Lawrence Assumes Points Lead, Truchon Impressive in ABC Efforts By Nick Gima

Ashland, WI, July 30 -- All five feature winners at the ABC Raceway on Saturday had found victory lane earlier this season, but the points chases in four of the divisions received major shake-ups during the 100-car program presented by Xtreme Sign and Graphics.

Defending champion Scott Lawrence made the most “extreme” move, taking over the super stock points lead with his third feature win of the season and sixth straight top-three feature finish. Lawrence pulled into second early behind Greg Kuklenski and made repeated inside-groove challenges on the track’s winningest driver until finally slipping by for good with five laps remaining. The move, combined with a heat win and Randy Spacek’s third-place heat run moved Lawrence into the points lead, and after Charlie Anderson stole third from Spacek in the late going of the 20-lapper it padded Lawrence’s lead to three with four race programs remaining. Donnie Lofdahl enjoyed one of his best ABC Raceway efforts of his career with a fifth-place finish and an earlier heat win.

The most impressive run of the night was provided by Kevin Truchon in the pure stock feature. Truchon, along with fellow top-six points runners Ricky Davis and Al Rapp, was disqualified from his heat race after a wheelbase infraction, and the three of them started the 19-car feature in the last three positions, with Truchon 17th. But thanks to frequent caution flags and a fast, wide race track, all three were within the top ten by lap 5, and five laps later Truchon was in fourth and joined an already-heated dogfight for the lead between racelong leader Tom Morinville, John Kallas and Scott Niemi. Truchon used inside moves to swipe second on the penultimate lap, then took the lead from Morinville as the white flag waved to win his first feature since May 28. Kallas held off Niemi for third and Rapp, who started dead last, took fifth.
Jim Eliason extended his points lead with a seventh-place run, while Kevin Eder moved to second, 19 points back, with his sixth-place finish.

After an opening-lap stop for a two-car tangle, the modified main event ran non-stop for its 20 laps, with Bill Byholm earning his fourth feature win of the season. Byholm chased Dean Yrjanainen for several laps on the outside groove until finding some bite and swooping by on the inside at midrace. Byholm opened up a ten car-length lead and held it to the final stripe, while Yrjanainen held on to second ahead of Don Copp - whose rear suspension broke during the final lap - Jeff Spacek and Jerry Hartman. Al Uotinen, who came into the show with a one-point advantage over Spacek and finished two positions better in their heat, dropped from the feature while challenging Spacek for fifth with six laps remaining, allowing Spacek to take over the points lead.

The top four in mod points - Spacek, Uotinen, Hartman and Yrjanainen - are separated by just 12 points.
Dale Coddington overtook Ron Swanson after a thrilling duel for the lead in the six-cylinder feature and ran off with his second win of the season, while the division standings leaders also got shuffled. The winning move came on lap 11 of 15, when Coddington used his preferred outside line to creep past a stubborn Swanson, then pulled away after each of two late restarts. Swanson held off a strong Brent Brevak during the late stages for runner-up honors, but Brevak lost third to a late move by Brian Mikkonen. Chuck Hawkinson started 17th in the 22-car field but climbed to fifth in the final rundown, pulling him to within 16 of division points leader Greg Jaeger, who finished seventh, while Coddington sits third in points, one back of Hawkinson.

With all the points recalculating going on, one driver maintained the status quo. Larry Haderly continued his winning ways with his track-best fifth feature win in the street stock A-main. Haderly stole the lead from pole-starter Trevor Wilson two laps into the 15-lap event, then pulled away slightly, while Wilson eventually lost second to second-in-points Steve Anderson. Late caution flags kept Anderson on Haderly’s bumper over the final laps, but Haderly held on to extend what is fast becoming a nearly insurmountable points lead. Roger Walker and Randy Vezina enjoyed strong charges over the second half of the race to claim third and fourth, respectively, ahead of Tim Baum.

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 Modifieds
Heat 1: Al Uotinen, Superior; Jerry Hartman, Marenisco, MI; Jeff Spacek, Phillips.
Heat 2: Don Copp, Brule; Scott Hudack, Ashland; Dean Yrjanainen, Lake Nebagamon.
Feature: Bill Byholm, Glidden; Yrjanainen; Copp; Spacek; Hartman; Darrell Carlson, Superior; Ross Lightner, Washburn; Kent Baxter, Dorchester; Hudack; John Frydrych, Butternut.

WISSOTA Super Stocks
Heat 1: Don Lofdahl, Proctor, MN; Dave Flynn, Superior; Ron Hmielewski, Washburn.
Heat 2: Scott Lawrence, Superior; Charlie Anderson, Ironwood, MI; Wayne Stricker, Highbridge.
Heat 3: Destin Lorimor, Superior; Scott Weber, Bayfield; Randy Spacek, Phillips.
Feature: Lawrence; Greg Kuklenski, Ironwood, MI; Anderson; Spacek; Lofdahl; Flynn; Hmielewski; Lorimor; Ken Truscott, Greenland, MI; Dave Elliott, Minocqua.

WISSOTA Street Stocks
Heat 1: Roger Walker, Phillips; Tim Baum, Superior; Kirk Bogdonovic, Phillips.
Heat 2: Steve Anderson, Ironwood, MI; Larry Haderly, Marengo; Trevor Wilson, Superior.
Feature: Haderly; Anderson; Walker; Randy Vezina, Duluth, MN; Baum; Wilson; Bogdonovic; Duane Dunbar, Marenisco, MI; Pete Paulus, Phillips; Justin Paulsen, Ironwood, MI.

Six-Cylinders
Heat 1: Dale Coddington, Hayward; Greg Jaeger, Mellen; Brian Mikkonen, Iron River.
Heat 2: Scott Ovaska, Marengo; Brent Brevak, Ashland; Pat Cook, Washburn.
Heat 3: Steve Stuart, Ashland; Shawn McFadden, Jr., Ashland; Ken Tyykila, Iron River.
Feature: Coddington; Ron Swanson, Ashland; Mikkonen; Brevak; Chuck Hawkinson, Mellen; Ovaska; Jaeger; Tyykila; Steve Walston, Marengo; Cook.

Pure Stocks
Heat 1: John Kallas, Hurley; Bruce Kalmon, Ashland; Marty Passuello, Ironwood, MI.
Heat 2: Tom Morinville, Duluth, MN; Kevin Eder, Ashland; Chad Carlson, Superior.
Feature: Kevin Truchon, Ashland; Morinville; Kallas; Scott Niemi, Bessemer, MI; Al Rapp, Duluth, MN; Eder; Jim Eliason, Ashland; Ricky Davis, Bruno, MN; Bruce Kalmon, Ashland; Nathan Dees, Ironwood, MI.