Spacek, Lawrence, Dalbeck, Beeksma, Tody Take ABC Raceway Openers
by Nick Gima
 Ashland, WI, May 28 --

After two consecutive rainouts, the ABC Raceway finally got its 2011 AmsOil Dirt Track Series season off the ground with a fast-paced race program presented by WITC - Ashland Campus and Northern State Bank.
 With 75 cars in attendance, two heats in each of the five classes ran off in about an hour, and after some necessary track re-working, there was plenty of excitement in each of the five features.

In the WISSOTA modified 20-lap main event, Jeff Spacek of Phillips worked hard to stay ahead of Bill Byholm, and then had to work even harder to take the lead back from a strong-running Steve Lavasseur to win his 50th career feature at the Ashland track. Spacek started outside row 1 and beat Rick Rivord to the point before Scott Hudack’s stalled racer brought out the first of two early caution stops on lap 2.  Byholm slipped past Rivord to become Spacek’s primary challenger immediately after the restart, pulling Lavassuer to third before a tangle involving mod rookie Kevin Eder and Wayne Stricker on lap 4 slowed the action for the final time. After another lap under green Spacek made an uncharacteristic bobble, allowing Byholm to drive through to the lead.  Another circuit later, however, it was Lavassuer making a strong inside move on Byholm, and in the close three-car dog fight at the front Spacek was able to follow Lavassuer back into second. On lap 9 Spacek gave Lavassuer a taste of his own medicine with a pass down low for the lead, and from there the former track champ kept a small but comfortable lead for the milestone win.  Byholm kept third throughout the balance of the run, while behind him Al Uotinen gradually worked his way from the 13th starting spot to fourth, just ahead of Rivord.
Superior’s Scott Lawrence started his season in the same manner as last year - by winning the opening-night WISSOTA super stock feature. Lawrence, the division’s seven-time defending champion, is off to a solid start on the 2011 campaign, with three wins at three different tracks.  But it was Cory Casari who had the car to beat early on, starting from the pole and holding off a stiff challenge from Dave Flynn through the opening laps. Lawrence had moved into third just before a lap 3 yellow for Cody Carlson’s stalled ride, and he spent the next four laps giving Flynn fits in their battle for second before his car was spun by contact from Nick Oreskovich on lap 7.  As the last 13 laps ran off without pause, Lawrence again went to work on Flynn for second, and as Randy Spacek and Brian Mikkonen got involved in the same battle, Casari began to pull away. It was only after Lawrence finally cleared Flynn that Casari’s lead was in danger, and after drawing to Casari’s trunk lid in about five laps, Lawrence slipped past clean and quick and paced the final eight laps for his 47th career win here.  Casari never quite let Lawrence get away, trailing at the checkered by only a car-length, while Flynn earned third-place money by fending off determined efforts by Spacek and Mikkonen.
Maybe no one had to work harder - and make it look easier - on this night than George Dalbeck, who took the WISSOTA Midwest modified headliner win. Dalbeck, of Wakefield, MI, started outside on the front row, beat Duane Dunbar through the first turn, and then fought back as Rob Weber charged by for the lead on lap 2.  Dalbeck did get the lead back a lap later and gradually built a solid eight-length lead through the first half of the 15-lap event, while Ryan Adamczak made his presence felt by powering past Weber on lap 6. There was plenty of position swapping, especially among the front-runners, as the green light stayed on until lap 8, when Taylor Luethner couldn’t get his wounded ride into the pit area.  The pace of the race then slowed three times over the next two recorded laps - for spins by Don Craig and Steve Anderson on lap 10, Bill Muhlig on lap 11, and Anderson again before lap 12 could be booked. But on each restart Dalbeck pulled away from the fierce battle between Adamczak and Weber for second. Dalbeck’s sixth career ABC Raceway win and third in the Mid-mods came by eight lengths over Adamczak, while Weber, Dunbar and Travis Nye followed in close formation.
The six-cylinder 15-lapper went non-stop, with Pat Beeksma picking up his 19th career Ashland win but first ever, by his recollection, on an opening night. Beeksma worked the outside line against Scott Ovaska for the first three laps before clearing the pole starter for the lead, but it took another three laps before Beeksma’s lead was anything more than slight.  Beeksma caught the backmarkers by lap 8 and was able to maneuver through with relative ease, but Ovaska’s margin over third-place Greg Jaeger disappeared in the slower traffic, and with the white flag waiving Jaeger took advantage of Ovaska’s near-spin after contact with a lapper to swipe second. Tyler Hudack and tenth-starting Tyler Luger completed the top five at a distance.
Like the sixes, the pure stocks also ran their feature without seeing a caution flag, and that worked out just fine for Ken Tody, Jr, who earned his third career Ashland win. Defending track champ Chad Carlson led just after the drop of the green flag, but within two laps Tody, who starter inside on row 4, had worked his way past Jeff Christman into second.  The hometown campaigner worked over Carlson for three laps before finally taking over the point on lap 7, but Carlson gave one more inside look two laps from the end. Dustin Follett, who was several car-lengths back of the lead duo when he finally claimed third from Matt Deragon on lap 4, closed quickly and was tapping on the back bumper of Carlson’s wagon going into turn 1 for the final time. But Tody held on to lead Carlson and Follett under the checkered flag in close formation.  Deragon and Christman finished fourth and fifth at a distance.

