Flynn Captures Mid-Mod Summer Nationals Win at ABC

Ashland, WI, August 15 — Dave Flynn of Superior held off a determined late charge by Jake Smith for the win in the AmsOil Midwest Modified Summer Nationals feature presented by Tim’s Automotive Machine on Saturday night at the ABC Raceway.
The win was Flynn’s first-ever at ABC in a Mid-Mod and paid him $600. The event was the third race run in the four-track, three-night special event in the Northland for the popular WISSOTA-sanctioned class over the weekend and was part of a busy night of racing at the three-eighths-mile oval on a hot, muggy mid-August night.
The program, presented by the Ashland-Bayfield County Sportsmen’s Club and the Stagecoach Bar & Grill of Ashland, also included the annual visit by the Northern Vintage Stockcar Racers group, which helped the car count exceed triple digits (107) for the second straight week.

With the feature qualifiers set by passing points and the first four rows by a blind draw, Flynn started on the pole and had the early lead, but a two-car get-together forced a second attempt to start the race. Flynn sped away after the restart to a 1.2-second advantage after just four laps, while Rob Weber tried to fend off the visiting Andy Jones and Tanner Hicks.
Jones’ first move to pass Weber was negated when the caution flag waived again for debris on the track, so he slipped past Weber on the restart and began to track down Flynn, who got a strong run at the green and pulled to another big cushion.
Flynn led by over a second-and-a-half at mid-race, but behind him and Jones there were several fierce battles for position – some going three-wide for laps at a time – on the wide, smooth, well-prepared oval. Then on lap 15 the field came back to Flynn’s rear bumper after Paul Niznik was spun to bring the yellow lights back on for the final time. Smith, who restarted fifth, made a sweeping move around Ryan Adamzak and Weber to take third and then worked his way around Jones three laps later for second.
Smith began to bite into Flynn’s big lead, cutting it to less than a half-second with three laps to go. With Flynn riding the middle line, Smith tried to work the top groove to gain momentum coming off of the corners, and coming to the checkered flag Smith had a run to pull alongside the leader, but he had to tap the brakes as Flynn’s car slid up the track, nearly to the outside wall, to pinch Smith at the stripe by a quarter-second.
Jones, eleventh-starting Kevin Eder and Michael Truscott completed a closely-grouped top-five. Paul Suzik, who finished 13th, holds a one-point lead over Adamzak with two nights remaining.
For the second week in a row a veteran racer finally won his first career WISSOTA Modified feature, as Washburn’s Pat Cook drove into Victory Lane for the first time since his June 2009 win in a Mid-Mod. In the non-stop 20-lap main event Cook, who started on the pole, raced side-by-side with Scott Hudack for the first three laps before Hudack claimed the lead running on the outside groove.
On lap 4 Cook dropped to third as Jeff Spacek swept by, and points leader Al Uotinen was threatening to displace Cook for fourth by lap 6 while also running the higher line. By midrace Hudack had a three-quarter-second lead on the close-knit battle behind him, but then over the next few laps that upper groove became less advantageous to those following it, and Cook made his return trip toward the front by sticking to the low lane.
With five laps to go Cook worked by Spacek, and over the next two circuits he dug deep to grab the lead from Hudack. From there Cook drew away to a 1.6-second lead for his first-ever win in a “big Mod,” with Hudack hanging on for a season-high second-place finish. Eder came from his eighth-place starting spot to grab third from Spacek in the closing laps, and Uotinen held on for fifth.
Another landmark win came in the 15-lap Six-Cylinder A-main, as rookie Bubba Anderson of Trego scored his first feature winner’s sticker. Anderson, who purchased his car from division points leader Dale Coddington, started on the pole of the 15-lap run and grabbed the lead right from the start, beating Colten Vernon out of the first turn. Tyler Hudack put the pressure on Anderson throughout the run after gaining second on the opening lap, while DeJay Mihalek took third away a lap later.
After Ron Hmielewski’s fifth-place-running car stalled on lap 4, Anderson had his hands full with Hudack on his trunklid, while a great three-car dogfight developed between Mihalek, Coddington and second-in-points Tiffany Hudack. Eventually Tiffany claimed the position, but she could not gain on her brother and the leader, and she did not pull away from Coddington and Mihalek.
As the laps wound down Anderson extended his lead, eventually building it to 3.4 seconds at the checkers over Tyler Hudack, with Tiffany Hudack, Coddington and Mihalek in a tight group to complete the top five.
Shawn McFadden Jr of Ashland returned to Victory Lane for the first time in over a year as the winner of a hotly-contested 20-lap WISSOTA Super Stock feature that provided plenty of excitement on the track and drama in the points chase.
