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Byholm Takes Two During ABC Mod Triple Header
by Nick Gima
Ashland, WI, June 18 -- Bill Byholm found a comfortable line in the third
WISSOTA modified A-main and cruised to a huge payday in Saturdayıs fourth
annual Bad River Lodge and Casino Modified Triple Header at the ABC Raceway.
Of the 101 cars in the pit area, 31 were mods.
Byholm, the track points leader, came from the second row to slip under
front-row starters Jeff Spacek and Craig Christiansen through the first turn
of the 25-lap event and built a small lead riding the fast upper groove.
Christiansen provided significant pressure on the three restarts in the event
- after a lap 4 Jerry Hartman spin that collected five other cars in the
aftermath, after Kelly Checkalski stalled on lap 15, and after a Scott Hudack
spin just as the white flag was about to wave for the leaders - but Byholm
overcame each challenge and rode the same line to his 14th career feature win
at Ashland and third this season.
Brent Larson, who until the third main was having a quiet but solid night,
passed Spacek for third prior to the lap 4 yellow and remained there until the
green-white-checkered finish, when he slipped by Christiansen for second. Luke
Schilling also got stronger as the night progressed and finished a solid
fourth ahead of Spacek.
In the second 20-lap feature Byholm started on the pole and held off first
Christiansen and then Robby Bunkelman before finally outrunning a charging
Jerry Hartman to the finish. Christiansen took third, while Bunkelman and Al
Uotinen trailed at a distance.
In the first 15-lap feature Christiansen earned his first career win here
after a pole-position start. He built as much as a straightaway lead within
the first five laps before the field was drawn back to him by a caution flag
for a five-car pile-up that took out defending event champion Craig Thatcher.
From there Christiansen could not pull away from Uotinen but did keep him at
bay to the stripe. Dean Yrjanainen trailed in third ahead of Hartman and
Bunkelman.
The 20-lap WISSOTA super stock feature was a thriller that included a four-car
battle during the final three-lap sprint to the checkers. Randy Silverness,
Jr., edged ahead of polesitter Ron Hmielewski and led through two early
cautions and a 17-lap stretch of green-flag racing, looking for his first-ever
feature win here. Randy Spacek overtook Hmielewski after the second early
caution and followed Silverness in the upper line while Hmielewski took
frequent peeks below both leaders. The fast pace was cooled by a Jake Hiatt
spin with three laps left, and on that restart Silverness bobbled slightly,
giving Spacek the room to slip by for the lead and pull away for his first win
of 2005 and 26th of his career here. Hmielewski followed for an impressive
second-place run - his best in several years in a super stock - while Scott
Lawrence also followed suit to swipe third. Silverness held on for fourth just
ahead of Shawn McFadden.
The six-cylinder A-main was also a nail-biter that finished with a three-lap
dogfight. Greg Jaeger led every lap to pick up his second career ABC Raceway
feature win and first in nearly two years, but he had to fend a determined
Scott Ovaska in the early laps. Meanwhile, on the charge from mid-pack were
Dale Coddington, who started in row 4, and Steve Stuart, who started in row 6;
both used the outer groove to climb into the top five by lap 6, and Coddington
swept around Ovaska on lap 7 for second. Shawn McFadden, Jr.ıs badly
overheating car spun with three laps left of the 15 scheduled, and Coddington
pulled alongside Jaeger coming out of turn 4 for the last time, only to fall
three feet short as Jaeger won the dragrace to the checkered flag. Stuart
overtook Ovaska for third on the next-to-last lap, and Chuck Hawkinson, who
started dead last in the 25-car grid, finished fifth.
Cory Casari hung a ³for sale² sign on his two-time championship-winning pure
stock and dragged it onto the Ashland oval for the first time this season,
then gave it a good sales pitch by fighting off his former nemesis Kevin
Truchon for his 13th career feature win. Truchon took the lead when he used a
three-wide move to sweep around Casari and early leader Bruce Kalman on lap 4,
but a lap later Truchon was caught behind a slower car, and Casari took
advantage. From there the two old foes ran off to decide the raceıs outcome,
with Casari holding on. Jim Eliason climbed through the field for a strong
third-place run, while Kalman and Kevin Eder completed the top five.
Racing resumes on Saturday for NAPA Auto Parts Night at the Races. ³Racenight
Live² will air from 5-6 pm Saturday on WJJH, 96.7 & 102.3 FM, with
raceday news and weather updates. The ABC Raceway is located three miles south
of Ashland on Highway 13, then one mile west on Butterworth Road. For more
information, visit the track website at www.abcraceway.com
or call (715) 682-4990 for raceday information.
Results
WISSOTA Modifieds
Heat 1: Jeff Spacek, Phillips; Al Uotinen, Superior; Jerry Hartman, Marenisco,
MI.
Heat 2: Bill Byholm, Glidden; Scott Hudack, Ashland; Craig Christiansen, New
London, MN.
Heat 3: Ross Lightner, Washburn; Rick Przybylski, Ashland; Robby Bunkelman,
Abbotsford.
Heat 4: Dean Yrjanainen, Lake Nebagamon; Tyler Keyser, Baldwin; Kent Baxter,
Dorchester.
Semi-Feature: Craig Thatcher, Knapp; Mark Baxter, Dorchester; Troy Girolamo,
Eleva.
Feature 1: Christiansen; Uotinen; Yrjanainen; Hartman; Bunkelman; Spacek;
Byholm; Don Copp, Brule; Brandon Jensen, Maplewood, MN.
Feature 2: Byholm; Hartman; Christiansen; Bunkelman; Uotinen; Luke Schilling,
Granton; Spacek; Brent Larson, Lake Elmo, MN; Lightner; Chris Oertel,
Marshfield.
