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Nosser Takes First ABC Mid-Mod Checkers; Lawrence Wraps Up Third Super Crown
by Nick Gima
Ashland, WI, August 19 -- Mickey Nosser has raced off and on at the ABC
Raceway for several years in a variety of classes, but it took an impressive
flag-to-flag run in a WISSOTA Midwest modified to give him his first feature
win here.
The Mid-mods were in action for the first time ever at the Ashland oval as
part of a six-division program presented by Heartland Communications on
Saturday night. A season-high 135 cars were registered for racing action, and
by the end of the 23-race show Scott Lawrence laid claim to his third straight
WISSOTA super stock championship and sixth ABC title overall.
Twenty-five of the 26 Mid-mods came out for the 15-lap, $400-to-win feature,
which was marred by a six-car melee right off the bat that saw Mark Gerth get
airborne but not roll over. From there Nosser took command and maintained his
lead through four more restarts, including one on lap 2 when fifth-place Wayne
Engen checked up to avoid hard contact with Nick Lavato but most of the
remainder of the field did not, damaging several more cars.
Nosser built sizable leads during the few short green-flag runs there were,
while both Lavato and Engen eventually worked past Tom Smart and into the top
three. Engen took second when Lavato had a tire go flat over the final laps,
but he could not catch the Phillips veteran. Lavato held on for third ahead of
Mark Kangas and Gerth.
“This is one (race) we’ve had marked down to win for weeks,” Nosser said
excitedly in victory lane afterwards. “We’ve been coming here for years,
and this track has always been a great place to race. Now we’re in the
record books (at Ashland).”
After winning his eighth consecutive heat race earlier in the evening,
Lawrence needed only to finish 20th or better in the 26-car super stock finale
to claim his third straight division crown here. But Lawrence, who started
ninth on the grid, attempted to stake a claim on a fourth straight feature win
instead. After two first-lap restarts he was scored in the top five by lap 7,
and he took advantage of a lap 8 restart to clear a stout Charlie Anderson for
fourth, then followed Joe Oliver past Art Hyde into third.
That was as far forward as Lawrence would get as the final 12 laps ran off
non-stop, but it was more than enough to lock down the title with one more
race night remaining.
The other big story of the race was Darin Meierotto, who drove to his first
feature win in Ashland in over two seasons. Meierotto was the class of the
field, blowing past Hyde on the latter of the two lap 1 restarts and pulling
away to a nearly straightaway lead before the lap 8 caution. Then Meierotto
got another strong run off that restart and was untouchable from there.
Oliver held on for runner-up honors, ahead of Lawrence, Hyde and Anderson.
Points leader Al Uotinen finally picked up his first WISSOTA modified feature
win of the season, but it came after Dean Yrjanainen suffered from some
unwanted bad luck. Yrjanainen benefited from a pole-position restart after a
lap 1 tangle between front-row starters Mark Baxter and Kelly Checkalski sent
both cars to the pit, and he took advantage by beating Nick Nelson out of the
first turn and quickly pulling out to a huge lead.
But on lap 11 Yrjanainen’s car sputtered as it flew under the flagstand, and
a lap later he had dropped out of the race, a victim of electrical gremlins.
This handed the lead to Robby Bunkelman, while the field, dodging to avoid the
slowing Yrjanainen, shuffled positions, moving Uotinen into a battle with
Nelson for second.
The final six circuits of the 20-lapper were caution-plagued, but on lap 16
Uotinen found some bite down low coming out of turn 2 to slip past Bunkelman
for the lead. Bunkelman tried a comeback on the high side with two laps left,
but a Ross Lightner spin set up a green-white-checkered finish, and Uotinen
held on. Nelson edged by Bunkelman for a ABC career-best second-place run,
while Rick Rivord won a hard-fought battle for fourth over Bill Byholm.
The win gives Uotinen an 18-point advantage over Byholm with one week of
points-paying action remaining.
Steve Anderson made an already-tight WISSOTA street stock points chase even
more so with his first feature win since opening night, closing the gap behind
Roger Walker to just two points with one night left. In the streeter A-main
Butch Kummer headed a tight-knit lead pack through the first three circuits
before Anderson snuck through to the point with an inside move. With no
caution flags to slow the event Anderson held off a determined Mike Truscott
the remaining 12 laps for the all-important win.
Walker, who started mid-pack, passed three cars over a three-lap stretch
during the race’s middle stages to move into third, but the lead pair were
too far ahead to catch. Kummer settled for fourth ahead of Justin Paulsen.
The six-cylinder feature field ran its 15 laps non-stop after a three-car
tangle on the initial green flag, and Pat Cook was dominant in picking up the
win. Cook slipped inside on polesitter Don Muzzy after the restart and ran
away with the event, while Greg Jaeger fought first with Warren Beede and then
Chuck Hawkinson before nailing down second-place money. Hawkinson finished a
close third, while Beede and Steve Tesch completed the top five.
Steve Stuart posted a heat win and a sixth-place run in the feature to draw to
within four points of division leader Scott Ovaska, who ran third in the same
heat and took seventh in the main.
