ABC Raceway HoF Program Highlighted by Dominant Runs, Close Finishes
by Nick Gima
Ashland, WI, July 27 – On a steamy, sweltering night, five divisions of racing offered up a mix of dominant performances and nailbiter finishes at the ABC Raceway on Saturday night.
The program was presented by Boomer’s Tavern of Ashland (formerly Zar’s Bar and Banquet Hall), which hosted a luncheon earlier in the day in honor of the seven members of the ABC Raceway Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024, who were formally inducted during intermission of the race program.
Mike Anderson of Jim Falls won the Fuhrman Designs WISSOTA Modified feature here back on the track’s opening night in June, and he’s raced here ever since, trying to protect a slim lead in the track’s points standings. His strong effort in this night’s feature certainly helped his cause.
Marcus Dunbar swept around polestarter Cole Spacek to take the initial lead after a restart for a John Kallas stall, bringing Andrew Mackey in tow to second ahead of a logjam of racers. Anderson, who started outside on row 3, worked his way through that thick traffic to move past Mackey by lap 7, just before Shawn Kreyer’s racer slowed to a crawl to bring about a yellow-flag stop.
On the restart Anderson dropped low to get by Dunbar, and from there it seemed that the only thing in doubt was how big his margin of victory would be. Just past the 20-lapper’s halfway point Anderson’s lead was over two-and-a-half seconds, but a get-together between Brandon Copp and Pat Cook brought the field back to Anderson’s rear push-bar.
Anderson seemed unfazed by the restart and sped away again, this time to a final buffer of 4.2 seconds ahead of Dunbar. Eleventh-starting Brady Uotinen charged forward over the final eight laps to take third away from Spacek in the closing stages, and Canadian visitor Cody Wolkowski climbed up to fifth.
By contrast to Anderson’s dominance, the show put on by Kyle Copp and Steve Stuart in the Superior Floral WISSOTA Super Stocks all but ended in a coin-flip. Copp, who started on the outside of the front row, blasted away from Rick Simpson and polestarter Rita Anderson, who in turn were followed by a tightly-knit pack. Copp spent the first seven laps pushing his lead to nearly 2.7 seconds, but that went away when Jake Nevala’s car stopped on the front straight.
Copp again pulled away as Simpson and Matt Deragon raced side-by-side for second, with Stuart right behind in fourth. Copp built another 2.35-second advantage by lap 12, but again the caution lights flashed on – this time for Jason Melton’s spin.
Stuart, who had taken third from Simpson just before Melton’s spin, worked the low groove on the wide, racy track to swipe second from Deragon, and this time Copp could not run away from the three-time defending champ. Stuart hounded Copp mercilessly, pulling alongside Copp often over the remaining laps and at one point edging ahead by less than his bumper. But Copp, who hails from Brule, managed to find just enough power to hold on for a .366-second winning margin.
Deragon followed at a distance, just ahead of Shawn McFadden and Simpson. Stuart, who lost the division’s points lead after last week’s program, will go into next Saturday’s program with a slim five-point advantage on McFadden with just two shows remaining.
Dunbar, pulling double-duty, grabbed the lead after an early restart and went on to a performance similar to Anderson’s in the Lightning Storm Graphics WISSOTA Midwest Modified 20-lap feature.
Like Anderson, Dunbar started outside on row 4 as Ryan Barningham assumed command from his outside-front-row start. A lap 1 three-car tangle eliminated Jesse Polson’s ride, and Jesse Young’s spin on the restart delayed the proceedings again, but after that re-do the two-time division champ from Marenisco, MI, followed Cory Jorgensen to the front. Jorgensen and Dunbar debated the lead for a couple of laps before Dunbar took over for good on lap 5 and built a two-second lead by mid-race.
Tanner Hicks made solid inroads into the top-five during the back half of the run, climbing from his ninth starting spot to third with a pass of Canadian visitor Mike Jacques on lap 11 and mixing it up with Jorgensen over the final five circuits. Another young Canadian, David Simpson, ran well in the top-five until his car failed him with six laps left. But no one had anything for Dunbar, who was a full four-seconds ahead of the battle for second, which was eventually won by Jorgensen.
Jacques closed out an impressive night with a fourth-place paycheck, while 12th-starting Paul Suzik worked hard to get to fifth. Dunbar padded his divisional points lead to 35 over Suzik with the win.
It wasn’t the way he wanted to do it, and it wasn’t as dramatic as his win in Superior the night before, but Eric Crosby of Amery was awarded his first-ever ABC Raceway feature win in the non-stop, ten-lap Patsy’s Bar WISSOTA Pure Stocks headliner.
Outside front-row starter Shane Basina dove low to pass polestarter Anthony Schultz for the initial lead, with Aaron Bernick following into second. Bernick then used the lower route to take the lead away on lap 2. Crosby, who started fourth, raced side-by-side with Basina at about a second behind the leader before claiming the spot on lap 6.
Crosby all but eliminated the advantage Bernick had built, closing to the leader’s rear bumper as the pair took the white flag. Crosby could not find a way and followed Bernick to the checkers, just a quarter-second back, but in a post-race inspection Bernick’s car was deemed illegal for a technical infraction, handing the win over to Crosby, who used a last-lap pass to win by just .003 seconds in Superior on Friday for his first win there.
Basina held on for what became second, ahead of Brent Mindock and Schultz. Zene Anderson was paid for a fifth-place finish. Crosby’s lead over defending track champ Mindock is now 44 with just a couple nights remaining in the points season.
