The Scoop
RECAPPING ABC RACEWAY’S RED CLAY CLASSIC
Posted on: Thursday October 7, 2021
In signage all around the track ABC Raceway incorporates “Home Of The Red Clay Classic” into all billboards.
There aren’t many racetracks left in Wisconsin that I haven’t attended either as a race fan or in some sort of working capacity.
Although my discretionary time is limited these days, I was able to take the three hours plus trip from my humble abode in Dunbar, Wisconsin to ABC Raceway in Ashland, Wisconsin for the 46th annual Red Clay Classic.
The scenic ride alone was well worth it. Much of the trip was through Michigan’s beautiful Upper Peninsula traveling west along highway 2. The Fall colors were near peak, and it reminded me a lot of traveling to Door County this time of year.
The Red Clay Classic is the signature event for this 3/8-mile, clay oval. The business arrangement is unique as Ashland-Bayfield County Racing Association, the club that operates the track’s weekly program and the Red Clay Classic is staffed 100 percent with volunteer labor.
Upon arrival I noticed that this event was truly a big deal. Hundreds of campers were spread all throughout the facility. This is the heart of WISSOTA country and everywhere you turned you saw someone wearing a t shirt or a hat of his or her favorite WISSOTA driver and an abundance of window decals on most every vehicle.
In the parking lot there were almost an equal number of Minnesota and Michigan license plates as there were Wisconsin plates. In all of the signage around the track, the slogan ‘Home Of The Red Clay Classic’ was visible virtually everywhere.
Eric Erickson is the president of the Ashland-Bayfield County Racing Association.
According to club president Eric Erickson the club purchased the track from the Brevak family 58 years ago. “As a club we’ve been running it ever since,” Erickson said. “Nobody within the club gets paid for our work here. This race is our signature event for ABC without a doubt.”
A racetrack was built in nearby Ino, Wisconsin in the 1950’s. “They were essentially racing in what amounted to a hayfield,” Erickson said. “So, Frank (Brevak) went to the local township to build this track where we host races today. He told the town fathers ‘we’ve got these kids running around town in their hot rods and we need a place for them to go race.”
Local folklore has it that Frank and his wife Verna used money they had saved up to buy a new house to build the racetrack instead. “They built it with a couple of partners from the ground up and ran it for five years before it folded,” Erickson said. A few years later the association wanted to revive racing around 1958. “Basically, the Brevak family took a percentage of the gate to get paid back.” Former racer Bob Root was the club’s first president.
According to Erickson racing enthusiasts took up a collection from people to purchase things like stop watches and flags.
“We are one of the original 10 tracks to form the WISSOTA organization,” Erickson said. “Prior to that we were part of the Northwest Racing Circuit. That circuit consisted of tracks in Ashland, Proctor (Minnesota) and Superior. That eventually led to the formation of WISSOTA. We started out with just late models and later added modifieds and super stocks down the road.”
In 2021, ABC hosted WISSOTA sanctioned modifieds, super stocks, midwest modifieds, pure stocks, hornets and ABC’s own six-cylinder class.
ABC relies upon a strong local base of cars, along with teams who frequent the tracks at Superior and Proctor to make up their weekly driver base. “The bad thing is we are on the edge of nowhere,” Erickson pointed out. “North of us we have Lake Superior and to our east there are no WISSOTA sanctioned tracks. We race weekly on Saturday nights beginning the third weekend in May and we run through August. We take one month off and come back with the Red Clay Classic.”
Now in it’s 46th year, the Red Clay Classic has evolved into a true “must-attend” event. “Many people circle this one on their calendars and have made this an annual event,” Erickson said. “When it started out, we ran just late models and sportsman. This event has grown rapidly. I got involved with Kurt Beeksma and we worked hard to keep the Red Clay Classic going. It’s got to be more than just a racing event. It’s got to be a big deal with fireworks, and a true party.”
At it’s peak the Red Clay Classic drew 238 cars in three divisions. 2021’s version of the Red Clay Classic boasted a $110,000 driver purse split up amongst the four divisions. A total of 176 entries took part in this year’s event, which included 53 midwest modifieds, 46 modifieds, 45 super stocks and 32 late models.
“For many years the Red Clay Classic was the last of the fall invitations up here in WISSOTA country,” Erickson explained. “After our show there is one more week for drivers to accumulate national points. Our format has remained the same all these years. Heats one day. Semi-features and features the next day. Drivers have called for changes but we’re going to keep things the same. The formula we use is successful.”
Friday night I liked their format for heats. They rotated the divisions after every heat race. I was able to see some drivers I haven’t seen compete in a while. Guys like Pat Doar, Darrell Nelson and Steve Laursen. I was able to catch up with track announcer Nick Gima.
Nick did a great job behind the mic. Nick was the last editor of the late Checkered Flag Racing News back in 2004.
ABC RACEWAY has a Hall of Fame. Members in three categories get inducted in annually.
ABC has a cool Hall of Fame. They break it up into three different categories – drivers, volunteers & contributors, and honorary inductees. Each year a sign is placed under a shelter which contains several picnic tables where folks can enjoy the reasonably priced food from the concession stand.
An ample selection of delicious, reasonably-priced concession items were available at the Red Clay Classic.
In summary if you haven’t been to the Red Clay Classic, or ABC Raceway for a weekly show for that matter it’s well worth checking off your bucket list. “This event has a big enough front and back gate and puts our club in real good financial shape,” Erickson said. “We did have a profitable regular season. But this special pushes us over the edge.”