July 3, 2004; Ashland, WI: - After two unsuccessful tries, Dean Yrjanainen moved into a tie for second
on the ABC Raceway's all-time feature win list with his victory in the modified A-main Saturday night. One hundred seventeen
cars registered for action, including 15 from the Northern Vintage Stock Car Racers group in a program sponsored by Miller
Lite and Northwest Distributing.
Two weeks ago Yrjanainen lost the lead to Craig Thatcher with three laps to go in the Modified
Triple Header, and last week he crossed the line first but was penalized two positions for jumping on a restart. Tonight Yrjanainenıs
third attempt at his 55th career win started with an inside move on polesitter Rick Przybylski to take the early lead. By
the time Jeff Spacek slipped past Przybylski on lap 3 Yrjanainen had the better part of a straightaway lead, and he looked
to be cruising to an easy win until the only slowdown of the race came with four laps to go, when Spacek and Jerry
Hartman
came together and spun during a fierce battle for second. For the final laps Spacek dogged Yrjanainen, and the two were dead
even at the stripe when the white flag flew, but Spacek bobbled slightly in the final corner to give Yrjanainen enough of
an advantage for the win. Bill Byholm held off Al Uotinen and Dennis Checkalski to complete the top five.
The super stock feature nearly went down to the wire as well, as after Darin Meierottoıs early getaway
was erased by a caution flag, Meierotto was shadowed by a group of cars, including Shawn McFadden looking low and Greg Kuklinski
riding the cushion. Kuklinski had the most success, making his way to second and puling even with the leader just as another
of the six yellow flags during the event flew. Meierotto's relief from the challenges came after the final caution on lap
14, when the four cars immediately behind him tangled momentarily, shuffling their order and allowing Meierotto to pull
away
to his first win of the season. Kuklinski recovered from the scuffle to post a second-place finish, just ahead of a tight
pack made up of Scott Lawrence, McFadden and Bob D'Antonio.
Tim Baum's first win here since August 2002 was another nailbiter, as he held off consistent pressure
from eventual runner-up Marshall Andrews and third-finishing Steve Anderson lap after lap in the street stock main. The race
was interrupted only once by a yellow flag, negating an Andrews pass for the lead, as the front three traded positions more
than paint. Late in the run fourth-place finisher Larry Haderly and Trevor Wilson, who took fifth, gathered in the lead trio
and closely followed them at the line.
After a four-car scramble for the initial lead, Jim Anderson fended off stready pressure from Chuck
Hawkinson to win his first six-cylinder feature of 2004. Sophomore Brent Brevak threatened early using the outer groove, but
pushed too hard and spun on lap 9, taking him from contention and moving fellow second-year racer Justin Paulsen to third,
where he finished in an impressive run. Chris Lustig inherited fourth after a tangle with Andy Grymala, and Russ Weber recovered
from an early spin to claim fifth.
Kevin Truchon became the track's second repeat winner of the season by coming from the fifth row to
claim the pure stock victory. Truchon moved by rookie Jim Eliason on lap 8 of 12 to claim the point and took off to his second
straight runaway win. Eliason held strong to second, while Dustin Novak, who impressed the fans by leading his first-ever
laps through the first half of the run, finished a career-best third ahead of Bruce Kalmon and Glenn Dammer.
The vintage racers were split into two groups and ran separate heats and features. In the full-bodied-car
feature Tom Stettner drove his 1957 Chevrolet to victory over Duane Lindquist's '56 Chev and Mike Nogle's '63 Buick. In the
"super-modified" group, Gary Whipple's '37 Chev held off the 1964-vintage Crosley-based CAE chassis for the win; third went
to the '33 Plymouth mod of Keith Lepinski.
