Helget Chalks Up His First Feature Win at ABC Raceway
by Nick Gima
Ashland, WI, July 11 – Dylan Helget, the 2025 WISSOTA National Pure Stock Rookie of the Year, scored his first career feature win at the ABC Raceway, as the track also hosted its popular annual kids’ bike races, presented by Bulldog Auto Repair of Ashland, on Saturday night.
High temperatures and muggy conditions made this WISSOTA Dirt Track Series race program challenging for both race teams and spectators, but fortunately the tightly-run program clipped by in just shy of two-and-a-half hours, which included the half-hour used for the bike races at intermission.
Helget, of South Range, started outside on the front row and swept around polestarter Alex Larson to take command of the Bill’s Collision Center WISSOTA Pure Stock finale, and he would not let go of that lead despite constant pressure from Aaron Bernick.
The race was delayed twice during its ten-lap distance – the first was on lap 3 when a hard collision between rookies Larson and Anthony Ravina resulted in significant damage to the rear of Ravina’s racer. Then, on lap 6, Bernick looped his ride while racing hard with Shane Basina while both were challenging Helget for the lead.
Over the final four laps Helget fended off every outside passing move Basina could throw at him and scored his landmark win by less than a half-second. Larson trailed at a distance in third, while Bernick and Ravina finished as DNFs in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Combined with a second-place run and a stroke of uncharacteristic bad luck for Basina in the Pure Stocks’ heat race earlier, Helget moved into the division’s points lead by one over Basina as the season has reached its mid-point here.
Mason’s Nick Oreskovich used a late-race pass of race-long leader Jake Hiatt to claim his second Top Groove Racewear WISSOTA Modified A-main of 2026 at ABC, and the 30th feature win here overall in his career.
Oreskovich started directly behind polestarter Hiatt and followed him past Andrew Mackey into second at the initial drop of the green flag for the 15-lap run, although Mackey stormed back to retake the runner-up position a lap later. Hiatt was able to extend his advantage while Mackey and Oreskovich debated second over the next couple of laps, until contact between Cole Spacek and Oreskovich spun Spacek’s ride and brought about the race’s only yellow-flag stop.
Oreskovich grabbed second on the restart from Mackey and stayed as close as possible to the leader until lap 11, when Hiatt opened the bottom lane coming out of turn 2. Oreskovich took advantage of the generous offer and sped away to a final 1.8-second margin of victory over Hiatt. Mackey came home third, followed closely by Spacek and Brandon Copp, who extended his divisional points lead with the top-five effort.
In the Bulldog Auto Repair WISSOTA Super Stock feature, Shawn McFadden of Ashland was rewarded in a sense for his business’s generosity with a heat-and-feature sweep of the division’s action. Starting on the pole, the divisional and program sponsor was practically unchallenged throughout the 15-lap run. After beating Jakob Bond out of the first pair of turns after the green flag was dropped, it wasn’t a matter of if McFadden would win but by how much.
Further back, a very entertaining race between Matt Deragon and Andy Grymala lasted the entirety of the non-stop race, while Trenton Bond held firm to fourth but soon fell out of touch of the leaders.
McFadden’s lead grew to a final 3.6-second advantage at the checkers, giving him his third feature win of the season here and 12th career feature win, which ties him with his father Shawn on the all-time ABC wins list. It also gave him an extension of his divisional points lead to ten over Deragon, who survived Grymala’s persistent threats for runner-up money. Trenton Bond came home a distant fourth, while Myron Basina scored a career-best fifth.
James Vendela of South Range started the 20-lap Dalbeck Sales WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature on the pole, ran in the top three for most of the event, then moved back into the lead before the race’s midpoint and controlled the pace from there for his eighth career feature win here and second in 2026 at ABC.
George Dalbeck, who started alongside Vendela, grabbed the initial lead but gave it up to Paul Ripley after a restart for a Michael Blevins spin with one lap scored. This triggered a rash of “yellow fever,” with five more caution flags thrown before four laps could be completed, for a variety of spins and other minor altercations. Once the chaos cleared, Vendela, who restarted third nearly every time, made an inside move stick to pass Ripley on lap 7 and finally took over at the point, as the pace settled and the race stayed under green from there on.
Vendela pushed his lead to over two full seconds as he caught the tail-end of the running order with two laps remaining and crossed the finish line 1.95 seconds ahead of Ripley. Marcus Dunbar was well back in third but was well ahead of Tyler Vernon, who fell behind Dunbar by one in the divisional points battle, while visiting Mike Schnieder claimed fifth.
Roger Walker of Phillips padded his points lead atop the Berglund Customs ABC Six-Cylinders standings with his track-leading fourth feature win here and 12th of his career. Walker started outside on the front row and quickly grabbed the lead from polestarter Cody Eichmann before Kyle Weber’s spin brought about the first caution flag with one lap in the books. After a Travis Swanson spin, Walker gradually built a lead of over two seconds before a two-car incident brought the field back to Walker’s rear bumper on lap 6.
