Hartman Flies, Spacek Holds On for ABC Feature Wins
by Nick Gima

Ashland, WI, July 10 -- Two features were decided by green-white-checkered finishes, while two others were runaway wins as the ABC Raceway hosted its sixth AmsOil Dirt Track Series event of the summer.  In a fast-paced race program presented by Chicago Iron & Supply and Xtreme Sign & Graphix / X-Wraps that ended before 10:30 pm, feature winners included Jerry Hartman, Randy Spacek, Taylor Leuthner, Dale Coddington and Dustin Follett.
For Hartman it was all about the starting position. The Marenisco, MI, veteran started outside on the front row of the WISSOTA modified A-main, beat polesitter Steve Stuart off of turn 2, and pushed to a second-and-a-half lead only five circuits into the non-stop 20-lapper. Bill Byholm also slipped by Stuart into second early on, bringing Jody Bellefeuille along to third, and began to reel in Hartman, drawing to within less than a second - about eight car-lengths - just before the mid-point of the race.  But Byholm bobbled slightly in turn 4 on lap 12, allowing Hartman to extend his lead to well over a second again, and with nothing but open race track in front of him Hartman cruised to his 34th ABC feature win, crossing the final stripe over half a straightaway ahead of Byholm.  Bellefuille was a few lengths back of Byholm at the checkered flag, while Robby Bunkelman took over the divisional points lead with a fourth-place effort right in Bellefuille’s tire tracks. Al Uotinen claimed fifth-place money at a distance of the lead group.
Spacek’s win in the often-interrupted WISSOTA super stock 20-lap headliner was much more dramatic. The former track champ from Phillips swapped the lead back and forth with Nick Oreskovich often over the course of those laps that were run under green, and Oreskovich did hold the lead for each of two green-white-checkered restarts.  Trevor Wilson held the early advantage but gave up the inside line to Oreskovich after a lap 2 restart. Spacek made an inside move on both to steal the lead away in the same corner and began to sprint away to a ten-length lead before the caution lights were lit on lap 6 for Brian Mikkonen’s spin after contact with Scott Lawrence while the pair was battling for third.  After Wilson looped on that restart, Oreskovich began to thrive on the high groove and pulled alongside the low-running Spacek for the lead over the next five laps. After another slowdown for the stalled ride of Willie Johnsen, Oreskovich pulled up to Spacek’s door again and took the lead just before Charlie Anderson’s spin on lap 12.  Spacek regained the advantage with a low-side pass on lap 13, but Oreskovich returned the favor three circuits later. Just behind them Kevin Eder, Lawrence and Greg Kuklinski were mired in a dogfight for third - so much so that debris on the track caused by contact between Eder’s and Lawrence’s cars brought out a caution slowdown just as the leaders took the white flag.  The field tried the two-lap shootout a second time after Dave Flynn was turned around on the first attempt, with Oreskovich at the point, but the leader’s slip up the hill in turn 2 and another one in turn 4 coming to the checkered gave Sapcek just enough space to win by a car-length for the first time here since May 2008 and the 31st time overall. Eder, Lawrence and Mikkonen followed in close formation.
Leuthner’s win was similar to Spacek’s in that he had to survive a side-by-side battle and several late-race cautions, and he made the winning pass during a green-white-checkered finish. The youngster from Foxboro started outside on the third row as rookie Jake Gondik led the field for most of the first lap - before getting too far sideways in front of the field in turn 4 and collecting several cars in a big wreck.  Mickey Nosser then set the pace for the redo, but after a lap 2 caution for Cody Carlson’s spin, Nosser slipped up the track, allowing George Dalbeck and Rob Weber to sneak by. Leuthner made a slick move inside on Weber for second on the next trip around, and from there on Leuthner stuck his car down low in the turns while Dalbeck rode the rim.  Leuthner nipped Dalbeck at the line for the lead on lap 8, but the scoring was nullified by debris spotted on the track. Leuthner was right alongside Dalbeck’s door again two laps later, but Carlson’s car spun again to slow the pace. The cautions kept the field close, and Rick Przybylski and Andy Nezworski each took shots at stealing a top-two spot, but Bill Byholm’s car slowed to a stop on the back chute, forcing another race stoppage.  On the lap 12 restart Leuthner and Dalbeck touched tires, knocking Leuthner up the hill and opening the door for Nezworski to take second. But when Carlson and Gondik got together a lap later it brought about a green-white-checkered restart, and Leuthner took advantage - he got an inside run on Nezworski at the green, and then he slipped inside on Dalbeck as the lead pair took the white flag together.  With some momentum off the bottom of turn 2, Leuthner scooted away to his fourth career win here, with Dalbeck right on his heels. Nezworski, formerly of Ironwood, MI, but visiting from the Iowa late model circuits, drove Steve Anderson’s car to a third-place performance, while Nosser stole fourth from Przybylski on the final go-around.
Coddington patiently waited as several caution flags drastically slowed the pace of the 15-lap six-cylinder headliner, but once he took the lead from Tyler Luger on a restart the race was his to lose. The defending divisional track champ from Hayward followed Luger as the pair ran one-two during the first lap, but stoppages for the spinning cars of Shane Basina and Tad Bretting on consecutive laps kept Luger from getting away.  Coddington’s inside pass of Luger after the second restart was the pass for the win, but behind him a tight pack jostled for position. In fact, the jostling caused a huge pile-up among the cars running second through sixth on lap 6, knocking second-running Pat Beeksma and third-place Luger to the pits and sending fifth-place Shawn McFadden, Jr, to the tail of the field.  On the restart Don Muzzy moved quickly from fifth to third before DeJay Mihalek slapped the front straight wall just before the 15-lap race’s halfway point. Coddington tried to pull away from the three-car battle for second between Greg Jaeger, Travis Swanson and Muzzy, but spins by Beeksma and Mihalek on back-to-back laps kept the field close. With the final three laps run under green Coddington was able to build a 1.3-second lead at the final stripe for his second win of the summer here, while Jaeger outran Chuck Hawkinson for second, and Swanson and Muzzy completed the top five.
Follett’s effort in the ten-lap pure stock A-feature was a start-to-finish pacesetter, with only two early caution flags to test him. The first came on the initial start, when Tim Carlson and Tammie Bretting spun at opposite ends of the track. The other came three laps later, after the young man from Cloquet, MN, had established himself as the leader and pushed out to a six-length lead over Jim Eliason. That’s when Chad Carlson came out of turn 2 completely sideways and was tagged hard by Bretting and Ken Tody, Jr.  From there Follett drove off to a solid win - his first here since August 2008 - although once Tim Carbon overtook Eliason for second on lap 4 he drew to Follett’s rear bumper for the final laps. Points leader Al Rapp, who was penalized to the back of the pack for his involvement in the first caution, charged back through the field to third place by the race’s midpoint but could climb no further, and Eliason won the race for fourth at the final stripe in a photo finish over Chad Carlson.

Next Saturday the ABC Raceway will present its annual kids’ bike races, sponsored by County Market, with races in four different age groups for kids ages 2-12. Hot laps start at 6:15 pm, and racing get undwerway 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.