On Saturday, July 10, County Market of Ashland will present the racing program, which will include kids'
bike races. Several different age groups will compete on the red clay oval during intermission. Racers and fans are also reminded
that hot laps will now start earlier, at 6:15 pm, beginning on July 10; racing will start at 7 pm. The track is located three
miles south of Ashland on Highway 13, then one mile west on Butterworth Road. "Racenight Live" will air at 5 pm on WJJH, 96.7
& 102.3 FM, with track news and weather updates. Call (715) 682-4990 for raceday information.
Results
WISSOTA Modifieds
Heat 1: Jerry
Hartman, Marenisco, MI; Darrell Carlson, Superior; Dean Yrjanainen, Lake Nebagamon.
Heat 2: Jeff Spacek,
Phillips; Al Uotinen, Superior; Clint Larson, Cloquet, MN
Feature: Yrjanainen; Spacek; Bill Byholm,
Glidden; Uotinen; Dennis Checkalski, South Range; Larson; David Baxter, Eau Claire; Jeff Lien, Zimmerman, MN; Rick Przybylski,
Iron River, MI; Scott Hudack, Ashland.
WISSOTA Super Stocks
Heat 1:
Scott Lawrence, Superior; Ken Truscott, Greenland, MI; Mike Duhr, Hazelhurst.
Heat 2: Shawn McFadden,
Ashland; Rick Rivord, Superior; Ron Hmielewski, Washburn.
Heat 3: Randy Spacek, Phillips; Darin Meierotto,
Ashland; Al Uotinen, Superior.
Feature: Meierotto; Greg Kuklinski, Ironwood, MI; Lawrence; McFadden;
Bob D'Antonio, Ironwood, MI; Hmielewski; Uotinen; John Copp, Brule; Spacek; Truscott.
WISSOTA Street Stocks
Heat 1:
Marshall Andrews, Duluth, MN; Steve Anderson, Ironwood, MI; TimBaum, Superior.
Heat 2: Larry Haderly,
Marengo; Jimmy Maki, Poplar; Trevor Wilson,Superior.
Feature: Baum; Andrews; Anderson; Haderly; Wilson;
Randy Vezina, Duluth,MN; Cory Casari, Hurley; Maki; Duane Fink, Jr., Hurley; Bill Muhlig,Ironwood, MI.
Six-Cylinders
Heat 1: Ken Tyykila,
Iron River; Ron Swanson, Ashland; Andy Grymala,Superior.
Heat 2: Nick Oreskovich, Mason; Russ Weber,
Bayfield; Chuck Hawkinson,Mellen.
Heat 3: Steve Stuart, Ashland; Brent Brevak, Ashland; Chris Lustig,Ashland.
Semi-Feature: Pat Beeksma, New Richmond; Bryan Anderson, Mason; DanMihalek, Ashland.
Feature: Jim Anderson,
Mason; Hawkinson; Justin Paulsen, Ironwood, MI;Lustig; Weber; Steve Tesch, Prentice; Dale Coddington, Hayward; Beeksma;Mihalek;
Shawn McFadden, Jr., Ashland.
Pure Stocks
Heat 1: Kevin Truchon,
Highbridge; Kevin Eder, Ashland; Bruce Kalmon, Ashland.
Heat 2: Cory Casari, Hurley; Jim Eliason, Ashland;
Glenn Dammer, Duluth, MN.
Feature: Truchon; Eliason; Dustin Novak, Mellen; Kalmon; Dammer; Ricky Davis,
Bruno, MN; Casari; Rob Ganson, Washburn; Clay Passuello, Ironwood, MI; Dick Bridge, Bruno, MN.
Northern Vintage Stock Car Racers
Super-Modified Heat: Keith Lepinski, New Richmond; Ken Sabby, River Falls; Mark Peine, White Bear Lake, MN.
Super-Modified Feature: Gary Whipple, Crosby, MN; Sabby; Lepinski.
Full-Bodied Heat: Mike Emerson, New
Richmond; Duane Lindquist, Hager City; Tom Stettner, Newport, MN.
Full-Bodied Feature: Stettner; Lindquist;
Mike Nogle, Welch, MN