Feature 3: Byholm; Larson; Christiansen; Schilling; Spacek; Yrjanainen;
Uotinen; Bunkelman; Hartman; Thatcher.
WISSOTA Super Stocks
Heat 1: Randy Spacek, Phillips; Randy Silverness, Jr., South Range; Rob
Erickson, Bayfield.
Heat 2: Greg Kuklenski, Ironwood, MI; Don Koivisto, Saxon; Shawn McFadden,
Ashland.
Heat 3: Wayne Stricker, Highbridge; Charlie Anderson, Ironwood, MI; Mike Duhr,
Hazelhurst.
Feature: Spacek; Ron Hmielewski, Washburn; Scott Lawrence, Superior;
Silverness; McFadden; Stricker; Ken Truscott, Greenland, MI; Anderson;
Kuklenski; Joe Oliver, Superior.
Six-Cylinders
Heat 1: Don Weber, Bayfield; Greg Jaeger, Mellen; Brent Brevak, Ashland.
Heat 2: Brian Nevala, Ashland; Steve Walston, Marengo; Scott Ovaska, Marengo.
Heat 3: Mike Zasadni, Ironwood, MI; Adam Traaholt, Ashland; Andy Grymala,
Superior.
Feature: Jaeger; Dale Coddington, Hayward; Steve Stuart, Ashland; Ovaska;
Chuck Hawkinson, Mellen; Walston; Nevala; Steve Tesch, Prentice; Grymala; Ken
Tyykila, Iron River.
Pure Stocks
Heat 1: Jim Eliason, Ashland; Bruce Kalmon, Ashland; Mike Huff, Hurley.
Heat 2: Kevin Truchon, Ashland; Cory Casari, Hurley; Al Rapp, Duluth, MN.
Heat 3: Jim Laessig, Wakefield, MI; Tom Morinville, Duluth, MN; Scott Niemi,
Bessemer, MI.
Feature: Casari; Truchon; Eliason; Kalman; Kevin Eder, Ashland; Rapp; Ricky
Davis, Bruno, MN; Morinville; Marty Passuello, Ironwood, MI; Rob Ganson,
Washburn.
ABC Raceway points as of 6/18 --
WISSOTA Super Stocks
1 22 - Randy Spacek
159
2 22t - Ken Truscott
153
3 77 - Scott
Lawrence 152
4 51 - Shawn
McFadden 148
5 50 - Charlie
Anderson 139
6 8m - Mike Duhr
134
7 12s - Wayne Stricker
130
8 02 - Rob
Erickson 127
9 95 - Rick Rivord
122
10 80 - Greg Kuklenski
120
11 66 - Todd Bonney
118
12 33 - Don Koivisto
115
13 7 - Bryan Lund
101
14 68x- Chuck
Schmidt 97
15 55 - Ron Hmielewski
96
16 47 - Al Uotinen
92
17 90 - Destin Lorimor
82
18 9s - Ron Malecki
74
19 81 - Doug Woodhull
73
20 4x - Dave
Elliott 70
21 10m - Gordy
Maki 59
22 2x - Randy Silverness,
Jr. 52
23 1L - Donnie Lofdahl
48
24 23 - Kyle Peterlin
46
25 5x - Joe Oliver
44
26 70k - Rick
Simpson 42
27 43 - Adam Long
35
28 3 - Jake Hiatt
34
29 24 - Chuck
Metzger 34
30 29 - Joe Olson
32
31 13 - Scott
Weber 26
Six-Cylinders
1 66 - Greg Jaeger
162
2 4x - Steve
Stuart 155
3 73 - Dale Coddington
154
4 22h - Chuck Hawkinson
153
5 5w - Steve Walston
148
6 5-1 - Ken Tyykila
141
7 18 - Steve Tesch
138
8 72 - Scott Ovaska
136
9 32 - Pat Cook
134
10 11 - Chris Lustig
129
11 24 - Andy Grymala
127
12 70 - Mike Zasadni
120
13 21 - Nick Oreskovich
119
14 51jr - Shawn McFadden,
Jr. 109
15 30 - Mike McKay
108
16 88 - Warren Beede
97
17 57 - Brandle Pupp
86
18 81 - Adam Traaholt
86
19 77 - Brian Nevala
82
20 4 - Don Weber
80
21 31 - Brent Brevak
73
22 36 - Adam Jack
69
23 13 - Dan Mihalek
63
24 33 - Ken Tody,
Jr. 62
25 15x - Shane Roy
57
26 8 - Ron Swanson
41
27 26 - Tim Beeksma
34
28 51 - Shawn
McFadden 33
29 43 - Jim
Anderson 19
30 01 - Derek
McKay 15
Pure Stocks
1 20 - Jim Eliason
158
2 33r - Al Rapp
156
3 24k - Kevin Truchon
150
4 34 - Bruce Kalmon
150
5 26 - Tom Morinville
145
6 22 - Kevin Eder
135
7 35 - Don Bush
128
8 79 - Ricky Davis
127
9 85 - Marty Passuello
124
10 21 - Chad
Carlson 124
11 00 - Rob Ganson
120
12 23b - Bridgett Pagels
117
13 9 - Brett Rondeau
116
14 44h - Michael Huff/John Kallas
112
15 106 - John Taitt
109
16 45 - Bill Rose/Steve
Stuart 107
17 25 - Jim Laessig
97
18 17d - Nathan
Dees 92
19 30 - Dustin
Novak 82
20 23 - Scott Niemi
81
21 1 - Cory Casari
56
22 00 - Shane Klergard
30
no points awarded for mods; street stocks did not run 6/18
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