdown. But Hudack’s car refused to keep pace a lap after the restart and he pulled off, giving the runner-up to Dale Coddington.
Luger’s lead was significant at that point in the race, but when he caught first-nighter Brandon Ottman and struggled to get by on lap 6, it allowed Coddington to draw right up to Luger’s rear bumper. Luger and Coddington eventually cleared Ottman’s slower car, but the next batch of racers were not so lucky, causing Tad Bretting to spin on lap 7.
Again Luger had the field on his bumper for a restart, but again he maintained his edge, which grew significantly when Coddington’s car suddenly slowed and pulled into the infield grass on lap 9. From there Luger stayed well enough ahead of Shawn McFadden Jr for the final six laps to collect his landmark win. Greg Jaeger, Pat Beeksma and Bretting completed the top five.
Knauf made his long trip to Ashland from Marshfield worth the journey as he darted away from the pole and dominated the 20-lap WISSOTA modified headliner. Within the first four laps Knauf built up a lead of over a second on the battle between Rick Rivord and Steve Lavasseur for second, and the only times anyone ever got close to the visitor was after the race’s two caution slowdowns - on lap 5 for Al Hartel’s spun ride, and on lap 7 when Jeff Spacek’s car spun and stopped at the bottom of turn 4.
Rivord got the better of Lavasseur after the lap 5 restart, but Lavasseur nearly got him back after the second re-do, when he used an outside move to pull up alongside. But all this did was allow Knauf to roar away and eventually build up a lead of over 2.5 seconds with seven laps left.
At that same time, Jerry Hartman and Bill Byholm overtook Steve Stuart for fourth and fifth, and Hartman continued his recent strong efforts by reeling in Lavasseur and eventually getting around him for third. But by the time Knauf reached the finish line he was nearly a full straightaway up on Rivord for his third career win here. Stuart retook fifth from Byholm in the closing laps.
Oreskovich’s ride was stout all night as he swept both his heat race and the WISSOTA super stock feature in domanant fashion. Joe Olson was the first to set the pace as he beat polesitter Willie Johnsen to the front, while Oreskovich made an aggressive but clean three-wide pass for second by driving under Johnson and Brian Mikkonen two laps into the run. Then, after just three laps, Olson’s car mysteriously ground to a stop on the front straight, turning on the caution lights for the only time in the 20-lap race.
Mikkonen used an outside move on Johnsen one lap after the restart and was scored first by a bumper on lap 4, but Oreskovich made another gutsy move on lap 6, again sneaking below both Johnsen and Mikkonen, and this time taking the lead for good. Three laps later Mikkonen’s car dropped back with issues, giving “the Flying Farmer” from Mason ample cushion between him and Johnsen’s battle with a charging Cory Casari for second.
As Oreskovich enjoyed a two-and-a-half-second lead, Johnsen eventually was overtaken by Casari on lap 7, and then he fell back out of the top five as Scott Lawrence and Randy Spacek began a heated discussion over third, which was eventually won by Spacek when he hustled his way around with an outside move on lap 17. Oreskovich’s final margin of victory was 2.4 seconds - nearly two-thirds of the front straightaway - on Casari, with Spacek a distant third. Lawrence maintained a one-point lead in the season standings with a fourth-place run just ahead of second-in-points Dave Flynn.
Adamczak found a lot of bite on the smooth, tacky-fast red-clay oval as he held off WISSOTA Midwest modified points leader George Dalbeck for the win in their 15-lap main event. Adamczak, from Ashland, was able to clear pole starter Neil Balduc for the early lead and pulled the left-front tire on his racer as much as a foot off the ground as he accelerated off the corners throughout the run. Sixth-starting Travis Nye made a high-side move count on the first lap to take second spot and stay within a few yards of Adamczak’s rear bumper-bar.
Dalbeck had moved up to third and was gaining on the lead pair by the halfway point of the race when fourth-running Steve Anderson looped his ride in turn 2. Dalbeck took advantage of the side-by-side restart by beating Nye out of the first turn once back under green and staying as close to Adamczak’s trunk lid as possible for the remainder of the race. In fact, Dalbeck took several looks to the inside to try to steal away the win over the remaining laps, including once coming out of the final turn to the checkered, but Adamczak held on for his seventh career win here. Nye was a close third, followed by Balduc and Rob Weber.
The only repeat winner of the night was DJ Keeler of Superior in the pure stocks, and he only won because of someone else’s last-lap heartbreak. The race was Keith Troutman’s to lose as he sped away after a restart for Tiffany Hudack’s spin before a lap could be scored, and after Roland Gordon moved around Joe Wolfe into second the lead duo pulled away.
Behind them several dogfights for position took place, with the wildest of them being for third, as contact between the sixth-starting Keeler and Wolfe loosened up Wolfe’s car and gave the position to Keeler on lap 6. On the next trip around debris was spotted on the track, forcing the field to slow for the caution flag and setting up a five-lap shootout. With the green flag waiving again, Keeler got the better of Gordon for second as Troutman again drew away, and soon thereafter Gordon’s car, which had been spewing coolant, finally gave up on him, moving everyone behind him up a spot in the running order.
