Swan, Treviranus are First-Time ABC Raceway Feature Winners
by Nick Gima
Ashland, WI, August 6 – First-time feature winners, fund-raiser raffles and kids racing their bikes on the historic red-clay oval were the themes of the night at the ABC Raceway on Saturday.
The Ashland-Bayfield County Sportsmen’s Club presented the six-division “Small Car Classic” program in which WISSOTA Street Stocks replaced the track’s usual WISSOTA Modified contingent. The purses paid out on this night included $500 to win for each of the feature winners except in the WISSOTA Hornets, which were offered a season-high $300 to win.
Kennedy Swan, the talented 15-year-old from Chippewa Falls, broke through with her first-ever feature win at ABC by taking the lead just after a mid-race restart and holding on. Swan started outside on row 2 and was in the thick of the lead pack throughout the 20-lap run.
After a first-corner three-car tangle, Jimmy Latvala edged ahead of polestarter Ross Fuhrman for the early advantage before a series of yellow flags were thrown for a Marcus Dunbar spin, a three-car mess on the front straight that collected Dunbar, and a stalled Duane Dunbar. Following the last of those stoppages, Paul Suzik worked a high-side pass of Latvala to take the lead away on lap 4, just before another melee stopped the show on lap 5.
Suzik, Latvala and Swan inched away from the rest of the pack before a Diamond Bressette spin on lap 7 brought about another yellow. It was after that restart that Swan made an inside move stick to grab the lead, and she survived one final stoppage – for a grinding crash involving Bressette and Mitch Kieber on lap 12 – while fending off Suzik’s challenges for her one-second margin of victory.
Latvala was right on Suzik’s rear bumper at the checkers, while Marcus Dunbar recovered to climb all the way to fourth, and William Moelter was awarded fifth.
The other first-time winner on this night was Tim Treviranus, who drove to the WISSOTA Pure Stock feature win. The veteran Hawthorne driver was making his first visit of the season here, trying to get the bugs out of daughter Jessie Limberios’ car.
Division points leader Cory Jorgensen looked to have the upper hand on polestarter Kevin Bartelt through the first turns, but his car slipped high in turn 2, allowing RJ Holly, Tyler Kachinske, Travis Hazelton and Aaron Bernick to get by. Bernick then made a three-wide pass for second hold up on lap 2, with Hazelton staying with him to third.
By lap 5 Hazelton had overtaken Bernick and was threatening Holly for the lead over the next three circuits, before Bernick’s spin on lap 8 brought out the race’s only caution flag – and the first of the night overall, as there had not been a single yellow flag thrown throughout the heats.
Holly held on as long as he could, but eventually Treviranus, who took second from Hazelton on lap 9, worked inside on Holly to take over the lead on lap 11, with Hazelton following to second. The lead pair pulled away over the closing laps, and Treviranus held on for a third-of-a-second advantage for his landmark win. Holly was a distant third, and Brent Mindock took fourth in his first feature race at Ashland since 2001, ahead of Jorgensen.
Rice Lake’s Hunter VanGuilder captured the visiting Street Stocks’ 12-lap A-feature – his second career win in three visits to the northern Wisconsin speedplant. VanGuilder also took advantage of a restart to claim the lead and then fought off a late challenge.
VanGuilder dove low on the opening lap to threaten polestarter Warren Bartelt and Michael Tuma for the early lead, but Tuma outlasted the others to set the pace by lap 2. Then on lap 3, a hard crash collected four cars running in tight formation just behind the lead pair, taking out Caiden Engel and Ty Agen while sending Bartelt to the back.
VanGuilder used the restart to get an inside run on Tuma and took the lead away, with former ABC Raceway Pure Stock champ Andrew Hanson following VanGuilder to second. From there VanGuilder and Hanson drew away from the balance of the field, with the leader extending his edge on every lap, until VanGuilder crossed under the checkered flag a full 1.25 seconds ahead of Hanson.
Tuma trailed in third, ahead of Bartelt and Eric Haupt.
Although the division was a little low on cars, the Arrowhead Auto Glass WISSOTA Super Stock feature battle was a thriller, as Nick Oreskovich held off a determined Steve Stuart for his second win of the year here.
