Treviranus Tallies First Win at ABC Raceway Since ’22; Hofteig Nips Wahlstrom for USRA LM Checkers
by Nick Gima
Ashland, WI, July 25 – During a warm, muggy WISSOTA Dirt Track Series race night highlighted by close feature finishes, Tom Treviranus of Hawthorne dominated the Bill’s Collision Center WISSOTA Pure Stock headliner at the ABC Raceway on Saturday night.
The night also featured the fundraiser raffle drawing for the Ashland-Bayfield County Sportsmen’s Club, which was the race program’s sponsor, and included a huge backpack giveaway for dozens of first- through fifth-graders attending the show, complements of many generous donors to that effort.
Treviranus must have felt snake-bitten as of late due to Tuesday’s DQ from a top-five run and Wednesday’s photo-finish loss at the checkers, both at Superior, but he started outside on row 2 here and worked the high line to follow front-row starter Jake Smith past polestarter Tim Carlson during the 12-lap race’s first couple of circuits. Then Treviranus used another outside move to get around Smith for the lead just before a lap 4 yellow-flag stop for Anthony Ravina’s stalled racer on the back stretch.
Carlson got the better of Smith with an outer-line pass on the modified double-file restart, but Smith returned the favor a couple of laps later. But there was no catching Treviranus, who had built up a two-and-a-half-second advantage by lap 9 and extended that margin to 3.38 seconds by the time the checkers flew for his second career win here, with the other coming in early August 2022.
Smith was well ahead of Carlson for second, while first-time visitor Bob Klein and rookie Alex Larson completed the top five.
Treviranus’ dominant performance was the exception rather than the rule on this night, as four of the feature winners’ margins of victory were by a second or less. One example of this was in the visiting USRA Late Models’ A-main, where Elk River, MN’s Clayton Hofteig fended off Josh Wahlstrom’s persistent late-race threats for his first-ever feature win at ABC.
Hofteig, who started on the pole, took the initial lead from first-time visitor Brian Newville, while another first-nighter, Travis Friske, settled into third just ahead of Patrick Kelley. On lap 3 Kelley and Jason McFadden tangled, sending Kelley to the back of the pack, and on the restart Newville got loose, allowing Friske and McFadden to get by for second and third and giving Wahlstrom room to move up to fourth.
Wahlstrom, who had won decisively in the division’s previous two visits to Ashland this Summer, then began a charge to the front, overtaking McFadden on lap 5 and getting by Friske on lap 8 just prior to a yellow-flag stop for debris.
On that restart Wahlstrom took to the high groove to challenge Hofteig, and the lead pair raced door to door for several laps, often nosing ahead of each other under the flagstand. As they took the white flag Hofteig was a mere one one-hundredth of a second ahead – barely a foot – and he held on to lead Wahlstrom to the checkers by less than a quarter-second.
McFadden and Kelley put on a similar show for third, albeit a short ways back, with McFadden getting the nod there by just 62 one-thousandths of a second. Zack Friske, also running for the first time here, came home a distant fifth.
Brandon Copp of Brule extended his points lead by winning his third Top Groove Racewear WISSOTA Modified feature of the year, but unlike his other recent wins here, his one was not a blowout.
Pat Cook looked to have the car to beat as he sped away from his pole-position starting spot over the first couple of laps, with Jake Hiatt, Nick Oreskovich and Copp in hot pursuit. But after the restart for Hiatt’s spin on lap 2, Copp, who restarted on the outside of the second row, swept around Oreskovich and worked on Cook for several laps before taking over as pacesetter on lap 8.
By midrace Copp held better than a half-second margin on Oreskovich, who had displaced Cook for second a lap after Copp’s pass for the lead. Over the latter half of the 20-lap run Oreskovich reeled in Copp, running the same line as the leader, until he was tapping on the leader’s rear pushbar coming to the white flag. Copp and Oreskovich raced nose-to-tail as they lapped Ross Fuhrman, and Copp was just a third of a second ahead as the two reached the finish.
Cook held on for third, ahead of an entertaining race for fourth won by Brady Uotinen over Andrew Mackey.
