Byholm, Lawrence, Kuklinski, Chesley, Beeksma, Milanowski Score ABC Main Wins

by Nick Gima
Ashland, WI, May 24 -- The racing action was as crisp as the weather Saturday night, as the ABC Raceway ran off its six-division AmsOil Dirt Track Series program, sponsored by Xtreme Sign & Graphix, in quick fashion with 94 cars in attendance.

Bill Byholm dominated the 20-lap WISSOTA modified feature race that was halted only once early. Byholm darted around polesitter Duane Dale during the first circuit and was never seriously challenged, despite the yellow caution flag slowing action three laps in when visitor Joey Jensen’s car slowed and coasted into the infield grass along the front straightaway.Although Jensen’s car was relatively safe where it came to rest, once he unbuckled his belts and began to climb from the car, officials deemed it necessary to stop the event for his safety. This didn’t matter to Byholm, however, as he held off an initial threat from Al Uotinen upon taking the green flag and pulled away to a sizable lead and the eventual win. Byholm pointed out in Victory Lane that the well-prepared racing surface allowed for a smooth, strong run, saying, “We kept the gas on ‘er pretty hard.” Defending track champ Dean Yrjanainen worked his way past Uotinen prior to the race’s midpoint but was unable to reel in Byholm, and Jerry Hartman used an inside move to take over third moments later but could not gain on Yrjanainen. Jody Bellefeuille came from the ninth starting spot to finish fifth.
Polesitter Destin Lorimor could not hold off the charges of Brian Mikkonen and Scott Lawrence during the early stages of the 20-lap WISSOTA super stock main event, and by lap 4 Mikkonen and Lawrence were pulling away in a battle for the lead. The wildly-contested but relatively clean race saw Lawrence use a slick slide-job on Mikkonen to steal the point away on lap 8, only to see the move negated by an Andy Grymala spin. After the first restart attempt failed, Lawrence worked the outer groove to slip by Mikkonen and take over the pace, with Randy Spacek soon challenging for second. Spacek eventually worked past Mikkonen and drew to within feet of Lawrence as the laps wound down, taking several peeks to Lawrence’s inside. Spacek was easily in position to threaten for the win, but he slowed suddenly as he and Lawrence were about to take the white flag, as a car in turn 2 had spun. Officials may have momentarily flipped on the yellow lights for the spin, and Spacek may have instinctively reacted to this, but the looped car pulled away, the race stayed under green, and tenth-starting Curt Myers sped past to second. All this had allowed Lawrence to gain a comfortable margin of victory over Myers, while Spacek had all he could do to recover and salvage third ahead of Mikkonen. Kevin Eder was impressive with his fifth-place run.
Greg Chesley continued his hot early-season run by winning his second WISSOTA Midwest modified 15-lap A-main here in as many shows this year. The race was a little shaky getting started, as polesitter Pete Paulus looped in front of the field in the very first corner. Then, after Duane Dunbar made a thread-the-needle move to sneak by Pat Cook and Steve Stuart into the lead, Joe Olson stalled with a flat tire as the field completed lap 1. From that point on, however, the race ran uninterrupted, and Chesley took command. He used an inside move on Dunbar to edge into the lead, then built that lead with every lap until he had a 15-car-length advantage on the field. Dunbar, Jim Latvala and Rick Przybylski scuffled for second until contact on lap 6 threw both Dunbar and Przybylski off their rhythm, allowing Latvala to procure the spot. But by then Chesley was too far gone, taking the checkers in lapped traffic and a full straightaway ahead of Latvala. Dunbar recovered for third, ahead of former six-cylinder driver Pat Cook and Przybylski. With the win, Chesley gains the honor of becoming the first driver to win more than one Mid-mod feature at Ashland. Four other drivers had won each of the four features run here prior to this season in the Raceway’s newest division.
The non-stop 12-lap WISSOTA street stock feature saw Greg Kuklinski hold off a determined John Kallas for his track-leading 85th career feature victory. Kuklinski used a strong drive away from the field after starting on the pole, but once Kallas broke loose from the congestion he set sail for Kuklinski and followed in the leader’s tire tracks right up until the final corner. Kallas nearly had a chance to steal the win away when the typically-smooth Kuklinski bobbled up a groove in turn 4 coming to the stripe, but Kuklinski recovered just enough to win by a dozen feet. Larry Haderly followed at a distance to claim third, followed a bit further back by Steve Anderson and Cory Casari.
The six-cylinders were the only group to endure any real struggle to get their feature in. The most trying moment came on the very first lap, when outside-front-row starter Tyler Luger got loose coming out of turn 2; the ensuing scramble damaged as many as eight of the 23 starters and ended with Travis Swanson’s car upside-down on the edge of the infield grass along the back chute. Shawn McFadden, Jr., set the pace for the next couple laps, before rookie DeJay Mihalek spun on lap 3. It was after this restart that Pat Beeksma worked inside against McFadden and stole the lead away, then maintained that lead despite back-to-back caution slowdowns - on lap 4 after Aaron Mashlan tagged the front-stretch concrete wall and slid down the track in front of the leaders, and on lap 5 for a two-car tangle. Beeksma had the field covered for the balance of the 15-lapper, pulling away to an eventual ten-length win. McFadden held strong to runner-up honors, and Ken Tyykila stayed among the top five throughout the run to claim third. Scott Ovaska maintained his early-season points advantage by taking fourth, and Don Muzzy capped an solid night by crossing the line fifth.
Paul Milanowski and Roland Gordon pulled away from the field during the early going of the ten-lap pure stock feature, but when Gordon momentarily lost the handle of his machine, Milanowski took advantage to pull away, leading every lap for the win. Chad Carlson slipped into second when Gordon bobbled but could not gain ground on Milanowski, while Tim Carbon challenged Carlson late in the run before settling for third and taking over the points lead. Don Follett, who missed the heat race and had to start dead last on the grid, moved through the field to take fourth ahead of fellow back-row-starter Tim Carlson.