Oreskovich, the divisional points leader from Mason, grabbed the initial lead as fellow front-row starter Patrick Beeksma slowed in front of the field coming out of the first set of turns with a mechanical issue. After that, Oreskovich had to contend with Stuart directly on his back bumper and Shawn McFadden staying nearly dead even with the leader on the low groove. The top three in points pulled away before Randy Graham’s spin brought everyone together for a lap 2 restart.
Don Livingston looped his ride one lap after the race went back to green, and shortly after that restart Graham’s car lost power and pulled off the track. By this time McFadden had lost touch with Oreskovich and Stuart, who were putting on a nose-to-tail battle up front. Occasionally Stuart showed his car’s nose to the inside, but Oreskovich held his line and his high-groove momentum.
Only in the final couple of laps did Oreskovich pull away to any kind of cushion, finishing just .61 seconds ahead of Stuart while adding to his slim lead over Stuart in the points standings. At a distance behind the third-finishing McFadden were Myron Basina and Aaron Mashlan.
It was looking like another driver would get his first-ever feature win in the ABC Six-Cylinder class, but this time a caution stoppage spoiled the opportunity.
It was polestarter Austin Olby’s race to lose, as he set the pace right from the drop of the green, although a lap 3 restart after Dalton Truchon’s stalled ride had stopped the event tested Olby’s nerve. But the sophomore driver endured and, in fact, extended his lead over a long green-flag run during the race’s middle stages.
Behind him Bubba Anderson kept the pressure on, while Dennis Groom and Mathew Rohlfing stayed close in third and fourth. On lap 8 Olby held a half-second edge when Julian Root spun his racer, and on the ensuing restart Anderson took himself out of contention when he spun in front of the pack.
That’s when Groom, the divisional points leader and defending Sixes champ, dove low on lap 11 to work past Olby for the lead, and from there the Ashland veteran pilot pulled away to a 1.7-second final margin for his fourth win of the season which, combined with Truchon’s early-race issues, padded his tenuous points lead. Rohlfing got by Olby with three laps remaining for a season-high second-place effort, while Olby edged Jakob Bond for third, ahead of rookie Jacob Johnson.
Despite a little controversy at the start of the Lightning Storm Graphics WISSOTA Hornets feature, the usual suspect – Ashland’s DeJay Jarecki – settled the issue by scoring another feature win.
The controversy came in the form of visiting Justin Schelitzsche, who hustled over from finishing a night of points racing in Proctor, MN, just in time to pull into ABC’s pits for the Hornets’ A-main. After some discussion, Schelitzsche was allowed to start the feature last on the six-car grid, with track officials scrambling to research the proper course of action for such a situation.
Schelitzsche was fast early on, getting completely through the field and taking the lead going into turn 3 on the very first lap. However, Jarecki, who started alongside Schelitzsche in the back row, grabbed second before the initial circuit was completed and chased down the leader within a couple more laps.
Jarecki went the long way around Schelitzsche on lap 3 to take the lead and, despite being only a couple of car-lengths ahead, held on to win his fourth feature on the season and solidify his points lead. Kristy Marken won a race-long battle with Holly for third, and Noah Rose came home fifth.
Winners of the kids’ bike races included Zander Pagels (ages 3-5), Kennedy Cook (ages 6-8), Tatum Cook (ages 9-11), and Cole Marquardt (ages 12-up).
Nearly 40 bikes and a couple of scooters were donated by various race teams and local businesses for the young fans in the stands on this night. The generous contributors included Robert & Sandy Lowndes, 22RVR Racing, Vendela Racing, Anderson Motorsports, Myron Basina Racing, Mashlan Business Services, McFadden Racing, Mudflaps Motorsports, Rohlfing Racing, Jacob Johnson Racing, Copp Racing, Oreskovich Racing, Mashlan Racing, Jake Nevala Racing, Deragon Racing, DTM Motorsports, Patti’s Family Day Care and Groom Racing, Northern Clearing Inc, the Ashland Walmart store, Kieber Racing, Shane Basina Racing, Randy Graham Racing, Hiatt & Son Trucking, Jake Hiatt Racing, the ABC Raceway, and in memory of the late Bill Muhlig.
Sixes driver Jake Nevala also purchased a racing helmet and collected several local-driver autographs on it; the helmet was also donated as a giveaway on this night.
