Uotinen takes Championship in a thrilling finish at Ashland
Posted under Headlines, Results by admin on September 27th, 2008
ASHLAND, WI – Al Uotinen of Superior was named the third Como Modified Series champion in as many years under the most unlikely and dramatic of circumstances during the 33rd annual Red Clay Classic at ABC Raceway on Saturday night.
Joey Jensen, of Forest Lake, MN parlayed hard work early on and patience down the stretch to add his first RCC WISSOTA Modified crown to the Late Model win he achieved in 2005 and three other Modified wins at ABC Raceway, including one during a Como Modified Series visit earlier this summer.
The story within the 35-lap feature race was the chase for the Como Series title. Al Uotinen came into the weekend only five points up on Nelson and eight ahead of Ryan Aho, but things tightened up after Aho won his heat race and Nelson took third in his; Uotinen was fourth in his heat. In fact, after Friday night’s action, only two of the top six drivers in Series points had qualified for the Modified feature.
Polesitter Mike Goodremote led all but two of the first 13 laps of the event; Craig Thatcher swiped the point away on laps two and four. Jerry Weigel’s car suffered left-front steering damage after a kiss off the front- straightaway wall six laps in but continued running in the top six or so until the car looped in turn four and brought out the first caution flag of the race on lap eight.
After the restart, seventh starter Jensen slipped past Rich Lofthus and Aho into third place, well behind Goodremote and Thatcher and their tussle for the lead.
The drama began when Uotinen’s car, running near the tail of the field, gave up due to rear-end troubles on lap 11 and apparently ended his hope of claiming the $7,500 Como Series championship check. Jensen worked inside against Thatcher and took over second following the restart and, two laps later, he went around Goodremote for the lead.
After Paul Knauf’s car stalled on the backstraight on lap 16, Nelson and Paul Niznik tangled in turn two and the caution flag waved again. Both cars were done for the night, which opened the door for Aho to swipe the Series title. Aho, however, made contact with Lofthus while the two dueled for third during the restart. Aho had to have a flat tire changed in the work area before he restarted in 22nd.
Jensen and Thatcher separated themselves from the field when the race returned to green with 15th-starter Duane Dale in third. Dave Cain, who had to come through B feature action just to make the race and started 21st in the 26-car field, ran behind Goodremote in fifth.
Goodremote’s car slowed dramatically on the front straightaway on lap 26 and, just past the flagstand, Aho was racing in heavy traffic and could not avoid the slowing car. Goodremote’s car was lifted into the air and flipped before coming down on its roof. Aho quickly exited his car and joined the safety crews to tend to Goodremote. After several tense moments, Goodremote crawled from the car, waved to the crowd and came up into the grandstands to give family members a hug of relief.
With Aho now out as well, the remaining Como Series title contenders – Jason Miller, Jayme Lautigar and Kelly Estey – failed to advance far enough through the field to surpass Uotinen’s point total, despite Uotinen finishing 25th.
One last yellow flag slowdown – on lap 29 for a Mark Hanson spin – was not enough to allow Thatcher a chance to reel in Jensen, whose car was hooked up and flying; Jensen posted the race’s fastest lap (16.721 seconds) during the final six laps on his way to the $3,000 win. Thatcher was not far behind in second and Cain, who overtook Dale just after the Goodremote-Aho crash restart, posted a solid third-place effort.
Ross Prochnow started 12th and finished fourth at a distance to the top three; he passed Dale two laps from the checkers. Lofthus led the second five ahead of Miller, Ricky Roche, Copp and Mike Anderson.
Uotinen’s unofficial final margin in was the closest in the three-year Como Series history – two points over Aho and three over Miller and Nelson.
Modified heat winners were Goodremote, Thatcher, Lofthus, Weigel, Niznik and Aho. Goodremote won the pole dash. Uotinen, Robby Bunkelman and Cain each won a B feature.
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Joey Jensen, Craig Thatcher, Dave Cain, Ross Prochnow, Duane Dale, Rich Lofthus, Jason Miller, Ricky Roche, Don Copp, Mike Anderson, Brent Prochnow, Robby Bunkelman, Kent Baxter, Jody Bellefeuille, Paul Niznik, Kelly Estey, Jayme Lautigar, Jeff Hart, Mark Hanson, Scott Hudack, Ryan Aho, Mike Goodremote, Darrell Nelson, Paul Knauf, Al Uotinen, Jerry Weigel
Rick Gondik Law Office Heats
Heat 1 – Goodremote, Miller, Anderson, Uotinen, Jeff Spacek, B. Prochnow, Steve Lavasseur, Wayne Stricker, Kelly Checkalski, Bill Byholm
Heat 2 – Thatcher, Hanson, Knauf, Lautigar, Jerry Hartman, Jason Schill, Bellefeuille, Dean Yrjanainen, Bruce Tourville
Heat 3 – Lofthus, J. Jensen, Nelson, Cain, Jeff Wood, Scott Duval, Kevin Rogers, Fred Aschenbauer, Brad Jensen, Estey
Heat 4 – Weigel, Copp, Hudack, Rick Rivord, Nick Lavato, Don Brightbill, Shawn Kelley, John Frydrych, Tim Alexander
Heat 5 – Niznik, Baxter, Roche, Bunkelman, Paul Schultz, Gavin Paull, Keith Tourville, Ross Lightner,Bryan Dorge, Jason Zdroik
Heat 6 – Aho, R. Prochnow, Dale, Kobs, Hart, Larry Prochnow, Marc Johnson, John Baltich, Travis Swanson, Bryan Nayes
Castrol Syntec Pole Dash
Goodremote, Thatcher, Aho, Lofthus, Niznik, Weigel
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B Feature 1 – Uotinen, B. Prochnow, Byholm, Checkalski, Lavasseur, Frydrych, Brightbill, Rivord, Kelley, Spacek, Alexander
B Feature 2 – Bunkelman, Lautigar, Schultz, Hartman, Lightner, B. Tourville, Schill, Bellefeuille, Zdroik, Paull, Dorge, Yrjanainen, K. Tourville
B Feature 3 – Cain, Hart, Aschenbauer, Rogers, Johnson, Baltich, Swanson, B. Jensen, Wood, L. Prochnow, Duval, Estey, Nayes
