Heartland Communications Jam the Stands and Preacher Feature

Jensen Conquors ABC Mods; Casari Collects First Super Win
by Nick Gima
 Ashland, WI, June 25 -- Joey Jensen of Forest Lake, MN, got in a good shake-down session for Tuesday night’s Como Mod Series special here by taking home wins in both his heat and the WISSOTA modified feature during “Jam the Stands” Night action Saturday at the ABC Raceway.

The Amsoil Dirt Track Series program, presented by Heartland Communications, drew a season-high 84 cars, as sunshine and 80-degree temperatures replaced the dreary cold, wet weather of recent weeks in the Chequamegon Bay area.  Jensen, who also won both the regularly-scheduled and make-up features at Superior the night before, started the 20-lap A-main on the inside of row 4 but quickly snaked his way forward as Kent Baxter bolted to the early lead from the pole. Baxter had several car-lengths on the battle for second between Rick Rivord, Steve Stuart and Scott Hudack by the time Jensen claimed fifth on lap 3, and when Stuart moved around Rivord with a high-side pass for second on lap 7, Jensen took the low line to slip by Hudack for fourth.  Stuart reeled Baxter in quickly, and on lap 9 again used the outside groove to work by him. Stuart then built a commanding lead of a second-and-a-half, but that was in jeopardy as soon as Jensen sped past Baxter for second on lap 11.  With a rocket ship for a racer, Jensen cut that buffer to less than a second within three laps. With four laps to go Jensen was within a car-length, and on lap 17 he made a big sweeping pass off of turn 4 for the lead. From there Jensen drew away to a .8-second magin of victory, his first at Ashland since the 2008 Red Clay Classic and sixth overall here.  At a distance behind Stuart came Baxter, Rivord and 12th-starting Al Uotinen to complete the top five.
An emotional and elated Cory Casari parked a WISSOTA super stock in Ashland’s Victory Lane for the first time in his career on Saturday. The youngster from Montreal, who had won points championships here in the pure stock division in 2003 and ‘04, worked to get by veteran Greg Kuklinski and then sped to his 21st career win here.  Kuklinski edged ahead of pole starter Shawn Rivord for the early advantage, and Nick Oreskovich followed right along into second, while Brian Mikkonen and the sixth-starting Casari ganged up on Rivord to take third and fourth. Oreskovich began a relentless challenge, but action was slowed on lap 3 for debris.  On the restart Oreskovich dove inside on Kuklinski and the two made contact, causing Kuklinski to turn completely sideways in front of the entire field. The resulting mess collected at least five cars, including Casari, and it took several minutes to tear apart those involved. Oreskovich was sent to the back and Kuklinski again restarted from the point, but as the final 17 laps clicked off non-stop Kuklinski’s car failed him, as he gave up the lead to Casari on lap 6, then second to Mikkonen on lap 7, and eventually fell out of the top five.  Once out front Casari ran as smooth a line as any veteran, keeping Mikkonen and Randy Spacek at bay as he sailed home to the landmark win, which he dedicated to his dad, “Satch.” Scott Lawrence reassumed the early-season points lead from Dave Flynn by edging him for fourth at the final stripe.
Although the smooth, lightning-fast track conditions during the features barely bothered the mods and supers, the WISSOTA Midwest modifieds and six-cylinders seemed jinxed through their main events. In the Mid-mods Steve Anderson led the field to the green for their 15-lap headliner, but he stumbled coming out of turn 2 at the start and was overtaken by half the field, including Ashland’s Rob Weber, who took advantage of the opportunity to claim his first win here in nearly two full years.  Weber was leading when Chris Bretting and rookie Tanner Byholm spun together after one lap was recorded, and again when a get-together between Travis Nye and Neil Balduc caused a four-car tangle before another lap was scored. When first-nighter George Truscott couldn’t get his slowed racer off the track a circuit later, Weber had to lead the field to the green again.  This time, however, Weber bobbled coming off turn 2 on the restart, and Duane Dunbar was right there to capitalize, while George Dalbeck moved into third. But Weber recovered enough to stay within range of Dunbar, and when the opportunity presented itself a lap later Weber reassumed the point with an inside pass.  Weber pushed the lead to nearly a second by mid-race, but the field was drawn back to his bumper on lap 8 because of a caution slowdown for debris. A lap after the final restart of the race Dalbeck worked his way by Dunbar, but by that time Weber had regained his rhythm and built up a half-second lead that he maintained to the checkers.  Dunbar finished a strong third, well ahead of a fine recovery by Anderson and a fast Nye.
