ABC Raceway Hosts 36th Red Clay Classic

With autumn comes several guarantees in northern Wisconsin. Cooler temperatures. Leaves changing colors. The start of football season.

And hundreds of racers and thousands of race fans gathering at the ABC Raceway for the Red Clay Classic.

The venerable three-eighth-mile red-clay oval just south of Ashland will once again be the site of the Northland’s traditional season finale for stock car racing, as the track hosts the 36th annual running of its signature event on Fri. and Sat., Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.

The two-day program will include heat races, semi-feature qualifiers and exciting, big-paying feature events for four WISSOTA-sanctioned divisions - late models, modifieds, super stocks and Midwest modifieds.

The high-powered late models make their only appearance in Ashland of the 2011 season, but the division has been the only one to be featured as a part of every Red Clay Classic since the first one in 1976. Last year Kyle Peterlin of Hibbing, Minn., capped off a stellar season with his first ABC Raceway feature win, dominating by leading all 50 laps.

Peterlin is expected back to defend his title, as the late models will attempt to qualify for the headline event of the weekend - a 50-lap feature paying $4,000 to the winner and $350 to start.
The modified portion of the race schedule also makes up the final round of the popular Como Mod Series for the sixth straight season. In years past the drama of the Series championship has carried right up until the 35-lap, $3,000-to-win feature has been completed, but Dave Cain of Corcoran, Minn., has taken care of that aspect. Cain, who captured the win in late June during the Series’ first stop here, carries a 53-point lead into the Classic weekend and needs to only take a green flag in his heat race to wrap up his first-ever Series title.

Odds are that Cain won’t hold back, however, as he and his fellow mod drivers attempt to dethrone defending RCC mod champ Jason Miller of Osceola, who led from green to checkered last fall to claim his first RCC win and third overall win of his career at Ashland.

Super stocks have historically provided some of the strongest car counts in past Classics, and why not? With the opportunity to run for $1,500 to win and $200 to start in the 30-lap main event on Saturday, there’s a lot on the line. Last year Eric Olson of Ladysmith worked his way into the lead and then fought hard to stay there to earn his first-ever RCC win.

The Midwest mods were added to the RCC docket for the 2009 event, but that year’s program was completely rained out. The highly-anticipated run for the division last fall did not disappoint, as over 60 racers came out. Skeeter Estey of Kelly Lake, Minn., was the class of the field in becoming the Classic’s first-ever Mid-mod champ, leading from start to finish.

This year the Mid-mods will once again run a 25-lap A-feature on Saturday, which will pay $600 to win and $100 to start.

On Friday the pit and grandstand gates will open at 1 p.m., the grandstands will open at 3:30 p.m., and hot laps for all four divisions will get underway at 5:30 p.m., with the first heat race of the weekend set for around 7 p.m.

On Saturday the Raceway will host its annual four-person scramble golf tournament at the Chequamegon Bay Golf Course, located west of Ashland on State Highway 137, beginning at 9:30 a.m. Also, many Downtown Ashland merchants will be holding specials and sales for race fans.

At the track the pit gates open at noon, while the grandstand gates will open at 2:30 p.m. Semi-feature action will kick off the balance of the race program right at 5 p.m.

Admission tickets for adults (ages 13 and older) are only $20 for each night, while fans ages 6-12 can get in for just $8 each night. Fans can save with two-day passes, priced at just $35 for adults and $15 for kids. Reserved seating is still available on a limited basis for the price of a two-day pass plus $10 more.

For fans planning to spend the weekend at the track in their RVs there is a very limited supply of primitive camp sites on the Raceway grounds still available.

Fans interested in a reserved seat or campsite can call Mary at (715) 682-2672 Monday through Thursday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., or send an e-mail to tickets@abcraceway.com for more information.

At press time fewer than 100 of the 234 marked pit sites were still shown as available. To reserve a pit spot racers can call Gordy at (715) 682-5409 Monday through Thursday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.  All information on reserved camp sites, pit spots and seating is available on the track’s website.

Prior to each night’s race program, special editions of “Race Night” will air live with up-to-date track news, interviews and weather information on WBSZ, 93.3 FM, starting at 3 p.m.
The ABC Raceway is located 3.5 miles south of Ashland, WI, 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.