Spacek, Mikkonen, Leuthner, McFadden, Tody are Tops on ABC ‘Jam the Stands’ Night
Hudack, Kisling, Milanowski earn make-up wins

by Nick Gima

Ashland, WI, July 24 -- Jeff Spacek of Phillips moved into a tie for fourth place on the ABC Raceway’s all-time feature winner list with his 49th career victory Saturday night, as Northern Clearing and WBSZ-FM presented the track’s annual “Jam the Stands” Night.
 A huge crowd was on hand to watch a season-high 101 cars in action. Included in the AmsOil Dirt Track Series program were three make-up features from the rain-shortened July 17 show, as well as the complete regularly-scheduled five-division event - all of which was completed before 11 pm.

Spacek had to hunt down early leader Jerry Hartman in the 20-lap WISSOTA modified A-feature, as Hartman used an inside move to get past polesitter Rick Rivord to set the initial pace. After Bill Byholm’s car dropped a driveshaft on lap 2 to bring out the race’s only caution flag, Spacek restarted third but quickly slipped past Rivord and began a side-by-side duel with Hartman that lasted well past the race’s halfway point.  Spacek worked the inside groove while Hartman circled the track around the high side for at least ten laps before Spacek eventually cleared Hartman and began to build a bit of a lead. It was only over the final five laps that Spacek’s advantage became comfortable, as he held a second-and-a-half cushion at the checkers.  Hartman held off Robby Bunkelman for second, while Al Uotinen and defending track champ Duane Dale - making his first visit since May - completed the top five.  In the mod make-up main event, the theme was the same - a caution flag on lap 2, followed by 18 non-stop laps - but it was Scott Hudack of Ashland besting the field, with Spacek right on his heels. Hudack took the lead from the start with an outside move around Wayne Stricker and Uotinen, and again after Pat Hoffman’s car ground to a stop on the back straight Hudack scooted away to a 1.2-second lead.  Spacek’s dive inside on Steve Stuart for third on lap 5 was eventually followed by another low-lane pass of Uotinen for second with four to go. Spacek then quickly closed the gap and even drew alongside Hudack on the white-flag lap, but Hudack had just enough left to hang on for his second win in three weeks here. Uotinen, Bunkelman and Byholm followed at a distance.
Brian Mikkonen of Iron River scored an emotional win in the WISSOTA super stock 20-lap headliner. Mikkonen used an outside-front-row starting spot to beat Dave Flynn out of turn 2 for the initial lead, and then he extended that lead to over a second-and-a-half over the first 11 non-stop laps.  However, Eric Olson’s car died just off of the front straight, which brought about a caution slowdown. After the restart Mikkonen couldn’t shake the pack of six challengers behind him, including Nick Oreskovich and Kevin Eder, who each took a turn at stealing the lead away. Over the final five laps the spots behind the leader were exchanged with great frequency, but Mikkonen held on for a thrilling car-length win over Oreskovich, with Mike Bellefeuille, 20th-starting Shane Kisling and Eder all within a few feet of each other in the next three finishing positions.  In Victory Lane Mikkonen dedicated the win to his good friend and former super stock racer Darryl Kovach, who passed away a few short years ago. For a couple of weeks Mikkonen had brought out his car with livery and lettering matching Kovach’s last racer, including wearing Kovach’s number 12b.  The supers also had a feature to make up from the Saturday before, and Mikkonen could have had a rare two-feature sweep if it weren’t for the visiting Kisling. Mikkonen swept around Cory Casari for the early lead and maintained that edge after a caution stop for debris on the track on lap 4.  From there the race ran non-stop, and again Mikkonen set the pace, but Kisling, from Sarona, won a battle with Randy Spacek for second at mid-race, and he chased down and eventually caught Mikkonen, passing him with an inside move on lap 13.  From there Kisling ran away to his first feature win of the season here in only his second visit, with Mikkonen a distant second and Spacek an equally distant third. Points leader Scott Lawrence and Olson claimed fourth and fifth.
