Broking Scores Huge Advantage RV Mod Tour Win at ABC by Nick Gima
Ashland, WI, June 11 – Johnny Broking knew he had his work cut out for him when he picked the ‘9’ during the blind draw to determine the first nine starting spots of Saturday’s Advantage RV Mod Tour feature at the ABC Raceway.
“Time to put on a show?” he was asked after the draw. “I hope we can,” he replied sheepishly.
Boy, did he ever. Broking, of Grand Rapids, MN, clawed his way past a stellar field, weaved his way through backmarkers while fighting for positions, and overtook Mike Anderson in the late stages of the 40-lap Watertown Ford-Chrysler A-main to take home the $1,500 first-place check.
The win was the 2021 Mod Tour champion’s first-ever win at the historic northern Wisconsin speedplant, capping a show presented by the Bad River Lodge, Casino & Convention Center that initially was threatened by morning-long light showers. But the sun broke through by mid-afternoon, the track was fast, and 25 Outlaw Wraps & Apparel WISSOTA Modifieds arrived as the headline act for the six-division show.
The 40-lapper was interrupted only once – on lap 2, when Paul Niznik took a wild spin off the bottom of turn 4. Former national WISSOTA Late Model champion Zack Johnson, who had started outside on the front row, led polestarter Billy Kendall III and the rest of the pack back to the green and immediately opened up a three-quarter-second lead, while Brandon Copp and Mike Anderson worked their way around Kendall to second and third within the next four laps.
Johnson was able to add another half-second to his lead by lap 12 as Copp and Anderson battled each other for runner-up honors. Meanwhile, Broking had slipped by Ryan Gierke for fourth, although trailing the lead trio by some distance. On lap 14 Johnson had reached the tail-end of the field, but while he was able to maneuver through the slower traffic without much resistance, it did allow the now-second Anderson to cut into Johnson’s margin significantly.
Just a lap before the race’s midpoint, Anderson used an inside move on Johnson to edge into the lead, and within another half-dozen laps Copp had caught and passed Johnson’s fading car for second. Anderson seemed to be in complete control at this point, building up a cushion of nearly 1.5 seconds while deftly moving through the backmarkers. At the same time, Broking crept up behind Copp and, with 11 laps remaining, dove low to pass him for second.
The slower traffic began to work against Anderson as the laps wound down, allowing both Broking and Copp to reel in the leader. With five laps left Broking worked his way past Anderson with an outside move, and he pulled away over the final stretch for his second Mod Tour feature win in as many nights, after capturing the checkers in Superior the night before.
Anderson was 1.4 seconds back in second, closely followed by Copp, with Kendall recovering for fourth and Rick Rivord enjoying a strong fifth-place showing.
Steve Stuart of Ashland continued his strong start to the 2022 campaign with his second WISSOTA Super Stock feature win at ABC this season.
Stuart took advantage of a huge gap in the pack after a restart to slip through to take a lead he would work hard to keep.
“The seas kind of just parted in front of me,” Stuart said in Victory Lane as he described the winning pass.
Patrick Beeksma set a strong pace from his outside front-row starting spot early on, leading Shawn McFadden by as much as a second-and-a-half after just seven laps, before the first yellow flag was thrown for Chris Johnson’s stopped racer in turn 2. Aaron Mashlan’s spin on the restart stalled the show again, but on the ensuing green Beeksma’s ride pushed up the banking in the turn, allowing Stuart – who was running fifth at the time – to dive to the bottom to drive into the lead, followed through the gap by Matt Deragon and Nick Oreskovich. After Johnson spun again on lap 8, Oreskovich began a battle with Deragon that allowed Stuart to pull away.
Stuart’s level of comfort disappeared on lap 10 when polestarter Don Livingston spun his ride. Oreskovich, restarting second, stayed glued to Stuart’s back bumper the rest of the way, never allowing the leader more than a half-second of cushion over the final ten non-stop laps. But Stuart’s win was the 42nd of his career at Ashland and made a nice birthday gift for his oldest son. DJ Keeler overtook Deragon two laps from the finish for third, and Kyle Copp was not far back in fifth.
The WISSOTA Midwest Modified 20-lap feature was marred by multiple stoppages, the worst of which came after a complete restart brought about by Diamond Bressette being spun before taking the green. On that ensuing attempt, the close-knit racing caused a grinding pile-up of cars entering the front straightway at the end of lap 1, resulting in five cars either towed or pushed from the track, including that of Tanner Hicks, who ended up on his roof as he was collected in the incident.
