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Spacek, Mikkonen, Haderly ‘Jam’ to First ABC Wins of ‘09
Tody wins first-ever; Cook & Jaeger double up
by Nick Gima
Ashland, WI, June 20 -- After four nights of racing there had been only one repeat winner at the ABC Raceway, but Saturday night’s “Jam the Stands” Night program presented by Heartland Communications saw Pat Cook and Greg Jaeger collect their second feature wins of the season, while three other drivers visited victory lane for the first time in 2009 and another won for the first time ever.
A light and brief shower arrived one half-hour before the scheduled hot-lap time, delaying the start of the show, but fans were entertained to music and played trivia games with JD Bass Entertainment. Once the show began, the track for the AmsOil Dirt Track Series program was lightning-fast and smooth as glass, creating a terrific racing surface for the 108 drivers in attendance, including several first-night visitors whose regular Saturday-night haunts had canceled their programs earlier in the day due to wet weather.
The half-price adult admission also brought out one of the best crowds of the season.
Cook, from Washburn, had no problem with the track at all, but did with Jesse Ogston, whose impressive night included a long tussle with Cook until the WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature’s late stages. Cook started inside on the second row and dove inside on polestarter Joe Eckland, while Roland Gordon slipped around the outside, and the duo took first and second. But a four-car pile-up in turn 2 negated the moves, and on the restart Ogston drove the outside route around Eckland and Cook into the lead.
Ogston tried to pull away from the field by flying around the upper groove, but each time he built up any sort of edge the caution flag was thrown - four times in all over the 15-lap event. It was just before the race’s mid-point that Cook finally shook off persistent challenges by George Dalbeck for second and finally staked his claim to the win.
The pass for the lead came with seven laps left, when he dove inside on Ogston and took over the point. From there the back half of the run clicked off without a hitch, and Cook pulled away to a commanding win. Ogston had a second-place run he could be proud of, while Dalbeck threatened again before settling for third. Steve Stuart and Mickey Nosser did a fair amount of position-swapping during the late stages before crossing the finish line fourth and fifth, respectively. Jimmy Latvala’s sixth-place run places him as the division’s new points leader. |
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Jaeger’s task for his second straight Six-Cylinder feature win was only slightly less difficult. The Mellen campaigner and former track champ started outside on the third row and fought through heavy traffic before slipping past Don Muzzy for the lead with five laps of the scheduled 15 remaining.
For most of the run it was Muzzy’s to lose, as he started outside on the front row and outraced Zack Pagels to the first corner. After a two-car get-together five laps in, Muzzy pulled away from a great side-by-side battle between Jaeger and Tyler Luger, but once Jaeger finally cleared Luger it was only a matter of time before he caught the leader.
The yellow flag with five laps to go didn’t hurt Jaeger’s cause, either. It came out when Luger’s car was tagged and ground to a stop in turn 4, and after the second attempt to restart from that stoppage Jaeger made quick work of Muzzy and sped to the win. Chuck Hawkinson won a race-long door-to-door scrum before edging ahead of Pat Beeksma for third, and points leader Shawn McFadden, Jr, came home a solid fifth. |
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The WISSOTA Modified 20-lap headliner went to Jeff Spacek of Phillips, who with his 46th career ABC Raceway win moved into fifth place alone on the track’s all-time feature win list. This victory came due to a combination of patience and power.
Spacek slipped past polesitter John Frydrych for the initial lead and tried to stay there, but a rash of caution flags due to slips and spins on the super-fast surface kept his competition close, especially a surprising Kent Baxter. After the second restart of the run Baxter startled Spacer with an outside move to take the lead away on lap 8, as the twosome pulled away from Duane Dale and the rest.
But Spacek retaliated with a low-side move of his own to re-establish himself at the front, where he remained for the balance of the race. Baxter’s night was not over, however, as he and Dale soon began an incredible fight over second place that saw the pair swap the position every half-lap.
Frydrych’s car slowed to a stop to bring out the race’s final caution flag with four laps left, and although Spacek held on for his first ABC win of ‘09, Baxter and Dale weren’t done debating second spot until Baxter settled things on the final lap; Dale’s third-place effort moves him into the mid-season points lead. Al Uotinen was quickly closing but settled for fourth, and Bill Byholm just nipped Steve Lavasseur at the line for fifth. |
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Art Hyde was well on his way to repeating in the WISSOTA Super Stock A-main, but a bobble on the final restart handed the lead and the eventual win to Iron River’s Brian Mikkonen.
