Leuthner Shines in First-Ever Feature Win at ABC

by Nick Gima

Ashland, WI, June 14 -- Young Taylor Leuthner ran strong to earn his first-ever career feature win Saturday night, as NAPA Auto Parts presented the AmsOil Dirt Track Series six-division program at the ABC Raceway.             The teenager from Foxboro, who also won the first heat for his first checkered flag of any kind in Ashland, had his work cut out for him in the 15-lap WISSOTA Midwest modified main event, as George Dalbeck slipped past early leader Mike Brennan and appeared to be the class of the field while establishing a blistering early pace.             But a three-car mishap on lap 4 put Leuthner directly behind Dalbeck, and after several laps of intense pressure on the leader, the youngster made the winning pass. Dalbeck soon lost the handle on his ride and slipped back in the field, as divisional points leader Greg Chesley brought Jim Latvala with him into the top three.             With only that one early restart to slow the pace, Leuthner had built up plenty of distance between himself and Chesley and crossed the line better than half a straightaway ahead to become the eighth different Mid-mod feature winner in nine shows for the class at Ashland.             The run of the race was put up by Shane Halopka, who started dead last on the 21-car grid but was well into the top ten by the lap 4 slowdown, and worked his way to third by the final stripe. Latvala came home in fourth, just ahead of Canadian visitor Jeff Marshall.
Last weekend Duane Dale took advantage of a rare miscue by Dean Yrjanainen to win at Ashland, but on Saturday the tables were turned, and Yrjanainen wound up in victory lane for the first time this season. Outside front-row starter Shawn Kreyer worked past polesitter Ross Lightner in the 20-lap WISSOTA modified feature just before a three-car tangle stopped action one lap in.             Over the course of the ensuing long green-flag run, though, Dale was able to overtake Kreyer and pace the field over the next few laps. Yrjanainen succeeded in claiming second from Kreyer on lap 7 and set out to chase down Dale, who had built a formidable lead by mid-race.             The scenario changed on lap 11, when Al Uotinen and Jeff Spacek tangled while battling for fourth. Yrjanainen restarted right on Dale’s rear bumper and proceeded to challenge for the lead using the high groove, while Dale stuck to the low lane. A couple of Steve Lavasseur spins kept the field tight, but in between Yrjanainen eventually slipped around Dale and was scored as the race leader on lap 13.             Then Dale’s strong run came to an disappointing end when the driveshaft broke on his car, causing him to drop out of the event with six laps to go. One more caution flag was thrown for a spin by visitor Marc Johnson, but over the final circuits Yrjanainen was not to be caught. Bill Byholm came home in second ahead of Uotinen to strengthen his points advantage, while Jerry Hartman claimed fourth ahead of Kreyer.
The WISSOTA super stock feature ran non-stop for its 20 laps, with Joe Oliver leading every one for his first win of the season here. Oliver beat polesitter Don Koivisto to turn 1 at the drop of the green and was on cruise control from there, building up as much as a 15 car-length lead over Nick Oreskovich within the first five laps.             Behind the lead pair, however, Scott Lawrence was struggling to keep three of the four Number 22 cars in the race - those of Randy Spacek, Kevin Eder and Ken Truscott - behind him. For most of the event the four of them stayed in close formation until Spacek finally broke loose from the group. Spacek then hunted down and finally caught Oreskovich for second while setting the fast lap of the race in the process.             Oliver, however, was too smooth on this night, telling the fans from Victory Lane afterwards that “the car was absolutely perfect.” Spacek’s runner-up peformance was his fifth top-five finish in as many nights here this season and drew him to within two points of division leader Curt Myers, who struggled to a sixth-place effort. Oreskovich was able to hold off Eder and Lawrence for third-place money.
An absolute nail-biter of a WISSOTA street stock feature saw one car barrel-roll over the back-straight guardrail after driving over another, and the winner took the checkered flag with the race stopped under the resulting red-flag condition.             Ten cars started the 12-lap event but only seven finished, as Rob Weber snuck between front-row starters Bruce Kalmon and Justin Paulsen for the initial lead. Cory Casari followed in Weber’s tire tracks into second, and the top seven cars stayed in a tight pack, with the running order shuffled during each of the first five laps.             Only Paulsen’s spin on lap 5 slowed what was to be a wild race, as the close-knit competition continued immediately upon the restart, the cars often running three-wide and trading paint. Casari and Weber exchanged the lead often over the next few laps, with Larry Haderly and Greg Kuklinski getting brief looks at the top spot as the race came to a frightening climax.             Coming out of turn 2 for the final time, Weber, Haderly, Tim Baum, John Kallas and Kuklinski jostled agressively for second place. In the bumping and banging Haderly’s car broke loose and turned sideways; Weber’s car nosed into Haderly’s driver’s-side door, then drove over Haderly’s as the former track champ’s ride began to roll. Once Weber’s car was clear, Haderly’s kept on rolling, eventually flipping along and over the top of the back-straight guardrail and off of the track, caught by the catch fence between the raceway and the pit area.             Almost before emergency crews could reach the scene, Haderly had climbed from his car shaken but unhurt, and after a ten-minute red-flag stoppage of the action the race was ruled complete. This gave Casari his second-ever WISSOTA-sanctioned feature win at Ashland. Haderly, who was running second as the white flag waved, was replaced to that spot in the final rundown, while Kuklinski, Baum and Steve Anderson also received top-five finishes.
Travis Swanson matched his father Ron’s career win total at ABC by taking his second straight six-cylinder feature and fifth overall, and for the second week in a row he had to exercise a lot of patience, as the last ten of the 15 scheduled laps were plagued by cautions.             Rookie Neil Adamczak overtook polesitter Dan Moncher for the early lead, while Ken Tyykila and Swanson ganged up on Moncher for second and third. On lap 4 Swanson, working the outside line to perfection, swept by Adamczak and pulled to a commanding lead, while Tyykila moved into second just before Adam Traaholt’s spin on lap 5.             From there the race did not progress to Swanson’s liking, as every time he got into a rhythm and built his lead, the yellow lights came on. Fortunately for Swanson, Tyykila was unable to stay with him upon each restart.             Tyykila did, however, manage to keep the hard-charging duo of Shawn McFadden, Jr, and Scott Ovaska behind him, as that pair swapped third and threatened for second throughout the back half of the event. It was after the last of the five restarts - on lap 12 - that Ovaska finally got the better of McFadden for third. Pat Beeksma came through traffic for a fifth-place performance.
Al Rapp made his first visit of the season to ABC a good one by winning the ten-lap pure stock A-main. Paul Milanowski led after a lap 1 restart, but lots of bumping and banging left him with a flat tire and knocked him from the event. Second-running Ron Poppe also dropped out, after dragging parts from his car prompted officials to throw another caution flag on lap 4.             From there Rapp, who had moved into the lead on lap 3, held off another aggressive charge by Dustin Follett for his first win in Ashland since July 2005. Points leader Chad Carlson made a run on Follett late in the go, but a bobble dropped him back to fourth in the final rundown, just behind Austin Blom and ahead of Tim Carbon.

            Next Saturday’s race program will be presented by Baxter’s Speed Shop and Custom Machining of Dorchester, 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.