Bond Gets the ‘Sixes Slam’ Belt at ABC Raceway
by Nick Gima
Ashland, WI, July 6 – Jakob Bond of Mason won the first of the two features run for his division, then scored a podium finish in the other to claim the championship belt at the conclusion of the second annual “Six-Cylinder Slam,” presented by the Safari Tavern of Ashland, at the ABC Raceway on Saturday night.
The overall title for this special event for the Berglund Customs ABC Six-Cylinders was based on points awarded for the division’s heat race performances as well as both features, with the winner of the first feature drawing a numbered chip to determine the number of finishing positions from that race to be inverted for the starting line-up for the second feature.
Bond started alongside polestarter Cody Eichmann for the first feature but needed a couple of laps to overtake Eichmann for the lead, with Shane Basina also in the mix. After Roger Walker’s car was spun on lap 5, followed by a Cameron Bond spin on lap 6, Jakob Bond pulled away from Eichmann, while Dalton Truchon, who had started last on the 12-car grid, restarted fourth and surged below Eichmann and Basina to take second.
Truchon hounded Bond as the lead pair pulled away, but with just three laps remaining Brad Hanson’s car slowed on the back straight and he made the hard right turn off the turn 3 pit exit – cutting directly in front of the oncoming leaders. This drew a final yellow flag, after which Bond held on for the win – the second of his career at ABC – by a half-second over Truchon. Basina, Mathew Rohlfing, and 2017 track champ Scott Ovaska, who was racing for the first time since the 2019 season, completed the top-five.
Bond later drew the “2” chip for the invert, meaning only he and Truchon swapped spots to start the second headliner. Truchon shot away from the pole to a significant 1.2- second lead within a few short laps, while Bond argued with Basina for second, and eventually lost the argument on lap 3, before the first of a series of yellow-flag stops came about for Cameron Bond’s spin on lap 5.
Subsequent attempts to restart the 15-lapper were delayed by Justin Pratt’s looped ride and debris, but from there the race ran without further delay. Truchon fended off Basina’s persistent challenges, including while negotiating slower traffic, to win his 11th career feature here by a mere quarter-second. Bond’s third-place effort was more than enough to earn the overall title, while Rohlfing and Walker came home fourth and fifth, respectively.
Bond was awarded a huge oversized WWE-style belt for earning the overall title, as well as a $100 bonus, and both he and Truchon were presented satin prizefighter’s robes and $200 for their respective feature wins.
Duluth, MN’s Andrew Mackey was dominant in the 20-lap Fuhrman Design WISSOTA Modified feature, leading flag to flag despite two stoppages for his first-ever win in a “big Mod.” Mackey has struggled with a variety of mechanical woes and on-track bad luck so far in his rookie season in the division, but everything just clicked on this night.
After a multi-car get-together on the opening lap, Mackey swept around polestarter Marcus Dunbar and shot away, leading by a full second within just three laps. Dunbar had his hands full holding onto second place with Tyler Vernon pestering him, and behind them as many as seven cars raced in close formation while debating fourth.
As positions were swapped, several drivers, such as Mike Anderson (from seventh to as high as fourth) and Kennedy Swan (from eighth to as high as fourth), made strong advances. But Swan’s solo spin with seven laps remaining brought about one last yellow flag and erased Mackey’s 2.9-second cushion. Seemingly unfazed, Mackey pulled away over the closing laps and put 1.7 seconds between himself and Vernon, who stole second from Dunbar with four circuits left.
Anderson overtook Brandon Copp late for fourth-place money.
Three-time defending and nine-time ABC champ Steve Stuart of Ashland may have been even more dominant in picking up his first Superior Floral WISSOTA Super Stocks feature win of the season and 46th of his career here.
Stuart followed outside front-row starter Matt Deragon past early leader and polestarter Don Livingston on lap 2, then continued to make his way by Deragon on the high line before a spin of visitor Leslie Leu’s racer slowed the run. The remaining 18 laps clicked off non-stop, allowing Stuart to disappear from the field.
Deragon held second well ahead of an entertaining duel for third between Andy Grymala and Shane Kisling, while Shawn McFadden settled comfortably into fifth, well ahead of Livingston’s battle with visiting driver Kori Richter. Stuart caught the tail of the field in no time but had to wait patiently until openings presented themselves to get through slower traffic, allowing Deragon to shave a second or so off his deficit.
Once in the clear, Stuart sped away again, building a final winning margin of over four-and-a-half seconds over Deragon. Kisling, Grymala and McFadden filled out the top five at a distance.
David Simpson, from Thunder Bay, ON, led all 20 laps for his seventh career Lightning Storm Graphics WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds feature win at Ashland, although he needed to overcome a couple of late restarts to do it.
Simpson beat Jesse Polson from the pole to claim the lead at the start. Two laps later, Jimmy Latvala’s racer smoked and stalled while running in heavy top-ten traffic, bringing about the first of the race’s three cautions.
Simpson pulled away after the re-do and built up as much as a 1.4-second lead on second-running Paul Suzik, while behind him eighth-starting Vernon was charging forward, getting by Polson to take third on lap 7 and using a long green-flag run to close the sizeable gap to Suzik.
On lap 17, an infield marker tire was bumped onto the track in turn 3 in front of the leaders. Simpson and Suzik, running the upper lanes of the track, cleared the obstacle safely enough, but Vernon, running a lower lane while trying to complete a pass of Suzik, had to take evasive action to miss the tire and nearly spun. The debris brought about the second caution flag and pulled the field back to Simpson for the three-lap shootout.