In the Bulldog Auto Repair WISSOTA Super Stock feature, Matt Deragon of Ashland led every one of the race’s 20 laps for his third feature win of the year. Deragon started outside on the front row and beat polestarter Dan Peterson out of the first pair of turns, but he was never quite able to pull away from Steve Stuart, who dogged him throughout much of the run.
A two-car get-together during lap 1 provided the race’s only caution stop, after which visiting Michael Blevins Sr moved by Peterson for third, just ahead of Shawn McFadden and Trenton Bond. Deragon set a quick, steady pace throughout the uninterrupted balance of the run, but Stuart stayed within striking distance.
Things got a bit interesting with five laps remaining, as Deragon caught backmarkers Rita Anderson and Myron Basina racing side-by-side for position. Deragon, who had been using the very outer-most racing groove of the three-eighths-mile oval, took that route to complete a tight three-wide pass to get by the slower cars, leaving Stuart trapped behind them just long enough to give Deragon about a one-second cushion as he took the checkered flag for his 21st career ABC Raceway win.
Blevins held fast to his third-place effort, while McFadden stayed just ahead of Bond for fourth to maintain his divisional points lead.
Duluth, MN’s Paul Ripley led every lap of the non-stop Dalbeck Sales WISSOTA Midwest Modified headliner for his first feature win in Ashland this season and third of his career here. Like Deragon in the Supers, Ripley started outside on the front row and beat the polestarter – in this case, Judd Skubal – out of the first pair of turns and was never bested from there.
Visitors Mikey Blevins and Kolby Reed moved into third and fourth in the early going, just ahead of Marcus Dunbar and Jimmy Latvala. Eventually Paul Suzik joined the close-formation battle for third, allowing Ripley and Skubal to pull further away. By the halfway point of the 20-lapper the lead pair were nearly a straightaway ahead of the third-place pack, and Skubal was noticeably shrinking the gap between himself and Ripley.
Ripley and Skubal dealt briefly with tail-end traffic in the waning laps, but once in the clear Ripley maintained about a one-second advantage for the win. Reed got by Blevins late in the run but was a full straightway back in third, and divisional points leader Dunbar slipped past Blevins on the final lap for fourth.
Roger Walker of Phillips padded his points lead atop The Berglund Customs ABC Six-Cylinders feature may have been the wildest of the night, with divisional points leader Roger Walker of Phillips eking out one of the closest wins in recent memory here.
Three-time defending champ Shane Basina started on the pole and led the first four laps, with RJ Holly and Walker staying right with him as they pulled away from Mathew Rohlfing. But on lap 5 Basina’s car lost all power coming off turn 4, and Holly and Walker took drastic evasive action to keep from piling up behind him. Walker was scored the leader as the yellow came out, and Basina re-fired his machine to tag on to the back of the field for the restart.
Back under green, Cody Eichmann took to the outer groove to sweep around Holly and Travis Swanson for second and applied persistent pressure on the leader over the next five laps. Third-running Holly spun to provide a little yellow-flag relief to the pace, and on the restart Eichmann edged ahead of Walker for a lap, only to see Walker take the lead back. With the white flag in the air Swanson worked his way inside on Eichmann for second, then moved alongside and to the right of Walker in a final-turn dash to the checkers that came up jus short.
Walker’s final margin of victory was .079 seconds, or less than two feet, over Swanson, with Eichmann directly behind them in third. A recovered Basina moved up through the field to finish fourth, while Cameron Bond had a strong run to take fifth.
The many generous contributors to the backpack giveaway included Abby Bennetts Racing, Alex Bond Racing, Ashland Elks Lodge 137, Austin Olby Racing and The Lorax Tree Service, Basina Racing, Helget Racing, James Vendela Racing, Jamie Pajtash Memorial, Jason Melton Racing, Kaseno Racing, Kuklinski Racing, Kyle Weber Racing, McFadden Racing & Bulldog Auto Repair, Miller Detailing, Nick & Cheryl Gima, Oreskovich Racing, Paul Ripley Racing, Paul Suzik Racing, Rita Anderson Motorsports, Spacek Racing, The Gathering Barn, TJ Garage Door Service, and Tyler Gervais Racing.