Young Taylor Leuthner of Foxboro fended off veteran Canadian hotshoe Jeff Marshall in a hotly-contested WISSOTA Midwest modified feature for his second win of the year here and the fifth of his career at Ashland, making him the winningest Mid-mod driver in ABC Raceway history. The 15-lapper was a bit of a struggle to get through, as a couple of early cautions made it tough to start the run and back-to-back late-race yellows kept the end in doubt for a bit.  Travis Nye squeezed between George Truscott and Duane Dunbar to take the early lead before a three-car mess stopped the show. Nye held on to the point for a bit longer, but Leuthner charged up through the pack, taking third from Shawn McFadden and Dunbar on lap 2, and then claiming second with a sweep move around Truscott a tour later.  On lap 4 Leuthner made the winning pass by going inside on Nye, while Marshall shadowed the youngster’s every move and took over third at the same time. At the mid-point of the run Marshall worked his way inside on Nye for second, but he may have had a hard time catching Leuthner if it weren’t for Cody Carlson’s spin on lap 8, which brought the pace to a halt.  Restarting on Leuthner’s rear bumper, the cagey Canadian tried every trick in the book to rattle the youngster, but Leuthner hit his marks. A spin by Roland Gordon set the stage for a green-white-checkered finish, and Mickey Nosser stuck a nose to the inside on Marshall to threaten to take second. But a multi-car incident nullified that move, and Marshall made another attempt to work inside on Leuthner as the green was thrown again. Leuthner held on to win by a third of a second, while 13th-starting Ryan Adamczak, Nye and 17th-starting Rick Przybylski all got past Nosser on the last sprint to claim top-five spots.
Ashland’s Shawn McFadden, Jr, swept around the outside on the first lap of 15 and then survived three restarts and a determined Pat Beeksma to win his first six-cylinder A-feature of the summer and fourth of his career. McFadden came from outside on the third row to overtake DeJay Mihalek, bringing Tyler Luger with him, and the duo attempted to pull away from the field, but Ron Lillie’s spin on lap 3, followed by another quick caution on lap 4, kept the field close.  Beeksma, who took third away from Dale Coddington between the two cautions, made an outside run on Luger for second, bringing Coddington to third. Beeksma then was helped by a lap 10 yellow flag, thrown when Luger tapped and spun Greg Jaeger while the pair were battling for fourth.  From there it was all McFadden could do to hold off the 2008 track champ, but he did so for the car-length win. Coddington, Jaeger and Tyler Hudack filled out the closely-grouped top five.  Ken Tody, Jr, of Ashland, broke in a new car in fine fashion, claiming both his heat and the pure stock 12-lap feature honors for his first  two wins of the season. After a Joe Wolfe-Keith Troutman get-together on the initial start, Tody slipped around Dustin Follett for second and chased visiting Austin Blom for the first seven laps before working past him on the inside for the lead.  Tody led the rest of the uninterrupted run for an eight-length win over Blom, while Chad Carlson, Follett and points leader Al Rapp completed the top five.
Ken Tody, Jr, of Ashland, broke in a new car in fine fashion, claiming both his heat and the pure stock 12-lap feature honors for his first  two wins of the season. After a Joe Wolfe-Keith Troutman get-together on the initial start, Tody slipped around Dustin Follett for second and chased visiting Austin Blom for the first seven laps before working past him on the inside for the lead.  Tody led the rest of the uninterrupted run for an eight-length win over Blom, while Chad Carlson, Follett and points leader Al Rapp completed the top five.  In the pure stock make-up main, Paul Milanowski dominated the field for his first win since May 2008 despite having two caution-flag interruptions to slow his pace. Milanowski sped off to a stout lead after Rapp’s car stalled on the back chute one lap in, while brothers Chad and Tim Carlson overtook Jim Eliason for second and third. Eliason’s car would later fail him in a cloud of smoke, bringing about the other stoppage on lap 9.  Milanowski had his hands full with threats from Tim Carlson for about a lap, but once the white flag flew the Ashland racer had things in control, winning by about ten car-lengths after the next loop. Tim Carlson led Chad across in the brother-battle for second, while Tim Carbon and Follett scored fourth- and fifth-place runs.

