Haderly Collects Record-Setting Check in ABC Streeter Special

by Nick Gima

            Ashland, WI, August 9 -- Larry Haderly fended off hard-charging visitor Jim Randall and took home $1,210 for his effort Saturday night, as the ABC Raceway hosted its third annual Street Stock Challenge presented by Chicago Iron & Supply and Rivord Trucking on a night when all six features went down to the wire.

The divisional points leader’s win was his fourth of the season but by far his biggest, as donations by fans and businesses allowed the feature purse to grow tremendously. The original purse was set at about $2,400 and was to pay $400 to win, but it was well in excess of $3,300 when all was said and done.             The winner’s share was the biggest for a streeter in track history, and Haderly was nothing short of appreciative. “This is great,” he said in Victory Lane after the 20-lap headline event. “The car was working. I can’t thank everyone enough for this.”             Although Haderly started on the pole and led every lap, he had his work cut out for him. Steve Anderson got loose and collected John Kallas to draw the first caution flag before one lap was scored, but the next ten laps clicked off non-stop, and Haderly stayed ahead of several heated battles for position.             Cory Casari slipped past Randall for third on lap 4, and then Randall returned the favor three circuits later with a three-wide move, also overtaking Greg Kuklinski. Three tours after that it was Kuklinski who powered into third.             By mid-race Haderly had built a little cushion over second-running Rob Weber, but that changed when Casari collected Tim Baum while the two battled for fifth. After the restart Randall again went outside to displace Kuklinski, but in Kuklinski’s enthusiasm to retake the spot he tagged Weber, turning him around and forcing three others to pile up trying to avoid the incident - including Baum, who was knocked from the race.             Over the final eight laps John Kallas moved into third behind Randall as Weber got shuffled back. Randall eliminated Haderly’s four-car-length lead during the last two laps and made a last-ditch try coming out of the final turn, tapping Haderly’s left-rear corner, but Haderly held on for the huge win. Randall later speculated that he finished the race on just seven cylinders, as the car began to smoke during the last lap. Behind Kallas was Anderson and Weber.
In other AmsOil Dirt Track Series action, Shane Kisling won his first-ever feature on Ashland soil, after a thrilling side-by-side duel with Destin Lorimor in the WISSOTA super stock 20-lapper.             Kisling started inside on row 3 and immediately went to the track’s outer groove, slipping around Charlie Anderson for second right after a lap 1 restart. Lorimor, who started outside on row 1, stuck to the low lane throughout the event, and soon Kisling pulled alongside.             On lap 7 Kisling edged ahead, and although Lorimor drew back to dead-even at times he couldn’t quite retake the lead for good. The only other caution flag of the event flew on lap 11 for Tad Schoonover’s spin, after which Kisling and Lorimor resumed their neck-and-neck feud. Lorimor’s best hope for the win came on lap 14, when Kisling slipped too high up the banking in turn 4, but he couldn’t take advantage.             “I’ve been coming here for a long time with the street stock (in past years),” Kisling told the fans after the race. “We finally got one (a win). It was a fun race.”             Anderson, back in his own car for the first time all summer, won a three-car battle for fifth over Joe Oliver and visiting Eric Olson. Scott Lawrence, who finished tenth, added to his slim points lead over eleventh-finishing Randy Spacek going into next week’s action.
Bill Byholm tracked down Duane Dale and took away the WISSOTA modified A-main win with a last-lap pass. Byholm, who again drove John Frydrych’s car, started alongside Dale in row 2, behind polesitter and early leader Robby Bunkelman. But Dale didn’t hesitate to climb to the top groove of the racetrack and swung around Bunkelman on lap 2.             Dale pulled to a seemingly insurmountable lead by the midpoint of the non-stop 20-lapper, but Byholm, who discovered the same success as Dale on the high side, swept around Bunkelman to claim second place, and over the next handful of laps Byholm eliminated most of Dale’s advantage.             With five laps left Byholm was riding Dale’s rear bumper, and on a couple of occasions he took a look to the inside for the lead. But it wasn’t until the final lap that Byholm made a move stick, and he came out of turn 2 with a slight advantage. Byholm led Dale by a car-length at the checkers, while Bunkelman held off a late surge by the visiting Joey Jensen for third. Dean Yrjanainen claimed fifth.             Al Uotinen cut into Jeff Spacek’s points lead slightly with his seventh-place run; Spacek took eighth and holds a nine-point edge.
After making a last-to-first run to win his heat race, Steve Stuart again had to pass a bunch of cars in order to claim his second WISSOTA Midwest modified feature of the season. Polestarter George Dalbeck looked strong in the early stages of the 15-lap run, staying ahead of the very impressive Barry Smith. Stuart, meanwhile, started outside on row 4 and quickly gained several spots before completing a great outside move around third-place Weber, but it was negated by a two-car spin on lap 4.             Stuart got by Pat Cook for fourth on the restart and then repassed Weber for third a circuit later, while Smith slipped past Dalbeck for the lead on lap 5. Dalbeck retook the point on the next lap, but when his car pushed up the turn 2 banking on lap 7 Smith was there to capitalize, with Stuart on his tail.             Two laps later Stuart worked the outside line to get by Smith, and Jimmy Latvala used a similar move to take third from Cook and Weber, but Cook reclaimed the spot on lap 11, just before Jesse Ogston’s car coasted to a stop on the track.             When Lance Solem’s car lost its driveshaft, it forced a green-white-checkered finish, but Stuart had enough in the tank to hold on for the win, ahead of Smith, Cook, Latvala and Duane Dunbar. With the sweep Stuart also increased his points advantage over Dunbar to ten with two race nights left.
Ron Swanson picked up where his son left off by taking the win in the six-cylinder feature. Travis Swanson was suspended a week ago after the car was found with an engine infraction, so with the repairs made Ron - the division’s 1995 and 2004 track champ - jumped in and started the 15-lapper in sixth.             Scott Ovaska shot away from the outside of the front row and led the majority of the race, but Swanson moved up after Jim Anderson spun himself out of third, and he overtook rookie Colin Polacek for second after a lap 6 restart. Swanson kept the heat on Ovaska while Greg Jaeger moved into third, and the top three separated themselved from the pack.             On lap 10 Swanson finally worked inside on Ovaska for the lead, and two laps later Jaeger stole second away. Jaeger had a run on Swanson going into turn 1 just after the leaders took the white flag, but Warren Beede and Ken Tyykila got together a half-lap behind them, forcing a green-white-checkered finish. Jaeger’s last chance to take the win away was thwarted when he checked up to avoid spinning Swanson when the leader’s car broke loose, and that was enough breathing room for Swanson to hang on for his sixth career ABC Raceway feature win and first since July 2004.             “My son told me how to drive the car, and he was right,” the winner explained in Victory Lane afterwards. “He’s a better driver than I am.”             Jaeger finished second ahead of Ovaska, while Chuck Hawkinson returned to the six-cylinder ranks on a great note, with a fourth-place run and an earlier heat-race victory. Shawn McFadden, Jr, took over the points lead from Dale Coddington with his fifth-place effort.
Nathan Dees led flag to flag to record his first pure stock feature win since August 2006. Dees outran Jeff Christman to the first corner and never looked back, although the big lead he held throughout the first half of the run dwindled once Chad Carlson took over second.             Carlson got to Dees’ rear bumper but could not position himself for a winning pass, and Dees’ final margin of victory was less than two lengths. Austin Blom wound up a distant third, ahead of points leader Tim Carbon and Paul Milanowski.

            Next Saturday’s race program will be the next-to-last for the regular season and will be presented by Heartland Communications, 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.

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