Kid’s Bike Races & Hornet Special
Hornets, Kids’ Bike Races in Saturday’s Spotlight at ABC Raceway
by Nick Gima
Ashland, WI, July 10 — The “big boys” came to play on the ABC Raceway’s three-eighths-mile red-clay oval this past Tuesday night. On Saturday, it’ll be time for the little boys – and girls – to play.
Chicago Iron & Supply of Ashland will present the popular annual Kids’ Bike Races at the award-winning northern Wisconsin speedplant. Youngsters are encouraged to bring their bikes to compete on the track in four different age groups – ages 2-4, ages 5-7, ages 8-10, and ages 11-12 – for a chance to win prizes and more.
In addition, the Raceway will offer its newest division a chance at a little extra money when it hosts its first-ever “Hornet Stinger” special. WISSOTA Hornets – the track’s new entry-level four-cylinder class – will be racing for an enhanced purse that includes a $300 paycheck to the winner of that division’s feature.
The World of Outlaws Late Model Series invaded Ashland for the first time in that national tour’s history on Tuesday night, July 9, and by all accounts the event was a success. A huge crowd saw New Berlin, IL’s Brandon Sheppard, the Series points leader, lead all 50 laps of the inaugural “Badgerland 50 Outlaw Challenge,” presented by Red’s Auto of Ironwood, MI, and edge Shane Clanton of Zebulon, GA, to take home $10,000 – by far the largest check ever awarded to a competitor in the ABC Raceway’s 55-year history.
Twenty-five Late Model drivers from ten different states and Canada were on hand to compete for the big purse offered on Tuesday, and most all of the touring drivers and Series officials conveyed to Raceway representatives after the show how impressed they were with the quality of the facility, the racing surface, the staff’s professionalism, and the beauty and hospitality of the Chequamegon Bay area in general. Talks have already begun to attempt to bring dirt-track stock car racing’s premier national touring series back to ABC in 2020.
It was also announced today that the WISSOTA Super Stock feature, which was stopped Tuesday night by rain before the race’s mid-point, has been rescheduled to be completed on Saturday, August 3. The Super Stocks will not be in action at ABC this Saturday.
In a return to the Raceway’s traditional night of action, four of the five other regular weekly divisions – the WISSOTA-sanctioned Modifieds, Midwest Mods and Pure Stocks, and the track’s own Six-Cylinders – will join the Hornets in action. Hot laps will start at 6:15, while the heat races are slated to start at 7 pm. “Race Night” will air on WBSZ, 93.3 FM, with up-to-date track news and weather updates every 15-20 minutes from 4:30-6 pm; coverage will also stream on www.wbszfm.com and on the free Heartland Communications Group radio app.
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.
The ABC Raceway will get back into its traditional Saturday night routine on July 13, with the popular kids’ bike races to be presented by Chicago Iron & Supply of Ashland. In addition, the Raceway will host its first-ever “Stinger” special for the WISSOTA Hornets, offering an enhanced purse with a $300 winner’s check for that night’s feature.
Hot laps will start at 6:15, and the first green flag of the night is set to fly at 7 pm. “Race Night” will air on WBSZ, 93.3 FM, from 4:30 until 6 pm with track news and weather information leading up to the race program.
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
