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Bunkelman Doubles Up In ABC Mods
Morinville Wins First-Ever in Pure Stocks
by Nick Gima
Ashland, WI, July 1 -- Robby Bunkelman of Abbotsford has found his groove -
and at just the right time.
Bunkelman took the lead from Rick Rivord with four laps of 20 to go after
several thrilling side-by-side circuits Saturday night at the ABC Raceway for
his second consecutive WISSOTA modified feature win, and he looks to be one of
the drivers to beat as the mods prepare for the Como Oil Series stop at the
3/8th-mile red clay oval on Monday night, July 3.
Bunkelman was the last of several drivers who looked to have the race won at
various times during the event. Canadian rookie Riley Matthews exploded out to
an early advantage but slipped up the track in turn 4 on the initial lap,
opening the door for Ross Lightner. The former track six-cylinder champ then
held off a strong Jeff Spacek for as long as he could, but on lap 5 the
veteran used an inside move to take over.
Spacek’s lead only lasted a couple of laps before a flat right-rear tire
forced him into the infield, handing the lead over to Rivord. Then Bunkelman
took advantage of the race’s lone caution - for a lap 12 John Frydrych spin
- to close the gap between himself and the leader, use the high line to work
around Rivord after several tense laps, and pull away late for the win.
Twelfth-starting Jerry Hartman put on a show by flying around the perimeter of
the track to edge Bill Byholm for third, and points leader Dean Yrjanainen
started mid-pack on the 20-car grid and finished fifth.
Tom Morinville’s first-ever pure stock feature win at Ashland came at the
misfortune of Nathan Dees. The Duluth, MN, driver took back the division’s
points lead after his heat win, then started the feature eighth as Dees took
the lead from polesitter Chad Carlson on lap 5 of 12. Dees was in command
while Morinville was caught up in a wild five-car scramble for second, but a
lap 9 stoppage for a three-car incident put Morinville on Dees’ bumper for
the restart.
After taking the white flag, Dees skated up the track coming out of turn 2,
slapped the outer guardrail, and leaned the car up on two wheels before it
slammed to the ground. Morinville led the field low to avoid Dees’ damaged
car, then held off a determined Ricky Davis over the final half-lap for the
win.
Glenn Dammer came from the fifth row to finish third, Marty Passuello made the
save of the night - his car was turned completely sideways in the final corner
before he righted it - to claim fourth, and Carlson ended up a respectable
fifth.
Superior’s Joe Oliver outran a strong Rick Simpson for his second WISSOTA
super stock feature win of 2006 here. After a wild melee that saw two cars
nearly flip over on the opening lap, Oliver got around rookie Roy Pumala and
then challenged polesitter Simpson on the high side in the early stages of the
20-lap A-main. On lap 4 Oliver used the momentum from the upper groove to
sweep by the Canadian pilot under the flagstand, but that same momentum took
Oliver up the track in the very next corner and nearly put him in the
backstraight guardrail, giving the lead back to Simpson.
Oliver caught and repassed Simpson again, just before a caution flag flew for
Peter Jokinen’s motor explosion and oil fire on lap 6. The two leaders
continued to battle and stayed just ahead of Larry Haderly, who had his hands
full fending off Brian Mikkonen. It wasn’t until the final three laps that
Oliver had finally built a small advantage over Simpson, who held on for
second ahead of a charging Mikkonen and Haderly. Randy Silverness, Jr., made
up for a disappointing night last Saturday with a top-five run.
Roger Walker came through with his first win of the season in dominant fashion
in the WISSOTA street stock 15-lapper. Walker, of Phillips, used a three-wide
move to take second from Dennis Groom and Cory Casari a lap into the run, then
chased down leader John Kallas and took the lead with a similar move on lap 5.
Despite restarts on lap 7 and 10 for minor incidents, Walker held off Kallas
and eventually pulled away for his fourth career win here. Casari edged Butch
Kummer in a photo-finish for second, and Steve Anderson came through late to
nip Kallas at the stripe as well. Kummer also moved into the points lead with
his run, as former leader Greg Kuklinski registered a did-not-start for the
street feature.
Mellen’s Chuck Hawkinson endured a grinding, grueling six-cylinder main
event but came through on the final lap for his second win of the season.
After the first four laps ran off quickly, with Adam Jack running strong out
front, Nick Oreskovich and Chris Lustig got together to bring out the caution
flag. It took the field five more attempts to restart the event, and during
two of those Hawkinson was spun around and caught up on the turn 2 infield
marker tires.
