ROSSBURG, OH (July 17) -- There is only one driver in the storied history of the Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway that has competed in each and every edition of the famed classic and just one driver that has made the main event every time. This driver has won the Kings Royal more times than anyone, has more top-five finishes in the race than anyone else, as well as top-10's. That driver is 20-time World of Outlaws (WoO) champion Steve Kinser, who holds every major record associated with the event. He added to his Kings Royal legacy  on Saturday night, claiming the $50,000 win over Kerry Madsen.

Kinser has now won the Kings Royal a record seven times in his illustrious career. It was his first victory at Eldora Speedway driving for Tony Stewart, who is also the owner of Eldora and was on-hand at the half-mile all weekend. After nearly taking the lead from Kerry Madsen on a double file restart with three laps to go, Kinser had one final shot at the big payday and used a textbook slide job in turn one to take the top spot and ultimately the win, which was his fifth of 2010. The cameras from SPEED were rolling to capture of the action for broadcast on August 7.

Stewart back up Kinser’s performance with a story-book triumph in the NRA (National Racing Alliance) Sprint Invader main event, to make for back-to-back wins on the weekend.

"It feels good to win one for Tony Stewart Racing and Bass Pro Shops," said Kinser in Victory Lane. "I know that Donny (Schatz) has won a few for them. It was a lot of fun to get out there and win it tonight. Kerry (Madsen) ran a great race and I hated to get into him on the last night, but you have to go for it when you can go for it. I just really enjoy getting to run at Eldora."

Following a caution on the 22^nd lap, the next 15 circuits went green, putting the leaders in heavy lapped traffic as the laps wound down. With 10 to go, Kinser had tracked Madsen back down and tagged the wall a couple of times, nearly taking the lead at a few different points on the track.

"I was reeling him in pretty fast and got into the wall on the front stretch and got right back on him and got into the wall on the back chute or I was going to go by him, explained the winner. "I was catching him pretty quick and messed up both times. I got a third chance, so I guess it ended up all right."

Kinser lined up on the inside of the track on all but one of the double file restarts on Saturday night. The one time he lined up on the outside, he was in front of the field. He was very strong on the last three double file restarts of the race, keeping right with Madsen and nearly taking the lead a couple of times in the Bass Pro Shops Maxim.

"It was hard to do and the last one I got it timed just about right and got a good run off the bottom to get him," noted Kinser of restarting on the bottom.

Kerry Madsen led 27 laps en route to his best career finish in the Kings Royal, a second-place effort aboard the Hall Haulage KPC. He took the lead from Kinser on the 12^th lap with a slide job in turn four. Kinser nearly retook the top spot as the pair had a drag race down the front straightaway, with Madsen leading by just a touch at the line to officially be scored the leader. Madsen blasted to the high side in turn two on the next lap and quickly began to pull away.

"I'm just disappointed," Madsen admitted. "The car was unreal, how good it was. Sonny Kratzer just gave me a dream car tonight. We were pretty close to getting a Kings Royal win and we just didn't get that last restart right and Steve (Kinser) got in front of me. We had a quicker car, but two laps wasn't enough to get back by him. We'll have to deal with second here tonight, but I am very proud of this team."

Danny Lasoski made a charge at the end of the race to finish third in the Casey's General Store JEI. He started on the front row of the main event after winning the fifth heat race of the night, with the six heat finishers starting first through sixth in the feature, through an inversion. Lasoski fell back to ninth on the 10^th lap of the 40-lapper, before working his way back to the front.

"We put a little harder tires on than everyone else and just had no idea they would spin as much as they did during the first 20 (laps)," noted Lasoski. "We had a couple of cautions go our way that bunched the field back up in open track. We were able to run the 3 and the 11 cars back down and we had a really good car. We just couldn't finish he deal. "

Madsen was in the lead for four caution and red flag periods, choosing the high side of the track each time for the double file restarts. Over the two nights of racing at Eldora, the leaders chose the high side of the half-mile most of the time for the double file restarts.

"I was getting such good restarts there," shared the native of St. Mary's, NSW, Australia. "I knew the gloves were going to come off on that last restart. You get such a good run coming off (turn) four and it worked every time. We just didn't get it done on that last restart. It was exciting, but unfortunately we were second. We'll just go on from here."

Danny Lasoski had one of the fastest cars on the track over the last 15 circuits working his way into the top-five and then battling Kinser and Madsen for the lead. On a couple of restarts the trio nearly got three-wide as they charged into turn one with Lasoski diving in the middle of the track as he sought his first Kings Royal win.

"I had to go where they weren't," said the native of Dover, Missouri of the final restart. "I knew pretty much what they were going to do. I was about three foot short of clearing them both with the slide (job)."

Donny Schatz, who won the Kings Royal in 2009, came home fourth in the Armor All /STP J&J. Greg Wilson scored his best-career Kings Royal, coming fifth in the All Star Plumbing Maxim. Sammy Swindell was sixth in the Big Game Treestands Maxim, with Tim Shaffer seventh in the Kistler Engines J&J. Ed Lynch Jr. was eighth in the Howard Concrete J&J. Chad Kemenah came all the way from 23^rd to finish ninth to earn the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award. Tim Kaeding rounded out the Top-10 in the DTR Transport KPC.

Replicating his performance of the previous evening, Tim Allison shot into the lead at the dropping of the green flag to get the 25-lap affair underway.  

But unlike the previous night, Allison was unable to roll into a commanding lead.   Hot on his heels were David Gravel, Randy Hannagan and  Tony Stewart in a tight foursome.

The torrid pace, which resulted in yet another non-stop affair for the NRA clan, found Allison into lapped traffic by the mid-point.   His Eldora knowledge and experience gave him the edge, as he darted in and around cars at will.

Gravel and Hannagan swapped runner-up honors multiple times, as Stewart laid back to develop his game plan.

Nearing the five-to-go signal, Gravel picked up his pace and actually got by Allison to lead on circuit, but by the time another one could be put into the record books, Allison was back in command.

With four laps to go, Stewart knew it was time.   He picked off Hannagan for third on lap 21, and two tours later disposed of Gravel – leaving only Allison in front of him.

As the white flag appeared, Stewart duplicated Kinser’s moves of a few moments prior and pulled off a patented Eldora ‘slide job’ to move under and ahead of Allison.

Allison hung on for second, followed by Gravel, Hannagan and Butch Schroeder.

27th annual Kings Royal
July 17, 2010
World of Outlaws Sprints - 49 cars
Fast Time: Paul McMahan - 13.239

Heat 1:
1. Stevie Smith[2]; 2. Paul McMahan[3]; 3. Jac Haudenschild[1]; 4. Tim Kaeding[4]; 5. Lucas Wolfe[5]; 6. Tony Stewart[7]; 7. Lee Jacobs[6]; 8. Keith Bloom[8]; 9. Todd Kane[9];

Heat 2:
1. Daryn Pittman[1]; 2. Joey Saldana[3]; 3. Tim Shaffer[2]; 4. Craig Dollansky[5]; 5. Dave Blaney[4]; 6. Randy Hannagan[6]; 7. Brian Paulus[8]; 8. Ben Gregg[7];

Heat 3:
1. Kerry Madsen[1]; 2. Donny Schatz[3]; 3. Jason Sides[2]; 4. Chad Kemenah[4]; 5. Kraig Kinser[6]; 6. Chad Blonde[7]; 7. Brian Ellenberger[5]; 8. Jamie Miller[8];

Heat 4:
1. Sam Hafertepe Jr.[2]; 2. Ed Lynch Jr.[1]; 3. Kyle Sauder[4]; 4. Cale Conley[3]; 5. Dean Jacobs[6]; 6. Paul May[5]; 7. Bill Rose[7]; 8. Domain Ramsay[8];

Heat 5:
1. Danny Lasoski[3]; 2. Sammy Swindell[2]; 3. Jason Meyers[4]; 4. Kasey Kahne[1]; 5. Jonathan Allard[5]; 6. Steven Lines[8]; 7. Ryan Myers[7]; 8. Rob Chaney[6];

Heat 6:
1. Steve Kinser[2]; 2. Dale Blaney[3]; 3. Greg Wilson[3]; 4. David Gravel[4]; 5. Bruce White[7]; 6. Josh Davis[8]; 7. Tyler Walker[1]; 8. Toni Luter[6];

C Main:
1. Tyler Walker[1]; 2. Lee Jacobs[3]; 3. Brian Ellenberger[2]; 4. Brian Paulus[8]; 5. Toni Luter[5]; 6. Ben Gregg[6]; 7. Domain Ramsay[10]; 8. Keith Bloom[7]; 9. Jamie Miller[9]; 10. Rob Chaney[4];

B Main :
1. Tyler Walker[1]; 2. Tim Kaeding[2]; 3. Chad Kemenah[4]; 4. Dave Blaney[3]; 5. Kraig Kinser[13]; 6. Craig Dollansky[7]; 7. Randy Hannagan[12]; 8. Dean Jacobs[14]; 9. Brian Paulus[20]; 10. Jonathan Allard[10]; 11. Brian Ellenberger[8]; 12. David Gravel[5]; 13. Paul May[9]; 14. Bill Rose[15]; 15. Chad Blonde[16]; 16. Steven Lines[19]; 17. Ryan Myers[18]; 18. Josh Davis[21]; 19. Bruce White[17]; 20. Lucas Wolfe[6]; 21. Lee Jacobs[11];

A Main :
1. Steve Kinser[1]; 2. Kerry Madsen[4]; 3. Danny Lasoski[2]; 4. Donny Schatz[9]; 5. Greg Wilson[18]; 6. Sammy Swindell[11]; 7. Tim Shaffer[14]; 8. Ed Lynch Jr.[10]; 9. Chad Kemenah[23]; 10. Tim Kaeding[22]; 11. Paul McMahan[7]; 12. Cale Conley[19]; 13. Tyler Walker[21]; 14. Kyle Sauder[16]; 15. Kasey Kahne[20]; 16. Jason Sides[15]; 17. Jason Meyers[17]; 18. Daryn Pittman[5]; 19. Sam Hafertepe Jr.[3]; 20. Stevie Smith[6]; 21. Jac Haudenschild[13]; 22. Dale Blaney[12]; 23. Joey Saldana[8]; 24. Dave Blaney[24];