McFadden swapped the lead with fellow front-row starter Wayne Stricker for the first couple of laps before Stricker claimed the point, as the lead battle pulled away slightly from the balance of the field. McFadden regained his momentum by running the high side of the speedway and took the lead back by lap 6, while Nick Oreskovich, Jeff Klopstein, Pat Beeksma and Shane Kisling duked it out for third.
The racing was fast and furious until the field caught Stricker, and Oreskovich edged into second on lap 11. On the next tour, Stricker and Oreskovich got too close to the front-straight wall, and Stricker scraped the concrete and ground to a halt, causing a chain-reaction of carnage behind him that piled up several top-ten runners, including Beeksma and Scott Lawrence, who entered the night two points behind leader Kisling in the battle for the championship.
After several minutes of clean-up, McFadden again led the way, but this time with Klopstein on the charge. Klopstein got one good look to the inside on the leader but couldn’t make it stick before the second yellow flag of the race came out for Keith Corcilius’ lap 14 spin. Over the final six laps Klopstein tried several times to complete a pass, but McFadden held on with a smooth run for his second career win in a Super Stock here and seventh overall at ABC. Oreskovich and Shane Kisling were close behind in third and fourth, while Flynn added to his good night with a fifth-place paycheck.
Klopstein now holds a one-point edge on Kisling going into next week’s show.
The Pure Stocks closed the show with another non-stop feature, as rookie Justin Weinberger of Park Falls claimed his second win of the season. Chad Carlson, who was looking to follow up his win at Superior from the night before, worked to the inside on Randy Graham to take the lead after just one lap, while Tim Carbon passed Graham to take second a lap later. Weinberger, who started sixth, worked inside to take third, and points leader Matt Deragon joined the party by moving to fourth by lap 7 and challenging Weinberger.
On lap 8 Weinberger began his move to the front by taking the high line around Carbon into second, with Deragon following to third. The rookie then switched lanes and displaced Carlson at the front with less than two laps to go, and he cruised from there to a significant advantage at the stripe. Deragon was a distance back in third but just ahead of Carbon and Brandle Pupp.
Greg Manor of Chippewa Falls held off an early challenge from Paul Dolphy and then pulled away to a decisive win in the NVSR Full-Body vintage car feature, while John Bethke of Oakdale, MN, pulled off a last-lap pass of Kevin Lipsky for an entertaining win in the NVSR Super-Modified feature.
Jeff Spacek collected the bonus for setting the fastest timed lap in the Mod feature (16.982 seconds), while Klopstein was similarly rewarded in the Supers (17.500). Flynn posted the fastest lap in the Mid-Mods (17.542), and the bonus also went to Tyler Hudack in the Sixes (18.456).
The ABC Raceway will host its “Six-Cylinder Summer Sizzler” and Fan Appreciation Night on Saturday, August 22, to be presented by Auto Value Auto Parts of Ashland. The Sixes will run for an enhanced purse, boosted by a generous contribution by Arlene Morrison, wife of former Sixes champ Rich Morrison, and racers, local businesses, and the Raceway will have plenty of prizes to give away to those in attendance.
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: Pat Cook, Washburn; Scott Hudack, Ashland; Kevin Eder, Ashland; Jeff Spacek, Phillips; Al Uotinen, Superior; Steve Stuart, Ashland; Bill Byholm, Glidden; Brian Mikkonen, Iron River; Paul Niznik, Medford; Rick Rivord, Superior; Dustin Hudack, Ashland; Scott Miller, Rice Lake.
Heat 1: Byholm; Uotinen; Cook; S Hudack; Rivord; D Hudack.
Heat 2: Eder; Stuart; Mikkonen; Spacek; Miller; Niznik.
WISSOTA Super Stocks
Feature: Shawn McFadden Jr, Ashland; Jeff Klopstein, Tomahawk; Nick Oreskovich, Mason; Shane Kisling, Sarona; Dave Flynn, Superior; Cole Spacek, Phillips; Michael Truscott, Chippewa Falls; Andy Grymala, Superior; Marcus Dunbar, Marenisco, MI; Terran Spacek, Phillips; Myron Basina, Washburn; Dave Elliott, Minocqua; Brady Mesko-Jokinen, Mellen; Mike Hince, Medford; Keith Corcilius, Phillips; Pat Beeksma, Ironwood, MI; Scott Lawrence, Superior; Randy Spacek, Phillips; Wayne Stricker, Highbridge.