With the checkered flag in sight and looking for his first-ever win in Ashland of any kind, Troutman’s car coughed out flames from the exhaust and slowed coming through turn 4, allowing Keeler to catch him and pass him for the win, with Steve Udeen, Jim Eliason, Tim Carbon and Wolfe following at a distance to fill out the top five. Troutman’s car coasted across the line a disappointing eighth.
Around a hundred kids brought their bikes onto the red-clay oval during intermission to compete in races for four different age groups, and all participants received medals and the top finishers received trophies and cash. Also, new bikes were awarded to nearly a dozen lucky youngsters in attendance as part of a drawing.
On Saturday night, July 23, the ABC Raceway will again host another five divisions of racing action in a program presented by Northern Clearing of Ashland. And fans are reminded that the touring IRA Sprint Car Series will make its first-ever appearance at the Ashalnd track on Saturday, July 30. The pit gates will open at this Saturday at 4 pm and the grandstands at 5, with hot laps at 6:30 and racing at 7 pm. “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.
Results
WISSOTA Modifieds
Feature: Paul Knauf, Marshfield; Rick Rivord, Superior; Jerry Hartman, Marenisco, MI; Steve Lavasseur, River Falls; Steve Stuart, Ashland; Bill Byholm, Glidden; Al Uotinen, Superior; Paul Niznik, Medford; Kevin Eder, Ashland; Kent Baxter, Elk Mound; Pat Cook, Washburn; Al Hartel, South Range; Luke Shilling, Granton; Larry Prochnow, Menomonie; Wayne Stricker, Highbridge; Jacob Morinville, Duluth, MN; Scott Hudack, Ashland; Jeff Spacek, Phillips.
Heat 1: Lavasseur; Stuart; Hartman; Schilling; Eder; Hartel; Prochnow; Morinville; Baxter.
Heat 2: Uotinen; Rivord; Knauf; Byholm; Spacek; Niznik; Cook; Hudack; Stricker.
WISSOTA Super Stocks
Feature: Nick Oreskovich, Mason; Cory Casari, Montreal; Randy Spacek, Phillips; Scott Lawrence, Superior; Dave Flynn, Superior; Ken Truscott, Greenland, MI; Willie Johnsen, Superior; Charlie Anderson, Ironwood, MI; Ron Hmielewski, Marengo; Roy Pumala, Mason; Kirk Bogdonovic, Phillips; Cody Carlson, Superior; Shawn Rivord, Superior; Dave Elliott, Minocqua; Brian Mikkonen, Iron River; Jeff Spacek, Phillips; Joe Olson, Superior.
Heat 1: Oreskovich; Mikkonen; Rivord; Flynn; Truscott; Pumala; Bogdanovic; Anderson; Carlson.
Heat 2: Johnsen; Casari; Olson; J Spacek; Lawrence; Hmielewski; Elliott; R Spacek.
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
Feature: Ryan Adamczak, Ashland; George Dalbeck, Wakefield, MI; Travis Nye, Ashland; Neil Balduc, Bessemer, MI; Rob Weber, Ashland; Rick Przybylski, Ashland; Duane Dunbar, Marenisco, MI; Steve Anderson, Ironwood, MI; Ryan Huff, Ontonagon, MI; Bill Muhlig, Calumet, MI; Chris Huther, Medford; George Truscott, Greenland, MI.
Heat 1: Balduc; Przybylski; Weber; Adamczak; Truscott; Muhlig.
Heat 2: Nye; Dalbeck; Anderson; Dunbar; Huff; Huther.
Six-Cylinders
Feature: Tyler Luger, Iron River; Shawn McFadden, Jr, Ashland; Greg Jaeger, Mellen; Pat Beeksma, Ironwood, MI; Tad Bretting, Ashland; Bill Anderson, Wakefield, MI; Don Muzzy, Ironwood, MI; Neil Adamczak, Ashland; DeJay Mihalek, Ashland; Scott Ovaska, Marengo; Aaron Mashlan, Ashland; Forrest Schultz, Ashland; Matt Pelto, Ashland; Warren Beede, Iron River; Shane Basina, Bayfield; Adam Traaholt, Ashland; Jonathan Popp, Iron River; Dale Coddington, Hayward; Brandon Ottman, Ashland; Tyler Hudack, Ashland; Ron Lillie, Wakefield, MI.
Heat 1: Pelto; Anderson; Hudack; Mashlan; Traaholt; Ottman; Schultz.
Heat 2: McFadden; Beeksma; Jaeger; Beede; Ovaska; Adamczak; Mihalek.
Heat 3: Muzzy; Coddington; Luger; Bretting; Basina; Popp; Lillie.
Pure Stocks
Feature: DJ Keeler, Superior; Steve Udeen, Superior; Jim Eliason, Ashland; Tim Carbon, Highbridge; Joe Wolfe, Montreal; Tiffany Hudack, Ashland; Andy Udeen, Superior; Keith Troutman, Tomahawk; Ken Tody Jr, Ashland; Roland Gordon, Bayfield; Matt Deragon, Ashland; Jeff Christman, Superior; Jonathan Vanusek, Mellen; Chad Carlson, Superior.
Heat 1: Gordon; Troutman; Deragon; S Udeen; A Udeen; Vanusek; Tody.
Heat 2: Eliason; Wolff; Carbon; Keeler; Christman; Hudack; Carlson.
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