The Berglund Customs ABC Six-Cylinders kicked off the feature-race portion of the program after intermission, and Dalton Truchon of Ashland scored his third win in the past four shows here.
The 15-lap A-main ran non-stop, with front-row mates Jim Anderson and Alex Bond racing side-by-side for the early lead, just ahead of rookie Justin Pratt. On lap 3 Cody Eichmann joined the battle for the lead, while Truchon, who started outside on row 4, took third away from Anderson. During the next circuit Eichmann assumed the point, but after another go-around Basina, who had stared last on the 12-car grid, split what little gap there was between Eichmann and Bond to charge into the lead.
Basina looked to be in complete control, pushing his lead to 1.25 seconds, while Roger Walker took the long way around to take third from Eichmann. But with four laps remaining Basina’s car slowed and he pulled it into the pits, gifting the lead to Truchon, who had a similarly-sized cushion on Walker. Over the final four laps Truchon extended his lead to 2.18 seconds over Walker for his 13thcareer win here, while Eichmann came a healthy distance back in third, followed by Mathew Rohlfing and Jakob Bond.
The win, combined with Jakob Bond’s top-five effort and Basina’s heartbreaking run, brings Bond to within two points of division leader Basina, with Truchon just seven back of Bond, with two shows remaining.
Action returns to the ABC Raceway on Saturday, August 3, when the Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce will present its Kids’ Backpack Giveaway, to help the younger fans get ready for the upcoming school year. Also, the Ashland-Bayfield County Sportsmen Club will hold its annual fundraiser raffle drawing at the track.
Fans and other interested parties can contribute to the backpack giveaway by donating at the Chamber office on US Highway 2 in Ashland’s West End during business hours. Tickets for the Sportsmen Club raffle will be available for purchase from any Club member and at the track right up until intermission of the race program on August 3.
All five regular weekly classes will be in action, with the grandstand gates and pits opening at 5 pm, hot laps starting start at 6:30, and the first green flag scheduled to drop at 7 pm. Due to a scheduling conflict, the WISSOTA Street Stocks will not be in attendance for action that evening, as was originally announced.
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, log on to the track’s website, www.abcraceway.com, or check out its FaceBook page.
Results
Fuhrman Designs WISSOTA Modifieds
Feature: 1-10: Mike Anderson, Jim Falls; Marcus Dunbar, Marenisco; Brady Uotinen, Superior; Cole Spacek, Phillips; Cody Wolkowski, Thunder Bay, ON; Kennedy Swan, Chippewa Falls; Jake Hiatt, Mason; Justin Weinberger, Elk Mound; Nick Oreskovich, Mason; Pat Cook, Washburn.
11-15: Jeff Spacek, Phillips; John Kallas, Hurley; Brandon Copp, Brule; Andrew Mackey, Duluth, MN; Shaun Kreyer, Hayward.
Heat 1: Anderson; Swan; Oreskovich; Hiatt; Wolkowski; Uotinen; J Spacek; Cook.
Heat 2: C Spacek; Weinberger; Dunbar; Mackey; Copp; Kallas.
Superior Floral WISSOTA Super Stocks
Feature: 1-10: Kyle Copp, Brule; Steve Stuart, Ashland; Matt Deragon, Ashland; Shawn McFadden, Ashland; Rick Simpson, Thunder Bay, ON; Patrick Beeksma, Ironwood, MI; Austin Blom, Saginaw, MN; Trenton Bond, Iron River; Jason Melton, Rhinelander; Rita Anderson, South Range.
11: Jake Nevala, Ashland.
Heat 1: McFadden; Blom; Deragon; Simpson; Bond; Beeksma.
Heat 2: Stuart; Copp; Melton; Anderson; Nevala.
Lightning Storm Graphics WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
Feature: 1-10: Marcus Dunbar, Marenisco, MI; Cory Jorgensen, Duluth, MN; Tanner Hicks, Ashland; Mike Jacques, Thunder Bay, ON; Paul Suzik, Ironwood, MI; Ryan Barningham, Bayfield; Matt Jacobson, Bessemer, MI; Judd Skubal, Rhinelander; Bryan Lund, Ashland; Jesse Young, Stone Lake.
11-13: David Simpson, Thunder Bay, ON; Tad Schoonover, Eagle River; Jesse Polson, Superior.
Heat 1: Jacques; Barningham; Polson; Lund; Hicks; Skubal; Suzik.
Heat 2: Dunbar; Jorgensen; Schoonover; Simpson; Jacobson; Young.
Patsy’s Bar & Grill WISSOTA Pure Stocks
Feature: 1-5: Eric Crosby, Amery; Shane Basina, Bayfield; Brent Mindock, Prentice; Anthony Schultz, Stillwater, MN; Zene Anderson, Superior.
Heat: Aaron Bernick, Duluth, MN; Mindock; Basina; Crosby; Schultz; Anderson.
Berglund Customs ABC Six-Cylinders
Feature: 1-10: Dalton Truchon, Ashland; Roger Walker, Phillips; Cody Eichmann, Park Falls; Mathew Rohlfing, Cable; Jakob Bond, Mason; Alex Bond, Iron River; Jim Anderson, Cable; Justin Pratt, Glidden; Mady Anderson, Mason; Travis Swanson, Ashland.
11: Shane Basina, Bayfield.
Heat 1: Rohlfing; J Anderson; Eichmann; A Bond; Swanson; M Anderson.
Heat 2: Truchon; Walker; J Bond; Pratt; C Bond; Basina.