NRA Invaders - 29 cars
Fast Time: Tony Stewart - 14.441

Heat 1:
1. Tim Hunter[2]; 2. Tony Stewart[6]; 3. Tim Allison[4]; 4. Jessica Zemken[5]; 5. Jared Horstman[3]; 6. JR Stewart[1]; 7. Jeff Williams[7]; 8. Zach Ames[8]; 9. Ethan Hoy[9]; 10. Rob Chaney[10];

Heat 2:
1. Caleb Griffith[2]; 2. Butch Schroeder[6]; 3. Mike Dussel[1]; 4. Hud Horton[3]; 5. Luke Hall[5]; 6. Davey Sammons[4]; 7. Dwain Leiber[7]; 8. Jon Agan[10]; 9. Ryan Kirkendall[8]; 10. Derek Hastings[9];

Heat 3:
1. David Gravel[6]; 2. Brad Greer[2]; 3. Sean Robinson[1]; 4. Randy Hannagan[5]; 5. Ron Blair[3]; 6. Todd Heverman[4]; 7. Kent Wolters[7]; 8. Jeremy Aumend[8]; 9. Bob Carman[9];

B Main :
1. Jessica Zemken[1]; 2. Davey Sammons[2]; 3. Todd Heverman[3]; 4. Dwain Leiber[4]; 5. Jon Agan[12]; 6. Kent Wolters[5]; 7. Zach Ames[6]; 8. Ryan Kirkendall[7]; 9. Jeremy Aumend[8]; 10. Ethan Hoy[9]; 11. Derek Hastings[10]; 12. Bob Carman[11];

A Main :
1. Tony Stewart[6]; 2. Tim Allison[1]; 3. David Gravel[4]; 4. Randy Hannagan[2]; 5. Butch Schroeder[5]; 6. Tim Hunter[10]; 7. Luke Hall[3]; 8. Ron Blair[9]; 9. JR Stewart[13]; 10. Hud Horton[8]; 11. Jessica Zemken[16]; 12. Jared Horstman[7]; 13. Caleb Griffith[11]; 14. Brad Greer[12]; 15. Todd Heverman[18]; 16. Jon Agan[20]; 17. Davey Sammons[17]; 18. Dwain Leiber[19]; 19. Mike Dussel[14]; 20. Sean Robinson[15];

            ROSSBURG, OH (June 25) – Showing an allegiance to their roots of racing, NASCAR drivers Dave Blaney, Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart have announced their intentions to compete in Eldora Speedway’s fabled Kings Royal weekend (July 16 & 17).   Blaney will be wheeling against the World of Outlaw (WoO) regulars, while Stewart and Kahne will take on the National Racing Alliance (NRA) Sprint Invaders.

            Each of the three has seen their successful NASCAR career spiral through the skills honed on  grassroot speedways of America.  

            Eldora Speedway has played an important part in their step towards fame.

            Of the trio, Blaney carries the most impressive Eldora record.   Long known among the racing fraternity as “The Buckeye Bullet”, second generation driver Dave Blaney has amassed 16 career wins at Eldora.   Six of those have come within the WoO wars at Eldora, so he will be on familiar turf during the Kings Royal.

            The Ohio native needs no introduction to the pomp and circumstance of the Kings Royal, as he has sat atop the throne and worn the crown twice (1993, 1995).   His final Eldora victory lane appearance came in 1997 when he snatched the $100,000 Historical Big One paycheck.

            Stewart’s pre-NASCAR prowess at Eldora came in non-winged action through the United States Auto Club (USAC).  Under the USAC banner, Stewart, who also carries the title as owner of Eldora Speedway, captured a pair of feature wins during the 1995 Four Crown Nationals.   Checkered flag runs were earned in the Sprint Car and Midget divisions that weekend.

            Very little track time in winged Sprint Cars appeared on the two-time NASCAR Cup champion’s early resume.   With a desire to perfect his driving style, Stewart has been donning the aerodynamic wing repeatedly over the past few years.   He captured the NRA sanctioned Old Spice Sizzler a few years ago, and has three Prelude to the Dream wins behind the wheel of a dirt Late Model, so his desire to excel at Eldora has not waned. 

            Kahne, the youngest of the trio, went straight from the short tracks to NASCAR-land.   With plenty of Eldora experience under his belt, he has a pair of wins to his credit.   In 2000 he captured a USAC Midget win during the fall Four Crown Nationals and in 2003 he returned to the massive one-half mile clay oval to reign supreme over an All Star Circuit of Champions field.

            All three tested the Eldora clay during the June 9 Prelude to the Dream, and are anxious to shift gears from full bodied to open wheel racing.  They are prepared to race, knowing that the WoO and NRA gentry will show no mercy.

            Each night will be a full show for both sanctioning bodies.   Friday’s (July 16) event has been dubbed the Knight Before the Kings Royal, with full points for the WoO fraternity.  In addition to the points to be earned by the NRA Sprint Invaders, they will be chasing for the Jimmy Johnston Memorial trophy.  

            Saturday’s (July 17) chase is highlighted by the annual run for the $50,000 Kings Royal paycheck and the aforementioned trip to the throne and wearing of the crown.

            ROSSBURG, OH (June 19) – Twelve years of frustration came to an end for Shaun Smith Saturday night at Eldora Speedway as he finally found his way back into Eldora’s revered victory lane by virtue of his UMP (United Midwestern Promoters) Modified feature win.   Mike Dirksen also ended his minor dry spell with his Stock Car triumph, while John Large entered his name into the record books on the The Home Depot sponsored night as the first-ever Circle Track Truck Series feature winner.

            While Smith looked good in his heat race win, things began to look even better when the pill draw for the feature inversion was a one.   That put Smith on the outside pole of the 18-lap affair, with heat one winner Jesse Bitterling on the inside pole.

            Bitterling has two Eldora wins to his credit thus far into the 2010 campaign, but the Smith’s burst of horsepower coming down for the start, jolted him into the lead, a position he was to hold to the finish.

            While the score sheets show him leading from start to finish, it wasn’t all that easy. 

            Bitterling and Tony Anderson mounted some early pressure, before a rapidly improving Brian Post joined the fray to make for a four-car chase up front.   And while that foursome has their own battle going, Jon Henry was storming his way through the field from his 11^th starting position to move into fifth by lap five.  

            The diligent Henry shot past Post on lap nine to take over fourth, and two laps later overtook Anderson for third.  

            With lapped traffic coming into play, Smith was undaunted, while Bitterling had his hands full trying to hold back Henry.   The rapid pace was halted with a red flag situation two laps from the finish, as David Treon crashed hard into the first turn wall; collecting Anderson and Justin Matson with him.   There were no injuries, but all three cars were towed away and done for the night.

            On the restart, Henry pulled off a slick slide job in turn one to take over runner-up honors and just ran out of time to pull off the win.  The jubilant Smith finished ahead of Henry, Bitterling, Post and Todd Sherman.

            After a disappointing third place finish in his heat race, Dirksen was all smiles with the feature inversion pill was a nine.   That put the three-time champion on the pole for the main event.

            As expected, when the green flag dropped, Dirksen jumped into the lead, while Jerrid Back rode in second, followed by former champion Shawn Phillippi and Earnie Woodard. 

            Woodard was the first to make a move, as he jumped into third on lap 3, bringing with him Doug Tiemann.   Two laps later, Woodard overtook Back for second, and he began to reel in Dirksen.  

            Tiemann’s battle with Back resulted in the two coming together on the backstretch, and a move to the rear of the field on the restart.

            That left Woodard to do battle with Dirksen, and he almost got the job done; having pulled up alongside him multiple times.   However, as has been the case several times this season, mechanical issues dropped Woodard off the pace and into the pits for quick repairs.

            With Woodard’s departure and the Back/Tiemann collision, Anthony Goode moved into second and drove a flawless race to the finish to record his best-ever Eldora score.  Rob Trent came home third, followed by Keith Ralston and Dean Pitts.

            Large battled with Kyle Cline right to the finish, but when the checkered flags flew, it was Large by mere inches as the finish line.   Following the duo to the checkers were Scott Gray, Kevin Potts and Tom Garlick.

ROSSBURG, OH - June 13, 2010 - Billy Moyer walked a tight rope to victory in Sunday afternoon’s postponed DIRTcar Racing-sanctioned Dirt Late Model Dream XVI at Eldora Speedway.

Living up to his ‘Mr. Smooth’ nickname, the 52-year-old dirt Late Model Hall of Famer from Batesville, Ark., overtook Ray Cook of Brasstown, N.C., for the lead on a lap-20 restart and never made a mistake the remainder of the 100-lap distance. He tamed a slick daytime track surface dominated by a precarious top lane to pocket the prestigious race’s $100,000 winner’s check for the second time in his legendary career.

In a race that saw cars repeatedly sustain right-rear body damage from bouts with the Big E’s unforgiving outside wall – including those driven by runner-up Cook and third-place finisher Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga. – Moyer got his Clements-powered Victory Circle Chassis to the checkered flag virtually unscathed.

“Your mind’s gotta be razor sharp to run on that ledge for a hundred laps like that and never bobble,” said Moyer, describing the thin cushion just inches from the high-banked, half-mile oval’s concrete barrier. “This track is like running on an ice cube. You just slide in there and time it just perfectly to where you get your right front on that lip first. If you get in there a little bit too hard, you’re in the wall over that little berm.”

Moyer, who started from the pole position, weathered a mid-race challenge from 2008 World 100 winner Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., before pulling away from Cook during the final laps. He crossed the finish about a half-straightaway ahead of Cook, who started second and led laps 1-20 in his battle-scarred MasterSbilt car.

McDowell, who started 19th, benefitted from the race’s attrition to place a quiet third in NASCAR star Clint Bowyer’s Warrior machine. Chris Madden of Grey Court, S.C., started 21st and wasn’t far behind McDowell throughout the distance en route to a fourth-place finish in his Team Zero by Bloomquist car, while Madden’s chassis builder, five-time Dream champion Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., completed the top five after recovering from a lap 75 pit stop to change a flat right-rear tire.

Moyer’s triumph returned him to the spotlight at Eldora, a track he dominated during the ‘90s. He won the World 100 a record five times between 1991 and 2000 and captured the Dream in 1998.

