Street Stocks Coming to ABC for Big-Money Special
by Nick Gima
Ashland, WI, June 9 — For the first time in 11 years, WISSOTA Street Stocks will compete on the ABC Raceway’s red-clay oval, as part of a special event this Saturday night.
Anderson’s Body Shop of Phillips approached Raceway Board president Eric Erickson early this week to propose an appearance by the Streeters, as the division’s usual Saturday night haunt in this region – the Rice Lake Speedway – will be taking the upcoming weekend off. Plans developed quickly, and within only a couple of days what started out as simply adding the class to the traditional offering of ABC’s WISSOTA-sanctioned Modifieds, Super Stocks, Midwest Modifieds, Pure Stocks and Hornets, and the track’s Six-Cylinders, has become the first-ever $1,000-to-win “Battle by the Bay” for the Street Stocks.
“This all came about so quickly,” Erickson explained on Tuesday. “The Andersons have been so enthusiastic and helpful, and they have done all of the hard work, contacting potential sponsors and encouraging drivers to make the trip to Ashland this Saturday.
“It’s been a long time since the Street Stocks raced here. This will be a pretty special night.”
As of Tuesday night, at least fourteen Street Stock drivers had registered in advance to be a part of that division’s first race program here since August 2009, when the Raceway ended a 42-year relationship with the class dating back to the track’s earliest seasons. That number could grow to at least 20 by raceday.
The support for this event has been tremendous, thanks to title sponsor Anderson’s Body Shop as well as associate sponsors Phillips Lanes, GA Dalbeck Logging, ICS Services LLC, Factory 43 Racing, Spacek Lawn Care, Butch Kummer, Copp Racing, Dark Side Racing, Passuello Racing, Bogdanovic Racing, 10-Pin Racing, Satch’s Auto Body, Ashland Ford-Chrysler Center, Hanson Trucking, Weber Works Construction, Hanco Utilities, Sevel’s Lawn Care, and Trackside Collectibles.
The feature winner will receive a track-record check for Street Stocks of $1,000, while the minimum a driver can earn to start the main event is $100. The total purse, while still not yet finalized, is estimated at well over $4,000.
Dan Kozak has contributed an additional $100 bonus for the Street Stock feature’s “hard charger,” and Luger Trucking will pay another $100 to the Streeter driver that tows the farthest to compete in Saturday’s show.
Among those expected to compete is Andrew Hanson, the ABC Raceway’s 2017 Pure Stock champion from Iron River, who is the early-season leader in Street Stock points at Rice Lake. Another pre-registered driver is Jim Randall of Rice Lake – the only driver regularly competing in the division who has ever won a Street Stock (or the related Hobby Stock class) feature at Ashland.
John Kallas of Hurley, who has been competing in the WISSOTA Midwest Modified division since shortly after the Street Stock class was cut from ABC’s regular offerings, has eight career feature wins in Streeters and Hobby Stocks and has registered a Street Stock for this Saturday’s show.
The pit gates will open at 4:30 pm, the grandstand gates will welcome fans in at 5, hot laps will kick off the on-track action at 6:15, and green-flag racing gets going at 7 pm. Adult grandstand admission tickets are just $11 per person, either at the gate or online via www.myracepass.com, and kids ages 12 and under are admitted free when accompanied by a paying adult. Ten-race punch passes are also available at the Raceway’s ticket window on race nights. Advance pit passes are also available online.
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, log on to the track’s website, www.abcraceway.com, or check out the track’s FaceBook page.