June 12, 2004; Ashland, WI: -  John Hunker earned his first feature win at the ABC Raceway in nearly seven seasons Saturday night, while Jerry Hartman moved one step closer to becoming one of the top ten all-time winningest drivers in track history during NAPA Auto Parts Night at the Races.

Photo Highlights

Rookie Rob Ganson (00) and Clay Passuello (04) go three wide with an unidentified car during the make-up pure stock feature Saturday night at the ABC Raceway. Tim Baum (7) leads the field from the pole to the start of the first heat of WISSOTA street stocks Saturday night at the ABC Raceway. Baum won the heat.

Hunker, who last won here in late July 1997 in a street stock, took his super stock to the front to challenge early leader Greg Kuklinski and Shawn McFadden. Hunker got by McFadden on lap 4, then took advantage of a lap 12 Jeff Lindsey spin to erase Kuklinski¹s comfortable lead and pass the leader with an inside move. Kuklinski regained the lead when Hunker slipped up on lap 16, but a three-car collection brought out the caution flag and negated the pass, and Hunker held on from there. McFadden stayed close in his third-place effort, while Rick Simpson and Al Uotinen also enjoyed strong top-five runs.

Hartman's 29th career win was also his 20th in a modified, and it was a night-and-day turnaround from his opening-night result, when he was caught up in heavy traffic and flipped violently. On Saturday he took the same car he flipped and cruised to victory lane, keeping a healthy lead over runner-up Jeff Lien throughout most of the run. Lien's car began to smoke in the later laps and coasted under the checkered flag, while Scott Hudack's impressive late-stage burst moved him from outside the top five to third and the pay window, ahead of Kent Baxter and Al Uotinen.

Russ Weber atoned for his opening-night struggles with a flag-to-flag six-cylinder feature win. Weber fought off an early challenge by Chuck Hawkinson until Hawkinson loosened up and fell back a bit, then he battled with McFadden for several laps until McFadden slipped back into a tussle for second with Ron Swanson. Hawkinson get back into the fight for the lead late by retaking second on lap 13 of 15, but a half-lap later he half-spun into the infield and out of contention, and Weber held on for his ninth career win over McFadden, Swanson, Jim Anderson and Dale Coddington.

Marshall Andrews' second career win here in the street stock A-main was a bit of a gift, as he started inside row 5 but found himself in the lead as one frontrunner after another dropped from contention. Early leader Tim Baum slowed in front of the pack, leaving the point to Steve Anderson, but after Anderson built his lead to a good margin he, too, suffered mechanical woes and dropped out at the halfway point of the 15-lapper. Andrews then inherited the lead and outran points leader Roger Walker and a charging Larry Haderly to the final stripe. Mike Kalkbrenner ran an impressive race to score fourth, while Scott Herrick, who missed all of last season with a hand injury, came home fifth.

The pure stocks ran two features on Saturday, as the program kicked off with their make-up race from May 15. Tim Carlson slipped by early leader Jim Eliason on lap 4 and ran off to his first-ever feature win here in the make-up main, with Al rapp, Kevin Truchon and Cory Casari completing the top five. Later, defending champion Casari used an outside move to overtake early race leader Shawn Stolarzyk and won for the eighth time in his brief career. Bruce Kalmon slipped past Ricky Davis on the next-to-last lap to retake second, while Carlson and Glenn Dammer rounded out the top five.

On Saturday night the Bad River Lodge and Casino will present the third annual Modified Triple Header at the ABC Raceway, featuring a unique format that allows mod drivers to run in three complete features for a share of a $16,000 purse. Super stocks, sixes and pure stocks will also be on the card.

Hot laps begin at 6:30 pm and racing starts at 7. "Racenight Live" will air from 5-6 pm on WJJH, 96.7 & 102.3 FM, with up-to-date weather and track information. For more information, call (715) 682-4237 evenings or the track at
(715) 682-4990.

Results

WISSOTA Modifieds
Heat 1: Jeff Spacek, Phillips; Jeff Lien, Zimmerman, MN; Darrell Carlson, Superior.
Heat 2: Dennis Checkalski, South Range; Bob Root, Washburn; Jerry Hartman, Marenisco, MI.
Feature: Hartman; Lien; Scott Hudack, Ashland; Kent Baxter, Dorchester; Al Uotinen, Superior; Carlson; Root; Checkalski; Ross Lightner, Washburn; Steve Kieber, Ironwood, MI.

WISSOTA Super Stocks
Heat 1: John Copp, Brule; Al Uotinen, Superior; Greg Kuklinski, Ironwood, MI.
Heat 2: Scott Lawrence, Superior; Wayne Stricker, Highbridge; Bob D'Antonio, Ironwood, MI.
Heat 3: John Hunker, South Range; Shawn McFadden, Ashland; Paul Erikson, Abbotsford.
Semi-Feature: Mike Duhr, Hazelhurst; Destin Lorimor, Superior; Ken Truscott, Greenland, MI.
Feature: Hunker; Kuklinski; McFadden; Rick Simpson, Thunder Bay, Ont.; Uotinen; Copp; Lawrence; Jeff Linsey, Thunder Bay, Ont.; Greg Alling, Dresser; Rick Rivord, Superior.

WISSOTA Street Stocks
Heat 1: Larry Haderly, Marengo; Roger Walker, Phillips; Marshall Andrews, Duluth, MN.
Heat 2: Tim Baum, Superior; Steve Anderson, Ironwood, MI; Trevor Wilson, Superior.
Feature: M. Andrews; Walker; Haderly; Mike Kalkbrenner, Duluth, MN; Scott Herrick, Proctor, MN; Randy Vezina, Duluth, MN; Lou Andrews, Duluth, MN; Tim Carbon, Highbridge; Cory Casari, Hurley; John Kallas, Hurley.

Six-Cylinders
Heat 1: Shawn McFadden, Ashland; Pat Cook, Washburn; Chuck Hawkinson, Mellen.
Heat 2: Dale Coddington, Hayward; Ron Swanson, Ashland; Greg Jaeger, Mellen.
Heat 3: Russ Weber, Bayfield; Steve Stuart, Ashland; Jim Anderson, Mason.
Semi-Feature: Jim Maki, Sr., Washburn; Ken Tyykila, Iron River; Scott Ovaska, Marengo.
Feature: Weber; McFadden; Swanson; Anderson; Coddington; Stuart; Jaeger; Chris Lustig, Ashland; Steve Walston, Marengo; Cook.

Pure Stocks
Heat 1: Glenn Dammer, Duluth, MN; Tom Morinville, Duluth, MN; Al Rapp, Duluth, MN.
Heat 2: Ricky Davis, Bruno, MN; Bridgett Pagels, Ashland; Jim Eliason, Ashland.
Heat 3: Steve Young, Proctor, MN; Bruce Kalmon, Ashland; Kevin Eder, Ashland.
Feature: Cory Casari, Hurley; Kalmon; Davis; Tim Carlson, Superior; Dammer; Morinville; Eliason; Kevin Truchon, North York; Pagels; Michael McKay, Highbridge.
Make-Up Feature: Carlson; Eliason; Rapp; Truchon; Casari; Paul Bertheaume, Ashland; Davis; Eder; Pagels; Clay Passuello, Ironwood, MI.