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June 26, 2004; Ashland, WI: -Greg Kuklinski of Ironwood, MI, the ABC Raceway's all-time winningest driver,
added another win to the record and at the same time kept alive his streak of consecutive seasons with at least one win after
capturing the super stock feature Saturday night during Little Caesar's Pizza's Kids' Night and Meet the Drivers Night.
Kuklinski took the lead from the pole and brought second row starter Scott Lawrence along, and as the first
18 of the 20 laps ran off non-stop
the lead duo pulled away. Lawrence had several opportunities to pass
Kuklinski in
traffic, but the leader caught a break when Wayne Stricker and Jeff Lindsey spun to bring out the raceıs only yellow flag,
and he held off Lawrence from there to post feature win number 72 and a victory in his tenth straight season; he has at least
one A-main win in every season but two since 1979. Darin Meierotto slipped by Rick Rivord on the last lap to steal third after
a race-long battle, and Ron Hmielewski finished a solid fifth.
Al Uotinen was awarded the modified feature victory after first-across Dean Yrjanainen was docked two positions in the
final rundown for jumping a restart. Several drivers took turns swapping the lead, and the seventh-starting Uotinen actually
made a pass of Jeff Lien for the lead on lap 11, but a caution flag negated the move, and on the ensuing restart Yrjanainen,
who was running fifth, made his error. The actual winning pass came on lap 17 of 20, when Uotinen again made his way by Lien
for what was then second on the track behind Yrjanainen. With the win Uotinen moved into the points lead, ahead of Lien, who
finished fourth. Jeff Spacek, whose crew worked feverishly on his car after a serious heat wreck, came from a
16th-place
start in the 19-car field to finish second, while Jerry Hartman rounded out the top five.
Kevin Truchon charged to the front of the pure stock main for his first win of the season, but he was a man on a mission
after his step-daughter, rookie Bridgett Pagels, slammed hard into the front straight concrete wall as part of a two-car get-together
on the opening lap. Truchon then romped through the field from his fourth-row start and took the lead for good on lap 7, then
pulled away to a convincing win. Rookie Kevin Eder finished a career-best second, while Tim Carlson and Cory Casari collided
while battling for third on the final lap; Casari was re-awarded the position in the final rundown, ahead of Al Rapp and Jim
Eliason, and moved into the points lead.
Ken Tyykila impressed the crowd with a strong, smooth run to his fourth career feature win in the six-cylinders, leading
nearly flag to flag. Tyykila swiped the point away from Andy Grymala during lap 2 and survived steady pressure from second-finishing
Russ Weber after a handful of restarts. Greg Jaeger was strong in his third-place run, after passing
Grymala with two to
go, and Steve Stuart came home fifth.
Defending division champion Trevor Wilson led from start to finish in a dominant street stock feature win. Dennis Groom,
making his first start of the season, held off the rest of the pack for second, Jim Maki had one of his best runs since moving
to the stock division by taking third, and Steve Anderson and Larry Haderly followed closely.
Prior to the program, several hundred young fans were invited onto the race track to visit with their favorite drivers
and get an up-close look at the 112 cars in attendance, while also collecting autographs and treats from the drivers.
On Saturday, July 3, the ABC Raceway welcomes the Northern Vintage Stock Car group, which will bring approximately 12-18
restored vintage race cars to compete on the red clay oval. All five regular divisions will be in action as well, and there
is no increase in admission prices. Hot lap begin at 6:30 and racing starts at 7 pm. "Racenight Live" will air from 5-6 pm
on WJJH, 96.7 &102.3 FM, with track news and weather information. For raceday information, call (715) 682-4990.
Results
WISSOTA Modifieds
Heat 1: Al Uotinen, Superior;
Dean Yrjanainen, Lake Nebagamon; Kevin Monteith, Thunder Bay, Ont.
Heat 2: David Baxter, Eau Claire; Darrell Carlson, Superior;
Steve Kieber, Ironwood, MI.
Feature: Uotinen; Jeff Spacek, Phillips; Yrjanainen; Jeff Lien, Zimmerman, MN; Jerry Hartman,
Marenisco, MI; Monteith; D. Baxter; Rick Przybylski, Iron River, MI; Scott Hudack, Ashland; Kent Baxter, Dorchester.
WISSOTA Super Stocks
Heat 1: Bob DıAntonio, Ironwood,
MI; Ken Truscott, Greenland, MI; Paul Erikson, Abbotsford.
Heat 2: John Copp, Brule; Rick Rivord, Superior; Al Uotinen,
Superior.
Heat 3: Darin Meierotto, Ashland; Scott Lawrence, Superior; Shawn McFadden, Ashland.
Feature: Greg Kuklinski,
Ironwood, MI; Lawrence; Meierotto; Rivord; Ron Hmielewski, Washburn; McFadden; DıAntonio; Copp; Uotinen; Truscott.
WISSOTA Street Stocks
Heat 1: Steve Anderson, Ironwood,
MI; Larry Haderly, Marengo; Jimmy Maki, Poplar.
Heat 2: Trevor Wilson, Superior; Dennis Groom, Ashland; Scott Herrick,
Proctor, MN.
Feature: Wilson; Groom; Maki; Anderson; Haderly; Lou Andrews, Duluth, MN; Marshall Andrews, Duluth, MN; Mike
Kalkbrenner, Duluth, MN; Cory Casari, Hurley; Roger Walker, Phillips.
Six-Cylinders
Heat 1: Steve Stuart, Ashland; Justin
Paulsen, Ironwood, MI; Chuck Hawkinson, Mellen.
Heat 2: Ron Swanson, Ashland; Greg Jaeger, Mellen; Andy Grymala, Superior.
Heat
3: Steve Walston, Marengo; Jim Maki, Sr., Washburn; Shawn McFadden, Jr., Ashland.
Semi-Feature: Brent Brevak, Ashland;
Pat Cook, Washburn; Brian Nevala, Ashland.
Feature: Ken Tyykila, Iron River; Russ Weber, Bayfield; Jaeger; Grymala; Stuart;
Swanson; Chris Lustig, Ashland; Steve Tesch, Prentice; Dale Coddington, Hayward; Maki.
Pure Stocks
Heat 1: Kevin Truchon, Highbridge; Glenn
Dammer, Duluth, MN; Jim Laessig, Wakefield, MI.
Heat 2: Jim Eliason, Ashland; Al Rapp, Duluth, MN; Clay Passuello, Ironwood,
MI.
Heat 3: Tim Carlson, Superior; Cory Casari, Hurley; Ricky Davis, Bruno, MN.
Feature: Truchon; Kevin Eder, Ashland;
Casari; Rapp; Eliason; Bruce Kalmon, Ashland; Paul Bertheaume, Ashland; Laessig; Michael McKay, Highbridge; Greg Allan, Proctor,
MN
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