Yrjanainen, Swanson Stay Hot in ABC Action

by Nick Gima

            Ashland, WI, June 21 -- Saturday night’s AmsOil Dirt Track Series racing action at the ABC Raceway was full of drama, surprises, shuffles in the points standings and a little history.

            The program, sponsored by Baxter’s Speed Shop of Dorchester, also saw Dean Yrjanainen and Travis Swanson continue their successful ways, as they dominated their respective features.

Yrjanainen was once again the class of the WISSOTA modified field in the 20-lap headliner. John Frydrych blasted away from the pole for the initial lead, but his ride slipped high into turn 3 on the first lap, tagged the guard rail hard, and brought out the only caution flag of the event.             Kelly Checkalski moved up to the pole for the restart and held off Wayne Stricker for the first few laps, but Yrjanainen found some bite off the top groove, swept around Checkalski on lap 4 and was untouchable from there. Jeff Spacek threaded the needle between Al Uotinen and Checkalski to steal away second, but by then Yrjanainen had built up a lead of almost a full straighaway.             The only chance Spacek had was when Yrjanainen bobbled ever so slightly coming out of turn 4 at the race’s midpoint, and over the back half of the run the leader’s motor sounded a little flat, but there was plenty of power left for Yrjanainen to maintain a substantial margin of victory. Points leader Bill Byholm ran out of laps to challenge Spacek for second, while Duane Dale just nipped Uotinen at the stripe for fourth.
Swanson, meanwhile, ran away with his third straight six-cylinder main event win. The 15-lapper got off to a difficult start for Bob Thoreson, who was tangled in a scrap with two other cars and spun before his car rolled onto its roof on the front straight coming to complete lap 2. Thoreson was uninjured in the incident.             Zach Pagels was impressive while holding the early lead, but it didn’t last long as Dale Coddington worked the bottom groove to get by on lap 2. Pagels then spun to slow the race on lap 4, and on the ensuing restart Greg Jaeger took second from CJ Polacek.             As the race reached halfway Swanson began his charge to the front, overtaking both Jaeger and Polacek in one move and threatening Coddington by working his way around the top groove of the wide track. A two-car spin on lap 8 negated Swanson’s first pass for the lead, but he quickly blew past Coddington after the restart and stayed there after another slowdown for Don Muzzy’s stalled car on lap 9.             From there Swanson sped away to his sixth career win here - one more than his father Ron, who was the track’s six-cylinder champ in 1995 and 2004. Coddington survived heat from Jaeger and points leader Scott Ovaska for runner-up honors, while Muzzy moved into second place in the standings with his fifth-place run.
Another driver on a roll at ABC is Shane Halopka, who became only the second person to win a second WISSOTA Midwest modified feature here. Some of the night’s drama came from the fact that Mid-mod points leader Greg Chesley suffered significant transmission damage in his heat race and did not come out for the feature, opening the door for a new pacesetter by the end of that race.             Halopka moved by Rob Weber on lap 2 and began to pull away to a significant lead, as the first ten laps of the 15-lap A-main ran without delay. Weber ran a solid second until a bobble on lap 5 dropped him out of the top five, giving the runner-up position to Mike Truscott.             Halopka’s only worry came with that lone yellow-flag slowdown on lap 10, for a two-car get-together. But Halopka quickly and easily pulled away from Truscott for his second win in three weeks here. Kevin Eder, trying his hand at the open-wheeled division for the first time, was impressive in coming from the fifth row to take third, just ahead of Randy Silverness, Jr, and Weber.             Duane Dunbar’s seventh-place finish was good enough to take over the divisional points lead.
The Truscott family had lots to celebrate Saturday night, as after son Mike’s strong effort came the first feature win by dad Ken at Ashland since June 2005. The senior Truscott started the WISSOTA super stock feature on the outside of the first row and fought off another impressive performance by Joe Oliver to lead all 20 laps, but over the second half of the event he had his hands full.             Truscott built a half-straightaway lead in just six laps, while Oliver had nearly the same distance between himself and Curt Myers by the time Myers moved into third on lap 8. But two quick laps later Randy Spacek moved around Myers, just moments before the divisional points leader slapped the back-straight guard rail, the victim of a flat tire.             Over the second half of the event Truscott got all the challenges he could handle, but caution flags seemed to save him. Truscott, Oliver and Spacek ran three-wide for the lead right after the lap 11 restart, with Spacek gaining the advantage, but debris from Trevor Wilson’s damaged car stopped the action. Then Oliver gained the front spot after another daring pass, but that went for naught when Eder spun.             Truscott held the high line, Oliver worked down low, and Spacek followed in Truscott’s tracks over the final seven laps, but the win wasn’t in hand for Truscott until Spacek, pulling a slide-move on Oliver to take second, lost his momentum. Truscott’s lead was only a couple car-lengths at the stripe, and Spacek, who took over the points lead, wasn’t much further ahead of Oliver. Visiting Eric Olson had a strong night with a fourth-place run to go along with a heat win, and Scott Lawrence brought a stout but damaged car home in fifth.
Like Ken Truscott, Steve Anderson has been a bit too long away from the winner’s circle for his tastes, but that, too, changed Saturday night. Anderson also led flag-to-flag as he won his first WISSOTA street stock feature in just a shade over one year.             The non-stop 12-lapper saw Anderson start out front after original polesitter Bruce Kalmon could not get his car to take the green. Anderson immediately claimed the lead but did not pull away from the field until late in the go, as the streeters were once again a fairly bunched-up group.             John Kallas worked the outer groove to take over second on lap 5, and Cory Casari began a race-long battle for fourth with Tim Baum at the same time. But Anderson finally built up some breathing room over the final couple of laps, holding a five-length lead at the checkers ahead of Kallas. Weber survived a late challenge from Baum for third, and Casari came home fifth.
The history was made in the pure stock class, as Austin Blom won his first career feature in the division’s 100th A-main race at ABC Raceway. The pure stocks were added to the track’s regular weekly program back in 2002.             Tim Carlson and Nathan Dees went at it side-by-side to start the ten-lap race before Dees was spun in front of the rest of the close-knit pack on lap 3. Carlson assumed the lead for the restart, but a lap later contact between Dees and Zene Anderson sent both drivers to the pits with flat tires.             The reshuffled order put Blom in position to threaten and finally overtake Carlson just before Tammie Bretting’s spin stopped action for the last time on lap 4. From there Blom cruised away to the landmark win for both himself and the track, while Dustin Follett crossed the line a ways behind. Follett was later penalized four spots in the final finishing order for jumps on two restarts, moving points leader Chad Carlson up to second in front of his brother Tim, while Tim Carbon and first-nighter Darren Dudley filled out the top five.

