Byholm, Flynn, Eder Grab RoC Qualifiers at ABC

Ashland, WI, July 18 — On a night when the ABC Raceway added to its Hall of Fame roster, the feature winners visiting Victory Lane on Saturday included some repeat performers as well as one familiar face that hadn’t been there in a while.
Bill Byholm of Glidden won his first WISSOTA Modified feature since August 2010 to earn an invitation to the Afco Shocks Race of Champions in mid-September in Huron, SD, during the WISSOTA 100. Others earning invites to the prestigious event included Superior’s Dave Flynn and Ashland’s Kevin Eder, while Forrest Schultz of Ashland and Tim Carlson of Superior collected their second wins of the season here.
During intermission of the race program, nine new inductees were entered into the ABC Raceway Hall of Fame and introduced to the large, appreciative crowd on hand on a warm, breezy evening. In the Drivers category, the Class of 2015 included Dick Christman, Steve Kieber, Don Koivisto and Jule Wilcox, while in the Volunteer & Contributor category the inductees included the late Chuck & Lucy Anderson and their family, Bob & Gerladine Korpela, Walt & Diane Martens, Mike & Linda Sorenson and their family, and Lorraine and the late Jerry Zifko.

Kieber, the former Mod standout here, threw the green flag over that division’s 20-lap A-main, and early on it seemed no one was going to catch front-row starter Jeff Spacek, who swept around polesitter Rick Rivord for the initial lead. Spacek pulled to a 1.2-second lead in a matter of just five laps, while Rivord held off a heated battle between Brian Mikkonen and Eder.
As the laps clicked off without any yellow-flag delays Eder surged forward, taking third on lap 6 and then staying on the upper groove of the wide, slick smooth red-clay oval to overtake Rivord for second a lap later. Eder then began to eat into Spacek’s cushion while Al Uotinen drove up to fourth with a three-wide pass of Mikkonen and Byholm on lap 9.
As Eder reeled in Spacek, Byholm nabbed third on lap 12, and within another four laps Eder was taking peeks to the inside on Spacek going into the corners while Byholm was within a couple car-lengths. It was while maneuvering through lapped traffic that Eder and Byholm swapped lanes while attempting to overtake Spacek, and Eder had the lead coming under the white flag. But Byholm split between the other two and edged ahead down the back straight, holding on to win his 26th career feature here by .61 seconds.
Spacek, who set the fast lap-time of the race at 18.794 seconds, nipped Eder for second by a couple feet, while Rivord and Uotinen completed the top five. Ironically, it was one year ago this weekend that Byholm sustained a severe injury from a freak accident while unloading his race car at the Ashland track that cost him the second half of the 2014 racing season.
Flynn was on a mission tonight in both his WISSOTA Super Stock and Midwest Modified tonight, and he wheeled the Super Stock to his 11th career win in Ashland. In what is believed to be the 500th Super Stock feature run at the ABC Raceway, Flynn drove under front-row starters DJ Keeler and Shawn McFadden Jr and sprinted to a 1.6-second lead just three laps into the 20-lap event. When Shane Kisling worked the high side to pull alongside Keeler in the battle for second, there was – for a moment – the chance that he and Flynn would repeat the thrilling side-by-side race for the lead that they had the week before.
But Keeler was determined not to let Kisling by, and after a lap 5 restart Kisling made a rare error and spun himself out while trying to clear Keeler for second. Curt Myers then challenged and eventually overtook Keeler, then stayed in Flynn’s tire tracks for the next 11 laps.
Just as the lead pair caught the backmarkers, Mike Hince spun to put the leaders into the clear, and behind them the racing was furious for third between Keeler, Jeff Klopstein and Scott Lawrence. Eventually Keeler got shuffled back a few positions, and it was his spin on lap 16 that tightened up the field again. Myers slipped up the track on the restart, costing him second, before the race was stopped for debris on the next lap.
From there Flynn held off a furious effort by Klopstein to earn the win, and collected the fast-lap bonus in the process (18.854 seconds). Lawrence was less than a car-length back in third, just ahead of Myers and a nice fifth-place effort by Andy Grymala.
The start of the 20-lap WISSOTA Midwest-Modified A-main was slowed when David Simpson and Ryan Adamzak tangled coming off the first turns, but from there Mickey Nosser set the early pace while Eder was on the charge. Looking for his second straight win the Mid-Mods here, Eder worked past pole-starter Cody Carlson for second on lap 3, just before Adamzak, who had followed Eder into third, looped his ride to bring out the yellow flag again.
