|
Champions Crowned During ABC Raceway Awards Banquet
by Nick Gima
Ashland, WI, January 20 -- Al Uotinen and Scott Lawrence each received
ABC Raceway championship trophies for the third consecutive year, while three
other drivers were handed their first-ever first-place hardware before a crowd
of over 400 at the Bad River Lodge Convention Center Saturday night.
The festivities, which included a buffet-style dinner and live music, closed
the book on the 2006 racing season for the 3/8th-mile red clay oval in
northern Wisconsin, one which saw nearly 400 racers compete at the track and
played host to several first-time events.
Uotinen, of Superior, accepted his trophy after earning his fourth overall
title at Ashland in the WISSOTA modified division. While he only tallied one
feature victory last summer, he did finish in the top ten in 17 of the 18 mod
features run at the track in ‘06, and his seven heat wins on the year was
tied for tops in the division.
Uotinen noted in his acceptance speech that despite having raced for 27
seasons it was still difficult to believe that a third consecutive
championship in the very competitive division was possible. He then presented
his championship jacket to his daughter, calling her “my biggest fan.”
The other finishers in the top ten in points at ABC in 2006 were also awarded
trophies. In the mods those drivers included Bill Byholm, Scott Hudack, Rick
Rivord, Dean Yrjanainen, Jeff Spacek, Shawn Kreyer, Rick Przybylski, Ross
Lightner and Paul Niznik.
All drivers finishing in the top 15 in final points received checks from the
track’s own points fund, which exceeded $10,000. In the mods drivers
finishing 11th-15th included Kent Baxter, John Frydrych, Kelly Checkalski,
Jerry Hartman and Dan Sellung.
Lawrence, also of Superior, won a third straight title at Ashland for the
second time in his career, the other coming during his dominant street stock
years of 1997-’99. Lawrence led all ABC competitors with 11 WISSOTA super
stock heat wins, including a run of one per night through the final nine race
nights of the season, and his five feature wins put him in a tie for top
overall honors at the track.
Lawrence was quick to complement the track preparation crew at Ashland for
their efforts throughout 2006, calling the track the best he’d raced on week
after week.
Also finishing in the top ten in supers were Ron Hmielewski, Brian Mikkonen,
Randy Silverness, Jr., Joe Oliver, Larry Haderly, Randy Spacek, Greg Kuklinski,
Charlie Anderson and Trevor Wilson.
In the supers points fund checks were also presented to Bob D’Antonio, Ken
Truscott, Paul Erikson, David Elliot and Don Koivisto.
First-time champion Roger Walker of Phillips earned the WISSOTA street stock
title after surviving one of the two dramatic finishes to the 2006 season at
ABC. Walker won on the final night of the season by holding off a determined
Steve Anderson on the last turn of their feature, thus placing his final
points margin at four - the slimmest of the five winning differences.
Walker tallied a division-best seven top-five finishes in his fourth season of
full-time competition at Ashland. His final-night feature win was one of three
he earned on the season, to go with five heat victories.
Anderson, Butch Kummer, Cory Casari, Kevin Eder, Kuklinski, Mike Truscott,
Dennis Groom, Rob Weber and Justin Paulsen were also recognized for their
top-ten efforts in the streeters.
Street stock points fund checks were also awarded to John Kallas, Bill Muhlig,
Joe Wolfe, Tim Baum and Kevin Bogdanovic.
Steve Stuart of Ashland broke his string of three straight fourth-place
finishes with his first-ever ABC Raceway six-cylinder championship in 2006,
and he, too, did so in dramatic fashion. Like Walker, Stuart’s title was
decided in the final feature of the season, where he overcame Scott Ovaska’s
one-point advantage going into the event.
Stuart posted a division-best ten top-five feature finishes to go along with
his lone feature win and four heat victories. He has now finished in the top
five in six-cylinder points in each of his five seasons of racing here.
Completing the top ten in six-cylinder points were Ovaska, Chuck Hawkinson,
Greg Jaeger, Pat Cook, Steve Tesch, Shawn McFadden, Jr., Warren Beede, Ken
Tyykila and Nick Oreskovich.
In the sixes Andy Grymala, Chris Lustig, Mike McKay, Don Muzzy and Adam
Traaholt were presented their share of the points fund.
Ricky Davis, of Bruno, MN, finalized his first career championship at Ashland
in the pure stock class on August 26, then followed that up with his second
one one night later in Proctor, MN. Davis collected the first three ABC
Raceway feature wins of his career in 2006, along with four heat wins. He has
raced in each season that ABC has hosted the division, dating back to the 2002
season, and he posted his fourth straight top-ten points finish.
Davis stressed the importance of the support he has received from his parents
as the basis for his success last year.
Behind Davis in the pure stock top ten were Tom Morinville, George Dalbeck,
Nathan Dees, Marty Passuello, the team of Ann Erickson, Tammie Bretting and
Paul Milanowski, Chad Carlson, Brittany Kalmon, the team of Bob Hagstrom and
Matt Pelto, and Derek Milligan.
Zene Anderson, Roland Gordon, Jim Laessig, Tim Carbon and Steve Christman were
awarded pure stock points fund monies.
The top rookie drivers in each class were also recognized during the
proceedings. Steve Lavasseur (modifieds), Haderly (supers), Eder (street
stocks), Bob Holly (sixes) and Dalbeck (pure stocks) were awarded trophies for
their efforts.
The track named former six-cylinder champ and fifth-year super stock driver
Ron Hmielewski as its Most Improved Driver for 2006. Hmielewski, of Ashland,
climbed from an 11th-place points finish in 2005 to second in ‘06 on the
strength of a strong latter-half effort on the season.
Pat Cook was awarded the Raceway’s Sportsman of the Year trophy. The
sixth-year six-cylinder pilot from Washburn consistently displayed a level of
character and enthusiasm greatly appreciated by his fellow drivers and the
track’s officials and fans throughout the season.
Track president Kurt Beeksma presented the third annual President’s Award to
Bob Korpela of Ashland. Korpela has worked at the track performing various
track preparation and maintenance duties for over 30 years, and his efforts to
train new people to perform those duties during this past summer led to what
most competitors and fans believe to have been the best racing conditions on a
consistent basis in the Upper Midwest.
The 2007 ABC Raceway stock car racing season will begin in mid-May, with
WISSOTA-sanctioned modifieds, super stocks and street stocks joined by the
track’s own six-cylinders and pure stocks in a five-division show. The ABC
Raceway is located 3-1/2 miles south of Ashland on State Highway 13 and one
mile west on Butterworth Road.
|
|
|
