Uotinen Takes Back Points Lead with ABC Mod Sweep! By Nick Gima

Ashland, WI, August 6 -- Defending WISSOTA modified champion Al Uotinen had lost the points lead for a week, but he got it right back again with dominant performances in both his heat and the feature Saturday night during action at the ABC Raceway.

Uotinen, who suffered his first DNF of the season here last weekend, worked hard to slip by a surprising Ross Lightner early in the mod main event, but once past Lightner only a lap 5 caution slowed the popular Superior campaigner. Uotinen was one of very few drivers who made the inside line work, but he used it to pull away to a nearly-straightaway advantage as the final 15 laps ran off non-stop, while Lightner fended off but eventually succumbed to the challenges of first Bill Byholm and finally Dean Yrjanainen, who used an inside move of his own to take second from Byholm. Lightner held off Jeff Spacek for fourth at the pay window.

With the win Uotinen retook the points lead and is tied with street stocker Larry Haderly for the most feature wins this season at ABC, with five.

After an early three-car battle for the lead was halted by the race’s only caution flag, on lap 2, Greg Kuklenski slipped below Canadian Rick Simpson and ran away from Scott Lawrence for his second WISSOTA super stock feature win of the season and track-record 74th of his career. Kuklenski built up a dozen car-length advantage over the points leader and defending champ Lawrence, while Charlie Anderson found power and handling in the new sheet metal hung on the car this week and outdueled Ron Hmielewski for a season-best third-place run. Rick Rivord came home fifth.

Lawrence extended his points lead over Randy Spacek with his run; Spacek finished ninth.

Former track champ Trevor Wilson took a small share of the wind from the red-hot Haderly’s sails by capturing his first WISSOTA street stock feature win here since last August 10. Wilson pulled away from visiting Butch Kummer early, but Kummer took the lead just before a lap 5 caution for debris. After the restart, though, Wilson took the lead back and held on as Kummer gave chase to the end. Cory Casari followed at a distance in third, while second-in-points Steve Anderson and Haderly completed the top five in order.

Haderly’s points lead remains at 39 with three race programs remaining.

Dale Coddington looked to be well on his way to his second straight six-cylinder feature win of the season Saturday night, but he was slowed by lapped traffic, and Steve Stuart took advantage to collect his third win of the season. Coddington led from the pole and held off strong challenges from Chuck Hawkinson before extending his lead to several car-lengths, but after taking the white flag Coddington went low to lap Adam Traaholt, who also moved down to clear a path for the leaders. Stuart, who took over second on lap 11, went outside around both Coddington and Traaholt and swiped the lead, then held on as Coddington made a last-corner attempt to take back the point.

A strong run by Brent Brevak gave him a edge over Hawkinson at the stripe for third, while Scott Ovaska continued his late-season surge with a fifth-place finish.

The pure stock division was the only one to struggle in its feature, as it took over ten minutes to register a single official green-flag circuit. Nathan Dees held the point throughout the many early stumbles, but he was overtaken on lap 2 by a three-car charge led by Kevin Truchon, who then pulled away to a ten car-length lead. That advantage disappeared when the yellow banner waved on lap 12 for Tim Carlson’s stalled ride, but Truchon rebuilt the lead and carried it to the finish.

However, Truchon’s bid for two feature wins in a row ended at the technical inspection area, giving the victory to points leader Jim Eliason, who completed a sweep on the evening. Second-in-points Al Rapp was awarded second place for the run, while John Kallas, Ricky Davis and Glenn Dammer completed the adjusted top five.

Action continues with Ladies’ Night on Saturday, with hot laps at 6:30 and racing at 7 pm. “Powder puff” races will take place after the regular five-division race program. “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.

WISSOTA Modifieds
Heat 1: Al Uotinen, Superior; Bill Byholm, Glidden; Ross Lightner, Washburn.
Heat 2: Jerry Hartman, Marenisco, MI; Dean Yrjanainen, Lake Nebagamon; Rick Rivord, Superior.
Feature: Uotinen; Yrjanainen; Byholm; Lightner; Jeff Spacek, Phillips; Robby Bunkelman, Abbotsford; Darrell Carlson, Superior; Hartman; Rivord; Rick Przybylski, Ashland.

WISSOTA Super Stocks
Heat 1: Rick Simpson, Thunder Bay, Ont.; Randy Spacek, Phillips; Mike Duhr, Hazelhurst.
Heat 2: Scott Lawrence, Superior; Greg Kuklenski, Ironwood, MI; Ken Truscott, Greenland, MI.
Heat 3: Wayne Stricker, Highbridge; Paul Erikson, Abbotsford; Ron Hmielewski, Washburn.
Feature: Kuklenski; Lawrence; Charlie Anderson, Ironwood, MI; Hmielewski; Rick Rivord, Superior; Rich Bishop, New Richmond; Shawn McFadden, Ashland; Duhr; Spacek; Joe Oliver, Superior.

WISSOTA Street Stocks
Heat 1: Larry Haderly, Marengo; Justin Paulsen, Ironwood, MI; Benji Ott, Webster.
Heat 2: Trevor Wilson, Superior; Steve Anderson, Ironwood, MI; Butch Kummer, Medford.
Feature: Wilson; Kummer; Cory Casari, Hurley; Anderson; Haderly; Tim Baum, Superior; Kirk Bogdonovic, Phillips; Keith Tourville, Star Prairie; Pete Paulus, Phillips; Jordan Kurtti, Bruce Crossing, MI.

Six-Cylinders
Heat 1: Scott Ovaska, Marengo; Ken Tyykila, Iron River; Andy Grymala, Superior.
Heat 2: Chris Lustig, Ashland; Tim Beeksma, Ashland; Dale Coddington, Hayward.
Heat 3: Greg Jaeger, Mellen; Steve Stuart, Ashland; Chuck Hawkinson, Mellen.
Feature: Stuart; Coddington; Brent Brevak, Ashland; Hawkinson; Ovaska; Ron Swanson, Ashland; Jaeger; Lustig; Grymala; Tyykila.

Pure stocks
Heat 1: Jim Eliason, Ashland; Glenn Dammer, Duluth, MN; Nathan Dees, Ironwood, MI.
Heat 2: Ricky Davis, Bruno, MN; John Kallas, Hurley; Al Rapp, Duluth, MN.
Feature: Eliason; Rapp; Kallas; Davis; Dammer; Dustin Novak, Mellen; Bruce Kalmon, Ashland; Tom Morinville, Duluth, MN; Jim Laessig, Wakefield, MI; John Taitt, Ashland.