“The last three or four years I haven’t even been close here,” said Moyer, who joined Bloomquist (five) and Freddy Smith (two) as repeat winners of the Dream event. “I’ve been working to try and figure this place out again. Things are so much different from the last time I won here to now.

“The sport evolves so fast and you just gotta stay on top of it, and I think we finally found something that works here again.”

Moyer flexed his new-found Eldora muscle on a lap-20 restart following a caution flag for Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., who slowed in turn four with body damage. The veteran dove underneath Cook entering turn one and exited turn two in control of the lead for good.

“I measured him up there on that first (re)start,” said Moyer, who won one of six heat races run on Saturday night before thunderstorms postponed the remainder of the program to Sunday afternoon. “I could’ve did it (made the pass) that first time, but I went in a little soft and I just didn’t want be an idiot and wreck us both like that.

“The next (restart) I just kind of knew where his little weak spot was. It was really early in the race, but I figured the way the track was I better get after it right now and get into the lead.”

Cook, 38, had already damaged the right-rear corner of his car from slapping the wall, but he credited Moyer with a slick move to take command.

“Billy done a good job there,” said Cook, a five-time Dream starter who matched his career-best event finish of second in 2000. “We were talking about him being a senior citizen earlier, but that experience paid off. He got a good run on me on the restart and got us with a slide down there.”

Cook was happy to secure a $20,000 runner-up finish despite racing nearly the entire distance with a crushed rear spoiler and losing second place briefly to Clanton.

“I knocked that (spoiler) off while we were leading actually,” said Cook, who added to his car’s body damage when he slid into the turn four wall while battling for second with Clanton on lap 61. “I just got up there (in the corner) too hard.

“This track was probably as challenging as it gets because it was just really, really slick right to that concrete cushion. But it’s Eldora, and you just gotta stay after it. We almost got it done, so we’ll just come back and try it again.”

Moyer likely saw his stiffest late-race threat disappear when Clanton’s bid came to an abrupt end. Sixth at the halfway mark after starting 10th, the 34-year-old driver vaulted up to second by lap 61 and caught Moyer moments later.

Clanton ducked underneath Moyer rounding turns one and two on lap 65, but that was as close as he got to the lead. His attempt to join Moyer, Bloomquist, Donnie Moran and Jimmy Owens as the only drivers to win both the World 100 and the Dream evaporated when he slowed with a broken right-rear shock bolt on lap 69, bringing out the seventh of the race’s eight caution flags.

The rough-and-tumble A-Main was slowed by three caution flags for debris on the track and four for disabled cars. The only serious accident occurred on lap 58 when Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., gave up his race-long hold on third place after slapping the turn-one wall, bouncing off Clanton’s passing car and collecting fifth-place Steve Casebolt of Richmond, Ind., whose machine sustained heavy damage, and eighth-place John Blankenship of Williamson, W.Va., who was able to continue.

Defending World of Outlaws Late Model Series champion Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., who started 16th, finished sixth after being knocked from the top five by Bloomquist on lap 91. Don O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind., transferred to the Dream after running the C- and B-Mains and marched forward from the 25th starting spot to finish seventh and Blankenship was the last driver on the lead lap in eighth place.

Several potential challengers saw their hopes dashed by smacks of the wall that tore up their cars and led to their early departures. That group included World of Outlaws regulars Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., who hit the concrete on lap one but still ran fourth until a turn-four wall encounter on lap 41 ended his day; Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., who climbed from the 13th starting spot to fifth in just eight laps but bent up his mount’s front end when he caught the turn-two wall three circuits later (he ultimately retired with an overheating engine while still holding fifth on lap 55); and Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., who was bidding for sixth when he crushed the right-rear corner of his mount on lap 49.

Sunday’s preliminary action saw Doug Drown of Wooster, Ohio, emerge victorious in the 15-lap C-Main and McDowell capture the 20-lap B-Main.

Dirt Late Model Dream
Saturday - June 12, 2010

Quick Qualifier: Tim McCreadie - 15.629

Heat 1:
1. Casey Roberts[3]; 2. Dan Schlieper[1]; 3. Tim McCreadie[5]; 4. Bub Mccool[8]; 5. Chris Madden[4]; 6. Jackie Boggs[2]; 7. Curtis Roberts[7]; 8. Jason Feger[11]; 9. Donnie Moran[18]; 10. Jeremy Payne[9]; 11. Jack Sullivan[10]; 12. Jerry Bowersock[15]; 13. Jacob Hawkins[14]; 14. Dave Hartman[17]; 15. Lee Davasier[16]; 16. Brent Kreke[12]; 17. Kent Robinson[13];

Heat 2:
1. Jonathan Davenport[2]; 2. Steve Casebolt[3]; 3. Darrell Lanigan[6]; 4. Dale McDowell[4]; 5. Earl Pearson Jr.[8]; 6. Dennis Erb Jr.[12]; 7. Doug Drown[9]; 8. Shanon Buckingham[16]; 9. Jay Johnson[7]; 10. Justin Rattliff[13]; 11. Keith Berner[11]; 12. Gregg Satterlee[1]; 13. Tony Stewart[5]; 14. Scott James[10]; 15. Scott Orr[14]; 16. Jason Jameson[15];

Heat 3:
1. Steve Francis[2]; 2. Brian Birkhofer[1]; 3. Brady Smith[10]; 4. Brad Neat[4]; 5. Brian Shirley[3]; 6. Bart Hartman[9]; 7. Don O'Neal[14]; 8. Brett Wyatt[7]; 9. Keith Foss[11]; 10. Robby Hensley[15]; 11. Christopher Brown[13]; 12. Shannon Thornsberry[16]; 13. Jerry Rice[12]; 14. Chris Ferguson[8]; 15. Bryant Dickinson[17]; 16. Jeep Van Wormer[5]; 17. Eddie Carrier Jr.[6];

Heat 4:
1. Brandon Kinzer[1]; 2. Shane Clanton[5]; 3. Josh Richards[11]; 4. Dustin Neat[2]; 5. Will Vaught[4]; 6. Terry Phillips[7]; 7. Zack Dohm[13]; 8. Jon Henry[12]; 9. Wayne Chinn[15]; 10. Billy Moyer Jr[3]; 11. Ryan VanderVeen[16]; 12. John Mason[14]; 13. Keith Kennedy[17]; 14. Austin Hubbard[9]; 15. Ben Adkins[6]; 16. Chris Wall[8]; 17. Jimmy Mars[10];

Heat 5:
1. Ray Cook[4]; 2. John Blankenship[6]; 3. Jimmy Owens[5]; 4. JR Hotovy[1]; 5. Shannon Babb[7]; 6. Tony Knowles[9]; 7. Brian Ruhlman[10]; 8. Wayne Maffett Jr.[14]; 9. John Henderson[8]; 10. Nick Marolf[12]; 11. Nick Fronapfel[16]; 12. Frank Heckenast[2]; 13. Tim Dohm[3]; 14. Cliff Morrow[17]; 15. Josh Williams[13]; 16. Tim Sabo[15];

Heat 6:
1. Billy Moyer[1]; 2. Scott Bloomquist[4]; 3. Mike Marlar[2]; 4. Matt Miller[3]; 5. Chad Simpson[5]; 6. Chub Frank[7]; 7. Eric Wells[14]; 8. Vic Hill[6]; 9. Clint Smith[8]; 10. Eric Jacobsen[11]; 11. Jared Landers[13]; 12. Aaron Ridley[9]; 13. Jeff Larson[12]; 14. Andrew Reaume[16]; 15. Casey Noonan[15]; 16. Tommy Klein[16];

C Main:
1. Doug Drown[2]; 2. Don O'Neal[3]; 3. Zack Dohm[4]; 4. Jeremy Payne[20]; 5. Jason Feger[7]; 6. Donnie Moran[11]; 7. Wayne Chinn[10]; 8. Jared Landers[16]; 9. John Henderson[15]; 10. Keith Foss[13]; 11. Wayne Maffett Jr.[9]; 12. Brian Ruhlman[5]; 13. Curtis Roberts[1]; 14. Clint Smith[12]; 15. Dave Hartman[19]; 16. Shanon Buckingham[6]; 17. Jon Henry[8]; 18. Jerry Bowersock[14]; 19. Nick Marolf[17]; 20. Shannon Thornsberry[17];

B Main :
1. Dale McDowell[2]; 2. Chris Madden[7]; 3. Brian Shirley[9]; 4. Brad Neat[3]; 5. Dennis Erb Jr.[14]; 6. Bub Mccool[1]; 7. Don O'Neal[20]; 8. Chad Smith[12]; 9. Earl Pearson Jr.[8]; 10. Terry Phillips[16]; 11. Will Vaught[10]; 12. Jason Feger[18]; 13. Chub Frank[18]; 14. Wayne Chinn[19]; 15. Jared Landers[21]; 16. Tony Knowles[14]; 17. Donnie Moran[24]; 18. John Henderson[19]; 19. Doug Drown[15]; 20. JR Hotovy[5]; 21. Dustin Neat[3]; 22. Matt Miller[6]; 23. Jeremy Payne[22]; 24. Jackie Boggs[11];

A Main :
1. Billy Moyer[1]; 2. Ray Cook[2]; 3. Dale McDowell[19]; 4. Chris Madden[21]; 5. Scott Bloomquist[12]; 6. Josh Richards[16]; 7. Don O'Neal[26]; 8. John Blankenship[11]; 9. Jeep Van Wormer[20]; 10. Dan Schlieper[7]; 11. Jonathan Davenport[5]; 12. Brad Neat[24]; 13. Shane Clanton[10]; 14. Steve Casebolt[8]; 15. Tim McCreadie[13]; 16. Darrell Lanigan[14]; 17. Brandon Kinzer[3]; 18. Mike Marlar[18]; 19. Brady Smith[15]; 20. Brian Birkhofer[9]; 21. Steve Francis[4]; 22. Dennis Erb Jr.[24]; 23. Bub Mccool[25]; 24. Jimmy Owens[17]; 25. Brian Shirley[22]; 26. Casey Roberts[6];

            ROSSBURG, OH (May 30) – In some of the fiercest action witnessed in years, Randy Hannagan (National Racing Allicance  Sprint Invaders), Rusty Schlenk (Sunoco American Late Model Series) and Doug Tiemann (Stock Cars) captured Sunday’s Johnny Appleseed Classic by Miller Lite main event action at Eldora Speedway.

