Muzzy Scores First-Ever Win in ABC ‘Summer Sizzler’

by Nick Gima
 Ashland, WI, July 9 -- Don Muzzy took advantage of a fellow racer’s hard luck and sped away to his first career feature win Saturday at the ABC Raceway.
 The Six-Cylinder Summer Sizzler, presented by the Bad River Lodge, Casino & Convention Center, was the highlight of another thrilling night of AmsOil Dirt Track Series racing action as a strong turnout of fans watched 78 cars compete in hazy, humid, 80-degree weather.

After a sloppy initial start, the 20-lap headliner for the sixes ran off non-stop, as pole-starter Tyler Luger shot away from a tight battle for second between rookie Matt Pelto, Tad Bretting and Muzzy. The Ironwood, MI, veteran racer made quick work of the two youngsters, working past Bretting with an inside move on lap 2 for third and overtaking Pelto with a similar move a lap later. Luger was smooth and fast during the early laps and built up a lead of well over a second on Muzzy and the rest of the field by lap 4, but within two more circuits around the three-eighth-mile oval a flat tire forced Luger to slow dramatically, giving Muzzy a lead he was determined to keep. By mid-race Muzzy was nearly a straightaway up on Bretting, while Shawn McFadden, Jr, was closing in third and bringing Greg Jaeger along in tow. Muzzy had already put several backmarkers a lap down by lap 14, when McFadden made an inside maneuver on Bretting as they were weaving their way through slower traffic. Bretting sideswiped the lapped car of Adam Traaholt and slowed, allowing McFadden room on the bottom to slip by for the runner-up spot. With four laps left Muzzy’s lead on McFadden was over four seconds, but while McFadden trimmed that difference by more than half at the checkered flag, Muzzy was the one collecting the $400 winner’s check, as well as the fast-lap bonus. Dale Coddington came home with a strong third-place run, while Bretting held off 14th-starting Pat Beeksma for fourth. The non-stop run lasted only six-and-a-half minutes.
On this night the track also hosted its qualifying races for its WISSOTA-sanctioned divisions for the AmsOil Race of Champions event, to be held during the WISSOTA 100 weekend in Huron, SD, in mid-September. The first of these was for the WISSOTA Midwest modifeds, where George Dalbeck of Wakefield, MI, was once again trimuphant. Dalbeck worked hard to get past Ryan Adamczak for second spot in the initial circuit of the 15-lap run, and he had to work even harder to catch and eventually pass pole-starter Rick Przybylski for the lead, but he did so with a low-side move on lap 4. From there Dalbeck just had to hold on through a couple of restarts for his third win of the season here to pad his points lead. While Dalbeck pulled away, Przybylski had his hands full fighting to keep second place as Travis Nye kept the pressure on. The rapid pace of the race slowed when the yellow caution lights came on for the spun car of Chris Bretting, which was subsequently tagged hard by Bill Muhlig’s ride. On the restart Nye used the outside groove to edge by Przybylski for second, and behind them Rob Weber swiped fourth away from Adamczak, just before Neil Balduc’s spin brought about another stoppage. Dalbeck was simply too strong on this night and pulled away over the final laps to win his third A-main of the season here. Nye put some distance on Przybylski over the late laps to claim second, Weber held on for fourth, and Duane Dunbar came on strong at the end of the run to crack the top five.
