Points Titles to be Decided at ABC Raceway

Ashland, WI — The points-paying portion of the 2014 racing season will come to a close at the ABC Raceway on Saturday night.
Pepsi, Northstar Beverage of Hurley, and WIMI, 99.7 FM, of Ironwood, MI, will present “Championship Saturday Night” at the three-eighths-mile red-clay oval just south of Ashland, where the Ashland-Bayfield County Racing Association has been celebrating 50 years of promoting and presenting stock car racing to the Northland all summer long.
Four of the five divisional champions could be decided by the time the features roll around, although several positions within the top ten in all five classes are yet to be nailed down.
The tightest points battle heading into the final night is in the WISSOTA Super Stocks, where Scott Lawrence of Superior is looking to claim an unprecedented 11th straight division crown and track-best 14th of his career here. However, looming just 16 points back is Cory Casari of Montreal, and the top five in the standings are within just 31 points of Lawrence.

Three straight mid-summer feature wins had helped Jeff Spacek of Phillips pull to within two points of the lead in the WISSOTA Modified chase, and a possible seventh track title. But back-to-back heartbreaking performances, plus consistently outstanding runs by Ashland’s Steve Stuart over the past two months, has given Stuart 29 points of breathing room heading into the season finale. Stuart will look to stake a claim to his fifth ABC Raceway championship and second since moving up to the “big Mods” (2011).
Possibly the biggest surprise – and certainly the most historic – could come in the Six-Cylinder class, where Ashland’s Tiffany Hudack, with a 42-point edge on her brother Tyler, could become the first female in 50 years of racing at ABC to win a track title. Barring a mechanical breakdown in hot laps or any other disaster, Tiffany needs only to finish seventh or better in her heat race in order take the crown.
Second place may still be up for grabs, however, as three other drivers are within 20 points of Tyler.
Matt Deragon of Ashland is also within shouting distance of his second Pure Stock championship here. With a 44-point cushion on Terran Spacek of Phillips, Deragon should only have to take the green flag in his heat race in order to etch his name on the trophy. Deragon’s only real challenge will be to shoot for a track-best eighth feature win, which would tie him with Casari for the most ever in a single season by a Pure Stock.
Spacek and Jeff Christman should each be able to maintain top-three finishes in that division’s points as well with good runs.
In the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds, the title will be all sewn up as soon as Michael Truscott of Chippewa Falls unloads his racer and takes a lap. Truscott, who started the season white-hot and is very much in the thick of the National Championship discussion in WISSOTA’s most populated class, is working toward 20 feature wins overall this summer, and with a 51-point advantage on Ironwood, MI’s Paul Suzik here, is on the brink of his first career track points title.
With racing seasons either completed or winding down at most other area tracks, several non-regular visitors could make the trip to Ashland on Saturday night for one last note-taking session before the 39th annual Red Clay Classic comes up on September 26-27. The region’s traditional end-of-season spectacular will offer a purse in excess of $80,000 to the nearly 200 WISSOTA Late Models, Modifieds, Super Stocks and Midwest Mods expected to compete.
Hot laps start on Saturday night at 6:15 pm, and the first race of the night will start at about 7. Championship presentations will take place after each division’s features. The grandstand and pit gates open at 5 pm, and admission tickets for fans ages 13 & older are just $10, while fans ages 12 and under are welcome in for free when accompanied by a paying adult.
“Race Night” will provide live up-to-date track news and weather information from the track on WBSZ, 93.3 FM, and online at www.wbszfm.com, from 4:30-6 pm on Saturday. 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.

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