            In what has become commonplace whenever they invade the Big E, the NRA Sprints ran their 20-lap main event non-stop.   For the fans, and surely the drivers as well, it was five and one-half minutes of practically holding their breath as the action on the track was non-stop.

            Returning from a five year break, Kyle Sauder picked up where he left off.   Ranked third on the all-time win list, Sauder jumped into the early lead and appeared to have a ‘welcome back’ win in the bag.  

            Hannagan, meanwhile had other thoughts.

            Starting a little deeper in the pack, Hannagan began to reel in Sauder near the mid-point of the chase and on lap 13 made a breath-taking dive off of turn two to steal away the top spot.   Sauder appeared to be taken away by the move and slipped back six positions to give the appearance of a Hannagan runaway.

            Determination then sunk in and Sauder charged back up to the tail of Hannagan, unaware that Cale Conley joined the chase on became glued to his bumper to make for a wild three-way chase to the checkered.

            Coming down for the white flag, indicating one lap to go, Sauder actually nosed under Hannagan on the front stretch, but that gave Hannagan the incentive to punch the throttle even deeper and rode to a narrow one-car length victory over Sauder.   Conley nestled in for third, followed closely by Kent Wolters and Hud Horton.

            Schlenk’s decision to participate Sunday came at the last minute, and it turned out to be a wise one.

            In a chase for the UMP (United Midwestern Promoters) National Championship, Schlenk has been hand picking his locations to race, rather than chase a track or series title.   The opportunity came to race closer to home, but the two-time ALMS champion opted for Eldora.

            A re-draw at the completion of his heat-race found him with the number one draw; but that was hardly indicative of the race he ran.  A cake-walk, it wasn’t.

            While Schlenk cruised out front in the early stages of the 25-lap chase, Curtis Roberts was dueling for runner-up honors with Frank Heckenast, Jr. and Josh Williams.   Only six laps into the contest, Williams coasted to a stop after having battled his way into second.

            That put Roberts back into second, with Brian Ruhlman his new nemesis, while Kent Robinson was making his move.

            Robinson, a Modified standout, was making his Eldora Late Model debut and what a mark he was making.

            He shot by Ruhlman and then Roberts to take second spot on lap 16.   Four laps later, he shocked Schlenk by powering past in turn one to take the top spot.

            The momentum that Robinson had was unbelievable; yet it all came to a halt with only one lap of glory, as something broke in the front-end and Robinson crashed into the turn three wall to end his hopes of a debut win.

            That gave Schlenk the lead back and he was able to hold off a quick-charging Roberts for the win, with Ruhlman, Heckenast and Matt Miller completing the top five.

            Tiemann’s Stock Car win wasn’t easy either.   He had to hold off three-time champion Mike Dirksen in a run to the checkered flag.   In doing so, he became the first two-time winner of the young season.

            Knocking on the door for this first-ever win, John Phlipot, Jr. came home third, followed in order by Eric Sandlin and Keith Ralston.

                                    --30—

JOHNNY APPLESEED CLASSIC PRESENTED BY MILLER LITE
MAY 30, 2010

Sunoco American Late Models - 36 cars
Quick Qualifier Overall - JR Hotovy: 16.210

Heat 1:
1. Lee DeVasier[5]; 2. Curtis Roberts[2]; 3. JR Hotovy[4]; 4. Jerry Bowersock[6]; 5. Scott Orr[1]; 6. Richard Neiser[7]; 7. Casey Noonan[9]; 8. Curtis Deisenroth[8]; 9. Andrew Reaume[3];

Heat 2:
1. Josh Williams[1]; 2. Frank Heckenast[3]; 3. Dusty Moore[4]; 4. Tom Sprague[2]; 5. Jeff Babcock[8]; 6. Chad Stapleton[5]; 7. Dave Hartman[6]; 8. Brad Eitniear[9]; 9. Ryan VanderVeen[7];

Heat 3:
1. Cruz Pedregon[1]; 2. Brian Ruhlman[3]; 3. Duane Chamberlain[4]; 4. Jon Henry[5]; 5. Rick DeLong[2]; 6. Keith Berner[6]; 7. John Lawhorn[9]; 8. Jacob Hawkins[7]; 9. Wayne Chinn[8];

Heat 4:
1. Kent Robinson[1]; 2. Rusty Schlenk[2]; 3. Matt Miller[4]; 4. Jeep Van Wormer[3]; 5. Phil Ausra[7]; 6. Rob Starkey[8]; 7. Cody Houston[9]; 8. Ron Perrine Jr.[6]; 9. Jason Jameson[5];

B Main :
1. Rick DeLong[1]; 2. Keith Berner[3]; 3. Phil Ausra[2]; 4. Rob Starkey[4]; 5. Cody Houston[6]; 6. Jason Jameson[5]; 7. John Lawhorn[5]; 8. Jacob Hawkins[7]; 9. Ron Perrine Jr.[8]; 10. Wayne Chinn[9];

B Main 2:
1. Scott Orr[1]; 2. Jeff Babcock[2]; 3. Richard Neiser[3]; 4. Casey Noonan[5]; 5. Chad Stapleton[4]; 6. Curtis Deisenroth[7]; 7. Dave Hartman[6]; 8. Brad Eitniear[8]; 9. Andrew Reaume[9]; 10. Ryan VanderVeen[10];

A Main :
1. Rusty Schlenk[1]; 2. Curtis Roberts[2]; 3. Brian Ruhlman[4]; 4. Frank Heckenast[6]; 5. Matt Miller[12]; 6. Jeep Van Wormer[16]; 7. Duane Chamberlain[11]; 8. Cruz Pedregon[7]; 9. Jerry Bowersock[13]; 10. Lee DeVasier[5]; 11. Keith Berner[20]; 12. Dusty Moore[10]; 13. Rick DeLong[19]; 14. Phil Ausra[22]; 15. Scott Orr[17]; 16. Richard Neiser[18]; 17. Jon Henry[15]; 18. Kent Robinson[8]; 19. Tom Sprague[14]; 20. JR Hotovy[9]; 21. Josh Williams[3]; 22. Ryan VanderVeen[21];

------------------------------------------------------------------------

NRA Invaders - 36 cars
Quick Qualifier - Cale Conley: 15.377

Heat 1:
1. Jeff Williams[3]; 2. Ryan Grubaugh[1]; 3. Dustin Daggett[5]; 4. Cale Conley[6]; 5. Tim Hunter[4]; 6. Aaron Shaffer[7]; 7. Robert Huisken[8]; 8. Mike Burkin[9]; 9. Ron Blair[2];

Heat 2:
1. Hud Horton[3]; 2. Luke Hall[6]; 3. Jared Horstman[4]; 4. Dallas Hewitt[2]; 5. Sean Robinson[7]; 6. Ben Rutan[5]; 7. Bob Gehr Jr.[1]; 8. Tommy Kerce[9]; 9. Ryan Kirkendall[8];

Heat 3:
1. Kyle Sauder[5]; 2. Tim Allison[3]; 3. JR Stewart[4]; 4. Todd Heuerman[2]; 5. Butch Schroeder[6]; 6. Jeremy Keegan[1]; 7. Pete Ischi[8]; 8. Gavin Hunyady[7]; 9. Bob Carman[9];

Heat 4:
1. Randy Hannagan[6]; 2. Ryan Ruhl[2]; 3. Greg Dalman[1]; 4. Kent Wolters[3]; 5. Mike Dussel[4]; 6. Dane Naida[5]; 7. Andy Tunessen[9]; 8. Brent Gehr[7]; 9. Jarred Delong[8];

B Main :
1. Butch Schroeder[1]; 2. Dane Naida[2]; 3. Aaron Shaffer[5]; 4. Pete Ischi[8]; 5. Bob Gehr Jr.[4]; 6. Bob Carman[10]; 7. Mike Dussel[3]; 8. Gavin Hunyady[6]; 9. Robert Huisken[7]; 10. Mike Burkin[9];

B Main 2:
1. Tim Hunter[2]; 2. Ron Blair[3]; 3. Sean Robinson[5]; 4. Andy Tunessen[10]; 5. Brent Gehr[6]; 6. Tommy Kerce[9]; 7. Jarred Delong[8]; 8. Jeremy Keegan[4]; 9. Ben Rutan[1]; 10. Ryan Kirkendall[7];

A Main :
1. Randy Hannagan[-]; 2. Kyle Sauder[-]; 3. Cale Conley[-]; 4. Kent Wolters[-]; 5. Hud Horton[-]; 6. Butch Schroeder[-]; 7. Luke Hall[-]; 8. Dustin Daggett[-]; 9. Tim Hunter[-]; 10. JR Stewart[-]; 11. Greg Dalman[-]; 12. Tim Allison[-]; 13. Todd Heuerman[-]; 14. Jared Horstman[-]; 15. Ryan Grubaugh[-]; 16. Dane Naida[-]; 17. Dallas Hewitt[-]; 18. Ryan Ruhl[-]; 19. Aaron Shaffer[-]; 20. Jeff Williams[-];

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Eldora Stocks - 26 cars

Heat 1:
1. Doug Tiemann[5]; 2. Dean Pitts[0]; 3. Mike Dirksen[4]; 4. Cody Weisner[6]; 5. Adam Schaeff[3]; 6. Anthony Goode[7]; 7. Andy King[9]; 8. Matt Phlipot[2]; 9. Jeff Smith[8];

Heat 2:
1. John Phlipot Jr.[1]; 2. Jason Kinney[5]; 3. Shawn Phillippi[7]; 4. Ed Johnson[6]; 5. Jamie Heiser[3]; 6. Bob Sutter[4]; 7. Rodney Lacey[2]; 8. Barney Craig[8]; 9. Nick Katterhenry[9];

Heat 3:
1. Earnie Woodard[2]; 2. Eric Sandlin[4]; 3. Jeff Koz[5]; 4. Keith Ralston[7]; 5. Dan Wooten[8]; 6. Casey Barr[1]; 7. Cale Ramey[3]; 8. Rob Trent[6];

A Main :
1. Doug Tiemann[2]; 2. Mike Dirksen[7]; 3. John Phlipot Jr.[1]; 4. Eric Sandlin[6]; 5. Keith Ralston[12]; 6. Jason Kinney[5]; 7. Cody Weisner[10]; 8. Shawn Phillippi[8]; 9. Jeff Koz[9]; 10. Anthony Goode[16]; 11. Barney Craig[23]; 12. Rob Trent[24]; 13. Andy King[19]; 14. Jamie Heiser[14]; 15. Casey Barr[18]; 16. Earnie Woodard[3]; 17. Adam Schaeff[13]; 18. Matt Philipot[22]; 19. Dean Pitts[4]; 20. Ed Johnson[11]; 21. Nick Katterhenry[26]; 22. Bob Sutter[17]; 23. Dan Wooten[15]; 24. Rodney Lacey[DNS]; 25. Cale Ramey[DNS]; 26. Jeff Smith[DNS];

            ROSSBURG, OH (May 24) – When the NRA (National Racing Alliance) Sprint Invaders attack Eldora Speedway Sunday night (May 30), Tim Allison is hoping to end a slump.   The Cridersville, OH native sits safely on top of the all time 360 Sprint division win list at Eldora with 14 wins, but it has been since 2006 that he has moved into victory lane.

