Byholm Takes Two During ABC Mod Triple Header! By Nick Gima

June 18, 2005; Ashland, WI: -   Bill Byholm found a comfortable line in the third WISSOTA modified A-main and cruised to a huge payday in Saturday's fourth annual Bad River Lodge and Casino Modified Triple Header at the ABC
Raceway. Of the 101 cars in the pit area, 31 were mods.

    Byholm, the track points leader, came from the second row to slip under front-row starters Jeff Spacek and Craig Christiansen through the first turn of the 25-lap event and built a small lead riding the fast upper groove. Christiansen provided significant pressure on the three restarts in the event - after a lap 4 Jerry Hartman spin that collected five other cars in the aftermath, after Kelly Checkalski stalled on lap 15, and after a Scott Hudack spin just as the white flag was about to wave for the leaders - but Byholm overcame each challenge and rode the same line to his 14th career feature win at Ashland and third this season.

    Brent Larson, who until the third main was having a quiet but solid night, passed Spacek for third prior to the lap 4 yellow and remained there until the green-white-checkered finish, when he slipped by Christiansen for second. Luke Schilling also got stronger as the night progressed and finished a solid fourth ahead of Spacek.

    In the second 20-lap feature Byholm started on the pole and held off first Christiansen and then Robby Bunkelman before finally outrunning a charging Jerry Hartman to the finish. Christiansen took third, while Bunkelman and Al Uotinen trailed at a distance.

    In the first 15-lap feature Christiansen earned his first career win here after a pole-position start. He built as much as a straightaway lead within the first five laps before the field was drawn back to him by a caution flag for a five-car pile-up that took out defending event champion Craig Thatcher. From there Christiansen could not pull away from Uotinen but did keep him at bay to the stripe. Dean Yrjanainen trailed in third ahead of Hartman and Bunkelman.

    The 20-lap WISSOTA super stock feature was a thriller that included a four-car battle during the final three-lap sprint to the checkers. Randy Silverness, Jr., edged ahead of polesitter Ron Hmielewski and led through two early cautions and a 17-lap stretch of green-flag racing, looking for his first-ever feature win here. Randy Spacek overtook Hmielewski after the
second early caution and followed Silverness in the upper line while Hmielewski took frequent peeks below both leaders. The fast pace was cooled by a Jake Hiatt spin with three laps left, and on that restart Silverness bobbled slightly, giving Spacek the room to slip by for the lead and pull away for his first win of 2005 and 26th of his career here. Hmielewski
followed for an impressive second-place run - his best in several years in a super stock - while Scott Lawrence also followed suit to swipe third. Silverness held on for fourth just ahead of Shawn McFadden.

    The six-cylinder A-main was also a nail-biter that finished with a three-lap dogfight. Greg Jaeger led every lap to pick up his second career ABC Raceway feature win and first in nearly two years, but he had to fend a determined Scott Ovaska in the early laps. Meanwhile, on the charge from mid-pack were Dale Coddington, who started in row 4, and Steve Stuart, who started in row 6; both used the outer groove to climb into the top five by lap 6, and Coddington swept around Ovaska on lap 7 for second. Shawn McFadden, Jr.¹s badly overheating car spun with three laps left of the 15 scheduled, and Coddington pulled alongside Jaeger coming out of turn 4 for the last time, only to fall three feet short as Jaeger won the dragrace to the checkered flag. Stuart overtook Ovaska for third on the next-to-last lap, and Chuck Hawkinson, who started dead last in the 25-car grid, finished fifth.

    Cory Casari hung a "for sale" sign on his two-time championship-winning pure stock and dragged it onto the Ashland oval for the first time this season, then gave it a good sales pitch by fighting off his former nemesis Kevin Truchon for his 13th career feature win. Truchon took the lead when he used a three-wide move to sweep around Casari and early leader Bruce Kalman on lap 4, but a lap later Truchon was caught behind a slower car, and Casari took advantage. From there the two old foes ran off to decide the race¹s outcome, with Casari holding on. Jim Eliason climbed through the field for a
strong third-place run, while Kalman and Kevin Eder completed the top five.

