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Bonney, Eder Earn First WISSOTA Wins At ABC
Bunkelman edges Byholm in mod thriller
by Nick Gima
Ashland, WI, June 24 -- Bayfield’s Todd Bonney led every lap of the super
stock feature Saturday night to win his first career WISSOTA main event
Saturday at the ABC Raceway. NAPA Auto Parts presented the night’s program,
which drew a season-high 108 entries.
Ashland’s Kevin Eder matched Bonney’s effort in the WISSOTA street stock
A-main to collect his first nationally-sanctioned feature win, while Robby
Bunkelman of Abbotsford shook off the effects of a slow start to his 2006
campaign with a photo-finish victory in the WISSOTA modified feature.
Prentice’s Steve Tesch and Ricky Davis of Bruno, MN, each took their third
feature wins of ‘06, while Brian Mikkonen of Iron River and Greg Jaeger of
Mellen earned their first victories of the season in the two make-up features
that kicked off the program.
Bonney started on the pole of the 20-lap super main and, after the race’s
lone caution on lap 2, drew away from a fierce side-by-side battle between a
rim-riding Destin Lorimor and the bottom-hugging Charlie Anderson. At mid-race
Ron Hmielewski snuck under Mikkonen for fourth, but he couldn’t catch the
lead trio, even as slower traffic came into play. Bonney effortlessly slipped
through the lapped cars and cruised to his second career ABC win, with the
other coming in a six-cylinder in 2002.
Lorimor won the dogfight with Anderson for second, as the top three all
enjoyed season-best runs. Points leader Scott Lawrence slipped through for a
top five run behind Hmielewski.
In the make-up super stock feature postponed from the previous Saturday,
Lorimor again challenged for the lead early, taking on early pacesetter Trevor
Wilson. But by lap 4 Mikkonen displaced Lorimor for second, and two laps later
the former three-time track champ took an uncharacteristic high line around
Wilson for the lead, then pulled away to his 19th career win here.
Paul Erikson took advantage of two second-half restarts to stay close to
Mikkonen but settled for second, while Ken Truscott climbed through to a
third-place finish. Hmielewski tallied the first of his two fourth-place runs
on the night, and Lorimor held on to fifth.
Eder’s win was more of a workout than Bonney’s, as he started inside on
the second row and chased polesitter Justin Paulsen through a couple of
early-race caution slowdowns before making the winning pass on lap 3. Then
Steve Anderson made a three-wide pass to take second and harassed Eder for
several circuits.
Eder’s final test came in the final five laps of the race, when veteran and
points leader Greg Kuklinski took second from Anderson and closed in on the
leader, but Eder maintained his composure for his fourth career ABC win, the
other three coming last season in pure stock action. Anderson held off first-nighter
Wayne Dean, who started 19th on the 20-car grid, for third-place money, while
another rookie, Mike Truscott, completed the top five.
The mod feature came down to several shootouts over the closing laps between
Bunkelman, Bill Byholm and Scott Hudack, and ended in nail-biter fashion.
Bunkelman started the 20-lapper on the pole alongside Hudack and grabbed the
initial lead, as Hudack bobbled and was shuffled back momentarily. But after
the lone yellow flag of the race on lap 2 Hudack caught a second wind and used
his favored extreme outside line to sweep around several cars and retake
second from the sixth-starting Byholm on lap 8.
Over the middle stages of the event Hudack closed on Bunkelman, who had built
a significant lead, while the leaders also closed on slower traffic. It was
while contending with the tailenders that Hudack took his best shot at the
lead, pulling alongside Bunkelman on lap 12, but when Hudack had to check up
for Dan Sellung’s slower car, Byholm slipped by on the inside and took over
the challenger’s role.
Byholm moved up a groove and worked his way alongside Bunkelman’s right-rear
fender, and coming out of the final turn he looked to have the momentum to
sweep by, but Bunkelman’s car dug well out of the final turn and beat
Byholm’s to the checkers by less than three feet. Hudack saw the finish well
from his very close third-place run, while points leader Dean Yrjanainen and
Paul Knauf filled out the top five with their own neck-and-neck finish amongst
the lapped cars.
The feature wins here for Tesch and Davis have come on the same nights all
season long - the May 20 opener, June 10 and this past Saturday. Tesch slipped
past outside-front-row starter Adam Jack on lap 2 and, after back-to-back
caution flags on lap 3, drew away for a solid six-cylinder feature win. Pat
Cook made his way to second early and kept pace with Tesch but had nothing to
overtake the winner, while Steve Stuart worked his way to third in the final
five laps.
Ken Tyykila enjoyed a season-best fourth-place effort, while Jaeger rounded
out a good night with a fifth-place run.