Heat 1: Oreskovich; R Spacek; Lawrence; Kisling; Truscott; C Spacek; Dunbar; T Spacek; Hince; Corcilius.
Heat 2: Beeksma; Klopstein; Stricker; McFadden; Flynn; Grymala; Elliott; Mesko-Jokinen; Basina.
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
Feature: Dave Flynn, Superior; Jake Smith, Eau Claire; Andy Jones, Princeton, MN; Kevin Eder, Ashland; Michael Truscott, Chippewa Falls; Ryan Adamzak, Ashland; Mickey Nosser, Phillips; Rob Weber, Ashland; Dan Kinglsey, Superior; Karl Kolek, Menomonie; Tyler Vernon, Ashland; Steve Stuart, Ashland; Paul Suzik, Ironwood, MI; Tanner Hicks, Ashland; Clay Passuello, Ironwood, MI; George Dalbeck, Ironwood, MI; Wayne Stricker, Highbridge; Tyler Luger, Iron River; Jeremy Lindquist, Ashland; Ross Fuhrman, Ashland; Tad Bretting, Ashland; Mark Kangas, Eveleth, MN; Paul Niznik, Medford; Duane Dunbar, Marenisco, MI.
Heat 1: Jones; Truscott; Kinglsey; Smith; Peter Jokinen, Mellen; Bretting; Ryan Barningham, Bayfield; Mike Jacques, Thunder Bay, ON; John Kallas, Hurley.
Heat 2: Suzik; Eder; Weber; Dalbeck; Nosser; Brad Seavers, Rib Lake; Passuello; Jordan Barningham, Bayfield.
Heat 3: Adamzak; Kangas; Vernon; Stuart; Niznik; Luger; Kyle Runkle, Chetek; Kolek.
Heat 4: Hicks; Flynn; Stricker; Lindquist; Fuhrman; Tad Schoonover, Eagle River; Robert Hyde, Ashland; Pete Paulus, Phillips.
Semi-Feature 1: Kolek; Bretting; Luger; Dalbeck; R Barningham; Kallas; Jacques; Runkle; Jokinen.
Semi-Feature 2: Niznik; Lindquist; Dunbar; Passuello; Seavers; J Barningham; Schoonover; Hyde.
Six-Cylinders
Feature: Bubba Anderson, Trego; Tyler Hudack, Ashland; Tiffany Hudack, Ashland; Dale Coddington, Hayward; DeJay Mihalek, Ashland; Colten Vernon, Ashland; Ken Tyykila, Iron River; Forrest Schultz, Ashland; Jonathan Popp, Iron River; Cole Vernon, Ashland; Ron Hmielewski, Marengo; Adam Traaholt, Ashland; Aaron Mashlan, Ashland; Bella Bretting, Washburn; Mikki Swanson, Washburn; Brendon Ottman, Ashland.
Heat 1: Coddington; Anderson; Hmielewski; Tiffany Hudack; Tyykila; Mashlan; Ottman; Swanson.
Heat 2: Tyler Hudack; Colten Vernon; Schultz; Mihalek; Popp; Cole Vernon; Traaholt; Bretting.
Pure Stocks
Feature: Justin Weinberger, Park Falls; Chad Carlson, Superior; Matt Deragon, Ashland; Tim Carbon, Highbridge; Brandle Pupp, Ashland; Andrew Hanson, Iron River; Randy Graham, Trego; Randy Conner, Hayward; Glenn Dammer, Duluth, MN; Bob Skrobot, Manitowish Waters; Jake Nevala, Ashland; Andy Compton, Ashland.
Heat 1: Hanson; Weinberger; Carlson; Carbon; Dammer; Conner.
Heat 2: Deragon; Pupp; Graham; Nevala; Skrobot; Compton.
Northern Vintage Stockcar Racers
Full-Bodied Feature: Greg Manor, Chippewa Falls; Paul Dolphy, Mounds View, MN; Gary Whipple, Crosby, MN; Joe Thompson, Cloquet, MN; Mike Hudyma, Duluth, MN.
Full-Bodied Heat: Whipple; Dolphy; Manor; Thompson; Hudyma; Tom Getchell, Cloquet, MN.
Super Modified Feature: Dennis Olson, Braham, MN; John Bethke, Oakdale, MN; Mike Bjorklund, Sandstone, MN; Kevin Lipsky, New Richmond; Mark Peine, White Bear Lake, MN; Dave Whirley, Grand Rapids, MN; Tom Langlois, Duluth, MN; George Shields, Cameron.
Super Modified Heat: Bethke; Lipsky; Peine; Bjorklund; Olson; Shields; Langlois.

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