August 28, 2004; Ashland, WI: -   The ABC Raceway crowned its 2004 season points champions Saturday night, as 104 cars filled the pit area for the Pepsi Fan Appreciation Night season finale, presented by WBSZ, WJJH and WNXR.
Dean Yrjanainen did all he could do to steal the modified title away from Al Uotinen, and after Uotinen blew a motor in his heat Yrjanainen helped his cause with a win in the qualifier. But with the help of over 15 different drivers and crew men - including a handful of fellow mod drivers who were ready to offer Uotinen their cars - the Superior driver changed
engines and started dead last on the 15-car feature field. Uotinen climbed to eighth in the final rundown, but that was enough to clinch his second championship, and first since 1993, in this, his 25th season of racing. The final margin was ten points.

Yrjanainen, meanwhile, collected his division-best fifth feature win by sweeping around Jeff Spacek on lap 17 of the non-stop, six-and-a-half-minute 20-lapper for the lead and the pull-away win. Spacek had taken the lead from early pacesetter Rick Przybylski on lap 12 after Przybylski flew to a huge advantage early. Spacek followed Yrjanainen at a distance at the checkered, and Bill Byholm got by Przybylski late for third. Dennis Checkalski
completed the top five.

Superior's Scott Lawrence was assured of his fourth ABC Raceway championship and first in a super, as with 23 cars in attendance there was no semi-feature run and the entire field was transferred to the feature. Lawrence solidified the title anyway by taking fourth in his heat. The super stock feature was arguably the most thrilling race of the season here, as Keane Laakson collected his first win in his second appearance here, but he had to hold off a steady racelong challenge from Greg Kuklinski and late threats by second-finishing Uotinen and third-place Randy Spacek. In fact, at the finish Laakson had Uotinen alongside his right-rear fender, while the next three in line were three-wide less than 15 feet back. Kuklinski was scored fourth ahead of Lawrence, whose final points margin was 33.

Larry Haderly of Marengo took fifth in his heat and fourth in the feature to sew up his second street stock championship here in three years, by 30 points. The first half of the feature was littered with yellow flags for a variety of spins and breakdowns, but from the first green Monster Hall Raceway champion Roger Walker pulled ahead of Dennis Groom, led through the delays and pulled away during the final nine-lap green-flag run to close out his second win of '04. Marshall Andrews, who earned his first-ever points title at Superior Friday night, moved by Groom in the waning laps to assure
himself of a second-place finish in the standings here, and after Haderly came 2003 ABC champ Trevor Wilson.

Ron Swanson of Ashland returned to racing for the first time since his 1995 championship season and competed his comeback with another six-cylinder title, 32 points ahead of Russ Weber. Swanson ran to a solid fourth-place
finish in the feature, as Chuck Hawkinson used a high-flying line to sweep around the frontrunners to his first main event win of the season. Rookie Shawn McFadden, Jr., led from the initial green flag until Hawkinson slipped by after a lap 4 restart and drew away, and Chris Lustig took second from McFadden on lap 11 and followed Hawkinson at length to the checkered. Behind Swanson, Dale Coddington emerged from a seven-car longjam for position to take fifth.

Only Cory Casari of Hurley nailed down his division crown with a feature win. The 2003 pure stock champion finished a successful defense of his trophy with a dominant performance in the final regular-season feature of the year. Casari moved by second-in-points Al Rapp on lap 4 and drove away, while visiting Miles Weske, rookie Jim Eliason - who finished third in points - and Tim Carlson completed the top five.

In the make-up pure stock feature from August 21, Clay Passuello won his first-ever feature by leading from the drop of the green flag. Eliason, Ricky Davis, Rapp and Tom Morinville followed in the top five.

The Raceway will now sit quiet until Friday and Saturday, October 1-2, when it will host the 29th annual Red Clay Classic. Nearly 250 WISSOTA late models, modifieds and super stocks are expected to compete for a total purse in excess of $60,000. Reserved seats and two-day passes for adults and youth are available by e-mailing <abctickets@ncis.net> or by calling (715) 682-2672; reserved on-site camping spots area also available at that number.

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: Dean Yrjanainen, Lake Nebagamon; Dennis Checkalski, South Range; Rick Przybylski, Iron River, MI.
Heat 2: Scott Hudack, Ashland; Bob Root, Washburn; Bill Byholm, Glidden.
Feature: Yrjanainen; Jeff Spacek, Phillips; Byholm; Przybylski; Checkalski; Hudack; Jerry Hartman, Marenisco, MI; Al Uotinen, Superior; Steve Surprenant, Phillips; Steve Kieber, Ironwood, MI.

WISSOTA Super Stocks
Heat 1: Destin Lorimor, Superior; Rick Rivord, Superior; Keane Laakson, Stone Lake.
Heat 2: Ron Hmielewski, Washburn; Wayne Stricker, Highbridge; Greg Kuklinski, Ironwood, MI.
Heat 3: Randy Spacek, Phillips; John Copp, Brule; Al Uotinen, Superior.
Feature: Laakson; Uotinen; Spacek; Kuklinski; Scott Lawrence; Shawn McFadden, Ashland; Ken Truscott, Greenland, MI; Hmielewski; Rivord, Lorimor.

WISSOTA Street Stocks
Heat 1: Tim Baum, Superior; Roger Walker, Phillips; Riley Matthews, Thunder Bay, Ont.
Heat 2: Dennis Groom, Ashland; Marshall Andrews, Duluth, MN; Trevor Wilson, Superior.
Feature: Walker; M. Andrews; Groom; Larry Haderly, Marengo; Wilson; Matthews; Baum; Randy Vezina, Duluth, MN; Ryan Adamczak, Ashland; Lou Andrews, Duluth, MN.

Six-Cylinders
Heat 1: Russ Weber, Bayfield; Steve Tesch, Prentice; Brian Nevala, Ashland.
Heat 2: Greg Jaeger, Mellen; Chuck Hawkinson, Mellen; Jim Anderson, Mason.
Heat 3: Steve Stuart, Ashland; Ken Tyykila, Iron River; Ron Swanson, Ashland.
Semi-Feature: Steve Walston, Marengo; Mike Zasadni, Ironwood, MI; Pat Cook, Washburn.
Feature: Hawkinson; Chris Lustig, Ashland; Shawn McFadden, Jr., Ashland; Swanson; Dale Coddington, Hayward; Anderson; Tyykila; Tesch; Nevala; Weber.

Pure Stocks
Heat 1: Kevin Truchon, Highbridge; Cory Casari, Hurley; Ray Stuart, Ashland.
Heat 2: Ricky Davis, Bruno, MN; Tom Morinville, Duluth, MN; Jim Eliason, Ashland.
Heat 3: Dan Kingsley, Superior; Miles Weske, Moose Lake, MN; Al Rapp, Duluth, MN.
Feature: Casari; Rapp; Weske; Eliason; Tim Carlson, Superior; Shawn Stolarzyk, Cable; Morinville; Davis; Stuart; Kevin Eder, Ashland.
Make-Up Feature: Clay Passuello, Ironwood, MI; Eliason; Davis; Rapp; Morinville; Bruce Kalman, Ashland; Eder; Stolarzyk; Dustin Novak, Mellen; Casari.