The ABC Raceway - Home of The Red Clay Classic.

Young Hudack Collects First Win of Career at ABC
Spacek, Lawrence add to ABC win totals
by Nick Gima
Ashland, WI, May 22 -- With just shy of a full season under his belt, Tyler Hudack raced like a many-year veteran in winning his first-ever six-cylinder feature Saturday night at the ABC Raceway. In a fast-paced program presented by the Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce, eighty-five drivers competed on a comfortable May evening. Other than the teenager Hudack, veterans stole the spotlight as Scott Lawrence, Jeff Spacek, Mickey Nosser and Al Rapp also took home first-place checks in AmsOil Dirt Track Series action.

Hudack, who started his racing career midway through the 2009 campaign, ran strong in his heat race and continued to impress in the 15-lap feature, where he started inside on the third row. As he did last Saturday, Neil Adamczak again bolted to a solid early lead and held the point through several restarts during the first third of the run. But on a restart after a lap 5 slowdown, Hudack used an inside move to steal the lead away, bringing Shawn McFadden Jr along to second. Pat Beeksma’s pass of Adamczak for third was negated by the final caution flag flying on lap 8, and on that restart Adamczak completed a great move outside on Hudack to take the lead away. Adamczak could not hold off the determined youngster from Ashland, however, as Hudack worked his way back inside and took the lead for good with four laps remaining. And when Adamczak bobbled the next time around, Beeksma snuck by for second. McFadden came across the final stripe in fourth, and Scott Ovaska rounded out the top five.
For Lawrence it was business as usual in the 20-lap WISSOTA super stock A-main: wait until an opening presents itself, then take advantage. The six-time defending champ from Superior started outside on the fourth row and restarted fifth after a first-lap spin by Kevin Eder. Eric Olson had a run on Nick Oreskovich for the lead on the restart, but that was deemed moot by polesitter Don Koivisto’s loop on the next go-around. From there the race ran non-stop. Olson and Cory Casari did take the low and high routes, respectively, around Randy Spacek after that restart for second and third, and when Oreskovich slipped up the banking on lap 3 Olson grabbed the lead, with Lawrence right in his tire tracks. Six laps in Lawrence made the winning pass with an inside move, and from he would not be caught, extending his cushion to nearly four full seconds while weaving his way through slower traffic for his second straight win here in 2010. Olson’s advantage over Oreskovich was nearly as large at the final stripe, while at a distance back Ken Truscott made his way by Spacek to fourth in the closing laps.
Jeff Spacek, like Lawrence, also sits among the top ten winningest drivers all-time at Ashland, but unlike Lawrence, Spacek’s WISSOTA modified feature victory at ABC was much more challenging. Three spins over the first two laps made for a frustrating pace, but the final 18 circuits went without a hitch, with Spacek holding things down from the point. Wayne Stricker made some slick moves to take fifth place away from Scott Hudack and then fourth from Jody Bellefeuille, and he threatened Robby Bunkelman on a number of laps in the battle for third during the race’s middle stages. And all this was going on right behind Steve Lavasseur, who was hanging on to the leader’s rear bumper as the laps clicked off. Just after the halfway point Bunkelman moved up a groove on Lavasseur and, after a few laps, drove around him for second. With two laps to go Bunkelman used the momentum line to draw alongside Spacek for the lead, but the former track champ from Phillips held firm to win by not much more than a half-second. Lavasseur, Stricker and Scott Hudack completed a close-knit top five.In his post-race interview, Spacek dedicated his win to his father, who is battling cancer.
Nosser, who is also from Phillips, came from deep in the field for his third career win at Ashland. The WISSOTA Midwest modified 15-lap headliner started with big-mod veteran Bill Byholm dominating the early stages, despite several restarts that kept the field close. After starting on the fifth row, Nosser picked off spots in quick rhythm, and he restarted fifth after a lap 3 slowdown for a two-car spin. Nosser moved up for the next restart after fourth-running Travis Nye spun, and he then made quick work of Jim Latvala on that green flag. From there he passed Pat Cook for second and ran down Byholm before becoming the new leader on lap 8. By lap 9 Nosser was putting backmarkers a lap in arrears, as the non-stop 12-lap run to the end suited his pace. Nosser was a full three-and-a-quarter seconds up on Byholm at the checkers, while Cook held off George Truscott for third, and Duane Dunbar came home fifth.
In the only caution-free feature of the night, Rapp put an end to Chad Carlson’s local dominance, at least for now. The 12-lap pure stock event started with Rapp working inside against Tim Carlson and taking the lead away on the initial lap, then gradually pulling away. Chad Carlson, who was coming off back-to-back sweeps last weekend, clawed his way through some stubborn traffic before finally slipping past his brother Tim on lap 4. By then the Saginaw, MN, veteran had a commanding lead, although Chad Carlson had cut it down to no more than a car-length going into the final turn. The lead duo were a significant distance ahead of the dogfight for third, which ended when Tim Carlson and Joe Wolfe made hard contact and Carlson collided with the back straightaway wall and stopped there on the final lap. Officials ruled in favor of Tim Carlson for third in the final rundown, while Ken Tody Jr and Tim Carbon completed the top five.