After another three-car melee on that restart, an impressive Ryan Barningham led the field for a three-lap green-flag run before a Neil Dees loop. Then James Vendela’s ride, which was running in the top-ten, stalled on the restart.
It was at this point when Marcus Dunbar made his move. The 2020 ABC Mid-Mod champ from Marenisco, MI, who restarted second, dove inside on Barningham to take the lead away on lap 5 and, with the field clicking off ten non-stop laps, opened up an advantage of over four seconds before Mitch Kieber’s spin with five laps left.
During that long green-flag stint, Jesse Aho worked through heavy traffic and won a four-car battle to take over third place, and on lap 14 he finally reeled in and passed Barningham for second. The Kieber spin gave Aho a chance to challenge for his second straight win, but even one last restart with three laps to go after another Kieber spin didn’t help Aho’s cause, as Dunbar went on to his sixth career ABC win by eight-tenths of a second.
Barningham finished solidly in third, ahead of Paul Suzik and Jimmy Latvala.
Duluth, MN’s Cory Jorgensen added his eighth overall WISSOTA Pure Stock feature win of the season in Ashland on Saturday. Jorgensen took over at the point after a lap 1 restart and pulled away from the field for his 12th career feature win at ABC and second in as many shows here this season.
Visiting Travis Hazelton, who was very fast in his heat win earlier in the program, worked his way past Aaron Bernick after the restart and looked to be able to give Jorgensen a serious challenge for the win, but as the laps clicked off Hazelton gave the runner-up spot back to Bernick and eventually fell back to fifth, as visitors Tyler Kachinske and Kevin Bartelt also got by. At the checkers Jorgensen was well ahead of Bernick and the rest as he continued his torrid start to the ’22 season.
Bayfield’s Shane Basina withstood a quick succession of caution-flag delays and a persistent Dennis Groom to earn his first-ever feature win in the ABC Six-Cylinder headliner. Basina, in his sophomore season, picked up his first checkered flag of any kind earlier in the night by winning his heat as well.
The initial start was waived off for a “jump” by Jake Nevala, and following that was a jam-up of cars on the next green flag that caused Jakob Bond to slide into Dennis Groom, forcing Groom into the infield grass.
Basina took advantage of that restart to work outside the pack and into the lead, while Bubba Anderson’s slowing, smoking racer forced several drivers to check up, allowing Groom to scoot by into second.
Dalton Truchon’s spin while running fourth slowed the proceedings on lap 2, and after the restart Nevala used a nice inside move to displace Trenton Bond for third. But Basina was smooth in his line and hit his marks to near-perfection in building a .75-second lead before Bond spun on lap 5.
The last ten laps went without further delay, with Basina pacing and Groom in hot pursuit to the end. Basina’s winning margin was again up to three-quarters of a second by the time the checkered flag flew. Mathew Rohlfing had a solid run to third, using a nice move to get by Nevala late in the go, and Tyler Hudack marked his first night of the season with a fifth-place run.
During the Lightning Storm Graphics WISSOTA Hornets heat race, Derek Dunbar’s car spun and, with nowhere to go, RJ Holly’s car smacked into Dunbar’s nose-to-nose, resulting in terminal damage to both vehicles. Then, when it was time to come out for the Hornet feature, Brandon Hummelmeier’s car developed a gremlin. This left defending champ Dejay Jarecki of Ashland as the only driver able to race – so he took a single green-flag lap and captured the easiest feature win of his career.
Next Saturday night the Safari Bar of Ashland will present the ABC Raceway’s Afco Shocks Race of Champions qualifiers for its WISSOTA-sanctioned divisions. Each of those feature winners will earn an invitation to the Race of Champions event as part of the Speedway Motors WISSOTA 100 in Fergus Falls, MN, in mid-September. All six weekly divisions will be in action, with the grandstand gates and pits opening at 5 pm, hot laps taking place at 6:15, and the first green flag of the night scheduled to fly at 7 pm. WSBZ, 93.3 FM, will air updates from 4:30-6 pm on Saturday, with simulcasts online via the station’s website, www.wbszfm.com.
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, or log on to the track’s website, www.abcraceway.com.
