4-30 Page 17

ABC Raceway lines up 2024 schedule, will try to knock this one out of the park with big events

By Nick Gima

ASHLAND, WI (April 1) - ABC Raceway’s schedule will provide both excitement and variety in 2024.

The slate set for the track’s 60th season will include racing in eight different divisions — five of them as regular weekly competitors: WISSOTA Modifieds, Super Stocks, Midwest Mods and Pure Stocks, plus ABC’s own Six Cylinders.

Thirteen of the 14 race programs scheduled will be held on Saturday nights; the other will be on a Thursday.

While the crown jewel of ABC Raceway has long been the Red Clay Classic, three other events will be significant in 2024.

One of those is the fourth annual “444 Memorial” on August 10. It will be the 16th race the 21-race WISSOTA Late Model Challenge Series. The event is held in honor of the late racer Tanner Byholm.

The 444 features are slated to pay out all-time record-high winner’s checks of $20,444 (Late Models), $15,444 (Mods), and $10,444 (Mid-Mods).

To help celebrate the 10th annual FastLane Motorsports Northland Super Stock Series, ABC will host not one but two of the series race nights, starting with the tour opener on Saturday, June 1; the event will pay $4,000 to win. The series will return a week later for the fourth of the nine races on June 8.

The Renegade High Roller Series will be contested on Saturday, July 13, featuring a mix of competitors from the Northern Renegades Traditional (wingless) Sprints and Upper Midwest Sprint Series (UMSS).

The season kicks off on Saturday, May 18, followed by the popular Kids Meet the Drivers Night on May 25. After the back-to-back Northland Super Stock Series shows to start June, there will be a Teacher Appreciation Night on June 15, followed by “Racing for a Reason” Community Night on June 22, which offers free admission for all seating in the grandstands.

June is closed out with the third annual Farm Stock Special on Thursday, June 27, highlighting the Modifieds, Super Stocks and Midwest Mods. The Six Cylinders will be in the spotlight on July 6 with their second-ever Safari Tavern “Slam” event. After the visit from the Sprint Cars on July 13, there will be kids bike races on July 20 and the track’s Hall of Fame ceremonies on July 27.

The track’s annual backpack giveaway night on August 3 will include a visit by WISSOTA Street Stocks, then the “444” on August 10. The regular season concludes on the August 17 with Championship Night, when the 2024 track point champs will be crowned.

The historic season will conclude with the 49th annual Red Clay Classic on Friday and Saturday, September 27 and 28. The Red Clay, one of the Midwest’s biggest and most prestigious dirt-track events, should draw upward of 200 WISSOTA Late Model, Modified, Super Stock and Midwest Mod competitors to race for a total purse well in excess of $120,000.

ABC’s Eric Erickson recently announced that the association has committed more than $100,000 to capital improvements scheduled to be completed over the course of the 2024 season, including a new catch-fence from turn one to turn three, a redesign of the pit parking area south of turns one and two, additional lighting, updates to the pit PA system, and a resurfacing of the track in the fall.