Next Saturday the ABC Raceway will host a full five-division racing program, presented by Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College’s Ashland Campus, 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.

Results
WISSOTA Modifieds
Feature: Jeff Spacek, Phillips; Robby Bunkelman, Abbotsford; Steve Lavasseur, River Falls; Wayne Stricker, Highbridge; Scott Hudack, Ashland; Al Uotinen, Superior; Rick Rivord, Superior; Jody Bellefeuille, Duluth, MN; Bill Byholm, Glidden; Ross Lightner, Washburn; Duane Dale, Aurora, MN; Kelly Checkalski, Poplar; Kent Baxter, Elk Mound; Dean Yrjanainen, Lake Nebagamon; Steve Stuart, Ashland; Jerry Hartman, Marenisco, MI.
Heat 1: Spacek; Hudack; Bunkelman; Uotinen; Stuart; Yrjanainen; Rivord; Dale.
Heat 2: Stricker; Bellefeuille; Lavasseur; Baxter; Hartman; Lightner; Checkalski; Byholm.
WISSOTA Super Stocks
Feature: Scott Lawrence, Superior; Eric Olson, Ladysmith; Nick Oreskovich, Mason; Ken Truscott, Greenland, MI; Randy Spacek, Phillips; Kevin Eder, Ashland; Tad Schoonover, Eagle River; Tom Treviranus, Hawthorne; Roy Pumala, Mason; Cory Casari, Montreal; Don Koivisto, Saxon; Dave Elliott, Minocqua; CJ Polacek, Phillips; Brian Mikkonen, Iron River.
Heat 1: Lawrence; Olson; Spacek; Oreskovich; Mikkonen; Truscott; Elliott.
Heat 2: Eder; Schoonover; Casari; Koivisto; Polacek.
WISSOTA Midwest modifieds
Feature: Mickey Nosser, Phillips; Bill Byholm, Glidden; Pat Cook, Washburn; George Truscott, Greenland, MI; Duane Dunbar, Marenisco, MI; Taylor Leuthner, Foxboro; Jimmy Latvala, Solon Springs; Ryan Adamczak, Ashland; Jesse Ogston, Duluth, MN; George Dalbeck, Wakefield, MI; Rick Przybylski, Ashland; Neil Balduc, Bessemer, MI; Shawn McFadden, Ashland; Cody Carlson, Superior; Rob Weber, Ashland; Travis Nye, Ashland; Steve Anderson, Ironwood, MI; Dan Sellung, Mason; Roland Gordon, Bayfield; Joe Ecklund, Springbrook; Jake Gondik, Foxboro; Chris Bretting, Ashland.
Heat 1: Nosser; Byholm; Truscott; Ogston; McFadden; Carlson; Anderson; Bretting.
Heat 2: Cook; Przybylski; Dunbar; Weber; Dalbeck; Gondik.
Heat 3: Nye; Latvala; Adamczak; Balduc; Sellung; Eckland.
Six-Cylinders
Feature: Tyler Hudack, Ashland; Pat Beeksma, Ironwood, MI; Neil Adamczak, Ashland; Shawn McFadden, Jr, Ashland; Scott Ovaska, Marengo; Ken Tyykila, Iron River; Chuck Hawkinson, Mellen; Don Muzzy, Ironwood, MI; Aaron Mashlan, Ashland; Jim Anderson, Mason; Forrest Schultz, Ashland; Tad Bretting, Ashland; Jim Pelto, Ashland; Adam Traaholt, Ashland; DeJay Mihalek, Ashland; Shane Basina, Bayfield; Warren Beede, Iron River; Greg Jaeger, Mellen; Tyler Luger, Iron River; Cory Marincel, Ashland; Dale Coddington, Hayward; Tyler Vernon, Ashland.
Heat 1: Adamczak; Beeksma; Muzzy; Mashlan; Basina; Pelto; Mihalek.
Heat 2: Jaeger; Hudack; Coddington; Anderson; Ovaska; Traaholt; Luger; Vernon.
Heat 3: Hawkinson; McFadden; Tyykila; Schultz; Beede; Marincel; Ron Lillie, Wakefield, MI.
Pure Stocks
Feature: Al Rapp, Saginaw, MN; Chad Carlson, Superior; Tim Carlson, Superior; Ken Tody Jr, Ashland; Tim Carbon, Highbridge; Matt Deragon, Ashland; Tiffany Hudack, Ashland; Jay Valentine, Superior.
Heat: C Carlson; T Carlson; Rapp; Tody; Joe Wolfe, Ironwood, MI; Carbon; Deragon; Hudack; Valentine; Dustin Gay, Ashland.