When lap 5 was finally completed tenth-starting Steve Stuart had swept around
Warren Beede into second. A lap later Stuart took the lead from Jack, but
after the final yellow flag of the race flew for Don Muzzy’s stalled ride on
lap 7, Hawkinson began his charge. He raced inside on Beede for second and
chipped away at Stuart’s huge lead until he had pulled alongside the
frontrunner with two to go. Hawkinson then worked inside to draw by Stuart
under the white flag and led the final circuit for the win.
Steve Tesch started directly behind Stuart in twelfth and followed him to a
third-place finish, ahead of Pat Cook and Beede.
Members of the Northern Vintage Race Cars club competed at the track Saturday,
and in their two feature events Dave Lepper drove his 1961 Chevrolet Impala to
the win in the full-bodied-car run, while Dennnis Olson topped the field in
the vintage super-modified ten-lapper.
A season-high 121 entries competed Saturday night, including 14 of the
Minnesota club’s classic and restored race cars.
Action at the 3/8th-mile red clay oval continues on Monday, July 3, with the
second stop on the Como Oil & Propane Modified Series tour, joined by the
first-ever FastLane Motorsports Super Stock Special. Over 50 mods are expected
to compete for the $1,000 first-place check, while nearly 40 supers will try
to make that division’s $750-to-win feature. A huge fireworks display will
follow the race program.
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 from 4:30-6 pm 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; Al Uotinen, Superior; Rick
Rivord, Superior.
Heat 2: Jeff Spacek, Phillips; Bill Byholm, Glidden; Shawn Kreyer,
Hayward.
Feature: Robby Bunkelman, Abbotsford; Rivord; Jerry Hartman, Marenisco,
MI; Byholm; Yrjanainen; Uotinen; Kreyer; Riley Matthews, Murillo, ON; Ross
Lightner, Washburn; Rick Przybylski, Ashland.
WISSOTA Super Stocks
Heat 1: Todd Bonney, Bayfield; Greg Kuklinski, Ironwood, MI; Rick
Simpson, Thunder Bay, ON.
Heat 2: Scott Lawrence, Superior; Larry Haderly, Marengo; Randy
Silverness, Jr., Superior.
Heat 3: Joe Oliver, Superior; Roy Pumala, Mason; Bob D’Antonio,
Ironwood, MI.
Semi-Feature: Ron Hmielewski, Washburn; Terry Kroening, Colby; Dave
Elliott, Minocqua.
Feature: Oliver; Simpson; Brian Mikkonen, Iron River; Haderly;
Silverness; Pumala; Randy Spacek, Phillips; D’Antonio; Ken Truscott,
Greenland, MI; Lawrence.
WISSOTA Street Stocks
Heat 1: Dennis Groom, Ashland; Greg Kuklinski, Ironwood, MI; Pete Paulus,
Phillips.
Heat 2: Mike Truscott, Greenland, MI; Butch Kummer, Medford; Roger
Walker, Phillips.
Feature: Walker; Cory Casari, Hurley; Kummer; Steve Anderson, Ironwood,
MI; John Kallas, Hurley; Groom; Paulus; Truscott; Kevin Eder, Ashland; Justin
Paulsen, Ironwood, MI.
Six-Cylinders
Heat 1: Shawn McFadden, Jr., Ashland; Steve Stuart, Ashland; Chuck
Hawkinson, Mellen.
Heat 2: Scott Ovaska, Marengo; Warren Beede, Iron River; Pat Cook,
Washburn.
Heat 3: Greg Jaeger, Mellen; Steve Tesch, Prentice; Adam Jack, Washburn.
Feature: Hawkinson; Stuart; Tesch; Cook; Beede; Ovaska; Jack; Bob Holly,
Marengo; Ken Tyykila, Iron River; Kevin Eder, Ashland.
Pure Stocks
Heat 1: Tom Morinville, Duluth, MN; Dustin Follett, Duluth, MN; Marty
Passuello, Ironwood, MI.
Heat 2: Ricky Davis, Bruno, MN; Tim Carbon, Highbridge; Chad Carlson,
Superior.
Heat 3: Nathan Dees, Ironwood, MI; Glenn Dammer, Duluth, MN; Al Rapp,
Duluth, MN.
Feature: Morinville; Davis; Dammer; Passuello; Carlson; Rapp; Steve
Christman, Superior; George Dalbeck, Wakefield, MI; Don Bush, Washburn;
Follett.
Northern Vintage Race Cars
Full-Body Heat: Dave Lepper, Grand Rapids, MN; Mike Nogel, Red Wing, MN;
Marv Lindquist, Minong.
Modified Heat: Gary Whipple, Crosby, MN; Dennis Olson, Braham, MN; Rick
Birkland, St Cloud, MN.
Full-Body Feature: Lepper; Nogel; Dan Herold, Nelson.
Modified Feature: Olson; Greg Manor, Chippewa Falls; Kevin Lipski, New
Richmond.
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