Wet conditions at the raceway

ABC Season Finale Wet
Dale, Lawrence, Haderly, Stuart, Coddington, Carbon & Carlson are ‘09 champs
by Nick Gima
 Ashland, WI, August 29 -- What had figured to be a dramatic finish to a competitive 2009 racing season at the ABC Raceway ended up all wet.
 All-day showers combined with cool temperatures forced track officials to cancel the Fan Appreciation Night season finale, presented by Northstar Beverages and WIMI-FM, on Saturday night. With the cancellation, the regular season points standings are final, resulting in four first-time champions and three repeat titlists in the track’s six divisions. 
 Duane Dale of Aurora, MN, has made the long trip to Ashland on a weekly basis over the past two seasons, and it has now paid off in his first-ever ABC points title in the WISSOTA modified class. Dale’s 33-point advantage over former four-time track champ Al Uotinen of Superior would have been nearly impossible to overcome had the show been run on Saturday.
 Superior’s Scott Lawrence has set the bar incredibly high in the WISSOTA super stock division for some time now at ABC, but now with his ninth track title he becomes the Raceway’s all-time leader in championships. The ‘09 trophy is also his sixth straight, tying him with Brule’s Don Copp for the longest string of consecutive titles. Lawrence edged Ladysmith’s Eric Olson by ten points for the crown.
 Larry Haderly of Marengo earned his second straight WISSOTA street stock championship and fifth since 2002, finishing 19 points up on Ashland’s Dennis Groom in what will be the final season of street stocks as a regular weekly division at ABC.
 Steve Stuart of Ashland will hold the distinction of being the only WISSOTA Midwest modified points champ at ABC for at least one more season. Stuart’s second straight title and third of his career (he was the six-cylinder champ in 2006) comes after finishing a mere three points ahead of Jimmy Latvala of Solon Springs.
 Dale Coddington of Hayward finished just one point behind Pat Beeksma of Ironwood in last year’s final six-cylinder points rundown. But Coddington collected two straight feature wins over the final two nights of racing here this summer and took over the points lead jsut last week. The championship is Coddington’s first in Ashland, with a margin of just 14 points over Shawn McFadden, Jr, of Ashland.
 The pure stock title will be shared for 2009 by first-time champs Tim Carbon of Highbridge and Tim Carlson of Superior. The pair led the track’s closest points race, as only 12 points separated the top six drivers in the final standings.
 The Raceway staff will now spend the next few weeks preparing for the 34th annual Red Clay Classic, to be held on Friday and Saturday, October 2-3. The long-standing traditional end-of season event will feature a 50-lap, $4,000-to-win WISSOTA late model feature, the championship round of the WISSOTA-sanctioned Como Oil & Propane Modified Series, a huge field of WISSOTA super stocks, and, for the first time ever, a fourth division - the WISSOTA Midwest modifieds. A purse of over $75,000 is scheduled to be paid out.
 The ABC Raceway is located 3-1/2 miles south of Ashland on State Highway 13 and one mile west on Butterworth Road. “Race Night” will air on WBSZ, 93.3 FM, prior to the racing programs on both Friday and Saturday night with up-to-date track news and weather information. For raceday information call (715) 682-4990