            Next Saturday’s race program will be the “Jam the Stands” night, presented by WIMI, 99.7 FM, and Budweiser. All adult admission tickets will sell for only five dollars, while kids ages 12 and under will still be admitted free with a paid adult admission. Things get started with hot laps at 6:15 pm, while racing begins 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.

To view more photos from this weeks races click here to visit Skip Hunter Photography.

Results

WISSOTA Modifieds

            Heat 1: Dean Yrjanainen, Lake Nebagamon; Kelly Checkalski, Poplar; John Frydrych, Butternut; Wayne Stricker, Highbridge; Rick Rivord, Superior; Scott Hudack, Ashland; Ross Lightner, Washburn.

            Heat 2: Jeff Spacek, Phillips; Shawn Kreyer, Hayward; Bill Byholm, Glidden; Al Uotinen, Superior; Duane Dale, Aurora, MN; Jerry Hartman, Marenisco, MI; Steve Lavasseur, River Falls.

            Feature: Yrjanainen; Spacek; Byholm; Dale; Uotinen; Hartman; Checkalski; Rivord; Hudack; Lightner; Lavasseur; Kreyer; Stricker; Frydrych.

WISSOTA Super Stocks

            Heat 1: Curt Myers, Cameron; Randy Spacek, Phillips; Destin Lorimor, Superior; Brian Mikkonen, Iron River; Ron Hmielewski, Marengo; Don Koivisto, Saxon; Andy Grymala, Superior; Chuck Hawkinson, Mellen; Dave Elliott, Minocqua.

