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Veterans Spacek, Lawrence, Kuklinski Add To ABC Feature Win Totals
Beede, Dees are first-time winners
by Nick Gima
Ashland, WI, June 3 -- Jeff Spacek and Greg Kuklinski repeated as feature
winners Saturday night at the ABC Raceway, while Scott Lawrence picked up his
first feature win of the season. Two other drivers - Warren Beede and Nathan
Dees - earned their first-ever feature wins as 97 racers showed up for the
Kids’ Meet the Drivers Night program presented by Little Caesar’s Pizza.
The program began with over 500 young fans walking onto the red-clay oval to
take an up-close look at the race cars and get autographs, souvenirs and other
treats from the drivers.
Spacek started from the pole for the second straight week in the non-stop
20-lap WISSOTA modified feature, but this time a bobble slowed the dominance
of early walk-away leader Jerry Hartman and gave Spacek the lead for good on
lap 5. Spacek was not challenged the rest of the way, while Hartman held on
for second.
Dean Yrjanainen charged from his fifth-row starting spot to claim third, well
ahead of a solid run by Shawn Kreyer and 13th-starting Al Uotinen, to solidify
his points lead in the division.
Two-time defending champion Scott Lawrence returned to the winner’s circle
at Ashland for the first time since last July 30, after using the outside
groove to sweep around Brian Mikkonen on lap 13 and win the WISSOTA super
stock A-main.
The top eight positions were swapped constantly throughout the 20-lapper, with
drivers switching lanes on almost every lap. But once Lawrence found that his
car worked best upstairs he swept past race-long leader Mikkonen and runner-up
Charlie Anderson - both hugging the bottom line - just before Anderson’s
motor blew up and he spun in the spilled fluids with three laps left.
Lawrence pulled steadily away from everyone except Randy Silverness, Jr., in
the closing laps, while Randy Spacek climbed from his 12th-place start to take
third. Others who passed a lot of cars to finish in the top five included
18th-starting Joe Oliver and 19th-starting Mike Duhr, who claimed fourth and
fifth.
Kuklinski, who was a DNF in the super stock main event, may have found a home
in the WISSOTA super stocks, as he again added to his track-best feature win
total with win number 77 Saturday. Rookie streeter Kevin Eder took the early
lead from Rob Weber and looked to pull away to a comfortable win, but caution
flags slowed the event after the first six laps, giving Kuklinski the chance
to pull off perhaps the move of the night.
After a tangle between points leader Steve Anderson and Rob Weber that ended
Anderson’s race, Kuklinski restarted second and drove high into the first
turn after the restart. When Eder slipped up to block, the veteran dove under
the rookie and took the lead away down the back straight. Eder pushed hard
into the next corner to take the lead back but spun in front of the vast
majority of the field, collecting Dennis Groom’s machine.
From there Kuklinski survived two more restarts and steady pressure from Roger
Walker for the win, while Butch Kummer was not far back in third. Yrjanainen,
driving Tim Baum’s streeter, claimed fourth, while Cory Casari had his best
run of the year, finishing fifth after starting dead last in the field of 14.
The six-cylinder feature saw a race-long battle between two drivers looking
for their first ABC feature wins but ended in controversy. Polesitter Don
Muzzy shot away from the field and dominated the first 11 non-stop laps of the
event. But on lap 12 Beede closed as Muzzy dealt with lapped traffic, and he
used an inside move and some contact to get by Muzzy.
One lap later Ken Tyykila spun while battling for third with Steve Stuart and
Chuck Hawkinson, and every car took the white flag one lap after the restart
except Nick Oreskovich, who spun in turn 4. Confusion between the flagman and
scorers caused the checkered flag to be thrown, giving Beede the win, but the
rest of the finish won’t be made final until after an officials’ meeting
Monday night.
In a classy move during his victory lane interview, Beede apologized to Muzzy
for the aggressive move which gave him the win.
Dees won a fierce battle over Roland Gordon and Don Bush early in the pure
stock feature and, after the race’s only restart on lap 4, pulled away to
his first-ever win in a pure stock main event, while also completing his first
career sweep. Dees had built enough of a lead to hang on for the win, while
first-nighter Glenn Dammer clawed his way through traffic into second and
closed in the late laps.