Front-row starters Cory Casari and Dave Flynn put on quite a show early in the WISSOTA super stock feature, but it was Flynn, from Superior, who won not only the battle, but after 20 anxious laps also won the overall war. Flynn cleared Casari for the lead after one lap, and when Jeff Spacek’s ride slipped up the hill in turn 4, Scott Lawrence fell right in line for third behind the leaders. On lap 2, Spacek tapped the back of Lawrence’s ride and the seven-time defending champion spun, bringing out the first of two quick caution flags. After Charlie Anderson found himself hung up on the infield marker tires before another lap could be scored, the next 15 tours around the red-clay oval were uninterrupted, but certainly tense. On that restart Lawrence slipped past Casari for second and began a relentless challenge on Flynn’s rear bumper for the lead, looking high and low for a way past. Flynn, however, remained steady in his route around the track, maintaining a line that eventually allowed him to draw to a three-length advantage. In one of the more nail-biting moves of the race, Randy Spacek took the low line and Brian Mikkonen the high side as the pair completed a three-wide pass for fifth and sixth past Ken Truscott coming off of turn 2 on lap 8. A few laps after that Nick Oreskovich began a determined effort to take third place away from Casari, but Randy Spacek turned the tables on Oreskovich by completing a pass for fourth just before stray debris on the race track brought out another caution flag with three laps left. On the restart Casari and Lawrence snookered Flynn to get by him and establish their own battle for the lead, but Flynn was saved when Randy Spacek’s car was spun behind them. This time Flynn didn’t get caught sleeping at the switch, scooting away from Lawrence and holding on for his third ABC win of the year. Randy Spacek took third when Casari’s car broke loose coming to the final restart, and Oreskovich also took advantage of the situation to steal away fourth, as Casari recovered for fifth.
Jerry Hartman was the third of the five feature winners to take first-place checks back to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, as the Marenisco, MI, veteran claimed his 35th career win in Ashland and his first in nearly a year to the date. Hartman drag-raced with Rick Rivord throughout the first lap and was a nose ahead at the stripe when a multi-car melee in turn 2 brought the fast-paced 20-lapper to a quick halt on lap 2. Over the next nine laps Hartman found a comfortable rhythm, allowing him to build a one-second-plus lead on a great battle for second between Rivord and Wayne Stricker. Steve Lavasseur, who was caught up in that early-lap incident, bobbled a bit while running fourth, giving Scott Hudack and Steve Stuart a chance to slip by for the last two positions in the top five. Stuart executed a low-line move to work past Hudack for fourth just before Lavasseur spun on lap 11 to bring out the second slowdown of the run and bring the field back to Hartman’s rear bumper. But Hartman was smooth and swift out front and again pulled away, thanks in part to the ongoing battle for second between Rivord and Stricker. It was on lap 15 when the close-knit racing for fifth became a little too intense, as contact between Jeff Spacek and Hudack caused Hudack’s car to hit the front-straight concrete hard nose-first, and an innocent Al Hartel, racing in traffic just outside the top ten, had no where to go to avoid the stopped car and took a hard glancing blow, causing significantly more damage to both rides. Over the final five laps Hartman was uncatchable, winning here for the first time since July 10, 2010, while Rivord held off Stricker for second a ways back. Stuart and 13th-starting Bill Byholm completed the top five.
Besides the three winners from the UP, Steve Udeen joined Flynn as the second race winner hailing from Superior, shutting out the “hometown” drivers for the first time this season. Udeen was triumphant for the first time in his career at Ashland by taking the pure stock A-feature. After a lost bumper on the track forced a complete restart on the initial try, Roland Gordan tried to sneak ahead of Joe Wolfe for the early lead with a car was very squirrely. Gordan lost the handle on the loose ride coming out of turn 2 on the second lap, and three cars tried to squeeze by on the low groove, but Jim Eliason’s car had a little help and got completely sideways in the middle of that pack. All other drivers were successful in avoiding contact, and the spin brought about the only other yellow-flag slowdown of the 12-lap event. Gordon was reset at the point for the restart, but again he struggled with the handling of his car, and again Eliason worked to get by, this time claiming the lead and bringing the eighth-place-starting Udeen along to second. Eliason tried to hold the low groove, but Udeen found the high side to his liking and swept by for the lead, and from lap 5 on he pulled away to his landmark win. Gordon eventually overtook Eliason for second with three laps left, and DJ Keeler, who started 12th on the grid and whose bumper was the one dropped on the track to start the race, clawed his way to fourth, just ahead of Jeff Christman.
Six racing helmets, which were donated by Cookie & Tim Carbon and autographed by nearly all of the competitors who have raced at ABC this season to date, were given away to young fans during intermission. Lucky winners included Cody Seitz, Emily Marshall, Baylee Barningham, Austin Barningham, Olivia Hyte and Zach Brooks.

 The next event at the track, on July 16, includes bike races for the youngsters. Kids ages 2 through 13 will be invited onto the track to race for prizes and more. The program, presented by Ashland’s County Market, will also include all five regular weekly divisions for racing action.