Nathan Dees took over the top spot on the final lap and claimed his third pure
stock feature win of 2006. Chad Carlson led Bruce Kalmon and Tammie Bretting
away from the balance of the field at the start of the 12-lapper, but after a
restart Bretting got loose and turned around in front of the majority of the
field, creating a four-car pile-up on the front-stretch and a lengthy
yellow-flag delay.
After the race was halted again for Jesse Young’s spin a lap later, Dees
began a strong charge to the front, working past Jim Eliason with an outside
move on lap 10 and then sneaking inside by Kalmon as the white flag waived.
Dees pulled alongside Carlson and outbraked him going into turn 3 on the final
lap, then beat Carlson out of the corner for the win.
Kalmon held on for third, ahead of Marty Passuello and Eliason.
Ricky Davis strengthened his position for his first-ever track title by
finishing seventh and building his points lead to 36 over Tom Morinville, who
finished 13th.
ABC regular mod driver Jerry Hartman watched the program from the pit area for
the first time since his work-related injury three weeks back, and his wife
Sherry shared some heartfelt words with the fans on hand, expressing their
appreciation for the donated gift of money collected from the fans during a
recent race event here.
Regular-season action at the 3/8th-mile red clay oval concludes on Saturday,
August 26, with Pepsi Fan Appreciation Night, presented by Northstar Beverages
of Hurley. The 2006 points champions will be named, there will be lots of
prizes given away to the fans, and at the conclusion of the race program there
will be live music at the track. Hot laps 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” will air Saturday on WJJH, 96.7 & 102.3 FM, from 4:30-6 pm
with up-to-date track news and weather information.
Results
WISSOTA Modifieds
Heat 1: Kelly Checkalski, Duluth, MN; Jeff Spacek, Phillips; Mark
Baxter, Dorchester.
Heat 2: Bill Byholm, Glidden; Nick Nelson, Duluth, MN; Paul Niznik,
Medford.
Heat 3: Robby Bunkelman, Abbotsford; Dean Yrjanainen, Lake Nebagamon; Al
Uotinen, Superior.
Feature: Uotinen; Nelson; Bunkelman; Rick Rivord, Superior; Byholm;
Scott Hudack, Ashland; Spacek; Kent Baxter, Dorchester; Rick Przybylski,
Ashland; Niznik.
WISSOTA Super Stocks
Heat 1: Scott Lawrence, Superior; Wayne Stricker, Highbridge; Brian
Mikkonen, Iron River.
Heat 2: Art Hyde, Washburn; Joe Oliver, Superior; Randy Spacek,
Phillips.
Heat 3: Larry Haderly, Marengo; Darin Meierotto, Ashland; Charlie
Anderson, Ironwood, MI.
Feature: Meierotto; Oliver; Lawrence; Hyde; Anderson; Ron Hmielewski,
Washburn; Mikkonen; Spacek; Stricker; Haderly.
WISSOTA Street Stocks
Heat 1: Roger Walker, Phillips; Marshall Andrews, Duluth, MN; Butch
Kummer, Medford.
Heat 2: Cory Casari, Hurley; Steve Anderson, Ironwood, MI; Justin
Paulsen, Ironwood, MI.
Feature: Anderson; Mike Truscott, Greenland, MI; Walker; Kummer;
Paulsen; Casari; Andrews; Dennis Groom, Ashland; Kevin Bogdanovic, Wausau;
John Kallas, Hurley.
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
Heat 1: DJ Severin, Superior; Jim Poyda, Medford; Nick Lavato, Proctor,
MN.
Heat 2: Wayne Engen, Shell Lake; Brock McCarthy, Duluth, MN; Barry
Smith, Solon Springs.
Heat 3: Mark Kangas, Eveleth, MN; Mickey Nosser, Phillips; Tom Smart,
Kakabecka Falls, Ont.
Feature: Nosser; Engen; Lavato; Kangas; Mark Gerth, Menomonie; Smart;
McCarthy; Jimmy Latvala, Solon Springs; Poyda; Jeremy Hall, Hermantown, MN.
Six-Cylinders
Heat 1: Warren Beede, Iron River; Pat Cook, Washburn; Steve Tesch,
Prentice.
Heat 2: Greg Jaeger, Mellen; Chuck Hawkinson, Mellen; Don Muzzy,
Ironwood, MI.
Heat 3: Steve Stuart, Ashland; Ken Tyykila, Iron River; Scott Ovaska,
Marengo.
Feature: Cook; Jaeger; Hawkinson; Beede; Tesch; Stuart; Ovaska; Tyykila;
Ryan Adamczak; Ashland; Chris Lustig, Ashland.
Pure Stocks
Heat 1: Jim Eliason, Ashland; Ricky Davis, Bruno, MN; Al Rapp, Duluth,
MN.
Heat 2: Nathan Dees, Ironwood, MI; Marty Passuello, Ironwood, MI; Zene
Anderson, Superior.
Heat 3: Bruce Kalmon, Ashland; Tammie Bretting, Washburn; Chad Carlson,
Superior.
Feature: Dees; Carlson; Kalmon; Passuello; Eliason; Steve Christman,
Superior; Davis; George Dalbeck, Wakefield, MI; Anderson; Myron Basina,
Washburn.
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