Rookie Derek Milligan was again impressive in earning his third-place check,
while division points leader Tom Morinville survived a rough-and-tumble
skirmish with several cars to take fourth ahead of Marty Passuello.
The 40th season of stock car racing action at the 3/8th-mile red clay oval
continues on Saturday, June 10, with a full five-division program presented by
Xtreme Sign & Graphix of Ashland. Hot laps will begin at 6:15 pm, and the
first green flag will drop at 7.
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, or log on to the track’s website, .
“Racenight Live” will air Saturday on WJJH, 96.7 & 102.3 FM, with
up-to-date track news and weather information.
Results
WISSOTA Modifieds
Heat 1: Dean Yrjanainen, Lake Nebagamon; Shawn Kreyer, Hayward; Jerry
Hartman, Marenisco, MI.
Heat 2: Jeff Spacek, Phillips Bill Byholm, Glidden; Rick Rivord,
Superior.
Feature: Spacek; Hartman; Yrjanainen; Kreyer; Al Uotinen, Superior;
Rivord; Scott Hudack, Ashland; Kent Baxter, Dorchester; Byholm; Rick Przybyski,
Ashland.
WISSOTA Super Stocks
Heat 1: Scott Lawrence, Superior; Roy Pumala, Mason; Joe Olson,
Superior.
Heat 2: Ken Truscott, Greenland, MI; Ron Hmielewski, Washburn; Randy
Spacek, Phillips.
Heat 3: Brian Mikkonen, Iron River; Peter Jokinen, Mellen; Dave Flynn,
Superior.
Semi-Feature: Mike Duhr, Hazelhurst; Rob Erickson, Ashland; Trevor
Wilson, Superior.
Feature: Lawrence; Randy Silverness, Jr., Superior; Spacek; Joe Oliver,
Superior; Duhr; Jokinen; Olson; Mikkonen; Hmielewski; Flynn.
WISSOTA Street Stocks
Heat 1: Steve Anderson, Ironwood, MI; Roger Walker, Phillips; Dennis
Groom, Ashland.
Heat 2: Mike Truscott, Greenland, MI; Dean Yrjanainen, Lake Nebagamon;
Kevin Eder, Ashland.
Feature: Greg Kuklinski, Ironwood, MI; Walker; Butch Kummer, Medford;
Yrjanainen; Cory Casari, Hurley; Justin Paulsen, Hurley; Groom; Truscott; Rob
Weber, Washburn; Bill Muhlig, Ironwood, MI.
Six-Cylinders
Heat 1: Scott Ovaska, Marengo; Ken Tyykila, Iron River; Don Muzzy,
Ironwood, MI.
Heat 2: Pat Cook, Washburn; Chuck Hawkinson, Mellen; Shawn McFadden,
Jr., Ashland.
Feature (unofficial): Warren Beede, Iron River; Muzzy; Hawkinson, Steve
Stuart, Ashland; Cook; Ovaska; Greg Jaeger, Mellen; Ron Swanson, Ashland;
McFadden; Bob Holly, Mason.
Pure Stocks
Heat 1: Ricky Davis, Bruno, MN; Derek Milligan, Ashland; Tom Morinville,
Duluth, MN.
Heat 2: Nathan Dees, Ironwood, MI; Roland Gordon, Bayfield; Marty
Passuello, Ironwood, MI.
Feature: Dees; Glenn Dammer, Duluth, MN; Milligan; Morinville; Passuello;
Don Bush, Washburn; Mark Carlson, Duluth, MN; Gordon; George Galbeck,
Wakefield, MI; Chad Carlson, Superior.