            With 100 events documented to date, Allison’s win record is impressive at 14% of his appearances resulting in a trip to the stage.

            Since his last triumph on August 16, 2006, Allison’s biggest rivals have been Dale Blaney, Butch Schroeder and Darren Long; who between them have excelled in nine of the fourteen main events contested.

            Blaney heads up that list with five wins, while Schroeder and Long each have two victories.

            Recent visits to Eldora have results in a mixed bag of results for Allison, including mechanical issues that have forced him into the pit area while leading the main event.

            Weather issues have plagued the NRA Tour thus far into the early part of the 2010 campaign, with only one points race having been completed at the time of this writing.   At that event, Allison looked like the driver of old, after charging to finish third from his seventh place starting position at Limaland Motorsports Park on April 30.   He finished behind Schroeder and J.R. Stewart.

            Sunday’s race will complete a busy weekend for the NRA Sprint Invaders, with points meets at Limaland Friday night and Waynesfield Speedway on Saturday evening.

            Joining the NRA Sprint Invaders at Eldora will be the Sunoco sponsored American Late Model Series for their second visit of the 2010 season, along with the Stock Cars.   A 7:30 PM race starting time is on tap.

            ROSSBURG, OH (May 17) –Threatening weather once again prevailed over Eldora Speedway on race night, but perseverance and commitment from the staff and competitors found Eric Sandlin (Stock Cars) and Jesse Bitterling (Modifieds) standing in victory lane Saturday night.

            A steady mist fell throughout the evening, but the entire Family Fun Night agenda was completed, including a huge fireworks display to top off the card.

            Prior to the aerial fireworks, the on-track fireworks found Sandlin continuing a recent trend of first-time winners on the one-half mile clay oval. 

            A rash of caution flag periods threatened to halt Sandlin from his initial visit to the stage, but with each restart, he held firm on his stand.

            Ironically, the two drivers pressuring him the most were Doug Tiemann and Ed Johnson – who each recently captured their first-ever Eldora triumph.

            Also in the mix was former champion Barney Craig, as the foursome literally had the huge crowd standing for the final four laps of the 15-lap chase.

            A final caution with one-lap to go really set up the test for Sandlin, who remained calm and relentless with his smooth driving style to hold off Tiemann, Johnson and Craig for the win.   John Phlipot, Jr. crossed the line fifth.   Tiemann tried in vain to pull off an Eldora ‘slide-job’ to take the win away on the final turn, but was unable to complete the execution.

            Borrowing the old adage, ‘where there’s smoke, there’s fire’, was Bitterling.

            Nursing a smoking engine the entire evening, Bittlerling fired his way to an emotional victory.

            Multiple crashes and spins marred the UMP (United Midwestern Promoters) Modified finale, and with each restart, Bitterling’s engine smoke continued.   Throughout the night his crew searched for the cause, but found no tell-tale signs of concern and advised Bitterling to ‘go for it’.

            Shaun Smith pressured Bitterling multiple times during the final few circuits, but without success.  Justin Matson continued his recent run of smooth finishes to capture third, followed in order by John Brooks and Rob Williams.

            As the only night of the season that time trials are used to lining up the Stocks and Modifieds for a regular event, Jon Henry out timed the 30 cars on hand with a clocking of 17.544, while Barney Craig was the quickest of the 27 Stock Cars with his timed run of 20.317.  

            Shaun Smith captured the Buffalo Wings and Rings Modified dash for cash, with Tiemann prevailing in the Stock Car dash.

                                                                                                --30--

FAMILY FUN NIGHT PRESENTED BY BUFFALO WINGS AND RINGS
Open Wheel Modifieds - 30 cars
Fast Qualifier: Jon Henry - 17.544

Dash:
1. Shaun Smith[2]; 2. Jon Henry[4]; 3. Shawn Bayliff[1]; 4. John Brooks[3];

Heat 1:
1. Jon Henry[4]; 2. Josh Morton[2]; 3. Shawn Bayliff[3]; 4. Scott Knepley[1]; 5. Ryan Sutter[6]; 6. Tom Hagberg[5]; 7. Josh Greber[8]; 8. Ed Shaner[7]; 9. David Treon Jr.[9]; 10. Mike Roediger[10];

Heat 2:
1. Brian Post[1]; 2. John Brooks[4]; 3. Justin Matson[3]; 4. Brent Hole[2]; 5. Mike Chrisman[6]; 6. Mike Dirksen[5]; 7. Mike Hohlbein[7]; 8. Shane Unger[8]; 9. Scott Williams[9]; 10. Tim Richardson[10];

Heat 3:
1. Chad Rosenbeck[4]; 2. Jesse Bitterling[3]; 3. Rob Williams[2]; 4. Anthony Davis[1]; 5. Nick Katterhenry[6]; 6. Warren Shingleton[5]; 7. Scott Orr[9]; 8. Don Wooten[10]; 9. Barney Craig[7]; 10. Justin Coulter[8];

B Main :
1. Tom Hagberg[1]; 2. Mike Dirksen[2]; 3. Mike Hohlbein[5]; 4. Warren Shingleton[3]; 5. Ed Shaner[4]; 6. Shane Unger[8]; 7. Scott Williams[11]; 8. Josh Greber[7]; 9. Barney Craig[6]; 10. Scott Orr[12]; 11. Justin Coulter[9]; 12. David Treon Jr.[10]; 13. Mike Roediger[13]; 14. Tim Richardson[14]; 15. Dan Wooten[15];

A Main :
1. Jesse Bitterling[1]; 2. Shaun Smith[4]; 3. Justin Matson[2]; 4. John Brooks[5]; 5. Rob Williams[9]; 6. Brian Post[11]; 7. Brent Hole[8]; 8. Josh Morton[7]; 9. Nick Katterhenry[15]; 10. Ed Shaner[20]; 11. Mike Hohlbein[18]; 12. Ryan Sutter[13]; 13. Tom Hagberg[16]; 14. Warren Shingleton[19]; 15. Shawn Bayliff[3]; 16. Anthony Davis[12]; 17. Jon Henry[6]; 18. Josh Greber[23]; 19. Scott Knepley[10]; 20. Mike Dirksen[17]; 21. Scott Williams[22]; 22. Shane Unger[21]; 23. Mike Chrisman[14]; 24. Barney Craig[24];

Eldora Stocks - 27 cars
Fast Qualifier: Barney Craig - 20.317

Dash:
1. Doug Tiemann[2]; 2. Rob Trent[1]; 3. Barney Craig[4]; 4. Ed Johnson[3];

Heat 1:
1. Earnie Woodard[2]; 2. Barney Craig[4]; 3. Mike Dirksen[1]; 4. Rob Trent[3]; 5. Jason Kinney[6]; 6. Anthony Goode[5]; 7. Matt Phlipot[8]; 8. Rodney Lacey[7]; 9. James Keppling[9];

Heat 2:
1. Keith Ralston[1]; 2. Ed Johnson[4]; 3. Andy King[2]; 4. John Phlipot Jr.[3]; 5. Jeff Koz[5]; 6. Casey Barr[9]; 7. Stacey Gazarek[8]; 8. Bob Sutter[7]; 9. Dan Wooten[6];

Heat 3:
1. Doug Tiemann[4]; 2. Shawn Phillippi[2]; 3. Dean Pitts[1]; 4. Eric Sandlin[3]; 5. Adam Schaeff[5]; 6. Luke Timmerman[6]; 7. Jamie Heiser[7]; 8. Jeremy Creech[8];

A Main :
1. Eric Sandlin[1]; 2. Doug Tiemann[4]; 3. Ed Johnson[5]; 4. Barney Craig[6]; 5. John Phlipot Jr.[2]; 6. Dean Pitts[12]; 7. Earnie Woodard[7]; 8. Mike Dirksen[10]; 9. Andy King[8]; 10. Adam Schaeff[14]; 11. Anthony Goode[16]; 12. Jason Kinney[15]; 13. Matt Phlipot[37]; 14. Jamie Heiser[21]; 15. Bob Sutter[20]; 16. Shawn Phillippi[9]; 17. Rob Trent[3]; 18. Casey Barr[26]; 19. Stacey Gazarek[23]; 20. Dan Wooten[17]; 21. Keith Ralston[11]; 22. Jeff Koz[13]; 23. Luke Timmerman[18]; 24. Rodney Lacey[19]; 25. Jeremy Creech[24]; 26. James Keppling[25];

            ROSSBURG, OH (May 14) – Beginning with the 6^th annual Prelude to the Dream on Wednesday, June 9, right up through the checkered flag of the Dirt Late Model Dream on Saturday, June 12, Eldora Speedway will be a hotbed of activities.

            Actually, it all begins on Sunday (June 6) when the camping areas surrounding Eldora Speedway official swing open and fans from throughout the Nation and Canada begin their assemblage upon the southwestern Ohio mecca of speed.

            Wednesday’s Prelude to the Dream, with 25 world renowned drivers invading to benefit four major children’s hospitals, kicks off at 8:00 AM with the official gate opening and then the traditional trade show starts at 10:00 AM.   A unique feature of the trade show will continue this year, as members of the Darke County Visitors Bureau return with their Race 2 Taste.  In addition, several national companies and a multitude of souvenir vendors will also participate in the trade show.