            Heat 2: Eric Olson, Ladysmith; Ken Truscott, Greenland, MI; Scott Lawrence, Superior; Joe Oliver, Superior; Kevin Eder, Ashland; Nick Oreskovich, Mason; Trevor Wilson, Superior; Roy Pumala, Mason.

            Feature: Truscott; Spacek; Oliver; Olson; Lawrence; Mikkonen; Lorimor; Oreskovich; Hmielewski; Grymala; Pumala; Wilson; Eder; Hawkinson; Koivisto; Myers; Elliott.

WISSOTA Street Stocks

            Heat 1: Greg Kuklinski, Ironwood, MI; Rob Weber, Washburn; Steve Anderson, Ironwood, MI; John Kallas, Hurley; Paul Milanowski, Ashland.

            Heat 2: Tim Baum, Superior; Cory Casari, Montreal; Larry Haderly, Marengo; Bruce Kalmon, Ashland; Justin Paulsen, Ironwood, MI.

            Feature: Anderson; Kallas; Weber; Baum; Casari; Haderly; Milanowski; Kuklinski; Paulsen; Kalmon.

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds

            Heat 1: Mike Truscott, Chippewa Falls; Randy Silverness, Jr, Superior; Jim Latvala, Solon Springs; Kevin Eder, Ashland; Lance Solem, Duluth, MN; Travis Nye, Ashland; Jacob Morinville, Duluth, MN; Greg Chesley, Duluth, MN.

            Heat 2: Shane Halopka, Medford; Rob Weber, Washburn; Glenn Dammer, Duluth, MN; Joe Olson, Superior; Adam Archer, Duluth, MN; Taylor Leuthner, Foxboro; Pat Cook, Washburn; Shawn Rivord, Superior.

            Heat 3: Rick Przybylski, Ashland; Mickey Nosser, Phillips; Duane Dunbar, Marenisco, MI; Steve Stuart, Ashland; George Dalbeck, Wakefield, MI; Pete Paulus, Phillips; Shane Roy, Duluth, MN.

            Feature: Halopka; Truscott; Eder; Silverness; Weber; Archer; Dunbar; Leuthner; Nosser; Latvala; Dalbeck; Dammer; Olson; Cook; Rivord; Paulus; Przybylski; Morinville; Roy; Nye; Stuart; Solem.

Six-Cylinders

            Heat 1: Pat Beeksma, Ironwood, MI; Don Muzzy, Ironwood, MI; Dale Coddington, Hayward; Scott Ovaska, Marengo; Jonathon Popp, Iron River; Neil Adamzak, Ashland; Ken Tyykila, Iron River; Adam Traaholt, Ashland; Matt Deragon, Ashland.

            Heat 2: Greg Jaeger, Mellen; Zach Pagels, Marengo; Don Livingston, Bayfield; Tyler Luger, Iron River; Myron Basina, Bayfield; Bob Thoreson, Washburn; Aaron Mashlan, Ashland; Ron Lillie, Wakefield, MI.

            Heat 3: Travis Swanson, Ashland; Colin Polacek, Phillips; Shawn McFadden, Jr, Ashland; Dan Moncher, Hurley; DeJay Mihalek, Ashland; Jim Pelto, Ashland; Jim Anderson, Mason; Forrest Schultz, Ashland.

            Feature: Swanson; Coddington; Jaeger; Ovaska; Muzzy; Adamczak; Livingston; Basina; Moncher; Pelto; Luger; Anderson; McFadden; Mihalek; Traaholt; Polacek; Lillie; Popp; Pagels; Deragon; Beeksma; Mashlan; Schultz; Thoreson.

Pure Stocks

            Heat 1: Chad Carlson, Superior; Austin Blom, Saginaw, MN; Tammie Bretting, Washburn; Tim Carbon, Highbridge; Roland Gordon, Bayfield; Dustin Follett, Cloquet, MN.

            Heat 2: Zene Anderson, Superior; Nathan Dees, Ironwood, MI; Tim Carlson, Superior; Kevin Truchon, Highbridge; Darren Dudley, Cable.

            Feature: Blom; C Carlson; T Carlson; Carbon; Dudley; Follett; Truchon; Gordon; Bretting; Dees; Anderson.