POINT STANDINGS
WISSOTA Modifieds
# - Driver Total
1 84 - Dean Yrjanainen 162
2 98 - Al Uotinen 153
3 4 - Bill Byholm 152
4 95 - Rick Rivord 150
5 95x - Kent Baxter 144
6 00 - Scott Hudack 130
74 - Shawn Kreyer 130
8 22 - Jeff Spacek 128
9 P1 - Rick Przybylski 126
10 21 - Jerry Hartman 124
H64 - Kelly Checkalski 124
12 10 - John Frydrych 118
13 42 - Paul Niznik 117
14 37jr - Ross Lightner 114
15 99 - Steve Lavasseur 111
16 316 - Dan Sellung 108
17 64h - Dennis Checkalski 91
18 777 - Mike Sauvola 73
19 9 - Riley Matthews 69
20 40 - Shawn Lee 61
21 3D - Kevin Monteith 52
22 24 - Jeff Lien 50
23 18 - Mike Kirtland 49
24 37 - Bob Root 37
WISSOTA Super Stocks
# - Driver Total
1 22 - Randy Spacek 157
2 77 - Scott Lawrence 152
93x - Randy Silverness Jr 152
4 5x - Joe Oliver 140
5 1A - Peter Jokinen 139
6 11x - Brian Mikkonen 137
7 55 - Ron Hmielewski 136
8 4e - Paul Erikson 135
9 22 - Ken Truscott 129
10 80 - Greg Kuklinski 122
11 02 - Rob Erickson 121
12 33 - Don Koivisto 114
13 3x - Larry Haderly 112
14 2z - Bob D'Antonio 109
87 - Trevor Wilson 109
16 12s - Wayne Stricker 105
17 29x - Joe Olson 93
18 29F - Dave Flynn 90
19 50 - Charlie Anderson 80
20 4x - David Elliott 79
21 18 - Roy Pumala 72
22 7L - Bryan Lund 66
23 47 - John Copp 60
24 10m - Gordy Maki 58
25 27 - Jeff Lindsey 57
46 - Cy Hoaglan 57
27 70k - Rick Simpson 49
28 8m - Mike Duhr 47
29 25 - Art Hyde 46
30 66 - Todd Bonney 44
31 90 - Destin Lorimor 34
32 77 - Jim Willner 16
33 43 - Adam Long 14
7x - Jeremy Crabbs 14
81 - Doug Woodhull Jr 14
WISSOTA Street Stocks
# - Driver Total
1 80 - Greg Kuklinski 155
2 22 - Mike Truscott 153
3 90 - Steve Anderson 151
4 24 - Butch Kummer 150
5 5 - Roger Walker 148
6 89 - Dennis Groom 146
7 01 - Bill Muhlig 127
1 - Cory Casari 127
9 22 - Kevin Eder 125
10 05r - Rob Weber 124
11 56w - Joe Wolfe 119
12 1x - Justin Paulsen 118
13 76 - John Kallas 106
14 7 - Tim Baum 103
15 5p - Pete Paulus 85
16 26 - Jordan Kurtti 76
17 4 - Steve Kieber 71
18 7 - Dean Yrjanainen 51
19 00 - Rob Ganson 36
20 4a - Scott Andrews 35
ABC Six-Cylinders (unofficial)
# - Driver Total
1 72 - Scott Ovaska 157
2 22h - Chuck Hawkinson 154
3 51jr - Shawn McFadden Jr 150
4 4x - Steve Stuart 147
5 32 - Pat Cook 144
6 88 - Warren Beede 142
7 66 - Greg Jaeger 140
8 - Ron Swanson 140
9 81 - Adam Traaholt 123
10 5-1 - Ken Tyykila 122
11 21 - Nick Oreskovich 120
12 1x - Don Muzzy 119
13 30 - Mike McKay 117
53 - Bob Holly 117
15 24 - Andy Grymala 110
16 37x - Adam Jack 106
17 33 - Ken Tody Jr 101
18 18 - Steve Tesch 100
19 11 - Chris Lustig 98
ABC Pure Stocks
# - Driver Total
1 26 - Tom Morinville/Al Rapp 155
2 38 - Derek Milligan 154
3 17 - Nathan Dees 151
4 85 - Marty Passuello 149
5 35 - Don Bush 142
6 23d - George Dalbeck 141
7 79 - Ricky Davis 140
8 10 - Roland Gordon 131
9 21 - Chad Carlson 130
10 88 - Bob Hagstrom 123
11 40ish - Ann Erickson/Tammy Bretting 121
12 15 - Brittany Kalmon 120
13 106 - John Taitt 100
14 5z - Zene Anderson 82
15 38d - Glenn Dammer 52
16 3 - Mark Carlson 46
17 15c - Steve Christman 34
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