Over the next dozen non-stop laps, Eder first snuck a peek to the outside, then completed the outside move to take the lead from Nosser on lap 6 and pulled away in a hurry. That’s because charging through the field were Mike Truscott – from his 11th-place starting spot to third by lap 6 – and Flynn, who started dead-last in the 11-car semi-feature to the win there, and then started the feature 21st but clawed his way to fifth by lap 10. Truscott took second from Nosser on lap 14, and Flynn swiped fourth away from visiting Kyle Runkle just before Runkle spun himself out of contention with five laps remaining.
Eder scooted away to a 1.2-second lead on Truscott after the restart, but Truscott trimmed that to .58 seconds at the checkered, with Flynn finishing his impressive run in third just ahead of Nosser and Tanner Byholm. Eder padded his paycheck by adding the fast-lap bonus with a lap of 18.964 seconds during the run.
As he alluded to in his Victory Lane interview, the last three laps of the 15-lap Six-Cylinder feature may have been the longest of Schultz’s racing career. That’s because a series of caution stoppages put arguably the top three cars in the division right on his tail for restarts.
Tyler Hudack set the initial pace and stretched his lead to a comfortable margin on front-row starters Bubba Anderson and Adam Traaholt. But Schultz, who won his first-ever feature here on July 27, worked his way by Anderson for second just two laps in, and Dale Coddington followed suit to third on lap 3.
Schultz tracked down Hudack and eventually displaced him as the leader with a strong move on lap 6, but before he could build any amount of a lead Aaron Mashlan’s spin brought the field back to his rear push-bar.
Over the next five laps Coddington, Tyler Hudack, and Tyler’s sister, defending track champ Tiffany Hudack, waged a fierce battle for second place, allowing Schultz to pull away to a significant advantage. Then Jonathan Popp spun with three laps left, negating Schultz’s big lead, and then Colton Vernon hit the front straight concrete hard coming out of turn 4 to change the green lights to yellow. With Coddington and the Hudack siblings restarting right on his tail, Schultz was smooth on his getaways and held on for his second win in three race nights, while setting the last lap in the process (19.735 seconds).
Tiffany Hudack won the battle for second, while Coddington grabbed third as Tyler Hudack’s car slowed coming off the final corner. Brandon Ottman drove to an impressive career-best fifth-place paycheck.
Like Eder in the Mid-Mods, Tim Carlson also captured his second-straight feature, coming in the 15-lap Pure Stock finale. Carlson raced side-by-side with rookie Justin Weinberger for a couple of laps before a lap 2 safety caution, and then Carlson, Randy Graham and Matt Deragon surrounded and overwhelmed the rookie for the top three spots.
As Deragon drew alongside Graham in a battle for second, Carlson pulled away by a safe distance, but Jake Nevala’s spin brought the field up close at mid-race. Deragon won the battle for second, and he chased Carlson away from the rest of the field for a couple more laps before back-to-back caution slowdowns on lap 11 bunched things up again, but Carlson was able to hold off any threats by Deragon for his fifth career feature win in Ashland. Graham held on for third ahead of strong efforts turned in by Tim Carbon and Andrew Hanson.
On Saturday night the ABC Raceway will offer a half-price adult admission ticket as part of its annual “Jam the Stands” Night festivities, presented by Heartland Communications, WBSZ-FM and WJJH-FM, and the NAPA Auto Parts stores of Ashland & Washburn. The program will be part of the state-wide Kim Parsons Memorial Trophy Tour. Adult tickets are $10, and fans ages 12 and under are admitted free when accompanied by a paying adult. Hot laps are set for 6:15 pm, followed by heat and feature action at 7. “Z-93 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.
Results
WISSOTA Modifieds
Feature: Bill Byholm, Glidden; Jeff Spacek, Phillips; Kevin Eder, Ashland; Rick Rivord, Superior; Al Uotinen, Superior; Steve Stuart, Ashland; Brian Mikkonen, Iron River; Neil Balduc, Bessemer, MI; Pat Cook, Washburn; Paul Niznik, Medford; Steve Lavasseur, River Falls; Scott Hudack, Ashland; Dustin Hudack, Ashland; Zack Pagels, Ashland.
Heat 1: Stuart; Spacek; Uotinen; Byholm; Cook; Niznik; Pagels.
Heat 2: Eder; Rivord; Mikkonen; Balduc; D Hudack; Lavasseur; S Hudack.