Jaeger’s night started with a pass of Tesch on lap 6 of the postponed
six-cylinder feature at the top of the program and cruised to his fifth ABC
win, all in the sixes. The event was slowed only once - before the first lap
was completed - and after the winning pass Jaeger pulled away, while Shawn
McFadden, Jr., survived a late-race battle with Cook for third at the
checkers. Stuart ran most of the event in the top five and claimed fifth.
Davis’ win in the pure stock feature was also hard-earned, as he first had
to work past a stubborn George Dalbeck for second, then made a race-winning
move on Chad Carlson after a lap 3 restart. Tom Morinville moved by Dalbeck
late in the race for third, then gained another spot in the rundown at the
scales after the race, when Carlson’s car weighed in light. The second-place
run, combined with rookie Derek Milligan’s tough ride to a ninth-place
finish, moved Morinville back into a tie for the division’s points lead with
Milligan.
Action at the 3/8th-mile red clay oval continues on Saturday, July 1, with a
visit by the Northern Vintage Race Car Club of Minnesota, which will compete
in exhibition events along with the track’s five regular divisions. Hot laps
will begin at 6:15 pm and the first green flag of the night 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: Jeff Spacek, Phillips; Jerry Hartman, Marenisco, MI; Bill Byholm,
Glidden.
Heat 2: Paul Knauf, Marshfield; Kent Baxter, Dorchester; Dean Yrjanainen, Lake
Nebagamon.
Heat 3: Al Uotinen, Superior; Robby Bunkelman, Abbotsford; Scott Hudack,
Ashland.
Feature: Bunkelman; Byholm; Hudack; Yrjanainen; Knauf; Baxter; Spacek;
Hartman; Uotinen; Paul Niznik, Medford.
WISSOTA Super Stocks
Heat 1: Greg Kuklinski, Ironwood, MI; Charlie Anderson, Ironwood, MI; Scott
Lawrence, Superior.
Heat 2: Brian Mikkonen, Iron River; Peter Jokinen, Mellen; Darin Meierotto,
Ashland.
Heat 3: Destin Lorimor, Maple; Randy Silverness, Jr., Superior; Dave Flynn,
Superior.
Feature: Todd Bonney, Bayfield; Lorimor; Anderson Ron Hmielewski, Washburn;
Lawrence; Jokinen; Ken Truscott, Greenland, MI; Mikkonen; Meierotto; Joe
Olson, Superior.
Make-Up Feature: Mikkonen; Paul Erikson, Abbotsford; Truscott; Hmielewski;
Jokinen; Trevor Wilson, Superior; Lawrence; Joe Oliver, Superior; Lorimor;
Olson.
WISSOTA Street Stocks
Heat 1: Steve Anderson, Ironwood, MI; Roger Walker, Phillips; Butch Kummer,
Medford.
Heat 2: Tim Baum, Superior; Pete Paulus, Phillips; Cory Casari, Hurley.
Feature: Kevin Eder, Ashland; Greg Kuklinski; Ironwood, MI; Anderson; Wayne
Dean, Fall Creek; Mike Truscott, Greenland, MI; Kummer; Steve Kieber,
Ironwood, MI; John Kallas, Hurley; Paulus; Rob Weber, Washburn.
Six-Cylinders
Heat 1: Scott Ovaska, Marengo; Nick Oreskovich, Mason; Ryan Adamzak, Ashland.
Heat 2: Greg Jaeger, Mellen; Shawn McFadden, Jr., Ashland; Adam Jack,
Washburn.
Heat 3: Pat Cook, Washburn; Steve Tesch, Prentice; Steve Stuart, Ashland.
Feature: Tesch; Cook; Stuart; Ken Tyykila, Iron River; Jaeger; Jack; McFadden;
Chuck Hawkinson, Mellen; Ovaska; Kevin Eder, Ashland.
Make-Up Feature: Jaeger; Tesch; McFadden; Cook; Stuart; Hawkinson; Ovaska;
Eder; Tyykila; Oreskovich.
Pure Stocks
Heat 1: Marty Passuello, Ironwood, MI; Derek Milligan, Ashland; Chad Carlson,
Superior.
Heat 2: Tom Morinville, Duluth, MN; George Dalbeck, Wakefield, MI; Nathan
Dees, Ironwood, MI.
Feature: Ricky Davis, Bruno, MN; Morinville; Dalbeck; Jim Laessig, Wakefield,
MI; Roland Gordon, Bayfield; John Taitt, Ashland; Bob Hagstrom, Ashland;
Milligan; Passuello; Zene Anderson, Superior.
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