Next Saturday FastLane Motorsports & Custom Powdercoating will present its annual Super Stock Challenge, as part of a full five-division program sponsored by Anderson Lubricants of Superior. The winner of the super stock feature will take home a check for $600.
 Hot laps start at 6:15 pm, with racing to follow 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.

Results
WISSOTA Modifieds
 Feature: Jeff Spacek, Phillips; Jerry Hartman, Marenisco, MI; Robby Bunkelman, Abbotsford; Al Uotinen, Superior; Duane Dale, Aurora, MN; Steve Lavasseur, River Falls; Dean Yrjanainen, Lake Nebagamon; Jody Bellefeuille, Duluth, MN; Rick Rivord, Superior; Scott Hudack, Ashland; Wayne Stricker, Highbridge; Pat Hoffman, Rice Lake; Ross Lightner, Washburn; Kent Baxter, Elk Mound; Steve Stuart, Ashland; Kelly Checkalski, Poplar; Bill Byholm, Glidden.
 Heat 1: Spacek; Hartman; Rivord; Dale; Stricker; Bellefeuille; Baxter; Lightner; Yrjanainen.
 Heat 2: Bunkelman; Uotinen; Byholm; Hudack; lavasseur; Stuart; Checkalski; Hoffman.
 Make-Up-Feature: Hudack, Spacek, Uotinen, Bunkelman, Byholm, Stuart, Hartman, Lavasseur, Bellefeuille, Lightner, Rivord, Stricker, Checkalski, Hoffman.
WISSOTA Super Stocks
 Feature: Brian Mikkonen, Iron River; Nick Oreskovich, Mason; Mike Bellefeuille, Duluth, MN; Shane Kisling, Sarona; Kevin Eder, Ashland; Scott Lawrence, Superior; Randy Spacek, Phillips; Ken Truscott, Greenland, MI; Dave Flynn, Superior; Charlie Anderson, Ironwood, MI; Cory Casari, Montreal; Andy Grymala, Superior; Greg Kuklinski, Ironwood, MI; Ron Hmielewski, Marengo; Willie Johnsen, Superior; Roy Pumala, Mason; Tad Schoonover, Eagle River; Nathan Dees, Hurley; Dave Elliott, Minocqua; Eric Olson, Ladysmith; Don Koivisto, Saxon.
 Heat 1: Lawrence; Oreskovich; Eder; Anderson; Pumala; Koivisto; Casari.
 Heat 2: Olson; Spacek; Truscott; Hmielewski; Elliott; Johnsen; Kisling.
 Heat 3: Mikkonen; Bellefeuille; Flynn; Grymala; Kuklinski; Dees; Schoonover.
 Make-Up Feature: Kisling, Mikkonen, Spacek, Lawrence, Olson, Eder, Casari, Truscott, Oreskovich, Kuklinski, Hmielewski, Anderson, Flynn, Grymala, Johnsen, Pumala, Elliott, Dees.
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
 Feature: Taylor Leuthner, Foxboro; Jeff Marshall, Thunder Bay, ON; Ryan Adamczak, Ashland; Travis Nye, Ashland; Rick Przybylski, Ashland; Mickey Nosser, Phillips; George Truscott, Greenland, MI; Dan Kingsley, Superior; Roland Gordon, Bayfield; Pat Cook, Washburn; Don Craig, Thunder Bay, ON; Jimmy Latvala, Solon Springs; Chad Adamczak, Ashland; Joe Ecklund, Springbrook; Steve Anderson, Ironwood, MI; Bill Byholm, Glidden; Cody Carlson, Superior; Rob Weber, Ashland; Greg Kuklinski, Ironwood, MI; Shawn McFadden, Ashland; George Dalbeck, Wakefield, MI; Duane Dunbar, Marenisco, MI; Dan Sellung, Mason; Shawn Rivord, Superior.
 Heat 1: Nosser; McFadden; Dunbar; Carlson; R Adamczak; Eckland; C Adamczak; Gondik; Anderson.
 Heat 2: Dalbeck; Cook; Truscott; Marshall; Craig; Przybylski; Sellung; Kingsley.
 Heat 3: Luethner; Rivord; Nye; Weber; Byholm; Latvala; Kuklinski; Gordon.
Six-Cylinders
 Feature: Shawn McFadden, Jr, Ashland; Pat Beeksma, Ironwood, MI; Dale Coddington, Hayward; Greg Jaeger, Mellen; Tyler Hudack, Ashland; Scott Ovaska, Marengo; Neil Adamczak, Ashland; Chuck Hawkinson, Mellen; Don Muzzy, Ironwood, MI; Warren Beede, Iron River; Tad Bretting, Ashland; DeJay Mihalek, Ashland; Jim Pelto, Ashland; Forrest Schultz, Ashland; Aaron Mashlan, Ashland; Tyler Luger, Iron River; Ken Tyykila, Iron River; Shane Basina, Bayfield; Ron Lillie, Wakefield, MI; Tyler Vernon, Ashland; Jim Anderson, Mason; Bill Anderson, Wakefield, MI.
 Heat 1: Coddington; Hawkinson; Beede; Beeksma; Adamczak; Hudack; Vernon; J Anderson.
 Heat 2: Luger; McFadden; Ovaska; Muzzy; Schultz; Tyykila; Bretting; Mashlan.
 Heat 3: Jaeger; Mihalek; B Anderson; Pelto; Basina; Lillie; Cory Marincel, Ashland; Adam Traaholt, Ashland.
Pure Stocks
 Feature: Ken Tody Jr, Ashland; Austin Blom, Saginaw, MN; Chad Carlson, Superior; Dustin Follett, Cloquet, MN; Al Rapp, Saginaw, MN; DJ Keeler, Superior; Tim Carlson, Superior; Tim Carbon, Highbridge; Bruce Kalmon, Ashland; Matt Deragon, Ashland; Keith Troutman, Tomahawk; Joe Wolfe, Ironwood, MI.
 Heat 1: Blom; Follett; Keeler; Wolfe; Troutman; Paul Milanowski, Ashland.
 Heat 2: Tody; T Carlson; Rapp; Carbon; Deragon; Kalmon; C Carlson.
 Make-Up Feature: Milanowski, T Carlson, C Carlson, Carbon, Follett, Deragon, Eliason, Rapp.