Adamzak Scores ‘Summer Sizzler’ Win at ABC

Stuart, Truscott, Dammer repeat; Lawrence gets 1st win of ‘14
by Nick Gima
Ashland, WI, July 5 — Neil Adamzak of Ashland dragged out his racer for the first time this season and it paid off, as he won the eighth annual Six-Cylinder “Summer Sizzler” at the ABC Raceway on Saturday night.
A season-high 89 cars registered for AmsOil Dirt Track Series racing action on a warm, windy summer evening, with storm clouds moving around the area but again avoiding the northern Wisconsin red-clay oval.

Other parts of a very busy program included the AmsOil Race of Champions qualifying features for the three WISSOTA-sanctioned divisions and a 50-bike giveaway that drew a huge number of young fans to the track.
Adamzak – who had not run at all this year but has been a regular for each of his previous seven seasons – started the 15-lap feature from the outside of row 2 and quickly worked his way around pole starter Forrest Schultz into second behind division points leader Tyler Hudack. Adamzak pulled alongside Hudack to edge ahead into the lead on lap 3, while Tyler’s sister Tiffany Hudack took third away from Schultz two circuits later.
A get-together between Colten Vernon and Adam Traaholt on lap 6 sparked a long series of caution flag-interrupted laps over the remainder of the race, causing the lead pack to remain tightly grouped. On each of the next few restarts Tiffany Hudack threatened to nose ahead of Tyler for second, but each time a spin or wreck spoiled her efforts. And on each restart Tyler got an inside run on Adamzak for the lead, but Adamzak used the high line to maintain his momentum and hold a tenuous lead.
A total of five restarts over the course of six scored laps slowed the overall pace, but Adamzak overcame every challenge. Before the final yellow flag was thrown – on lap 11, for Jeremy Lindquist’s spin – Tiffany Hudack was scored in second, and Coddington was a nose ahead of Tyler Hudack for third at the scoring stripe. Tiffany opted to restart on the inside of row 2, putting Coddington to the outside of that row and Tyler behind his sister for the restart. Coddington made a run but couldn’t complete a pass of Tiffany for second, as Adamzak held on for the $650 win – his second in the special event for this division – by eight one-hundredths of a second.
Behind Tiffany Hudack and Coddington were Tyler Hudack and first-nighter Peter Jokinen. Johnson Flower Shop of Ashland presented a floral arrangement to the winner in Victory Lane.
In the first of the three AmsOil Race of Champions qualifying features, Mike Truscott of Chippewa Falls continued his winning ways with his second WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature win in as many nights, his fourth in five weeks in Ashland, and his 14th overall on the season.
Truscott, who started inside on row 5, was caught up in two different incidents, as this 15-lap A-main was also disrupted by several caution-flag stoppages and one roll-over. A three-car mess on the opening lap was followed by Dan Melton’s car flipping after a suspension failure and landing on its roof. After pole starter John Kallas tried to slip away again on that restart, third-place Brad Seavers spun in front of the vast majority of the field, collecting over two-thirds of the 24-car field in the aftermath, including Truscott.
Kallas again pulled away slightly from Paul Suzik and Kent Baxter, but just as Baxter was making a move for second his car slowed, causing the field to scatter to avoid, but Truscott clipped the stopped Baxter car. After safety crews inspected the damage, Truscott continued.
Over the next ten green-flag laps Kallas held off Suzik, while Truscott quickly picked his way through the field and into the top five. On lap 7 he slipped past Suzik for second while running nearly three-quarters of a second behind the leader, but by the next lap he was passing Kallas for the point, and from there even a lap 11 spin couldn’t keep him from the win.
Kallas held on for second ahead of Paul Niznik, while Cole Spacek and Cody Carlson completed the top five.
After getting shut out of Victory Lane over the first four nights run here this season, ten-time defending WISSOTA Super Stock champion Scott Lawrence of Superior finally got his first win of the season in his heat race and followed it up with his 54th career ABC Raceway win, which is tied for fourth all-time here.
Lawrence started alongside polesitter Shawn McFadden Jr and beat him through the first turns for the initial lead, and he never gave up the top spot after that, extending his advantage to as much as a second-and-a-half at times over the course of the 20-lap main event. The race was only slowed by two caution flags, with the first coming out on lap 5 when visitor Terry Kroening’s rear axle broke, causing his car to nearly flip in turn 1.
