Ashland, WI, — What had figured to be a dramatic finish to a competitive 2009 racing season at the ABC Raceway ended up all wet.

All-day showers combined with cool temperatures forced track officials to cancel the Fan Appreciation Night season finale, presented by Northstar Beverages and WIMI-FM, on Saturday night. With the cancellation, the regular season points standings are final, resulting in four first-time champions and three repeat titlists in the track’s six divisions.

Duane Dale of Aurora, MN, has made the long trip to Ashland on a weekly basis over the past two seasons, and it has now paid off in his first-ever ABC points title in the WISSOTA modified class. Dale’s 33-point advantage over former four-time track champ Al Uotinen of Superior would have been nearly impossible to overcome had the show been run on Saturday.

Superior’s Scott Lawrence has set the bar incredibly high in the WISSOTA super stock division for some time now at ABC, but with his ninth track title he becomes the Raceway’s all-time leader in championships. The ‘09 trophy is also his sixth straight, tying him with Brule’s Don Copp for the longest string of consecutive titles. Lawrence edged Ladysmith’s Eric Olson by ten points for the crown. Larry Haderly of Marengo earned his second straight WISSOTA street stock championship and fourth since 2002, finishing 19 points up on Ashland’s Dennis Groom in what will be the final season of street stocks as a regular weekly division at ABC.

Steve Stuart of Ashland will hold the distinction of being the only WISSOTA Midwest modified points champ at ABC for at least one more season. Stuart’s second straight title and third of his career (he was the six-cylinder champ in 2006) comes after finishing a mere three points ahead of Jimmy Latvala of Solon Springs. Dale Coddington of Hayward finished just one point behind Pat Beeksma of Ironwood in last year’s final six-cylinder points rundown. But Coddington collected two straight feature wins over the final two nights of racing here this summer and took over the points lead jsut last week. The championship is Coddington’s first in Ashland, with a margin of just 14 points over Shawn McFadden, Jr, of Ashland.

The pure stock title will be shared for 2009 by first-time champs Tim Carbon of Highbridge and Tim Carlson of Superior. The pair led the track’s closest points race, as only 12 points separated the top six drivers in the final standings. The Raceway staff will now spend the next few weeks preparing for the 34th annual Red Clay Classic, to be held on Friday and Saturday, October 2-3. The long-standing traditional end-of season event will feature a 50-lap, $4,000-to-win WISSOTA late model feature, the championship round of the WISSOTA-sanctioned Como Oil & Propane Modified Series, a huge field of WISSOTA super stocks, and, for the first time ever, a fourth division - the WISSOTA Midwest modifieds. A purse of over $75,000 is scheduled to be paid out.

The ABC Raceway is located 3-1/2 miles south of Ashland on State Highway 13 and one mile west on Butterworth Road. “Racenight” will air on WBSZ, 93.3 FM, prior to the racing programs on both Friday and Saturday night with up-to-date track news and weather information. For raceday information call (715) 682-4990, or log on to the track’s website, www.abcraceway.com.

Ashland, WI, — While 119 cars filled the pit area at the ABC Raceway for the “Pure Excitement 25″ pure stock special on a hot, humid Saturday night, a freightening crash and subsequent lengthy delay for repairs stopped the action cold, and then a rain shower passed through the area to eliminate any chance of getting the race program completed.

A total of 28 pure stocks from throughout the area were on hand to compete for their share of a purse that had far exceeded $5,000 and included a winner’s check nearing $1,100, thanks to many very generous contributions from area businesses, fans and race teams. In particular, Rivord Trucking again came through with huge cash boosts for the race winner and runner-up.

In addition, nearly $2,000 in prizes were given away to the large crowd in attendance for the program, presented by the Ashland-Bayfield County Sportsman’s Club. But the show came to a heart-stopping halt during the second heat race for the WISSOTA super stocks. The nine-car field came down the front straight in tight formation during the early stages of the ten-lapper when the throttle on Tad Schoonover’s racer stuck wide-open; the car drove through the turn 2 guard rail and rolled over into the catch fence. Safety crews rushed to the scene, and after several anxious minutes Schoonover climbed from his car on his own, obviously shaken but otherwise unhurt.

Track crews then began work on repairing the damaged guard rail, but as that work neared completion a light sprinkle moved over the track which eventually grew enough in intensity to wash out the AmsOil Dirt Track Series program. The “Pure Excitement 25″ has been rescheduled for this Saturday, August 22, with all heat and feature action from the August 15 program re-run in its entirety. Adult grandstand tickets are just $10 for each of the last two regular-season nights, through August 29, while kids ages 12 and under are admitted free with a paid adult. Fans and drivers who present their wristbands from the August 15 show will be allowed admittance for either the August 22 or August 29 show.

“Racenight” will air live with up-to-date track news and weather information on Saturday on WJJH, 96.7 FM, from 4:30-6 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, or log on to the track’s website, www.abcraceway.com

by Nick Gima

Ashland, WI — As many as 50 of the Upper Midwest’s top modified aces are expected to invade Ashland on Saturday, as the ABC Raceway will play host to race number 4 of the eight-race Como Oil & Propane Modified Series, presented by the NAPA Auto
Parts stores of Ashland & Washburn.

The Series has already run at Hibbing, Proctor and Superior, and coming into Saturday’s show 50 drivers have made appearances in the four-track tour. The white-hot Darrell Nelson of Hermantown, MN, the Series’s inaugural champ back in 2006, leads 2007 Como titlist Kelly Estey of Kelly Lake, MN, by a slim two-point margin as the popular tour makes its way to Ashland’s three-eighths-mile red-clay oval.