Results
WISSOTA Modifieds
 Feature: Jeff Spacek, Phillips; Steve Lavasseur, River Falls; Bill Byholm, Glidden; Al Uotinen, Superior; Rick Rivord, Superior; Steve Stuart, Ashland; Scott Hudack, Ashland; Robby Bunkelman, Abbotsford; Al Hartel, South Range; Wayne Stricker, Highbridge; Kevin Eder, Ashland; Pat Cook, Washburn; Jerry Hartman, Marenisco, MI; Destin Lorimor, Superior; Kent Baxter, Elk Mound.
 Heat 1: Stricker; Stuart; Rivord; Lavasseur; Hartman; Cook; Uotinen; Lorimor.
 Heat 2: Spacek; Byholm; Hartel; Hudack; Bunkelman; Eder; Baxter.
WISSOTA Super Stocks
 Feature: Scott Lawrence, Superior; Cory Casari, Montreal; Dave Flynn, Superior; Randy Spacek, Phillips; Brian Mikkonen, Iron River; Ken Truscott, Greenland, MI; Nick Oreskovich, Mason; Greg Kuklinski, Ironwood, MI; Ron Hmielewski, Marengo; Shawn Rivord, Superior; Willie Johnsen, Superior; Roy Pumala, Mason; Cody Carlson, Superior; Dave Elliott, Minocqua; Don Koivisto, Saxon.
 Heat 1: Casari; Spacek; Oreskovich; Rivord; Hmielewski; Elliott; Carlson; Koivisto.
 Heat 2: Lawrence; Flynn; Mikkonen; Kuklinski; Truscott; Johnsen; Pumala; Rad Schoonover, Eagle River.
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
 Feature: George Dalbeck, Wakefield, MI; Ryan Adamczak, Ashland; Rob Weber, Ashland; Duane Dunbar, Marenisco, MI; Travis Nye, Ashland; Rick Przybylski, Ashland; Don Craig, Thunder Bay, ON; Neil Balduc, Bessemer, MI; Chad Adamczak, Ashland; Bill Muhlig, Calumet, MI; Tanner Byholm, Glidden; Steve Anderson, Ironwood, MI; Taylor Leuthner, Foxboro.
 Heat 1: R Adamczak; Nye; Leuthner; Przybylski; Craig; Balduc; Byholm.
 Heat 2: Weber; Dalbeck; Dunbar; Anderson; C Adamczak; Muhlig.
Six-Cylinders
 Feature: Pat Beeksma, Ironwood, MI; Greg Jaeger, Mellen; Scott Ovaska, Marengo; Tyler Hudack, Ashland; Tyler Luger, Iron River; Don Muzzy, Ironwood, MI; Shawn McFadden, Jr, Ashland; Tad Bretting, Ashland; Neil Adamczak, Ashland; DeJay Mihalek, Ashland; Shane Basina, Bayfield; Ron Lillie, Wakefield, MI; Aaron Mashlan, Ashland; Forrest Schultz, Ashland; Matt Pelto, Ashland; Jonathan Popp, Iron River; Tyler Vernon, Ashland; Adam Traaholt, Ashland.
 Heat 1: McFadden; Jaeger; Beeksma; Hudack; Basina; Pelto; Lillie; Vernon; Dale Coddington, Hayward; Schultz.
 Heat 2: Adamczak; Ovaska; Bretting; Muzzy; Luger; Mihalek; Bill Anderson, Wakefield, MI; Mashlan; Traaholt; Popp.
Pure Stocks
 Feature: Ken Tody Jr, Ashland; Chad Carlson, Superior; Dustin Follett, Cloquet, MN; Matt Deragon, Ashland; Jeff Christman, Superior; Tim Carbon, Highbridge; Tiffany Hudack, Ashland; Jonathan Vanusek, Mellen; Roland Gordon, Bayfield; Joe Pajtash, Bennette.
 Heat 1: Carbon; Christman; Hudack; Pajtash; Gordon; DJ Keeler, Superior.
 Heat 2: Follett; Tody; Carlson; Deragon; Vasnusek.