Wayne Stricker drew up behind the lead pair after the restart and stayed right with McFadden and Lawrence drew away over the next three green-flag laps. After first-nighter Mark Smith’s spin slowed the race for the final time, Lawrence held off a spirited effort by McFadden to wrestle the lead away on the restart, but Lawrence held his ground and eventually pulled away to a 1.4-second win to break the ice on his 2014 season in Ashland.
Nick Oreskovich came up to swipe third away from Stricker a couple laps after the last restart, but Stricker reclaimed the spot a lap later and came home a close third behind McFadden, with Oreskovich right on their tails. Randy Spacek ran in the top five throughout most of the event and came home fifth.
In the WISSOTA Modified 20-lap headliner, Ashland’s Steve Stuart continued his dominance with his third straight feature win of the season. Although Steve Lavasseur grabbed the early lead from the pole, it didn’t take long before Stuart moved up from the second row into the runner-up position by overtaking Scott Hudack on lap 2.
A lap late Al Uotinen got into the mix by taking third away from Hudack, but Hudack took the position back just before Rick Rivord’s spin on lap 4. A lap after the restart Stuart threaded the needle between Hudack and Lavasseur and sped away by lap 9 to a 2.4-second margin on the battle for second, which now involved Uotinen and Jeff Spacek.
Uotinen had just trimmed Stuart’s advantage to under two seconds on lap 12 when Zack Pagels’ spin brought out the caution flag, but after four circuits back under green Stuart reconstructed a 1.7 second cushion as Uotinen fended off one last charge by Spacek. The 24th win of Stuart’s career included a track-record lap of 16.218 seconds and ended with a 2.3-second margin of victory over Uotinen and Spacek, while Hudack held on for fourth ahead of a resurgent Kevin Eder.
With their wins, Stuart, Lawrence and Truscott earned invitations to attempt to qualify for the prestigious AmsOil Race of Champions event during the WISSOTA 100 race weekend in Huron, SD, in mid-September.
After going seven seasons without a feature win in Ashland, Glenn Dammer of Duluth, MN, ran a carbon-copy of his Pure Stock feature run from a week ago and raced to a second-straight victory.
After Tim Carbon spun to slow the opening of the 12-lap run, first-night visitor Steve Udeen grabbed the early lead ahead of Chad Nikstad, who subsequently spun a lap later. Udeen then spent the next two laps trying to outrun another visitor, Austin Blom, but Dammer followed Blom into third and then, on consecutive laps, passed Blom and Udeen to become the leader.
Riding the outside groove – just as he had done the Saturday before – Dammer eventually pulled to an eight car-length lead on Blom, while Udeen fell back into a battle for third with Terran Spacek, from which Spacek was eventually successful. Dammer’s win was the tenth of his career here, while Blom drove home to a solid second-place performance ahead of Spacek. Udeen was passed in the final corner for fourth by Matt Deragon, who started dead last on the 14-car grid, but Udeen was later rewarded as the fifth-place finish and the ABC Raceway 50th Anniversary decal on his car earned him a $50 bonus in a random pre-race drawing.
Along with Stuart, Lawrence also claimed a Northern Clearing Inc fast-lap bonus with his posting of a 16.899-second lap in the Super Stock feature, which was just four one-hundredths of a second off the track record for that class.
Several generous individuals and groups donated toward the 50-bike giveaway that was on-going throughout the race program. The ABC Raceway extends its appreciation to Vernon Racing, Northern Wisconsin Fence, Nick and Cheryl Gima, CRC Motorsports and Truscott Racing, TNT Racing and Tiffany and Tyler Hudack, All-Performance Racing, Luger Racing, Weaver Wherritt and Bobby Wherritt, the Raceway’s “front gate crew,” Dave Boullion and Charles, the Deragon and Pupp race teams, One-on-One Hair Design, Hmielewski Racing, Udeen Excavating, Lake Shore Sales and Service, and Jerry and Joanne O’Brien for their contributions to the bike giveaway.
Next Saturday night the ABC Raceway will host its annual kids’ bike races, presented by Chicago Iron & Supply of Ashland. Adult admission tickets are just $10, and fans ages 12 and under are admitted free when accompanied by a paying adult. Hot laps are set for 6:15 pm, and racing is set to start at 7. “Race Night” will air live on WBSZ, 93.3 FM, and stream online at www.wbszfm.com, from 4:30-6 pm with at-the-track news and weather updates.
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, .