On Saturday, August 13, the ABC Raceway will host the Northern Renegades traditional sprint tour, while the “big Mods” will also return to make a seven-division program, to be presented by the Heartland Communication Group of Chequamegon Bay area radio stations. The grandstand gates and pits will open at 5 pm, with hot laps to be run at 6:15 followed by heat-race action at 7 pm. WSBZ, 93.3 FM, will air race and weather updates from 4:30-6 pm on Saturday.
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, www.abcraceway.com.
Results
WISSOTA Super Stocks
Feature: 1-9: Nick Oreskovich, Mason; Steve Stuart, Ashland; Shawn McFadden, Ashland; Myron Basina, Bayfield; Aaron Mashlan, Ashland; Randy Graham, Trego; Don Livingston, Washburn; Patrick Beeksma, Ironwood, MI; Matt Deragon, Ashland.
Heat: Stuart; Oreskovich; Beeksma; Deragon; McFadden; Livingston; Graham; Mashlan; Basina.
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
Feature: 1-10: Kennedy Swan, Chippewa Falls; Paul Suzik, Ironwood, MI; Jimmy Latvala, Solon Springs; Marcus Dunbar, Marenisco, MI; William Moelter, Elk Mound; Sean O’Brien, Manitowish Waters; Ross Fuhrman, Ashland; Matt Jacobson, Bessemer, MI; Austin Blom, Saginaw, MN; Ryan Barningham, Bayfield.
11-16: Mitch Kieber, Ironwood, MI; Diamond Bressette, Spooner; Neil Dees, Hurley; Tanner Gehl, Solon Springs; Duane Dunbar, Marenisco, MI; Bryan Lund, Ashland.
Heat 1: Suzik; D Dunbar; Bressette; Latvala; Jacobson; Kieber; Blom; Lund.
Heat 2: M Dunbar; Fuhrman; Swan; O’Brien; Gehl; Moelter; Barningham; Dees.
WISSOTA Street Stocks
Feature: 1-7: Hunter VanGilder, Rice Lake; Andrew Hanson, Iron River; Michael Tuma, Weyerhaeuser; Warren Bartelt, Medford; Eric Haupt, Trego; Ty Agen, Chippewa Falls; Caiden Engel, Bruce.
Heat: VanGilder; Bartelt; Engel; Tuma; Agen; Hanson; Haupt.
WISSOTA Pure Stocks
Feature: 1-10: Tom Treviranus, Hawthorne; Travis Hazelton, Chippewa Falls; RJ Holly, Marengo; Brent Mindock, Prentice; Cory Jorgensen, Duluth, MN; Tyler Kachinske, Duluth, MN; Kevin Bartelt, Chippewa Falls; Nate Rose, Duluth, MN; Aaron Bernick, Duluth, MN; Skylar Findley, Clayton.
11: Steve Pohl, Manitowish Waters.
Heat 1: Hazelton; Treviranus; Bernick; Holly; Mindock; Rose.
Heat 2: Jorgensen; Bartelt; Kachinske; Findley; Pohl
ABC Six-Cylinders
Feature: 1-10: Dennis Groom, Ashland; Mathew Rohlfing, Cable; Austin Olby, Marengo; Jakob Bond, Mason; Jacob Johnson, Cable; Forrest Schultz, Ashland; Shane Basina, Bayfield; Julian Root, Ashland; Cody Eichmann, Park Falls; Trenton Bond, Mason.
11-16: Bella Bretting, Washburn; Bubba Anderson, Trego; Jake Nevala, Ashland; Dalton Truchon, Ashland; Jimmy Stearns, Superior; Adam Traaholt, Ashland.
Heat 1: Groom; Truchon; Anderson; T Bond; Basina; Stearns; Traaholt.
Heat 2: Nevala; J Bond; Rohlfing; Olby; Schultz; Johnson; Root; Bretting.
WISSOTA Hornets
Feature: 1-6: DeJay Jarecki, Ashland; Justin Schelitzche, Waconia, MN; Kristy Marken, Duluth, MN; RJ Holly, Marengo; Noah Rose, Duluth, MN; Brandon Hummelmeier, Ashland.
Heat: Jarecki; Holly; Marken; Hummelmeier; Rose.