Nelson kicked off the 2009 edition of the Series with an exciting win at the Proctor Speedway on May 24, while Estey answered back with a strong effort of his own at the Hibbing Raceway’s first-ever Governor’s Cup event on June 20. Former area WISSOTA Midwest Modified specialist Greg Chesley of Duluth, MN, earned his first-ever “big mod” feature win with a surprise performance at the Superior Speedway this past Wednesday.

At last year’s Red Clay Classic, Superior’s Al Uotinen was one of at least seven drivers with a mathematical shot at the Como Series crown, but he dropped out early in the feature event and thought his title chances had disappeared. However, to his and everyone else’s amazement, the other championship contenders either fell out of the event or were otherwise unable to capitalize, and at the end of the night Uotinen had the title in the most dramatic of ways. For 2009, the addition of the Lake Country Chevy Dealers marketing group, along with a solid core of other sponsors, has helped the Como Mod Series become the
richest tour of its kind in the country, with a total end-of-season purse of over $42,000 and a record $10,000 going to this year’s champion. Many thousands of dollars’ worth of contingency prizes will also be distributed amongst the drivers who compete in the Series.

Saturday’s mod feature here will pay $1,000 to win. The Series makes one more loop of its four host tracks during the region’s
invitational season, finishing up with the championship round here during the 34th Red Clay Classic on October 2-3. Saturday’s program will also include Midwest mods running for a $400 feature winner’s share, as well as the track’s Six-Cylinder division.
Adult grandstand tickets are just $12, while kids ages 12 and under are admitted free with a paid adult.

Prior to the show, “Racenight” will air live with up-to-date track news and weather information on WBSZ, 93.3 FM, from 4:30-6 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, or log on to the track’s website, www.abcraceway.com.

by Nick Gima

Ashland, WI — Is the current state of the economy straining your entertainment dollar? Does the idea of disposing of your disposable income make you feel a bit anxious? Looking for a night out with friends or family without dipping too deep into the milk-and-butter money?

Well, the folks at the ABC Raceway have the answer for you. The three-eighths-mile red-clay oval just south of Ashland will host its second-ever “Jam the Stands” Night, presented by Heartland Communications, on Saturday, June 27. All six of the track’s weekly race divisions - WISSOTA-sanctioned modifieds, super stocks, street stocks and Midwest modifieds, plus the six-cylinder and pure stock classes - will be on hand for a complete program of heats and features. In all, upwards of 100 cars are expected to be in action.

And the best part is the price to get in. While adult admission tickets are regularly a very resonable ten dollars each, on this night the price for all that excitement is half that much - only five bucks. “When we hosted this event for the first time last summer, other race track promoters thought we were nuts,” ABC Raceway president Kurt Beeksma recently explained. “A tough economy and sky-high gas prices kept lots of folks from going to the races all over the country, and that put tracks in a financial bind. “But not only did we enjoy one of our best-attended programs all summer, also it helped attract many new fans who had never considered going to the races before. It was a huge success, and a lot of fun.”

Besides the great non-stop racing action, fans can enjoy professionally-played deejay music by JD Bass Entertainment before and after the race program, as well as play Country Music Trivia along with WBSZ-FM morning personality Mark Dixon and JD Bass for some great prizes beginning at 5 pm at the track and on the air. Along with all of this, kids ages 12 and under are still admitted in to the track free of charge with a paid adult admission.

On the track, five of the six race divisions are still looking for their first repeat feature winners of 2009. Last Saturday the mods had the night off, but Art Hyde of Washburn (supers), John Kallas of Hurley (streeters), Mike Truscott of Chippewa Falls (Mid-mods), Greg Jaeger of Mellen (sixes) and Highbridge’s Tim Carbon (pure stocks) each collected A-main honors.

Only Chad Carlson of Superior has repeated as an ABC winner, in the pure stocks, and he will not be in action this weekend.
Prior to Saturday’s race program, “Racenight” will air live with up-to-date track news and weather information on WBSZ, 93.3 FM, from 4:30-6 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, or log on to the track’s website, www.abcraceway.com

Ashland, WI, — A late-arriving sprinkle, combined with cool temperatures, was just enough to spoil the Kids’ Meet the Drivers Night festivites, presented by Little Caesar’s Pizza, Saturday night at the ABC Raceway.

The light rains arrived right at 6 pm and soaked the track just enough, despite the efforts of the track prep crew and many of the nearly 100 racers in the pits to pack in the moisture. By 7 pm the decision was made based on the brisk weather and threat of continuing precipitation.

The opportunity for fans to meet their favorite drivers and collect autographs and photos out on the red-clay racing surface, as well as the rest of the six-division AmsOil Dirt Track Series race program, has been rescheduled for Saturday, June 13. Fans and racers that paid their admission for the June 6 program are reminded that those passes (tickets or wristbands) will be honored during either of the next two regular-price race nights - either the rescheduled Kids’ Meet the Drivers Night on June 13 or the June 20 program.

Hot laps will get underway this coming Saturday at 6:15 pm, followed by the 20-minute meet-and-greet session for the fans, with the first green flag of the night dropping at 7. Adult tickets are just $10, while kids ages 12 and under are free with a paid adult. The ABC Raceway is located 3-1/2 miles south of Ashland on State Highway 13 and one mile west on Butterworth Road. “Racenight” will air Saturday on WBSZ, 93.3 FM, from 4:30-6 pm with up-to-date track news and weather information. For raceday information call (715) 682-4990, or log on to the track’s website, www.abcraceway.com.