The Dalbeck Sales WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds will be in the spotlight at the ABC Raceway on Saturday, August 1, when Northern Clearing Inc of Ashland will present the track’s first-ever “Mid-Mod Double 20.” The division will run two 20-lap features, each paying $1,000 to win, with a $500 bonus on the line if any driver scores both feature wins.
All five regular weekly divisions will be in action. The pit gates will open at 4 pm on Thursday, while the grandstand gates will open at 5:30. Hot laps will start at 6:30, followed by timed qualifying for the Mid-Mods, and the first heat-race green flag is slated to drop at 7 pm.
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: Brandon Copp, Brule; Nick Oreskovich, Mason; Pat Cook, Washburn; Brady Uotinen, Superior; Andrew Mackey, Ashland; Cole Spacek, Woodruff; Jake Hiatt, Mason; Ross Fuhrman, Ashland.
Heat: Cook; Mackey; Hiatt; Oreskovich; Copp; Uotinen; Spacek; Fuhman.
Bulldog Auto Repair WISSOTA Super Stocks
Feature: 1-10: Matt Deragon, Ashland; Steve Stuart, Ashland; Michael Blevins Sr, Hibbing, MN; Shawn McFadden, Ashland; Trenton Bond, Iron River; Dan Peterson, Foxboro; Jakob Bond, Marengo; Jason Melton, Rhinelander; Kevin Salin, Iron, MN; Myron Basina, Bayfield.
11: Rita Anderson, South Range.
Heat 1: Blevins; Peterson; J Bond; Salin; Anderson; Basina.
Heat 2: McFadden; T Bond; Stuart; Deragon; Melton.
Dalbeck Sales WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
Feature: 1-10: Paul Ripley, Duluth, MN; Judd Skubal, Rhinelander; Kolby Reed, Thunder Bay, ON; Marcus Dunbar, Marenisco, MI; Mikey Blevins, Hibbing, MN; Jimmy Latvala, Solon Springs; Paul Suzik, Ironwood, MI; Michael Blevins Sr, Hibbing, MN; Sam Blevins, Hibbing, MN; Ryan Barningham, Bayfield.
11: Bryan Lund, Ashland.
Heat 1: Latvala; Dunbar; M Blevins Sr; Suzik; S Blevins; Barningham.
Heat 2: Ripley; Reed; M Blevins; Skubal; Lund.
Bill’s Collision Center WISSOTA Pure Stocks
Feature: 1-10: Tom Treviranus, Hawthorne; Jake Smith Cohasset, MN; Tim Carlson, Superior; Bob Klein, Grand Rapids, MN; Alex Larson, South Range; Jason Simonson, Poplar; Shane Basina, Bayfield; Timmy Kin, Greenland, MI; Anthony Ravina, Duluth, MN; Dylan Helget, South Range.
Heat 1: Basina; Ravina; Klein; Treviranus; Helget.
Heat 2: Smith; Carlson; Simonson; Larson; Kin.
Berglund Customs ABC Six-Cylinders
Feature: 1-8: Roger Walker, Phillips; Travis Swanson, Ashland; Cody Eichmann, Park Falls; Shane Basina, Bayfield; Cameron Bond, Mason; Mathew Rohlfing, Grand View; RJ Holly, Marengo; Tyler Gervais, Ashland.
Heat 1: Walker; Swanson; Basina; Eichmann; C Bond.
Heat 2: Rohlfing; Holly; Kyle Weber, Drummond; Gervais; Alex Bond, Iron River.
USRA Late Models
Feature: 1-9: Clayton Hoefteig, Elk River, MN; Josh Wahlstrom, Rice Lake; Jason McFadden, Jim Falls; Patrick Kelley, Wyoming, MN; Zack Friske, Tomahawk; Hoyt Cournoyer, Pittsville; Matt Tody, Chippewa Falls; Brian Newville, Clear Lake; Travis Friske, Tomahawk.
Heat: T Friske; Kelley; Newville; Hofteig; Wahlstrom; McFadden; Z Friske; Cournoyer; Tody.