The result of this race was in doubt nearly to the very end, as at least six cars had a legitimate chance to win, and a couple others were on the charge late in the go. Hyde shot away from his outside-front-row starting spot and, using the same line that took him to an impressive win here seven days before, sped smoothly away. Behind him, Joe Oliver, Randy Spacek and Mikkonen waged war over runner-up honors, while Nick Oreskovich, Shane Kisling and Scott Lawrence worked their way forward.
Hyde held off all challenges and appeared to have things well in hand despite several caution-flag slowdowns that kept his adversaries close behind him. Mikkonen was scored in second before a lap 11 stoppage for debris, and it was on the second attempt to get the race back underway that Hyde’s car bobbled up into the softer red-clay “marbles” in turn 2, allowing Mikkonen to scoot by underneath and bring several friends along.
From there Mikkonen held off a concerted effort by Joe Oliver for his first checkered flag of the summer here and pulled into a tie with Kevin Eder for the points lead. Spacek, Lawrence and Kisling chased Oliver closely at the stripe. |
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As opposed to the other features on this night, the WISSOTA Street Stock main event ran off flag-to-flag without a hitch, with Marengo’s Larry Haderly capturing top honors for the first time this summer. Haderly took advantage of the misfortune suffered by polesitter Cory Casari, whose car broke during the parade lap; Haderly thus started the race from the pole and was never headed en route to extending his points lead.
The defending track divisional champion built up a solid half-straightaway lead on the great battle for second between Dennis Groom and John Kallas and won his 18th career Ashland feature going away. Groom, meanwhile, did all he could to hold off the persistent Kallas in order to take home runner-up money. A ways behind that pair, first-nighter San Fankhauser ran to a solid fourth-place performance, but another first-night visitor - David Dishall - had his fifth-place run taken from him in the tech area after the race, giving Steve Anderson, driving Greg Kuklinski’s streeter, a top-five run. |
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Just a couple laps into the Pure Stock finale the sprinkles returned, but the track held up just fine to give Ken Tody, Jr, a measure of redemption. Tody, who had a feature win taken away within eyesight of the checkered flag on opening night, took off from the front row, beat polesitter Matt Deragon to the first corner, and held off Tim Carlson for his first-ever feature win.
The youngster from Ashland ran a smooth mid-track line to build a two-length advantage over the three-car battle for second between Carlson, Nathan Dees and Austin Blom. The race’s only pause came when Deragon’s car turned sideways and was bumped into the infield in turn 3 by Tim Carbon, and Carlson, who restarted second, took advantage of the opportunity to threaten Tody over the final four laps.
But Tody held firm to the lead this time, shutting the door on Carlson through the corners and hanging on for the impressive landmark win. Blom used the same outside sweep move which worked a couple weeks back for a win here, but this time the effort came up one position short, as he could only draw up alongside Tody’s rear fender at the final stripe. He did, however, move into a tie for the points lead with fifth-place finisher Jeff Christman
Carlson and Dees took home third- and fourth-place money. |
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Next Saturday night Northern Clearing of Ashland will help the Raceway and its fans celebrate the Fourth of July holiday by presenting another complete six-division program. Adult admission tickets are just ten dollars, while kids ages 12 and under are free with a paid adult admission. Hot laps are set for 6:15 pm and racing starts 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; Kent Baxter, Elk Mound; Duane Dale, Aurora, MN; Al Uotinen, Superior; Bill Byholm, Glidden; Steve Lavasseur, River Falls; Dean Yrjanainen, Lake Nebagamon; Kelly Checkalski, Poplar; Robby Bunkelman, Abbotsford; Wayne Stricker, Highbridge; Destin Lorimor, Superior; Ross Lightner, Washburn; Jerry Hartman, Marenisco, MI; John Frydrych, Butternut; Ken Hron, Nashwauk, MN; Scott Hudack, Ashland; Rick Rivord, Superior; Mark Baxter, Dorchester.
Heat 1: Hartman; Dale; Frydrych; Uotinen; Lavasseur; Hron; Rivord; Byholm; Lorimor.
Heat 2: Spacek; K Baxter; Lightner; Bunkelman; Yrjanainen; Checkalski; Stricker; M Baxter; Hudack.
