Tenth ABC Raceway Hall of Fame Class Honored

by Nick Gima

               Ashland, WI, July 27 – On Saturday night the Ashland-Bayfield County Racing Association introduced its ABC Raceway Hall of Fame Class of 2024.

In the Contributors category, former Cobra Race Chassis owners Dave & RaeAnne Mueller were chosen specifically by the Hall of Fame Selection Committee for their generous contributions to the Raceway. Through their business, they encouraged many racers like former track champs Eric Pember and Lonnie Leu, as well as Marty Schwantes and others, to race at ABC, and they built cars for drivers like Brian Mikkonen, Jeff and Randy Spacek, Scott Hudack, Jerry Hartman, Steve Stuart and others, who drove their cars to enormous success here.

The Muellers drove the three-hour haul regularly from Chili, WI, with a parts truck and two young daughters in tow to support racing here, and on many occasions they stayed the night at the track after the show, providing a gathering place for drivers, crews, fans and track workers to socialize.

The Committee also chose three deserving nominees in the Drivers category, meeting the criteria that they must be retired from actively competing for minimum of five years and be recognized for their outstanding accomplishments, loyalty to the ABC Raceway as competitors, and efforts as ambassadors to area stock car racing.

James Eliason burst onto the local racing scene in the early 2000s, experiencing almost immediate success in the Pure Stock division, finishing third in points in 2004 and ‘07, winning a track championship in 2005, and tallying four of his five feature wins in ’05. He helped kick off the career of three-time Six-Cylinder champ Tiffany Hudack when they teamed up for a sixth-place points finish in the Pure Stocks in 2010, and he later teamed up with Paul Tutor to finish top-ten in Pure Stock points in 2011 and ’12. A knowledgeable and talented mechanic, he offered his help to many of his contemporaries during his racing career, and his quiet, unassuming style made his number 20 a popular car on the track with the fans.

AJ Foat may have been one of the more colorful racers in ABC’s history of our track, but he was also one of the best of his time. Foat’s career took off after he won his first feature here in June 1983, in a Street Stock, and he won four more times during his 1984 championship season. In 1987 he moved into Super Stocks and finished fourth in points in 1991, scoring five more wins to bring his final career total at Ashland to 14 before retiring in 2000. 

Brian Mikkonen was one of the most successful WISSOTA Super Stock racers of all time at ABC, as well as a huge fan favorite. He started racing in early 1990s in Six-Cylinders, with his first feature win coming almost 30 years ago, in July 1994. He collected five more wins in 1995-’96 and earned top-ten points finishes for four straight years before moving to WISSOTA Super Stocks, where he drove his familiar number 11x to twenty feature wins – good for a tie for ninth-best in track history – and three consecutive track championships here, in 2000-‘02, while finishing top-ten in points 12 other times.

In 2012 he moved up to a WISSOTA Modified and finished top-ten in points in four of the six years that he ran full-time, collecting his final feature win here in August 2015. Likeable and fun-loving, as easily approachable as any racer, and a truly great competitor, his 27 career feature wins in three different divisions ranks him among the top 25 all-time in track history, and his run of track titles in three or more consecutive years is matched by only 11 other drivers here. 

Three other inductees were selected under the Volunteers category, having provided a minimum of ten years of service to the ABC Raceway and recognized for their significant positive contributions and dedication to the success of the organization.

Ed Hedican, more locally known by his radio pseudonym of Skip Hunter, started volunteering in 1996, connecting the local radio stations with the track to help increase its image and standing in the community. “Skip” soon began working in the track’s infield as a photographer and Victory Lane interviewer, he provided the infield public address system to enhance the fan experience at ABC’s Red Clay Classic from 1998 through 2000, and he also hosted the “Race Night” program from ABC’s pits on local radio from 2001-’17 – one of the few live pre-race radio programs in the Upper Midwest.

Hedican has served on the Association’s Board for many years, he spent two seasons as the assistant flagman, he currently acts as an on-track safety official, and he has managed the track’s website since the early 2000s.  

Brian Lucas is an outstanding example of contribution without recognition. Active for many years here in a seemingly countless number of capacities, he started his involvement as a pitman for track champ and current ABC Hall of Famer Jon Lumberg. He has contributed over his years here to any number of facility-improvement projects, such as guardrail repairs, and donating and installing A/C equipment in several of the track’s buildings.

Over the past 15 years Brian has been an integral part of the Raceway’s tech crew on race nights, and he has represented the ABC Raceway at many WISSOTA tech meetings.

Ed Sechen was one of the founding members of this organization, with his involvement stemming back to the late 1960s. His contributions to the initial organization and success here include his contribution and use of his own wrecker here during race programs, and he was involved in many other projects completed during the track’s formative years, such as using his expertise in replacing and installing some of the original plumbing for our early buildings.

This year’s inductees and their guests, as well as inductees and guests from previous classes, were treated to a wonderful meal and great hospitality by the presenting sponsor of the Raceway’s Hall of Fame festivities, Boomer’s Tavern. Many of the inductees who were at the luncheon then proceeded to the Raceway, where they enjoyed a full five-division program of stock-car racing action. The formal induction ceremonies were held during the program’s intermission in front of an appreciative crowd.