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Unfavorable conditions force cancellation of 2025 ABC Raceway opener

By Nick Gima

ASHLAND, WI (May 17) – Mother Nature has yet to make up her mind about spring in the northern reaches of Wisconsin.

Less than one week after temperatures reached the upper 80s in the Chequamegon Bay area, conditions with temperatures in the lower 50s — with scattered showers and overnight lows forecast in the mid-30s — spoiled any chance of providing suitable conditions for ABC Raceway’s 2025 season opener May 17.

The kickoff to the 61st season of stock car racing is now slated for Saturday, May 24, at the historic three-eighths-mile red-clay oval just a few miles south of Ashland. In addition to the opening-night activities, the Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce will present the track’s annual Military Appreciation Night.

Fans and racers are advised to allow extra time when traveling through Ashland to the raceway during the 2025 season, as road construction on Ellis Avenue and WI State Highway 13 from US Highway 2 to Butterworth Road will be ongoing throughout the spring and summer months.

This season’s schedule will be one of the most historic in the annuls of ABC Raceway, with six regular-season events either hosting additional divisions or paying out increased purses (or both). The track also celebrates the 50th annual Red Clay Classic powered by Enbridge during the final weekend in September, which promises to be one of the all-time great racing events in the Upper Midwest.

Weekly Saturday night racing will include action in five different divisions — WISSOTA-sanctioned Modifieds, Super Stocks, Midwest Modifieds, and Pure Stocks, plus the track’s own Six Cylinders.

More information regarding the 2025 season schedule at the ABC Raceway is available on the track's website, www.abcraceway.com.