Results
WISSOTA Modifieds
Feature: Steve Stuart, Ashland; Al Uotinen, Superior; Jeff Spacek, Phillips; Scott Hudack, Ashland; Kevin Eder, Ashland; Brian Mikkonen, Iron River; Curt Myers, Cameron; Pat Cook, Washburn; Paul Niznik, Medford; Bill Byholm, Glidden; Rick Rivord, Superior; Dustin Hudack, Ashland; Zack Pagels, Marengo; Steve Lavasseur, River Falls; Travis Nye, Ashland.
Heat 1: Spacek; Uotinen; Lavasseur; Mikkonen; Cook; Pagels; Byholm; Myers.
Heat 2: S Hudack; Stuart; Niznik; Nye; Eder; D Hudack; Rivord.
WISSOTA Super Stocks
Feature: Scott Lawrence, Superior; Shawn McFadden Jr, Ashland; Wayne Stricker, Highbridge; Nick Oreskovich, Mason; Randy Spacek, Phillips; Kevin Burdick, Proctor, MN: Cory Casari, Montreal; Curt Myers, Cameron; Jim Campbell, Two Harbors, MN; Eric Olson, Ladysmith; Don Muzzy, Ironwood, MI; Ken Truscott, Greenland, MI; Dave Elliott, Minocqua; Myron Basina, Washburn; Greg Kuklinski, Ironwood, MI; DJ Keeler, Superior; Mark Smith, Solon Springs; Terry Kroening, Colby.
Heat 1: McFadden; Kuklinski; Stricker; Myers; Kroening; Muzzy; Burdick; Olson; Smith.
Heat 2: Lawrence; Keeler; Spacek; Casari; Campbell; Oreskovich; Truscott; Basina; Elliott.
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
Feature: Michael Truscott, Chippewa Falls; John Kallas, Hurley; Paul Niznik, Medford; Cole Spacek, Phillips; Cody Carlson, Superior; Paul Suzik, Ironwood, MI; Nathan Thums, Wausau; Tad Bretting, Ashland; Duane Dunbar, Marenisco, MI; Tanner Hicks, Ashland; Mickey Nosser, Phillips; Tyler Vernon, Ashland; Tanner Byholm, Glidden; Chris Bretting, Washburn; Brad Seavers, Rib Lake; Bill Muhlig, Bessemer, MI; Ryan Barningham, Bayfield; Jeff Klopstein, Tomahawk; Darrel Hazelton, Chippewa Falls; Kent Baxter, Colfax; Josh Overn, Mahtowa, MN; Dan Melton, Rhinelander; Ryan Adamczak, Ashland; Dennis Baldwin, Bessemer, MI.
Heat 1: Seavers; Hazelton; Klopstein; Thums; Vernon; C Bretting; Melton.
Heat 2: Niznik; Baxter; Adamzak; Spacek; Dunbar; Byholm; Overn; Barningham.
Heat 3: Truscott; Suzik; Kallas; Carlson; Nosser; T Bretting; Muhlig; Baldwin.
Six-Cylinders
Feature: Neil Adamzak, Ashland; Tiffany Hudack, Ashland; Dale Coddington, Hayward; Tyler Hudack, Ashland; Peter Jokinen, Mellen; Ron Hmielewski, Marengo; Duane Dunbar, Marenisco, MI; Aaron Mashlan, Ashland; Zack Pagels, Marengo; Ken Tyykila, Iron River; Jonathon Popp, Iron River; Ethan Beeksma, Ironwood, MI; Forrest Schultz, Ashland; Brendon Ottman, Ashland; DeJay Mihalek, Ashland; Jeremy Lindquist, Ashland; Colten Vernon, Ashland; Adam Traaholt, Ashland.
Heat 1: Hmielewski; Jokinen; Mihalek; Tiffany Hudack; Pagels; Mashlan; Popp; Traaholt; Ottman.
Heat 2: Coddington; Adamzak; Tyler Hudack; Schultz; Beeksma; Dunbar; Tyykila; Vernon; Lindquist.
Pure Stocks
Feature: Glenn Dammer, Duluth, MN; Austin Blom, Saginaw, MN; Terran Spacek, Phillips; Matt Deragon, Ashland; Steve Udeen, Superior; Randy Graham, Trego; Andy Udeen, Superior; Matt Hammitt, Cloquet, MN; Annika Hammitt, Cloquet, MN; Jeff Christman, South Range; Chad Nikstad, Superior; Tim Carbon, Highbridge; Andrew Hanson, Iron River; Brandle Pupp, Ashland.
Heat 1: S Udeen; A Udeen; Nikstad; Graham; Christman; Pupp; Deragon.
Heat 2: Dammer; Blom; Spacek; Carbon; A Hammitt; Hanson; M Hammitt.

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