            Thursday’s menu will include the pit gate opening for Dirt Late Model Dream entrants at 1:00 and the car inspections from 4:00-8:30.   At 7:30, the Ms. Eldora Speedway pageant will be held in the adjoining Eldora Ballroom and winding up Thursday’s festivities will be the traditional pre-race party.

            Concluding the off-track functions will be Saturday’s MARC (Midwest Auto Racing Charities) auction in the Eldora Ballroom at 12:30.   Proceeds from the auction are used towards the club’s benevolent fund.   Up to 20 WoO (World of Outlaw) Late Model drivers have pledged items for the auction, and club member Bud Cary has donated over 70 die-cast cars, to list just a few of the items.

            A complete breakdown of the ‘Dream Week’ goings-on is shown on the track’s website www.eldoraspeedway.com

            ROSSBURG, OH (May 12) – Robert Ballou may wish that USAC (United States Auto Club) would race their Sprint Car division more often at Eldora Speedway.   After Wednesday night’s thrilling win, he now has three career USAC wins, with all of them coming on Eldora’s massive one-half mile clay oval.   In a night when most folks thought would fall to Mother Nature, two-time NASCAR Cup champion Tony Stewart jumped behind the wheel of a UMP (United Midwestern Promoters) Modified and drove to the win.

            Wednesday’s chase was a make-up of the postponed Coca Cola Spring Classic event from April, and again weather played havoc, with showers falling until 2:30 in the afternoon, and then a steady mist remained in the air all night – yet the track officials confirmed with USAC that the show was a go.

            With the wet conditions, the track was in top notch shape and played into the hands of the USAC gentry.

            Ballou jumped right into the lead of the 30-lap chase that appeared to be headed to a non-stop affair.   The steady green pace was interrupted on lap 25 when Matt Goodnight flipped in turn two.

            Prior to that, Chris Windom was running the best race of his Eldora career, as he held off defending champion Levi Jones for several circuits to hold down runner-up honors.   That ended on lap five when Jones shot past him and charged towards Ballou.   Within no time, Jones had reeled in Ballou, but as they duo moved into lapped traffic, Ballou seemed to have the edge.

            At the same time, moving through the field was Bryan Clauson.   Clauson was able to use the lapped traffic to get by Jones on lap 22 and instantly set his sights on Ballou.   After the Goodnight flip and resulting red flag, the restart found Clauson on Ballou’s tail, with Jones in third.  

            When the race resumed, Ballou continued his rapid pace, but Clauson was right there and with the white flag in the air to show one final lap around Eldora, Clauson was able to move into contention and set up a pass in turn three.   Instead of a traditional Eldora slide, he rode outside of
Ballou and just as it appeared he could get the job done, he simply ran out of race track and collided with the outside concrete wall and flipped.

            That left a one lap chase to the finish and one more obstacle for Ballou.   That obstacle was Jones, who nearly pulled off a last lap pass, but had to settle for second at the finish.   Completing the top five were Windom, Damion Gardner and Hunter Schuerenberg.

            When the modifieds rolled off for their finale, Canadian Tim Richardson was the man of the hour with his instant run up front.   Several restarts were needed before the pace was set, but Richardson was up to the task.   He was holding off Doug Adkins for the top spot as Stewart, who started eighth, was moving his way through the field.   By the third lap he was up to third and following a five lap battle with Adkins, he was able to moved into second and set his sights on Richardson.  

            Getting into lapped traffic was just what Stewart wanted to see, and he took advantage of that by sweeping past Richardson  on lap 13.   From there, he rode to the finish untouched for his first Modified feature win at Eldora.   Richardson hung on for second, with Ryan Cripe finished third, followed by Mike Roediger and John Henry.

COCA-COLA SPRING CLASSIC
MAY 12, 2010

USAC National Sprints - 25 cars
Quick Qualifier: Bryan Clauson - 16.246

Heat 1:
1. Matt Westfall[2]; 2. Hunter Schuerenberg[4]; 3. Robert Ballou[6]; 4. Bryan Clauson[8]; 5. Jerry Coons Jr.[7]; 6. Scotty Weir[5]; 7. Matt Goodnight[3]; 8. Jace Stockton[9]; 9. Kevin Studley[1];

Heat 2:
1. Henry Clarke[2]; 2. Bud Kaeding[4]; 3. Tracy Hines[7]; 4. Shane Hmiel[5]; 5. Casey Shuman[3]; 6. Casey Roberts[8]; 7. Dallas Hewitt[1]; 8. Ricky Williams[6];

Heat 3:
1. Bill Rose[3]; 2. Dave Darland[4]; 3. Levi Jones[8]; 4. Chris Windom[6]; 5. Steve Ott[2]; 6. Jon Stanbrough[5]; 7. Damion Gardner[7]; 8. Brandon Ferguson[1];

B Main :
1. Casey Riggs[1]; 2. Damion Gardner[2]; 3. Ricky Williams[3]; 4. Jon Stanbrough[5]; 5. Scotty Weir[4]; 6. Chase Stockon[10]; 7. Matt Goodnight[6]; 8. Dallas Hewitt[8]; 9. Brandon Ferguson[9]; 10. Kevin Studley[7];

A Main :
1. Robert Ballou[2]; 2. Levi Jones[5]; 3. Chris Windom[1]; 4. Damion Gardner[8]; 5. Hunter Schuerenberg[13]; 6. Tracy Hines[3]; 7. Casey Riggs[7]; 8. Jon Stanbrough[12]; 9. Shane Hmiel[11]; 10. Dave Darland[15]; 11. Scotty Weir[10]; 12. Ricky Williams[9]; 13. Bryan Clauson[6]; 14. Matt Westfall[19]; 15. Bill Rose[18]; 16. Chase Stockon[22]; 17. Bud Kaeding[14]; 18. Henry Clarke[20]; 19. Matt Goodnight[16]; 20. Steve Ott[21]; 21. Casey Shuman[17]; 22. Brandon Ferguson[24]; 23. Jerry Coons Jr.[4]; 24. Dallas Hewitt[23];

Open Wheel Modifieds - 40 cars

Heat 1:
1. Ryan Sutter[2]; 2. Ryan Cripe[1]; 3. Brent Hole[7]; 4. Rob Williams[5]; 5. Cory Seeling[8]; 6. Warren Shingleton[3]; 7. Shawn Bayliff[10]; 8. Brian Post[7]; 9. Justin Coulter[4]; 10. Scott Knepley[9];

Heat 2:
1. Jesse Bitterling[2]; 2. Tim Richardson[4]; 3. Kent Robinson[6]; 4. Jon Henry[9]; 5. Jeff Babcock[10]; 6. Josh Morton[1]; 7. Zeke McKenzie[3]; 8. Ed Shaner[8]; 9. Bill Lewis[7]; 10. Josh Greber[5];

Heat 3:
1. Mike Roediger[1]; 2. Greg Johnson[4]; 3. Nick Katterhenry[6]; 4. Shaun Smith[5]; 5. Mike Dirksen[2]; 6. Todd Brenn[9]; 7. Scott Williams[7]; 8. Anthony Davis[3]; 9. Scott Bowersock[8]; 10. David Treon Jr.[10];

Heat 4:
1. Doug Adkins[2]; 2. Tony Stewart[8]; 3. Dustin Webber[1]; 4. Scott Orr[3]; 5. Tony Anderson[4]; 6. Bob Burch[9]; 7. Corey Bevard[5]; 8. Justin Matson[7]; 9. Mike Chrisman[10]; 10. Shane Unger[6];

B Main :
1. Jeff Babcock[2]; 2. Cory Seeling[1]; 3. Brian Post[7]; 4. Shawn Bayliff[5]; 5. Bill Lewis[10]; 6. Ed Shaner[8]; 7. Warren Shingleton[3]; 8. Zeke McKenzie[6]; 9. Josh Morton[4]; 10. Justin Coulter[9]; 11. Scott Knepley[11]; 12. Josh Greber[12];

B Main 2:
1. Justin Matson[8]; 2. Mike Dirksen[1]; 3. Corey Bevard[6]; 4. Tony Anderson[2]; 5. Anthony Davis[7]; 6. Mike Chrisman[10]; 7. Scott Williams[5]; 8. Shane Unger[12]; 9. Todd Brenn[3]; 10. Bob Burch[4]; 11. Scott Bowersock[9]; 12. David Treon Jr.[11];

A Main :
1. Tony Stewart[8]; 2. Tim Richardson[1]; 3. Ryan Cripe[2]; 4. Mike Roediger[4]; 5. Jon Henry[14]; 6. Greg Johnson[7]; 7. Kent Robinson[10]; 8. Shaun Smith[15]; 9. Justin Matson[18]; 10. Scott Orr[16]; 11. Shawn Bayliff[23]; 12. Rob Williams[13]; 13. Brian Post[21]; 14. Ryan Sutter[6]; 15. Corey Bevard[22]; 16. Mike Dirksen[20]; 17. Tony Anderson[24]; 18. Dustin Webber[12]; 19. Doug Adkins[3]; 20. Jesse Bitterling[5]; 21. Brent Hole[9]; 22. Nick Katterhenry[11]; 23. Jeff Babcock[17]; 24. Cory Seeling[19];

            ROSSBURG, OH (May 12)  Entry blanks for dirt Late Model racing’s highest paying event, the Dirt Late Model Dream at Eldora Speedway, have been put into the mail and posted on the speedway’s website www.eldoraspeedway.com.   Set for the weekend of June 11 & 12, the 16^th annual affair will again offer a prize of $100,000 to the winner of the 100-lap chase around Eldora’s one-half mile clay oval.

            In appreciation of the support of the Late Model fraternity, the Eldora officials have added an additional two positions to this year’s starting grid.   Twenty-six cars will now start the century grind, with $1,500 earmarked as the minimum amount to be earned by a main event starter.

            Jimmy Owens nursed an ailing engine through the final laps of last year’s Dirt Late Model Dream to capture the top prize.   It was Owens’ first triumph in the prestigious event that was introduced in 1994, when ‘the Southern Gentleman’ Freddy Smith captured the win.

            As in the past, Friday night’s (June 11) will consist of two rounds of single-lap time trial runs to line-up Saturday’s (June 12) six qualifying heat races.    The outcome of those heats will then determine the line-ups for the ensuing C-Main, B-Main and 100-lap Dirt Late Model Dream.   Sunday, June 13 has been reserved for the rain date, if necessary.