Next Saturday’s race program will be presented by Fast Lane Motorsports, 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.

To view more photos from this weeks races click here to visit Skip Hunter Photography.

Results

WISSOTA Modifieds

            Heat 1: Joey Jensen, Forest Lake, MN; Al Uotinen, Superior; Kelly Checkalski, Poplar; Jerry Hartman, Marenisco, MI; Jody Bellefeuille, Duluth, MN; Jeff Spacek, Phillips; Rick Rivord, Superior; Steve Lavasseur, River Falls; Wayne Stricker, Highbridge.

            Heat 2: Kent Baxter, Dorchester; Dean Yrjanainen, Lake Nebagamon; Duane Dale, Aurora, MN; Bill Byholm, Glidden; Shawn Kreyer, Hayward; Ross Lightner, Washburn; Scott Hudack, Ashland.

            Feature: Byholm; Yrjanainen; Hartman; Uotinen; Bellefeuille; Dale; Checkalski; Baxter; Spacek; Rivord; Hudack; Kreyer; Stricker; Lightner; Lavasseur; Dan Sellung, Mason; Jensen.

WISSOTA Super Stocks

            Heat 1: Curt Myers, Cameron; Randy Spacek, Phillips; Brian Mikkonen, Iron River; Paul Erikson, Abbotsford; Ken Truscott, Greenland, MI; Andy Grymala, Superior; Don Koivisto, Saxon; Chuck Hawkinson, Mellen.

            Heat 2: Nick Oreskovich, Mason; Kevin Eder, Ashland; Destin Lorimor, Superior; Scott Lawrence, Superior; Ron Hmielewski, Marengo; Dave Elliott, Minocqua; Joe Oliver, Superior; Rick Milinovich, Superior.

            Feature: Lawrence; Myers; Spacek; Mikkonen; Eder; Lorimor; Oreskovich; Truscott; Oliver; Erikson; Grymala; Hmielewski; Koivisto; Hawkinson; Milinkovich; Elliott.

WISSOTA Street Stocks

            Heat: Greg Kuklinski, Ironwood, MI; Larry Haderly, Marengo; Steve Anderson, Ironwood, MI; Cory Casari, Montreal; John Kallas, Hurley; Tim Baum, Superior; Rob Weber, Washburn; Paul Milanowski, Ashland; Bruce Kalmon, Ashland.

            Feature: Kuklinski; Kallas; Haderly; Anderson; Casari; Weber; Baum; Milanowski, Kalmon.

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds

            Heat 1: Jim Latvala, Solon Springs; Steve Stuart, Ashland; Rick Przybylski, Ashland; Joe Olson, Superior; Rob Weber, Washburn; Travis Nye, Ashland; Mickey Nosser, Phillips; Mike Brennan, Ashland.

Six-Cylinders

            Heat 1: Pat Beeksma, Ironwood, MI; Don Muzzy, Ironwood, MI; Jim Pelto, Ashland; Dale Coddington, Hayward; DeJay Mihalek, Ashland; Jonathon Popp, Iron River; Jacob Melin, Barnes; Greg Jaeger, Mellen; Colin Polacek, Phillips.

            Heat 2: Shawn McFadden, Jr, Ashland; Travis Swanson, Ashland; Ken Tyykila, Iron River; Dan Moncher, Hurley; Don Livingston, Bayfield; Adam Traaholt, Ashland; Aaron Mashlan, Ashland; Bob Thoreson, Washburn; Zach Pagels, Marengo.

            Heat 3: Scott Ovaska, Marengo; Tyler Luger, Iron River; Neil Adamzak, Ashland; Forrest Schultz, Ashland; Jim Anderson, Mason; Cory Marincel, Ashland.

            Feature: Beeksma; McFadden; Tyykila; Ovaska; Muzzy; Jaeger; Adamczak; Coddington; Pelto; Anderson; Livingston; Traaholt; Polacek; Schultz; Marincel; Mihalek; Mashlan; Moncher; Swanson; Popp; Melin; Pagels; Luger.

Pure Stocks

            Heat: Roland Gordon, Bayfield; Tim Carbon, Highbridge; Chad Carlson, Superior; Paul Milanowski, Ashland; Ronnie Poppe, Ashland; Zene Anderson, Superior; Matt Deragon, Ashland; Nathan Dees, Ironwood, MI; Tim Carlson, Superior.

            Feature: Milanowski; C Carlson; Carbon; Don Follett, Cloquet, MN; T Carlson; Anderson; Gordon; Poppe; Dees; Deragon.