Results
WISSOTA Modifieds
Feature: 1-10: Johnny Broking, Grand Rapids, MN; Mike Anderson, Jim Falls; Brandon Copp, Brule; Billy Kendall III, Walker, MN; Rick Rivord, Superior; Don Eischens, Richmond, MN; Cole Spacek, Phillips; Joseph Thomas, Glyndon, MN; Zach Johnson, Lowry, MN; Jeff Spacek, Phillips.
11-20: Parker Anderson, Phillips; Jake Hiatt, Mason; Pat Cook, Washburn; Bob Broking, Grand Rapids, MN; Bill Byholm, Glidden; Tim Thomas, West Fargo, ND; Paul Niznik, Medford; Hunter Anderson, Phillips; Tyler Luger, Oxford; Jack Rivord, Superior.
21-25: Duane Dale, Hibbing, MN; Corky Thomas, Glyndon, MN; Mike Klippenstein, Proctor, MN; Ryan Gierke, Villard, MN; Donnie Lofdahl, Duluth, MN.
Heat 1: J Broking; M Anderson; Johnson; J Spacek; Niznik; J Rivord; Cook; Byholm; Klippenstein.
Heat 2: Copp; Gierke; Kendall; C Spacek; J Thomas; B Broking; H Anderson; C Thomas.
Heat 3: Eischens; R Rivord; Hiatt; P Anderson; Dale; T Thomas; Lofdahl; Luger.
WISSOTA Super Stocks
Feature: 1-10: Steve Stuart, Ashland; Nick Oreskovich, Mason; DJ Keeler, Superior; Matt Deragon, Ashland; Patrick Beeksma, Ironwood, MI; Shawn McFadden, Ashland; Kyle Copp, Brule; Randy Graham, Trego; Myron Basina, Bayfield; Don Livingston, Washburn.
11-12: Aaron Mashlan, Ashland; Chris Johnson, Superior.
Heat 1: McFadden; Deragon; Beeksma; Livingston; Basina; Johnson.
Heat 2: Stuart; Oreskovich; Copp; Keeler; Graham; Mashlan.
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
Feature: 1-10: Marcus Dunbar, Marenisco, MI; Jesse Aho, Twin Lakes, MI; Ryan Barningham, Bayfield; Paul Suzik, Ironwood, MI; Jimmy Latvala, Solon Springs; James Vendela, South Range; David Simpson, Thunder Bay, ON; Warren Bartelt, Medford; Ross Fuhrman, Ashland; Neil Dees, Hurley.
11-17: Diamond Bressette, Spooner; Mitch Kieber, Ironwood, MI; Tanner Gehl, Solon Springs; Tyler Hudack, Ashland; Duane Dunbar, Marenisco, MI; Matt Jacobson, Bessemer, MI; Tanner Hicks, Ashland.
Heat 1: Suzik; Latvala; Barningham; Vendela; Bartelt; Bressette; Jacobson; Gehl; Kieber.
Heat 2: Aho; M Dunbar; Fuhrman; Simpson; D Dunbar; Hudack; Dees; Hicks.
WISSOTA Pure Stocks
Feature: 1-7: Cory Jorgensen, Duluth, MN; Aaron Bernick, Duluth, MN; Tyler Kachinske, Duluth, MN; Kevin Bartelt, Chippewa Falls; Travis Hazelton, Chippewa Falls; Steve Pohl, Manitowish Waters; RJ Holly, Marengo.
Heat: Hazelton; Jorgensen; Bernick; Holly; Kachinske; Bartelt; Pohl.
ABC Six-Cylinders
Feature: 1-10: Shane Basina, Bayfield; Dennis Groom, Ashland; Mathew Rohlfing, Cable; Jake Nevala, Ashland; Tyler Hudack, Ashland; Dalton Truchon, Ashland; Trenton Bond, Mason; Jakob Bond, Mason; Austin Olby, Marengo; Julian Root, Ashland.
11-12: Jacob Johnson, Cable; Bubba Anderson, Trego.
Heat 1: Basina; Anderson; Truchon; T Bond; Rohlfing; Hudack.
Heat 2: Nevala; Groom; J Bond; Olby; Root; Johnson.
WISSOTA Hornets
Feature: 1: DeJay Jarecki, Ashland.
Heat 1: Jarecki; Brandon Hummelmeier, Ashland; RJ Holly, Marengo; Derek Dunbar, Iron River.