In the six-cylinder 15-lap A-feature the caution flags were a little more spaced apart, but Marengo’s Scott Ovaska kept his cool and paced the field to his first win since May 2009. Ovaska started directly behind pole sitter Bill Anderson, who battled with Don Muzzy early for the lead. When the two frontrunners made contact and Muzzy spun to bring about the first yellow light after lap 1, Ovaska became Anderson’s primary challenger on the restart.  Ovaska worked his way around Anderson over the course of the next trip around the three-eights-mile oval before claiming the lead, and when Anderson momentarily lost the handle on his ride a lap later Greg Jaeger slipped past for second. Just after that Pat Beeksma’s car turned in front of a tight pack battling in the top ten, slowing the pace a second time.  Ovaska pushed his advantage to a few car-lengths as Anderson resumed a challenge for second with Jaeger during the next few laps, but seventh-running Dale Coddington, who had started dead last on the 21-car grid, was spun around on lap 6 to turn the yellow lights back on. Again Ovaska drew away from Jaeger, as Anderson’s fine run ended due to mechanical issues, but again the race was slowed for a spin, this time involving Muzzy and Tyler Hudack.  The race stayed green for the remaining eight laps, allowing Ovaska to set a pace that would not be matched. A tight four-car dogfight for second prevailed at a distance behind him, in which Jaeger barely held off a stout run by Neil Adamczak, a resurgent Coddington and a determined Beeksma.
The pure stock feature was a heart-breaker for one driver but an appreciated gift for Highbridge’s Tim Carbon. Roland Gordon moved from the second row into the initial lead, and when outside front-row starter Jonathan Vanusek washed up the hill in turn 4 on the first lap it opened the door for pole-starter Joe Pajtash to grab second.  Gordon set a steady pace with a smooth line over the first 11 non-stop laps, and he looked to be on his way to a flag-to-flag win, while Pajtash worked hard to reel him in. Behind them Jeff Christman and Steve Udeen put on a show by racing door-to-door for several laps.  Gordon’s lead gradually disappeared as Pajtash was within a car-length in the closing laps. But Pajtash got a little too close coming into turn 3 as the lead pair headed for the checkered flag, and his heavy contact pushed Gordon’s car onto the infield marker tires at the bottom of turn 4, damaging the leader’s radiator and left-rear suspension.  Christman brought the field to the green-white-checkered restart, but Carbon charged down low to take the lead coming to the white. Chad Carlson, who started last out of the 14 cars who made the call for the race, made a dramatic charge coming off the final turn and pulled up alongside Carbon’s door, but Carbon held on for a thrilling win. Udeen made his rare trip to Ashland count with a third-place effort, while Jim Eliason swiped fourth from Christman in the final turn.
In the “Preacher Feature” special event, defending race champ Joe Mousseau survived heavy contact from Kent Seldal with two laps to go to take Tyler Vernon’s car to victory lane. Seldal, the 2009 race winner, finished second despite inflicting damage to Carbon’s pure stock, while Tenna Racheli brough Jim Eliason’s pure stocker home in third.  Fast-lap bonuses presented by Northern Clearing of Ashland were won by Stuart (mods), Flynn (supers), Dalbeck (mid-mods) and Ovaska (sixes). Brandon Bablick of Butternut and Gracie Kulik of Ironwood, MI, won bikes donated by the Raceway’s flag men.