    Racing resumes on Saturday for NAPA Auto Parts Night at the Races. "Racenight Live" will air from 5-6 pm Saturday on WJJH, 96.7 & 102.3 FM, with raceday news and weather updates. The ABC Raceway is located three miles south of Ashland on Highway 13, then one mile west on Butterworth Road. For more information, visit the track website at <www.abcraceway.com> or call (715) 682-4990 for raceday information.

Results

WISSOTA Modifieds
    Heat 1: Jeff Spacek, Phillips; Al Uotinen, Superior; Jerry Hartman, Marenisco, MI.
    Heat 2: Bill Byholm, Glidden; Scott Hudack, Ashland; Craig Christiansen, New London, MN.
    Heat 3: Ross Lightner, Washburn; Rick Przybylski, Ashland; Robby Bunkelman, Abbotsford.
    Heat 4: Dean Yrjanainen, Lake Nebagamon; Tyler Keyser, Baldwin; Kent Baxter, Dorchester.
    Semi-Feature: Craig Thatcher, Knapp; Mark Baxter, Dorchester; Troy Girolamo, Eleva.
    Feature 1: Christiansen; Uotinen; Yrjanainen; Hartman; Bunkelman; Spacek; Byholm; Don Copp, Brule; Brandon Jensen,
    Maplewood, MN.
    Feature 2: Byholm; Hartman; Christiansen; Bunkelman; Uotinen; Luke Schilling, Granton; Spacek; Brent Larson, Lake Elmo,
    MN; Lightner; Chris Oertel, Marshfield.
    Feature 3: Byholm; Larson; Christiansen; Schilling; Spacek; Yrjanainen; Uotinen; Bunkelman; Hartman; Thatcher.

WISSOTA Super Stocks
    Heat 1: Randy Spacek, Phillips; Randy Silverness, Jr., South Range; Rob Erickson, Bayfield.
    Heat 2: Greg Kuklenski, Ironwood, MI; Don Koivisto, Saxon; Shawn McFadden, Ashland.
    Heat 3: Wayne Stricker, Highbridge; Charlie Anderson, Ironwood, MI; Mike Duhr, Hazelhurst.
    Feature: Spacek; Ron Hmielewski, Washburn; Scott Lawrence, Superior; Silverness; McFadden; Stricker; Ken Truscott,
    Greenland, MI; Anderson; Kuklenski; Joe Oliver, Superior.

Six-Cylinders
    Heat 1: Don Weber, Bayfield; Greg Jaeger, Mellen; Brent Brevak, Ashland.
    Heat 2: Brian Nevala, Ashland; Steve Walston, Marengo; Scott Ovaska,Marengo.
    Heat 3: Mike Zasadni, Ironwood, MI; Adam Traaholt, Ashland; AndyGrymala, Superior.
    Feature: Jaeger; Dale Coddington, Hayward; Steve Stuart, Ashland; Ovaska; Chuck Hawkinson, Mellen; Walston; Nevala;
    Steve Tesch, Prentice; Grymala; Ken Tyykila, Iron River.
Pure Stocks
    Heat 1: Jim Eliason, Ashland; Bruce Kalmon, Ashland; Mike Huff, Hurley.
    Heat 2: Kevin Truchon, Ashland; Cory Casari, Hurley; Al Rapp, Duluth, MN.
    Heat 3: Jim Laessig, Wakefield, MI; Tom Morinville, Duluth, MN; Scott Niemi, Bessemer, MI.
    Feature: Casari; Truchon; Eliason; Kalman; Kevin Eder, Ashland; Rapp; Ricky Davis, Bruno, MN; Morinville; Marty Passuello,
    Ironwood, MI; Rob Ganson, Washburn.