39th Red Clay Classic Could Be Best Ever

Ashland, WI — When the ABC Raceway opens the gates for its 39th annual Red Clay Classic on Friday, it hopes to offer racers and fans one of the most exciting weekends of racing of the season.
The Northland’s traditional season-ending stock car racing invitational will run Friday and Saturday, September 26-27, with four WISSOTA-sanctioned divisions running for a total purse estimated at over $80,000. FastLane Motorsports & Custom Powdercoating of Ashland and Tim’s Automotive & Machine of Bloomer will once again be the presenting sponsors.
The event caps off the season-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Ashland-Bayfield County Racing Association, which was formed in 1965 to organize and promote stock car racing in the Chequamegon Bay area of northern Wisconsin. The club is one of the longest continually-operating organizations of its kind in the Midwest.

During this special summer the Raceway opened its Hall of Fame and introduced its first-ever group of inductees. It also held a celebrational night for its members and workers past and present, and a picnic and on-track presentation on one Saturday night honored its 82 previous divisional champions.
The action will include qualifying heat races on Friday night for all four divisions – WISSOTA Late Models, Modifieds, Super Stocks and Midwest Mods. Upwards of 160-200 entries are expected to participate.
On Saturday, semi-features offer drivers a last opportunity to qualify for the four big feature races. Then each division will run its main events. The Mid-Mods will go 25 laps while racing for a first-place check that has been recently increased to $1,000, and the Supers will take 30 laps to decide who will take home an upgraded $2,000 winner’s share. The increases in the first-place checks in these two divisions are due to contributions to the overall purse from Lake Shore Cafe of Ashland.
Winning the 35-lap Modified A-main will earn that driver $3,000, while the top finisher of the spotlight 50-lap Late Model headliner will take home $4,000.
In addition, Northern Clearing Inc of Ashland will again offer a $150 bonus to the driver who posts the fastest laps in each of the four features. The bonuses will be paid based on the AMB electronic scoring and timing system that the track utilizes.
For drivers, several additional new bonuses have been offered for this year’s Classic. The Raceway will pay a $500 “long tow” award to the driver who travels the greatest distance to compete. The track will also cover the draw fees for any 2014 WISSOTA track points champion who comes to compete in their championship division this weekend.
Finally, the first five drivers in each division who pre-register to participate in this year’s Red Clay Classic but who have not raced in the event since 2010 will have their draw fees waived.
The facilities themselves have been prepared for the weekend, with a lot of extra work done to accommodate fans and drivers alike. The most visible update will be the new pavilion that has been constructed in the main grandstands common area, which will eventually house the Hall of Fame displays.
In addition, crews have installed a new well and upgraded the public address system, and they have worked very hard for the past four weeks to give the facility an overall spruce-up in preparation for this signature event. Significant work to the track surface and pit driveways has also been accomplished since the Raceway’s regular-season finale on August 23.
Social activities will abound during the race weekend, both at and away from the track. Merchants in Ashland’s Historic Downtown District and throughout the community will be offering specials for race fans, and on Saturday the annual four-person golf scramble will again be held at the Chequamegon Bay Golf Club, with a 9:30 am shotgun start.
At the track, music and dancing will be available at the new pavilion immediately following heat-race action on Friday night. And a fireworks show is slated to punctuate the Saturday night feature presentations.
On Friday the pit gates will open at 1 pm, and the grandstand will open at 3:30. Hot laps will start at 5:30 pm, followed by the drivers’ meeting in the track’s infield and the pre-race ceremonies. The draw cut-off time for drivers is at 6 pm sharp, and heat race action is slated to begin at 7 pm.
On Saturday the pits will open at noon, and the grandstand gates will allow fans in at 2:30. The racing will start right at 5 pm with semi-feature action.
Single-day adult grandstand tickets are just $20 on Friday and $25 for Saturday’s show, but fans can save five dollars by purchasing a $40 two-day pass. Kids ages 6-12 are admitted for $12 each night, but a kids’ two-day pass is just $20.
Reserved seats are also still available, and at $50 for adults and just $30 for kids ages 6-12 they include a two-day pass.
A limited number of primitive reserved camp sites on the Raceway grounds are still available, for just $30 for the weekend. There is also camping available on the privately-owned property to the immediate east of the track, on a first-come, first-served basis.
To buy tickets or to save a seat or campsite, fans are urged to call (715) 682-2672 Monday through Friday (evenings only) or send an e-mail to [email protected]. Reserved pit spots are priced at just $30 each and are available by calling (715) 746-2390 or by e-mailing to [email protected].
Prior to each night’s race program, “Race Night” will provide up-to-date track news and weather information live on WBSZ, 93.3 FM, and online at www.wbszfm.com, beginning at 3 pm each night.
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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