WISSOTA Super Stocks
Feature: Dave Flynn, Superior; Jeff Klopstein, Tomahawk; Scott Lawrence, Superior; Curt Myers, Cameron; Andy Grymala, Superior; Shane Kisling, Sarona; Cole Spacek, Phillips; Nick Oreskovich, Mason; Ken Truscott, Greenland, MI; Shawn McFadden Jr, Ashland; Cory Casari, Montreal; Marcus Dunbar, Marenisco, MI; Dave Elliott, Minocqua; DJ Keeler, Superior; Terran Spacek, Phillips; Myron Basina, Washburn; Brady Mesko-Jokinen, Mellen; Luke Schultz, Cameron; Mike Hince, Medford; Brad Kisling, Rice Lake; Randy Spacek, Phillips.
Heat 1: Flynn; Keeler; Oreskovich; C Spacek; T Spacek; Elliott; Dunbar.
Heat 2: Lawrence; S Kisling; McFadden; Grymala; Truscott; Hince; Jokinen.
Heat 3: Klopstein; Myers; R Spacek; B Kisling; Casari; Basina; Schultz.
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
Feature: Kevin Eder, Ashland; Michael Truscott, Chippewa Falls; Dave Flynn, Superior; Mickey Nosser, Phillips; Tanner Byholm, Glidden; George Dalbeck, Ironwood, MI; Wayne Stricker, Highbridge; Cody Carlson, Superior; Kevin Monteith, Rosslyn, ON; Paul Niznik, Medford; Tyler Vernon, Ashland; Karl Kolek, Menomonie; Paul Suzik, Ironwood, MI; Duane Dunbar, Marenisco, MI; Tanner Hicks, Ashland; Ross Fuhman, Ashland; David Simpson, Thunder Bay, ON; Clay Passuello, Ironwood, MI; Kyle Runkle, Chetek; Ryan Barningham, Bayfield; Brad Seavers, Rib Lake; Robert Hyde, Ashland; John Kallas, Hurley; Ryan Adamzak, Ashland.
Heat 1: Simpson; Runkle; R Barningham; Hyde; Passuello; Jordan Barningham, Bayfield; Tad Bretting, Ashland; Cy Hoaglan, Ashland.
Heat 2: Carlson; Byholm; Seavers; Hicks; Fuhrman; Kallas; Jeremy Lindquist, Ashland; Mike Jacques, Thunder Bay, ON.
Heat 3: Eder; Adamzak; Truscott; Niznik; Dalbeck; Suzik; Tyler Luger, Iron River; Flynn.
Heat 4: Monteith; Nosser; Stricker; Vernon; Kolek; Dunbar; Rob Weber, Ashland.
Semi-Feature: Flynn; Dunbar; Suzik; Kallas; Luger; Lindquist; Weber; Jacques; J Barningham; Bretting; Hoaglan.
Six-Cylinders
Feature: Forrest Schultz, Ashland; Tiffany Hudack, Ashland; Dale Coddington, Hayward; Tyler Hudack, Ashland; Brendon Ottman, Ashland; Adam Traaholt, Ashland; Bubba Anderson, Trego; DeJay Mihalek, Ashland; Aaron Mashlan, Ashland; Cole Vernon, Ashland; Ken Tyykila, Iron River; Colten Vernon, Ashland; Jonathan Popp, Iron River.
Heat 1: Tyler Hudack; Anderson; Colten Vernon; Ottman; Mashlan; Cole Vernon.
Heat 2: Tiffany Hudack; Coddington; Mihalek; Schultz; Tyykila; Popp.
Pure Stocks
Feature: Tim Carlson, Superior; Matt Deragon, Ashland; Randy Graham, Trego; Tim Carbon, Highbridge; Andrew Hanson, Iron River; Justin Weinberger, Park Falls; Brandle Pupp, Ashland; Randy Conner, Hayward; Scott Haedrick, Duluth, MN; Don Livingston, Bayfield; Bob Skrobot, Manitowish Waters; Jake Nevala, Ashland; Andy Compton, Ashland; Nick Paoli, Ironwood, MI; Jeff Christman, South Range.
Heat 1: Weinberger; Graham; Carbon; Christman; Conner; Compton; Nevala; Paoli.
Heat 2: Carlson; Deragon; Hanson; Pupp; Haedrick; Livingston Skrobot.

ABC 7/18/15 results

ABC Raceway Honors Class of ‘15 with Hall of Fame Ceremonies
by Nick Gima
Ashland, WI, July 18 — On a warm, breezy Saturday evening, the Ashland-Bayfield County Racing Association paid tribute to those who have helped it grow and thrive by inducting nine more members into its ABC Raceway Hall of Fame.
The ceremonies were held during intermission of the July 18 race program on the track’s front straightaway, in front of a large, very appreciative crowd. The Class of 2015 brings the total of inductees to 21 at ABC.