WISSOTA Super Stocks
Feature: Brian Mikkonen, Iron River; Joe Oliver, Superior; Randy Spacek, Phillips; Scott Lawrence, Superior; Shane Kisling, Sarona; Donnie Lofdahl, Proctor, MN; Eric Olson, Ladysmith; Kevin Eder, Ashland; Nick Oreskovich, Mason; Paul Erikson, Abbotsford; Ron Hmielewski, Marengo; Trevor Wilson, Superior; Dave Flynn, Superior; Charlie Anderson, Ironwood, MI; Dave Elliott, Minocqua; Art Hyde, Washburn; Tad Schoonover, Eagle River; Ken Truscott, Greenland, MI; Bryan Lund, Rochester, MN; Roy Pumala, Mason; Don Koivisto, Saxon; Curt Myers, Cameron.
Heat 1: Olson; Eder; Oliver; Erikson; Lofdahl; Wilson; Koivisto; Elliott.
Heat 2: Mikkonen; Hyde; Kisling; Lawrence; Anderson; Flynn; Pumala.
Heat 3: Spacek; Oreskovich; Myers; Hmielewski; Truscott; Lund; Schoonover.
WISSOTA Street Stocks
Feature: Larry Haderly, Marengo; Dennis Groom, Ashland; John Kallas, Hurley; Sam Fankhauser, Rice Lake; Steve Anderson, Ironwood, MI; Tim Baum, Superior; Bruce Kalmon; Kyle Weber, Drummond; Cory Casari, Montreal.
Heat: Fankhauser; Casari; Groom; Haderly; David Dishaw, Ontonagon, MI; Kallas; Weber; Baum; Kalmon; Anderson.
WISSOTA Midwest modifieds
Feature: Pat Cook, Washburn; Jesse Ogston, Duluth, MN; George Dalbeck, Wakefield, MI; Steve Stuart, Ashland; Mickey Nosser, Phillips; Jimmy Latvala, Solon Springs; Taylor Leuthner, Foxboro; Rob Weber, Ashland; Shawn Rivord, South Range; Travis Swanson, Ashland; Cody Carlson, Superior; Chris Bretting, Ashland; Travis Nye, Ashland; Joe Olson, Superior; Dan Sellung, Mason; Roland Gordon, Bayfield; Zene Anderson, Superior; Glenn Dammer, Duluth, MN; Joe Eckland, Springbrook; Rick Przybylski, Ashland; Matt Leer, Bruce; Lance Solem, Duluth, MN; Duane Dunbar, Marenisco, MI.
Heat 1: Leer; Cook; Eckland; Stuart; Olson; Carlson; Dammer; Sellung.
Heat 2: Ogston; Nosser; Gordon; Nye; Rivord; Solem; Anderson; Bretting.
Heat 3: Latvala; Leuthner; Dalbeck; Dunbar; Przybylski; Weber; Swanson.
Six-Cylinders
Feature: Greg Jaeger, Mellen; Don Muzzy, Ironwood, MI; Chuck Hawkinson, Mellen; Pat Beeksma, Ironwood, MI; Shawn McFadden, Jr, Ashland; Dale Coddington, Hayward; Colin Polacek, Phillips; Scott Ovaska, Marengo; Warren Beede, Iron River; Neil Adamczak, Ashland; Bryan Anderson, Mason; Justin Bretall, Grand View; Adam Traaholt, Ashland; DeJay Mihalek, Ashland; Bobby Durand, Mason; Zach Pagels, Marengo; Jonathon Popp, Iron River; Tyler Luger, Iron River; Ken Tyykila, Iron River; Aaron Mashlan, Ashland.
Heat 1: Jaeger; Beeksma; Coddington; Popp; Mashlan; Mihalek; Forrest Schultz, Ashland; Polacek.
Heat 2: Hawkinson; Adamczak; Muzzy; Beede; Ovaska; Durand; Ron Lillie, Wakefield, MI; Cory Marincel, Ashland.
Heat 3: McFadden; Pagels; Luger; Traaholt; Bretall; Anderson; Tyykila.
Pure Stocks
Feature: Ken Tody, Jr, Ashland; Austin Blom, Saginaw, MN; Tim Carlson, Superior; Nathan Dees, Ironwood, MI; Jeff Christman, Superior; Paul Milanowski, Ashland; Tim Carbon, Highbridge; Joe Wolfe, Montreal; Matt Deragon, Ashland; Heidi Karshbaum, Cameron; Dustin Gay, Ashland.
Heat 1: Dees; Christman; Tody; Deragon; Milanowski; Gay.
Heat 2: Blom; Carlson; Carbon; Don Livingston, Bayfield; Karshbaum. | | |
