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by Nick Gima
Ashland, WI, July 26 – The ABC Raceway added six inductees into its Hall of Fame on Saturday night, during its race program presented by Boomer’s Bar & Grill of Ashland.
Included as inductees were AH Roffers Construction Co in the Contributor category, drivers Bonnie Berndt, Shawn McFadden and Willie Rahko, and Jane Asbach and Kevin MacArthur in the Volunteers category.
AH Roffers Construction Co was a long-time local contractor that was often instrumental in providing needed equipment and construction materials to the Raceway for maintenance and improvement projects for over 50 years. Owners Ron and Gary Roffers also sponsored several race teams throughout the early decades of the track’s existence.
Berndt is considered a pioneer in ABC’s racing history, as she was the first female to race on a full-time basis here. Running in the Six-Cylinder class from 1995-2000, her accomplishments include back-to-back top-10 finishes in the points standings during the 1997-’98 campaigns, driving her familiar number “Lucky 7” car.
McFadden was the 1994 Rookie of the Year at ABC in the WISSOTA Street Stock class and finished fifth in points in ’94 and ‘95, before moving on to the Sixes in 1997, where he tallied five feature wins and that year’s division title. He later moved into the WISSOTA Super Stocks before retiring from racing after the 2005 season. His 12 feature wins in the Sixes rank 14th-best all-time in that class at the track.
Rahko, who passed away a few years ago, was one of the Raceway’s early stars, beginning in the Hobby Stock division in the late 1960s and winning his first two features in 1970. He later became one of the most successful Super Stock racers of the mid-‘70s, with five feature victories during the 1975 and ’76 seasons. He finished top-five in points at each track he raced at with his always-immaculate blue-and-silver number 32. He was represented by several family members.
Mrs Asbach, whose husband Dennis was inducted in the inaugural class in 2014, was recognized on her own for her selfless contributions to the Raceway’s financial organization, from its formative years of the mid-1960s well into the early 2000s. She is also credited as having given the track’s prestigious end-of-season Red Clay Classic invitational its name in 1977.
MacArthur is noted for his work as the Raceway’s long-time groundskeeper, having taken on the role several decades ago. He has also contributed valuable time and effort to many facility-improvement projects over the years, and he had served on the track’s Board of Directors for six years.
The inductees were treated to a luncheon at Boomer’s prior to the race program, then were formally introduced during intermission of Saturday’s race program.
This eleventh group of inductees brings the total number of members of the ABC Raceway Hall of Fame to 93. The names of all inductees are displayed on panelboards located at the track.
