34th Red Clay Classic to Include Midwest Mods
by Nick Gima
Ashland, WI -- The ABC Raceway has announced that it will add WISSOTA’s Midwest Modified division to the line-up for its annual Red Clay Classic, to be held on Friday and Saturday, October 2-3.
The prestigious end-of-season dirt-track stock car racing event will cap off a 2009 racing schedule that promises to be exciting and fan-friendly. The agenda will tentatively include 16 regular-season race shows as well as the 34th Red Clay Classic.
"We hope that by adding the Mid-Mods we will be able to offer our fans an even better value for our biggest show of the season," stated Raceway president Kurt Beeksma.
The decision was made during the Ashland-Bayfield County Racing Association’s monthly off-season meeting March 10. A purse for the event’s fourth class has not yet been set. The Red Clay Classic will also host WISSOTA’s Late Model, Modified and Super Stock divisions.
The Midwest Mods were added to the Raceway’s weekly regular-season presentations in 2008, and the decision was considered a huge success by fans and track officials alike. The division will return in 2009, along with long-time favorites WISSOTA-sanctioned Modifieds, Super Stocks and Street Stocks and the track’s own Six-Cylinders and Pure Stocks.
The new season will kick off with the annual Car Show and Swap Meet on Saturday, May 9, at FastLane Motorsports & Powdercoating on East Lake Shore Drive in Ashland. This event presents the fans with a great opportunity to see several of the race machines up close and talk with many area drivers.
The first night of weekly Saturday action will be held on May 16 and will continue every Saturday night except one through August 29.
Highlights during the early-season schedule include Armed Forces Night on May 23, Kids’ Meet the Drivers Night on June 6, a visit by the Northern Vintage Stock Car Association on June 20, "Jam the Stands" Night on July 27, and kids’ bike races on July 11.
The track will be a busy place during mid-season, as it will host special events on four consecutive race nights, starting on July 18 with the fourth annual Street Stock Challenge. A year ago Larry Haderly took home an ABC Raceway Street Stock-record $1,210 first-place check, thanks to generous contributions from many fans and sponsors.
On the following Friday night, July 24, the mighty Late Models will be in town for the first-ever visit by the Dart Challenge Series, WISSOTA’s longest-running and most prestigious tour for its featured division. Last season 171 different drivers competed throughout the 16-race schedule, which ended with Lance Matthees of Winona, MN, winning $7,500 for both the Series title and the Debbie's Dash sub-series.
This event replaces the now-defunct AmsOil Late Model Series as the first of the two visits for the division in Ashland; the Red Clay Classic is the other. A special event for the Super Stocks and a full program for the Sixes is also on that night’s menu.
As an interesting note, for the first time in at least 25 years the track will not have a regularly-scheduled race program on a summertime Saturday night, as there will be no racing on July 25.
The pace picks back up again, however, on August 1, as the Como Oil & Propane Modified Series arrives for its fourth season in the region. The eight-race series will make two stops each at the tracks in Proctor and Hibbing, MN, and Ashland and Superior, with the championship again to be decided at the Red Clay Classic.
For 2009 the Como Series will pay out a record $40,000 overall purse, with an all-time best $10,000 awarded to the Series champion, making it the most significant touring series for "big mods" in the Upper Midwest.
Mid-Mods and Sixes will also run during the Como Series show.
On August 15 pure stockers will be the featured attraction for the 6th annual Pure Excitement 25 special. This unique event has also been bolstered every year by the "pass-the-hat" generosity of its many sponsors and fans, and last summer Hermantown, MN’s Dan Larsen won his first-ever feature in the event and took home a track-record $1,183 paycheck for the entry-level division.
As the summer winds down the action will intensify, with the points championship battles heating up through the Fan Appreciation Night season finale on August 29.
For the fans and drivers, the cost of the fun will not change from 2008. With the lone exceptions of the Challenge Series, Como Series and Red Clay Classic events, adult admission tickets will remain at $10, while younger fans ages 12 and under can still get in to the main grandstand free with a paid adult. Also, a pair of special "value passes" will be made available, offering ten-percent discounts for advance purchases of either five- or ten-race adult admission packages for traditional race nights.
Admission to the track’s pit area will continue to be just $25 during all regular-season events except the Challenge Series and Como Series.
Reserved grandstand seats are also available. For more information on these, please send an e-mail to tickets@abcraceway.com.
Hot laps will again kick off each regular-season race night at 6:15 pm, while green-flag heat race action will commence at 6:30. Prior to each race program, "Racenight" will air live with up-to-date track news and weather information on WBSZ, 93.3 FM.
The ABC Raceway is located 3-1/2 miles south of Ashland on State Highway 13 and one mile west on Butterworth Road.
