’21 Season Opener at ABC Raceway to Include Renegade Sprints
by Nick Gima
Ashland, WI, May 20 – The Ashland-Bayfield County Racing Association and its all-volunteer staff are all set to fire up the 2021 season of stock car racing action at the ABC Raceway in a big way.
The Northern State Bank of Ashland will present the 57th season opener at the historic three-eighths-mile northwestern Wisconsin red-clay oval on Saturday, May 22, with the Northern Renegades Sprint Car Series joining the track’s WISSOTA-sanctioned Modifieds, Super Stocks, Midwest Modifieds, Pure Stocks and Hornets, and the ABC Six-Cylinders.
The Northern Renegades, based out of the Iron Range area of northeastern Minnesota, feature non-winged – or “traditional” – sprint cars, which are lightweight, powerful, and very fast. The Renegades have posted average laps in the 75-85 mph neighborhood in the past at ABC and can get close to 100 mph on the straightaways.
The Northern Renegades as a stand-alone series has run twice here in its history. In late June 2020, former Modified star Jori Hughes of Tower, MN, led 14 visiting sprinters to the checkers. The Series returned in mid-August last year, and former WISSOTA Late Model pilot Caley Emerson of Grand Rapids, MN, claimed the win.
The Raceway staff have a lot of other treats in store for race fans coming to Saturday’s lid-lifter. Because of the ongoing pandemic, the ABC Raceway has been unable to celebrate the accomplishments of its divisional champions of 2020, so they will be introduced to the fans in attendance during an intermission ceremony. Also, the Raceway will proudly announce its Class of 2021 Hall of Fame inductees during the mid-program break, with the formal ceremonies to be held in mid-July.
And after some exciting championship points battles and thrilling races last year, the Raceway’s six regular weekly divisions should provide more of the same in ‘21. First-time Modified champ Pat Cook of Washburn will return to defend his crown, as will Dave Flynn of Superior, who was also a first-time titlist, in the Super Stocks.
Marcus Dunbar of Marenisco, MI, will have his hands full defending his first-ever championship trophy in what should be a highly competitive Midwest Mod class. And Trego’s Randy Graham will look to “three-peat” in the Six-Cylinders at Ashland.
The entry-level Hornets and Pure Stocks will see new champs crowned by season’s end, as 2020 champs AJ House of Cloquet, MN (Hornets) and Tanner Gehl of Solon Springs (Pures) have each moved to different divisions for the new season – House to the Pure Stocks, and Gehl to Mid-Mods.
The grandstand gates will open at 5 pm on Saturday, with hot laps leading off the on-track action at 6:15 before the green-flag racing gets underway at 7 pm. “Race Night” will provide pre-race coverage from 4:30-6 pm on WBSZ, 93.3 FM, and on www.wbszfm.com.
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.