            Ticket and event information, along with a downloadable entry blank, may be found on the track’s website.

            ROSSBURG, OH (May 8) – What looked to be a Sammy Swindell runaway turned into barnburner during the final five laps of Saturday’s World of Outlaw (WoO) Sprint Car main event at Eldora Speedway, thanks in part to WoO’s new procedure of double file restarts.  Paul McMahan was the benefactor as he stormed to his second-ever WoO win at Eldora.   Completing the Outlaw Thunder by Goodyear tripleheader were Scott Orr in the UMP (United Midwestern Promoters) Modifieds and Ed Johnson in the Stock Cars.

            A storybook front row found veterans Jac Haudenschild and Sammy Swindell on the front row of the 30-lap WoO main event, by virtue of their Dash finishes.

            With Swindell in the Eldora-preferred  outside pole, the dropping of the green flag found him off and sailing, leaving Haudenschild in second.   Joey Saldana, who won the night before, was running third, with Daryn Pittman in fourth and McMahan in fifth. 

            By the second tour of the one-half mile oval, McMahan and Pittman had swapped spots and by the fifth circuit, the fast-moving field was into lapped traffic.

            The top five maintained their positioning through the myriad of lapped cars, with each of them having close encounters.   At times it appeared as if the front-runners were on a slalom course, as they wove through the field.  

            With the professionalism of the drivers, the quick and smooth race course found the first 25 laps going under the green at break-neck speeds, without a single incident.

            That changed at the start of lap 25 and that is when Swindell’s top spot became in jeopardy.   The red flag came out for a flipping Cale Conley between turns one and two.   Conley’s mount was heavily damaged, but he escaped any injury. 

            On the restart, Swindell, per WoO rules, had the option of inside or outside for his starting position.   Based up his previous knowledge of the facility, he chose the outside and when the green flag re-appeared, he continued his torrid pace.   Haudenschild; however, dropped five positions on the restart, with McMahan shooting into second from fourth, while Saldana continued to run third.  

            Two more laps got into the record books with Swindell easily holding off McMahan, but the yellow came out as the tires of Saldana and Craig Dollansky gave way and they stopped on the race circuit.  

            Again, per WoO rules, they were pushed to the work area, where their crews were able to swap tires within the permitted time frame, and re-joined the field on the tail of the cars still on the same racing lap.

            Again, Swindell wisely chose the outside lane for his restarting spot, but his tire was beginning to show some wear.   McMahan sensed that and when the green flag flew, he surprised Swindell, and the fans, with a patented Eldora slide job that found him darting into the lead.

            With him he brought Danny Lasoski, as Swindell slipped back to third.  

            The race then went the distance as McMaham easily outpaced Lasoski and Swindell, while Steve Kinser charged to fourth and defending WoO champion Sonny Schatz captured fifth.

            Despite a rash of caution flags, the UMP Modified main event kept the chilled crowd heated up by the top three runners, who virtually ran under a blanket.

            Scott Orr as the man in charge, but hot on his heels were perennial top runners Jon Henry and Jeff Babock.   Via the Coca-Cola scoreboard, Orr was aware of his followers while looking up during the caution flag periods.  

            With each restart, Orr would cautiously protect his position; aware that at any time one of the duo following him could execute an Eldora ‘slider’.  Orr had just enough momentum, however, to hang on to the finish, with Henry and Babcock, following close behind, while Scott Bowersock and Jesse Bitterling completed the top five.

            In only his third-ever Eldora appearance, Ed Johnson captured the Stock Car finale.   Earnie Woodard had led the first three laps of the 15-lap affair, but Johnson surprised the field with his charge into the top spot on lap four.   He wasn’t about to be denied his intial Eldora triumph, despite a late race charge by former champion Barney Craig.   

            Time was in Johnson’s favor as he bested Craig.   John Phlipot, Jr, Shawn Phillippi and Keith Ralston completed the top five at the finish line.

                                                                                    --30--

OUTLAW THUNDER PRESENTED BY GOODYEAR
MAY 8, 2010

World of Outlaws Sprints - 32 cars
Fast Qualifier - Paul McMahan: 13.038
Heat 1:
1. Donny Schatz[3]; 2. Paul McMahan[4]; 3. Cale Conley[2]; 4. Brian Ellenberger[7]; 5. Toni Luter[5]; 6. Ben Gregg[6]; 7. Paul May[8]; 8. Danny Lasoski[1];

Heat 2:
1. Daryn Pittman[1]; 2. Craig Dollansky[4]; 3. Sam Hafertepe Jr.[3]; 4. Kerry Madsen[2]; 5. Chad Kemenah[5]; 6. Todd Kane[6]; 7. Brian Paulus[8]; 8. Lee Jacobs[7];

Heat 3:
1. Brad Sweet[2]; 2. Lucas Wolfe[1]; 3. Sammy Swindell[4]; 4. Dale Blaney[3]; 5. Jason Sides[5]; 6. Randy Hannagan[6]; 7. Jessica Zemken[8]; 8. Kraig Kinser[7];

Heat 4:
1. Joey Saldana[3]; 2. Steve Kinser[1]; 3. Jac Haudenschild[2]; 4. Jason Meyers[2]; 5. Tim Kaeding[5]; 6. Justin Henderson[6]; 7. Dustin Daggett[7]; 8. Rob Chaney[8];

Dash:
1. Jac Haudenschild[1]; 2. Sammy Swindell[2]; 3. Paul McMahan[4]; 4. Joey Saldana[6]; 5. Craig Dollansky[3]; 6. Daryn Pittman[8]; 7. Lucas Wolfe[9]; 8. Steve Kinser[10]; 9. Donny Schatz[5]; 10. Brad Sweet[7];

B Main :
1. Danny Lasoski[1]; 2. Ben Gregg[2]; 3. Brian Paulus[10]; 4. Kraig Kinser[7]; 5. Lee Jacobs[6]; 6. Justin Henderson[5]; 7. Dustin Daggett[8]; 8. Paul May[9]; 9. Jessica Zemken[11]; 10. Todd Kane[3];

A Main :
1. Paul McMahan[3]; 2. Danny Lasoski[16]; 3. Sammy Swindell[2]; 4. Steve Kinser[8]; 5. Donny Schatz[9]; 6. Daryn Pittman[6]; 7. Craig Dollansky[5]; 8. Kerry Madsen[14]; 9. Jac Haudenschild[1]; 10. Lucas Wolfe[7]; 11. Joey Saldana[4]; 12. Tim Kaeding[20]; 13. Jason Meyers[15]; 14. Brian Paulus[24]; 15. Sam Hafertepe Jr.[11]; 16. Brad Sweet[10]; 17. Jason Sides[19]; 18. Chad Kemenah[18]; 19. Toni Luter[17]; 20. Ben Gregg[21]; 21. Cale Conley[13]; 22. Brian Ellenberger[22]; 23. Dale Blaney[12]; 24. Kraig Kinser[23];

Open Wheel Modifieds - 40 cars
Heat 1:
1. Jon Henry[3]; 2. Scott Bowersock[2]; 3. Nick Rosselit[5]; 4. Brian Przepiora[4]; 5. Ryan Sutter[9]; 6. David Treon Jr.[8]; 7. John Brooks[6]; 8. Mike Roediger[7]; 9. Warren Shingleton[1]; 10. Shaun Smith[10];

Heat 2:
1. Scott Orr[2]; 2. Jason Wheatley[1]; 3. Bob Burch[3]; 4. Justin Coulter[4]; 5. Cory Seeling[5]; 6. Brian Post[6]; 7. Andy Strait[9]; 8. Dave Sibberson[7]; 9. Scott Williams[10]; 10. Mark Wooten[8];

Heat 3:
1. Jeff Babcock[1]; 2. Brent Hole[2]; 3. Shawn Bayliff[8]; 4. Justin Matson[9]; 5. Jesse Bitterling[10]; 6. Chad Rosenbeck[4]; 7. Scott Knepley[5]; 8. Mike Chrisman[3]; 9. Chris Puskas[6]; 10. Anthony Davis[7];

Heat 4:
1. Corey Bevard[1]; 2. Rob Williams[3]; 3. Tim Richardson[6]; 4. Josh Morton[8]; 5. Nick Katterhenry[9]; 6. Josh Greber[5]; 7. Shane Unger[2]; 8. Mike Dirksen[10]; 9. Ed Shaner[7]; 10. Josh Ferguson[4];

B Main :
1. Jesse Bitterling[2]; 2. Chad Rosenbeck[4]; 3. Mike Roediger[7]; 4. Ryan Sutter[1]; 5. Scott Knepley[6]; 6. Warren Shingleton[9]; 7. David Treon Jr.[3]; 8. John Brooks[5]; 9. Mike Chrisman[8]; 10. Chris Puskas[10]; 11. Shaun Smith[11];

B Main 2:
1. Cory Seeling[1]; 2. Nick Katterhenry[2]; 3. Brian Post[3]; 4. Andy Strait[5]; 5. Mike Dirksen[8]; 6. Shane Unger[6]; 7. Josh Greber[4]; 8. Mark Wooten[11]; 9. Dave Sibberson[7]; 10. Ed Shaner[10]; 11. Scott Williams[9]; 12. Josh Ferguson[12];

A Main :
1. Scott Orr[2]; 2. Jon Henry[1]; 3. Jeff Babcock[3]; 4. Scott Bowersock[-]; 5. Jesse Bitterling[17]; 6. Jason Wheatley[6]; 7. Shawn Bayliff[11]; 8. Tim Richardson[12]; 9. Brian Post[22]; 10. Rob Williams[8]; 11. Justin Coulter[14]; 12. Josh Morton[16]; 13. Cory Seeling[18]; 14. Brent Hole[7]; 15. Nick Katterhenry[20]; 16. Mike Roediger[21]; 17. Nick Rosselit[9]; 18. Corey Bevard[4]; 19. Brian Przepiora[13]; 20. Justin Matson[15]; 21. Ryan Sutter[23]; 22. Andy Strait[24]; 23. Bob Burch[10]; 24. Chad Rosenbeck[19];