 The pit gates will open 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: Jerry Hartman, Marenisco, MI; Rick Rivord, Superior; Wayne Stricker, Highbridge; Steve Stuart, Ashland; Bill Byholm, Glidden; Al Uotinen, Superior; Patrick Hoffman, Rice Lake; Paul Niznik, Medford; Steve Lavasseur, River Falls; Jared Loos, Loyal; Kent Baxter, Elk Mound; Pat Cook, Washburn; Scott Hudack, Ashland; Al Hartel, South Range; Jeff Spacek, Phillips; Destin Lorimor, Superior; Kevin Eder, Ashland.
 Heat 1: Hudack; Hoffman; Eder; Niznik; Lavasseur; Cook; Byholm; Spacek; Uotinen.
 Heat 2: Stuart; Stricker; Rivord; Hartman; Hartel; Baxter; Loos; Lorimor.
WISSOTA Super Stocks
 Feature: Dave Flynn, Superior; Scott Lawrence, Superior; Randy Spacek, Phillips; Nick Oreskovich, Mason; Cory Casari, Montreal; Shaen Rivord, Superior; Brian Mikkonen, Iron River; Ken Truscott, Greenland, MI; Jeff Spacek, Phillips; Greg Kuklinski, Ironwood, MI; Willie Johnsen, Superior; Cody Carlson, Superior; Charlie Anderson, Ironwood, MI; Ron Hmielewski, Marengo.
 Heat 1: Larence; J Spacek; Oreskovich; Truscott; Kuklinski; Anderson; Carlson.
 Heat 2: Rivord; Casari; Flynn; R Spacek; Johnsen; Hmielewski; Mikkonen.
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
 Feature: George Dalbeck, Wakefield, MI; Travis Nye, Ashland; Rick Przybylski, Ashland; Rob Weber, Ashland; Duane Dunbar, Marenisco, MI; Ryan Adamczak, Ashland; Steve Anderson, Ironwood, MI; Tanner Byholm, Glidden; Bill Muhlig, Calumet, MI; Chad Adamczak, Ashland; Neil Balduc, Bessemer, MI; Chris Bretting, Ashland.
 Heat 1: Dunbar; Dalbeck; Bretting; Przybylski; Anderson; Byholm.
 Heat 2: Weber; Balduc; R Adamczak; Nye; C Adamczak; Muhlig.
Six-Cylinders
 Feature: Don Muzzy, Ironwood, MI; Shawn McFadden, Jr, Ashland; Dale Coddington, Hayward; Tad Bretting, Ashland; Pat Beeksma, Ironwood, MI; Greg Jaeger, Mellen; Tyler Hudack, Ashland; Scott Ovaska, Marengo; Matt Pelto, Ashland; Bill Anderson, Wakefield, MI; Forrest Schultz, Ashland; Aaron Mashlan, Ashland; DeJay Mihalek, Ashland; Ron Lillie, Wakefield, MI; Ken Tody Jr, Ashland; Warren Beede, Iron River; Shane Basina, Bayfield; Jonathan Popp, Iron River; Adam Traaholt, Ashland; Tyler Vernon, Ashland; Tyler Luger, Iron River.
 Heat 1: Ovaska; Pelto; Schultz; Lillie; Popp; Basina; Traaholt; Tody.
 Heat 2: Muzzy; Jaeger; Luger; Anderson; Beeksma; Beede; Mihalek.
 Heat 3: Coddington; McFadden; Bretting; Hudack; Vernon; Mashlan; Neil Adamczak, Ashland.
Pure Stocks
 Feature: Steve Udeen, Superior; Roland Gordon, Bayfield; Jim Eliason, Ashland; DJ Keeler, Superior; Jeff Christman, Superior; Tim Carbon, Highbridge; Joe Wolfe, Ironwood, MI; Jonathan Vanusek, Mellen; Chad Carlson, Superior; Tiffany Hudack, Ashland; Ken Tody Jr, Ashland; Matt Deragon, Ashland.
 Heat 1: Deragon; Udeen; Wolfe; Carbon; Tody; Hudack; Keeler.
 Heat 2: Eliason; Gordon; Christman; Carlson; Vanusek; Joe Pajtash, Bennett.