Four were inducted into the Driver category, which requires a minimum of five years’ “retired” status as a driver as well as notable accomplishments and ambassadorship to the track.
Superior’s Dick Christman his first feature here in 1969 and won at least one feature every year but one during a 14-year span. Among his wins were Red Clay Classic super stock titles in 1978 and ‘81. Christman was a two-time track champion at ABC, in 1977 and in ‘80, in the Super Stock classs, and his 55 career feature wins here is the fourth-highest total in track history, while his 44 career feature wins in the Supers is a track record for that division.
Ironwood, MIs’s Steve Kieber was a fan favorite from his days racing street stocks here in the late 1970s and on through his career running Modifieds – especially with the loyal following he drew from the western Upper Peninsula. In a career that spanned more than four decades he was a fixture on the ABC oval, chalking up 11 career feature wins in street stocks and modifieds, with his cars sporting the familiar number 76. His late father, former ABC track announcer Chum Kieber, would always say as Steve pulled onto the race track, “That’s-a my boy!”
Don Koivisto of Saxon called the ABC Raceway his Saturday night home for over 40 seasons as a racer and car owner. As a true example of a sportsman, he was involved not only with his race cars, but he was also willing to help his fellow competitors as well as the local racing organization. Don scored four feature wins while racing Street Stocks and Super Stocks in the mid- to late-1980s, and after hanging up his helmet he put other drivers behind the wheel of his cars and continued to be successful as a car owner.
Jule Wilcox of Iron River set the standard for success in the Raceway’s Six-Cylinder division – his 49 career feature wins over a 16-year career in the class ranks him sixth on the all-time win list at Ashland. He was a four-time track champion, and during his 1986 championship season he won eight consecutive feature wins, including two in one night. He was also willing to assist the organization during its major front-straight wall replacement project in the 1990s.
Those selected for induction under the Volunteer & Contributor category are recognized for a minimum of ten years of service to the Association, as well as their significant positive contributions to racing at the track and in the region.
The late Chuck & Lucy Anderson had been involved since the very beginning of the Association, with each donating over 25 years to the success of the track. Chuck, who started out as a driver and later a crew chief for Ron Hmielewski, eventually served as vice-president, chairman of the Board, and director of the Safety Committee, while Lucy also served for many years as a Board member while also donating her time assisting with the lap scoring, concessions, ticket gate and annual banquet. Their daughters Kris and Kerrie, who accepted their induction on their behalf, also became involved with the track, with Kris serving as secretary and treasurer and Kerrie helping in a number of capacities. After Chuck’s passing in 1987 the Raceway held the prestigious “Chuck Anderson Race of Champions for 16 seasons in his honor.
Bob & Geraldine Korpela were also involved with the Association since its beginning, with Bob spending many long hours in graders and pack trucks each week working on the racing surface, and donating a pulp truck to assist in repairing guard rails or replacing fence posts. Geraldine – or Cookie, as she was known – worked at the ticket gate and was often the first one at the track on a race night, welcoming fans for over 30 years
Walt & Diane Martens had been involved with the organization since the late 1960s, when Walt was a successful racer here. After hanging up his helmet Walt became a track judge and eventually flag man, while Diane worked in the tower as a lap counter and would often run to the concession stand to help there during intermissions. Each has donated well over 40 years to the organization. Their son Chris Martens accepted their induction on their behalf.
Mike & Linda Sorenson moved to the Chequamegon Bay area in the late 1970s and almost immediately became eagerly involved in the Raceway. After becoming one of the first real successful drivers in the track’s Six-Cylinder class, Mike became an on-track official as well as a member of the Board of Directors, where he had served frequently for a great many years right up until he announced his resignation this past January. Linda has been an unselfish contributor in a number of capacities, from being the first in the kitchen to help with food preparation to counting laps in the tower. Even their kids continue to be very busy around the track, with Nick and Steve helping with the concessions and safety areas and Wendy selling 50/50 tickets.
For many years, when drivers came through the pit gate at ABC, the first person to greet them was Lorraine Zifko, or “Babe,” as she is affectionately known. She was a great long-time representative of the Raceway in that capacity and provided an excellent first impression of the track to the drivers. Her late husband Jerry guarded the pit gate with an iron hand – nobody was allowed in without paying their way – but once they were admitted he was the best friend they had, with Jerry helping them find their way around and thanking them for coming to the track.
A buffet-style luncheon was served at Zar’s Bar south of Ashland in honor of the inductees, where they were joined by several of the inductees from the inaugural group from 2014.

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