Walker ran away again, with Alex Bond separating from Eichmann for second, but things became very chaotic behind them over the next seven laps. A close-knit cluster of five cars, led by Mathew Rohlfing, swapped positions four through eight frequently, making for some anxious moments.
In the midst of the group Swanson spun again, forcing a green-white-checkered finish that was almost too close to call behind winner Walker and runner-up Alex Bond. Electronic scoring and timing showed Cameron Bond third, Rohlfing fourth, and Basina fifth, but the distance from Cameron Bond to sixth-finishing Eichmann was barely four-tenths of a second.
The ABC Raceway will host its sixth annual “444 Memorial” on Thursday, July 16, to be presented by Ashland Ford-Chrysler Center and Mid-States Equipment. The Structural Buildings WISSOTA Late Model Challenge Series will be spotlighted, with the feature winner taking home a $4,444 check in honor of the car number (444) of the late Tanner Byholm, a young up-and-coming local Midwest Mod and Modified star and the son of 2017 ABC Raceway Modifieds champ Bill Byholm who perished in an aircraft crash in southern Wisconsin in February 2021.
Top Groove Racewear WISSOTA Modifieds and Bulldog Auto Repair Super Stocks will also be racing, for $2,000 and $1,000 to win in their respective features. The pit gates will open at 4 pm on Thursday, while the grandstand gates will open at 5:30. Hot laps will start at 6:15, followed by qualifying for the Late Models, and the first green flag is slated to drop at 7 pm.
There will be no racing at ABC on Saturday, July 18, but will resume action on Saturday, July 25.
The ABC Raceway is located 3-1/2 miles south of Ashland on State Highway 13 and one mile west on Butterworth Road. For raceday information call (715) 682-4990, log on to the track’s website, www.abcraceway.com, or check out its FaceBook page. Advance tickets are always available on the My Race Pass website and app.
Results
Top Groove Racewear WISSOTA Modifieds
Feature: 1-8: Nick Oreskovich, Mason; Jake Hiatt, Mason; Andrew Mackey, Ashland; Cole Spacek, Woodruff; Brandon Copp, Brule; Tyler Vernon, Mason; Marcus Dunbar, Marenisco, MI; Ross Fuhrman, Ashland.
Heat: Hiatt; Dunbar; Copp; Mackey; Oreskovich; Vernon; Spacek; Fuhrman.
Bulldog Auto Repair WISSOTA Super Stocks
Feature: 1-7: Shawn McFadden, Ashland; Matt Deragon, Ashland; Andy Grymala, Superior; Trenton Bond, Iron River; Myron Basina, Bayfield; Rita Anderson, South Range; Jakob Bond, Marengo.
Heat: McFadden; T Bond; Deragon; Grymala; J Bond; Anderson; Basina.
Dalbeck Sales WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
Feature: 1-10: James Vendela, South Range; Paul Ripley, Duluth, MN; Marcus Dunbar, Marenisco, MI; Tyler Vernon, Mason; Mike Schnieder, Chetek; Paul Suzik, Ironwood, MI; Sam Blevins, Hibbing, MN; Michael Blevins Sr, Hibbing, MN; George Dalbeck, Wakefield, MI; Judd Skubal, Rhinelander.
11-16: Jimmy Latvala, Solon Springs; Bryan Lund, Ashland; Ryan Barningham, Bayfield; Braedyn Kirtland, Mass City, MI; Connor Kaseno, Marengo; Antonio Pintaro, Osseo.
Heat 1: Ripley; Pintaro; Vendela; Kirtland; Kaseno.
Heat 2: Dunbar; Vernon; Latvala; Skubal; Suzik; Barningham.
Heat 3: Dalbeck; Schnieder; S Blevins; M Blevins; Lund.
Bill’s Collision Center WISSOTA Pure Stocks
Feature: 1-5: Dylan Helget, South Range; Shane Basina, Bayfield; Alex Larson, South Range; Aaron Bernick, Duluth, MN; Anthony Ravina, Duluth, MN.
Heat: Bernick; Helget; Ravina; Larson; Basina.
Berglund Customs ABC Six-Cylinders
Feature: 1-10: Roger Walker, Phillips; Alex Bond, Iron River; Cameron Bond, Mason; Mathew Rohlfing, Grand View; Shane Basina, Bayfield; Cody Eichmann, Park Falls; RJ Holly, Marengo; Tyler Gervais, Ashland; Justin Pratt, Glidden; Travis Swanson, Ashland.
11-12: Adam Traaholt, Ashland; Kyle Weber, Drummond.
Heat 1: Weber; C Bond; Rohlfing; Gervais; Traaholt; Basina.
Heat 2: Walker; Eichmann; Swanson; A Bond; Holly; Pratt.
