ESTEY TOPS COMO MODIFIED SERIES 30 LAP FEATURE
By Jerry O'Brien 5-25-08
Proctor, MN
2007 Como Modified Oil & Propane Modified Series champion Kelly Estey of Kelly Lake
picked up where he left off last season, at the head of the class. Estey won the 30 lap feature with
a pass on Modified rookie driver Ryan Aho after the only caution flag of the event which came
on lap 23 when Dean Yrjanainen and Jody Bellefeuille who had taken the Como Provisional,
clashed on the front straight. On the restart Estey who had been bottled up behind Bill Byholm,
found clear track between himself and Aho. He took advantage and went outside of Aho in turn one
and grabbed the lead off turn two and raced away leading the final circuits for a convincing win.
25 cars were scheduled to take the green flag for the 30 lap main event. After the pole dash,
Estey and Jayme Lautigar who had finished first and second respectively in the '07 final Series
points, shared the front row. At the start Estey and Lautigar were too close to call at the line for
the lead on the first circuit but Estey quickly gained the point with Lautigar second ahead of Al
Uotinen and Ryan Aho. The battle for fifth was between Joey Jensen and Jeff Wood. Estey
extended his lead in the early going with Jensen winning out. The skirmish for second heated up
as Lautigar, Uotinen and Aho battled with Aho going to the top groove and working his way past
into the runner up spot. He then set out after the fleeing Estey who found himself battling
through traffic at the rear of the pack. Aho caught Estey in a gaggle of lapped cars as the 15 lap
half way point was reached. At that point the top ten included Estey in the lead over Aho,
Lautigar, Uotinen, Jensen, Wood, Craig Thatcher, Darrell Nelson, Bill Byholm and Don Copp.
On lap 16 Aho got to the outside of Estey in traffic on the back stretch and completed the pass on
the front stretch. Aho was able to stretch his lead over Estey until the lap 23 incident when estey
was able to return the favor going on for the win. Aho, Lautigar, Uotinen and Jensen completed
the top five at the finish. A total of 42 WISSOTA AMSOIL Dirt Track Series Modified were on
hand for the event.
Results: Race #1 Como Oil & Propane WISSOTA Modified Series (42 cars)
10 Lap Qualifying Heats, top four to the feature, top two to the Pole Dash
Rick Gondik Law Office Heats
Heat 1: Ryan Aho, Al Uotinen, Don Copp, John Massingill, Dave Cain, Bob Broking, Kyle
Gavel, Rick Cannata, Jeff Hart
Heat 2: Craig Thatcher, Kelly Estey, Ken Hron, Wayne Stricker, Alan Olafson, Scott Hudack,
Mark Blood, Cory Sersha, Paul Schultz
Heat 3: Jason Miller, Jeff Spacek, Duane Dale, Rick Rivord, Nick Lavato, Dean Yrjanainen,
Gavin Paull, Jody Bellefeuille
Heat 4: Jayme Lautigar, Tim Alexander, Pat Doar, Bill byholm, Shaun Kreyer, Kelly checkalski,
Travis Zollar, Rich Lofthus
Heat 5: Joey Jensen, Jeff Wood, Darrell Nelson, Ricky Roche, Paul Knauf, Jad carlson, Steve
Lavasseur, Mark Damjanovich
Mirror Images Day Spa B-Mains
B Feature #1 (Top two to feature): Cain, Knauf, Hart, Paull, Gavell, Lofthus, Hudack, Lavato,
Lavasseur, Sersha, Checkalski
B Feature #2: Broking, Yrjanainen, Cannata, Olafson, Damjanovich, Zollar, J Carlson, Schultz,
Blood, Bellefeuille, Kreyer
Fortune Bay Resort Casino Feature
Feature (30 Laps) (1-10) Estey, Aho, Lautigar, Uotinen, Jensen, Thatcher, Nelson, Copp, Spacek,
Wood (11-25) Hron, Roche, Knauf, Massingill, Dale, Doar, Byholm, Stricker, Cain, Broking,
Yrjanainen, Rivord, Miller, Bellefeuille, Alexander