Ross Fuhrman’s spun ride delayed the restart, after which Vernon took advantage of the side-by-side start to swipe second from Suzik. Simpson, however, vended off Vernon for the final laps and won by half a second. Suzik held on to third ahead of Polson and Dunbar.
In the Patsy’s Bar Pure Stocks feature, defending ABC champ Brent Mindock of Prentice overcame heavy contact with another car and the back-straight guardrail to score his fifth career feature win here.
The contact came on the opening lap, when thick traffic created contact between Mindock and Rob Christman, resulting in Mindock’s car stopping. Mindock took advantage of the restart to drive past Nicholas Hazelton and Charlie Pitcavage for the lead, and from there he pulled away to a margin of just over two seconds before the stalled car of visiting Anthony Schultz brought about a race stoppage on lap 4.
After debris on the track delayed that restart, Mindock took off and closed the run with a three-second final advantage on Eric Crosby, who beat RJ Holly to second place during the last restart. Aaron Bernick and Basina were hot on Holly’s back bumper to complete the top-five.
The well-prepared, smooth, sticky track produced some very quick lap times throughout the night. In fact, in at least six of the ten heat races, the fastest laps posted were within a quarter-second of the respective divisions’ track records, and each of the six features saw quick times that were well within a second of their record paces.
On Saturday, July 13, the ABC Raceway will welcome the Renegades High Roller Series for traditional and winged sprint cars for a program presented by the Bad River Casino, Lodge & Convention Center of Odanah. Over 30 total entries between the two divisions are expected to compete on the award-winning three-eighths-mile red-clay oval in a full race program of heats and features in what promises to be a night of high-speed excitement.
The Super Stocks, Midwest Mods, Pure Stocks and Six-Cylinders will also be on the docket, while the Modifieds will get the night off.
The grandstand gates and pits will open at 5 pm on Saturday, with hot laps starting at 6:15 pm and green-flag racing set for 7 pm. 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: Andrew Mackey, Duluth, MN; Tyler Vernon, Mason; Marcus Dunbar, Marenisco, MI; Mike Anderson, Jim Falls; Brandon Copp, Brule; Nick Oreskovich, Mason; Pat Cook, Washburn; Justin Weinberger, Elk Mound; Cole Spacek, Phillips; Kennedy Swan, Chippewa Falls.
11-13: John Kallas, Hurley; Jake Hiatt, Mason; Jeff Spacek, Phillips.
Heat 1: Anderson; Cook; Copp; C Spacek; Oreskovich; J Spacek; Kallas.
Heat 2: Swan; Vernon; Mackey; Dunbar; Weinberger; Hiatt.
Superior Floral WISSOTA Super Stocks
Feature: 1-10: Steve Stuart, Ashland; Matt Deragon, Ashland; Shane Kisling, Butternut; Andy Grymala, Superior; Shawn McFadden, Ashland; Don Livingston, Washburn; Kori Richter, Rice Lake; Leslie Leu, Medford; Myron Basina, Bayfield; Trenton Bond, Iron River.
11-12: Rita Anderson, South Range; Jackson Larson, Rice Lake.
Heat 1: Livingston; McFadden; Leu; Grymala; Basina; Larson; Bond.
Heat 2: Kisling; Stuart; Richte; Deragon; Anderson; Kyle Copp, Brule.
Lightning Storm Graphics WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
Feature: 1-10: David Simpson, Thunder Bay, ON; Tyler Vernon, Mason; Paul Suzik, Ironwood, MI; Jesse Polson, Superior; Marcus Dunbar, Marenisco, MI; James Vendela, South Range; Paul Ripley, Duluth, MN; Deven VanHouse, Silver Bay, MN; Tad Schoonover, Eagle River; Cory Jorgensen, Duluth, MN.
11-16: Bryan Lund, Ashland; Ryan Barningham, Bayfield; Ross Fuhrman, Ashland; Tanner Hicks, Ashland; Jimmy Latvala, Solon Springs; Hunter McDougall, Duluth, MN.
Heat 1: Dunbar; Vernon; Simpson; Polson; VanHouse; Schoonover; Barningham; Lund.
Heat 2: Hicks; Suzik; Vendela; Latvala; Jorgensen; Ripley; Fuhrman; McDougall.
Patsy’s Bar & Grill WISSOTA Pure Stocks
Feature: 1-10: Brent Mindock, Prentice; Eric Crosby, Amery; RJ Holly, Marengo; Aaron Bernick, Duluth, MN; Shane Basina, Bayfield; Rob Christman, Superior; Charlie Pitcavage, Menomonie; Zene Anderson, Superior; Anthony Schultz, Stillwater, MN; Travis Hazelton, Chippewa Falls.
Heat 1: Bernick; Nicholas Hazelton, Chippewa Falls; Christman; Pitcavage; Holly; Basina.
Heat 2: Mindock; T Hazelton; Crosby; Schultz; Anderson.
Berglund Customs ABC Six-Cylinders
Feature 1: 1-10: Jakob Bond, Mason; Dalton Truchon, Ashland; Shane Basina, Bayfield; Mathew Rohlfing, Cable; Scott Ovaska, Marengo; Roger Walker, Phillips; Justin Pratt, Glidden; Mady Anderson, Mason; Adam Traaholt, Ashland; Cody Eichmann, Park Falls.
11-12: Brad Hanson, Glidden; Cameron Bond, Mason.
Feature 2: 1-10: Truchon; Basina; J Bond; Rohlfing; Walker; Ovaska; C Bond; Eichmann; Anderson; Pratt.
Heat 1: J Bond; Travis Swanson, Ashland; Rohlfing; Hanson; Walker; Pratt.
Heat 2: Ovaska; Basina; C Bond; Eichmann; Anderson; Traaholt.