Heavy Rains End Regular Season Early at ABC Raceway; Champs for ’21 Set
by Nick Gima
Ashland, WI, August 28 – A strong band of thunderstorms that dropped a significant amount of rain throughout central Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin on Saturday reached the Chequamegon Bay area by mid-afternoon, forcing the cancellation of the 2021 regular season finale at the ABC Raceway.
“Mountain Dew Championship Saturday Night,” which was to be presented by North Star Beverage of Hurley, will not be rescheduled. This means that this season’s points battles have concluded and, as a result, three drivers will claim their first-ever track titles at ABC, while the other three will be repeat champions.
Cole Spacek of Phillips finishes a scant 17 points ahead of Brule’s Brandon Copp in the WISSOTA Modifieds. This is Spacek’s first-ever points title at Ashland, as he joins his father, six-time champ Jeff Spacek, and uncle Randy Spacek in putting the family name on an ABC Raceway championship trophy.
Steve Stuart of Ashland becomes the first driver in ABC Raceway history to earn a points title in four different divisions. His strong season in the WISSOTA Super Stocks, highlighted by a division-leading five feature wins, gives him an 81-point final advantage over Ashland’s Shawn McFadden, as well as a seventh track title to add to those he earned in the ABC Six-Cylinders, WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds and WISSOTA Modifieds.
Mason’s Tyler Vernon will be presented his second WISSOTA Midwest Modified championship trophy at the Raceway’s upcoming awards banquet. Vernon collected a division-best three feature wins, never finished lower than sixth, and finishes 77 points ahead of Superior’s Jack Rivord.
In just his second full season of racing, RJ Holly of Marengo will be named an ABC Raceway champion in the WISSOTA Pure Stocks. He collected his first career feature win on June 12, never finished lower than sixth, and winds up with a 23-point final margin over Duluth, MN’s Aaron Bernick.
Dennis Groom of Ashland jumped into an ABC Six-Cylinder late last summer, went full-time in the division in 2021, and edged out former champ Tiffany Hudack of Ashland by just 37 points for his second track title. Groom, who also hoisted a championship trophy here in 2001 in the WISSOTA Street Stocks, collected two feature wins this season.
DeJay Jarecki of Ashland simply dominated the WISSOTA Hornets division en route to his first-ever track championship. Jarecki, who toiled for 12 years in the Sixes before moving into the Hornets last season, strung together a ten-race feature win streak and, as of press time, sits third in the national standings for the division. His final margin over runner-up Derek Dunbar of Iron River will be 88 points.
With the regular season completed, the ABC Raceway staff will now direct its efforts toward preparing for the 46th annual Red Clay Classic on October 1-2, to be presented by Red’s Auto, FastLane Motorsports & Custom Powdercoating, and Tim’s Automotive Machine. Over 200 WISSOTA Late Models, Modifieds, Super Stocks and Midwest Modifieds are expected to compete for an event-record total purse set to be in excess of $110,000 for this traditional and prestigious late-season special.
Updated information regarding the Red Clay Classic, including times, admission prices and more, will be forthcoming in the near future.
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.