Kaanta Collects in ABC Late Model Run By Nick Gima

Ashland, WI, July 29 -- National WISSOTA late model points leader John Kaanta has won a lot of features, but he had never won one at the ABC Raceway until Friday night, when he claimed the win in the AmsOil Late Model Series 35-lapper during the track’s annual Chuck Anderson Race of Champions special.

Kaanta worked for the win, starting outside on row 5 and climbing steadily through the field until he took the lead from Series points leader Terry Casey after a lap 27 restart and pulled away to the $2,500 win.

Casey, who won the Series opener at Hibbing, MN, in June, led from the pole but fought off steady pressure from Pat Doar throughout the first half of the event, then had his hands full when Doar was joined by Joel Cryderman, who started alongside Kaanta, and the eventual winner. Casey gained some breathing room when Kaanta and Cryderman cleared Doar and jostled among themselves for second, but the yellow flag flew when Cryderman’s car failed him with eight laps remaining.

Two laps after the restart Kaanta pulled alongside Casey, and the veteran Elk Mound campaigner was scored the leader for good one lap later. Kaanta led by several car-lengths at the stripe, with Casey a solid second to retain the Series points lead heading into the tour’s third stop at Proctor on Sunday. Doar held on for third-place money, ahead of former ABC Raceway modified frontrunner Todd Gehl and Rick Hanestad.

Joining the late models Friday were the track’s super stocks and six-cylinders. In the super stock feature the yellow flag seemed to wave more than the green over the field, as Dave Elliott surprised the crowd with a strong early run. But on lap 4, just before an Adam Long spin, Tim Johnson, making his first regular-season appearance here, took over the lead and brought Scott Lawrence along to second. From there Johnson pulled away from Lawrence until a final yellow flag flew for Greg Kuklenski’s hard hit into the turn 2 wall, forcing the race to end under caution on lap 21 of the scheduled 25. The win was Johnson’s first-ever at Ashland, while Lawrence closed to within three of Randy Spacek, who finished third, for the track points lead. Shawn McFadden landed fourth in the final rundown, while Elliott settled for fifth.

The 15-lap six-cylinder A-main also saw several slowdowns, but after Chuck Hawkinson overtook Andy Grymala for the lead with a lap in the books, he was untouchable from there, hustling to his second feature win of the season. Hawkinson climbed to second in the points standings with the win as he stayed just out of Pat Cook’s reach; Cook himself won a tight battle with Steve Stuart for runner-up honors, while defending champion Ron Swanson - in his first night behind the wheel since his injury from an opening night wreck - finished fourth. Greg Jaeger held on to his points lead with a fifth-place run.
Action continues on Saturday with hot laps at 6:30 and racing at 7 pm. “Racenight” airs live from the track from 5-6 pm on WJJH, 96.7 and 102.3 FM, with on-track news and weather updates. The ABC Raceway is located three miles south of Ashland on State Highway 13 and one mile west on Butterworth Road. For more information, call the track on racedays at (715) 682-4990 or log on to the track’s website at www.abcraceway.com.

Results

WISSOTA Late Models
Heat 1: Kevin Carlson, Cloquet, MN; Terry Casey, New London; Pat Doar, New Richmond.
Heat 2: Rick Hanestad, Boyceville; Tom Waseleski, Hibbing, MN; John Kaanta, Elk Mound.
Heat 3: Darin Meierotto, Ashland; Keane Laakson, Stone Lake; Curt Myers, Marshfield.
Dash: Hanestad; Carlson; Meierotto.
Feature: Kaanta; Casey; Doar; Todd Gehl, Solon Springs; Hanestad; Nick Nelson, Duluth, MN; Harry Hanson, Eveleth, MN; Myers; Darrell Nelson, Hermantown, MN; Tom Nesbitt, Thunder Bay, Ont.

WISSOTA Super Stocks
Heat 1: Ron Hmielewski, Washburn; Shawn McFadden, Ashland; Dave Flynn, Superior.
Heat 2: Scott Lawrence, Superior; Randy Spacek, Phillips; Rick Rivord, Superior.
Heat 3: Ken Truscott, Greenland, MI; Dave Elliott, Minocqua; Wayne Stricker, Highbridge.
Semi-Feature: Joe Oliver, Superior; Charlie Anderson, Ironwood, MI; Don Koivisto, Saxon.
Feature: Tim Johnson, Brainerd, MN; Lawrence; Spacek; McFadden; Elliott; Stricker; Anderson; Oliver; Hmielewski; Joe Olson, Superior.

Six-Cylinders
Heat 1: Ron Swanson, Ashland; Pat Cook, Washburn; Andy Grymala, Superior.
Heat 2: Chuck Hawkinson, Mellen; Don Weber, Bayfield; Steve Stuart, Ashland.
Heat 3: Scott Ovaska, Marengo; Brent Brevak, Ashland; Greg Jaeger, Mellen.
Semi-Feature: Steve Tesch, Prentice; Brian Nevala, Ashland; Adam Traaholt, Ashland.
Feature: Hawkinson; Cook; Stuart; Swanson; Jaeger; Ovaska; Grymala; Dale Coddington, Hayward; Tim Beeksma, Ashland; Ken Tyykila, Iron River.