Eldora Stocks - 26 cars
Heat 1:
1. Eric Sandlin[3]; 2. John Phlipot Jr.[8]; 3. Ed Johnson[7]; 4. Dean Pitts[4]; 5. Ronnie Bloomfield[9]; 6. Jeremy Creech[5]; 7. Casey Barr[2]; 8. Jason Kinney[6]; 9. Rodney Lacey[1];

Heat 2:
1. Andy King[1]; 2. Barney Craig[8]; 3. Adam Schaeff[2]; 4. Rob Trent[7]; 5. Mike Dirksen[4]; 6. Keith Ralston[3]; 7. Anthony Goode[6]; 8. Bob Sutter[5];

Heat 3:
1. Doug Tiemann[2]; 2. Shawn Phillippi[4]; 3. Earnie Woodard[7]; 4. Matt Philipot[3]; 5. Jeff Koz[5]; 6. Jeff Keppling[1]; 7. Dan Wooten[8]; 8. Stacey Gazarek[6];

A Main :
1. Ed Johnson[3]; 2. Barney Craig[5]; 3. John Phlipot Jr.[6]; 4. Shawn Phillippi[4]; 5. Keith Ralston[17]; 6. Eric Sandlin[9]; 7. Mike Dirksen[14]; 8. Rob Trent[11]; 9. Jeff Koz[15]; 10. Dean Pitts[10]; 11. Jason Kinney[22]; 12. Andy King[8]; 13. Adam Schaeff[2]; 14. Bob Sutter[23]; 15. Ronnie Bloomfield[13]; 16. Jamie Heiser[26]; 17. Earnie Woodard[1]; 18. Rodney Lacey[25]; 19. Doug Tiemann[7]; 20. Matt Philipot[12]; 21. James Keppling[18]; 22. Anthony Goode[20]; 23. Dan Wooten[24]; 24. Stacey Gazarek[21]; 25. Jeremy Creech[16]; 26. Casey Barr[19];

            ROSSBURG, OH (May 7) – Against all odds of even getting the show in, Joey Saldana captured night number one of the Outlaw Thunder by Goodyear at Eldora Speedway, to capture his seventh career World of Outlaw (WoO), but he will have to wait until Saturday night to celebrate in victory lane.   With four laps to go in the 30-lap main event, Mother Nature let loose with torrential rains to bring a halt to any further action.  Earlier in the night Doug Tiemann captured his first-ever Stock car win.

            Despite storm warnings and forecasts showing an 80% chance of rain, Eldora and WoO officials opted to proceed.   Everyone teamed together to run off the entire show, minus the final four laps, in one hour and 36 minutes.

            Paul McMahan out-timed the 35 car WoO field with a clocking of 13.413, but a fifth place finish in the dash moved deeper into the starting field.  

            Defending Kings Royal champion Donny Schatz started on the pole of the schedule 30-lap Outlaw Thunder by Goodyear main event by virtue of his dash win and, as expected, jumped into the early lead of the chase.  

            Schatz’s momentum was moving him into lapped traffic by the 7^th circuit, but keeping pace with him was a quick-running Lucas Wolfe.   Wolfe begin reeling in Schatz two laps earlier and when the lapped traffic came into play, he jumped at the opportunity.

            On the ninth tour around the one-half mile clay oval, Wolfe shot by Schatz and began opening his own margin over the field.

            But the track was Saldana’s liking – smooth, fast and up to the wall.  

            Like a shot out of a cannon, Saldana got by Schatz on the next lap and then on the 12^th lap, it was all Saldana, as he flew by Wolfe.

            At about that time; however, his top mounted aerodynamic wing began to buckle.   As the laps wound down, the wing began to look worse for the wear.  However, with only two caution flags to slow the pace, Saldana remained focus and drove with finesse, and deep down inside, may have welcomed the rain storm.

            Wolfe turned in an impressive run to hold off multi-time WoO champion Steve Kinser for second.   Following that trio across the line were McMahan and current WoO point leader Jason Meyers.

            Jeremy Creech shot into the early lead of the A-Main for the Stockers, with Earnie Woodard in second, as Tiemann rode in third.   That trio remained in that order for the first ten laps before Tiemann made his move.   On lap 11 he moved from third to the lead, as both Creech and Woodard began suffering engine woes.   Wooded dropped off the pace and into the pits with one lap to go, while on the final circuit, Creech’s engine let go, but not before he crossed the line in the runner-up spot.   Jason Kinney came home third, followed by Rob Trent and Shawn Phillippi.

            Leg number two of the Outlaw Thunder by Goodyear will find the same two divisions on the bill Saturday night, along the with UMP (United Midwestern Promoters) Modifieds in a tripleheader program.

                                                                        --30—

OUTLAW THUNDER PRESENTED BY GOODYEAR
MAY 7, 2010

World of Outlaws Sprints - 35 cars
Fast Qualifier - Paul McMahan: 13.413
Heat 1:
1. Donny Schatz[1]; 2. Steve Kinser[3]; 3. Dale Blaney[2]; 4. Paul McMahan[4]; 5. Kraig Kinser[5]; 6. Tyler Walker[7]; 7. Rob Chaney[6]; 8. Dustin Daggett[8]; 9. Brian Paulus[9];

Heat 2:
1. Randy Hannagan[2]; 2. Lucas Wolfe[1]; 3. Jac Haudenschild[4]; 4. Tim Shaffer[6]; 5. Craig Dollansky[3]; 6. Chad Kemenah[5]; 7. Jessica Zemken[8]; 8. Ben Gregg[9]; 9. Ed Neumeister[7];

Heat 3:
1. Sam Hafertepe Jr.[2]; 2. Kerry Madsen[1]; 3. Jason Sides[3]; 4. Danny Lasoski[4]; 5. Brad Sweet[5]; 6. Brian Ellenberger[6]; 7. Lee Jacobs[8]; 8. Toni Luter[7];

Heat 4:
1. Tim Kaeding[2]; 2. Joey Saldana[1]; 3. Jason Meyers[4]; 4. Sammy Swindell[3]; 5. Cale Conley[5]; 6. Daryn Pittman[6]; 7. Bill Rose[7]; 8. Justin Henderson[8];

B Main :
1. Chad Kemenah[1]; 2. Rob Chaney[2]; 3. Daryn Pittman[4]; 4. Brian Ellenberger[3]; 5. Tyler Walker[5]; 6. Justin Henderson[12]; 7. Toni Luter[7]; 8. Dustin Daggett[9]; 9. Jessica Zemken[10]; 10. Brian Paulus[13]; 11. Bill Rose[8]; 12. Ben Gregg[14]; 13. Lee Jacobs[11]; 14. Edward Neumeister[6];

Dash:
1. Donny Schatz[2]; 2. Lucas Wolfe[1]; 3. Steve Kinser[6]; 4. Sam Hafertepe Jr.[4]; 5. Paul McMahan[8]; 6. Joey Saldana[10]; 7. Jac Haudenschild[7]; 8. Tim Kaeding[3]; 9. Randy Hannagan[5]; 10. Kerry Madsen[9];

A Main :
1. Joey Saldana[6]; 2. Lucas Wolfe[2]; 3. Steve Kinser[3]; 4. Paul McMahan[5]; 5. Jason Meyers[12]; 6. Danny Lasoski[11]; 7. Craig Dollansky[13]; 8. Sammy Swindell[15]; 9. Kerry Madsen[10]; 10. Chad Kemenah[18]; 11. Dale Blaney[16]; 12. Tim Shaffer[22]; 13. Cale Conley[20]; 14. Jason Sides[14]; 15. Brad Sweet[19]; 16. Kraig Kinser[17]; 17. Randy Hannagan[9]; 18. Donny Schatz[1]; 19. Tim Kaeding[8]; 20. Daryn Pittman[24]; 21. Brian Ellenberger[23]; 22. Rob Chaney[21]; 23. Sam Hafertepe Jr.[4]; 24. Jac Haudenschild[7];

Eldora Stocks - 27 cars

Heat 1:
1. Doug Tiemann[2]; 2. Shawn Phillippi[1]; 3. Barney Craig[6]; 4. Ed Johnson[9]; 5. Dean Pitts[8]; 6. Rob Trent[7]; 7. Keith Ralston[4]; 8. Jeff Coate[5]; 9. Adam Schaeff[3];

Heat 2:
1. Anthony Goode[1]; 2. Jeremy Creech[6]; 3. Ryan Sutter[2]; 4. Mike Dirksen[4]; 5. Jeff Koz[7]; 6. Rodney Lacey[3]; 7. Jamie Heiser[5]; 8. Eric Sandlin[8];

Heat 3:
1. Earnie Woodard[6]; 2. Jason Kinney[1]; 3. John Phlipot Jr.[3]; 4. Ronnie Bloomfield[4]; 5. Jeff Smith[7]; 6. Andy King[9]; 7. Cale Ramey[8]; 8. Casey Barr[5]; 9. Matt Phlipot[2];

A Main :
1. Doug Tiemann[6]; 2. Jeremy Creech[2]; 3. Jason Kinney[1]; 4. Rob Trent[16]; 5. Shawn Phillippi[3]; 6. Mike Dirksen[11]; 7. John Phlipot Jr.[9]; 8. Keith Ralston[19]; 9. Jeff Koz[14]; 10. Ronnie Bloomfield[12]; 11. Rodney Lacey[17]; 12. Casey Barr[24]; 13. Matt Phlipot[26]; 14. Earnie Woodard[4]; 15. Anthony Goode[5]; 16. Jamie Heiser[20]; 17. Cale Ramey[21]; 18. Jeff Smith[15]; 19. Dean Pitts[13]; 20. Ryan Sutter[8]; 21. Andy King[18]; 22. Ed Johnson[10]; 23. Eric Sandlin[23]; 24. Barney Craig[7];

            ROSSBURG, OH (May 4) – Eldora Speedway’s rescheduled Coca Cola Spring Classic event for USAC (United States Auto Club) Sprint Cars continues to gain in momentum.   Set for Wednesday, May 12, track owner and two-time NASCAR Cup champion, Tony Stewart previously announced a lowering of the general admission to $10 and that he will participate in a rare pre-race autograph session.

            Since that announcement, Stewart, one of a handful drivers who has won championships in each of USAC’s premier divisions, has welcomed two additional figures that have predominantly shaped USAC’s history at the legendary one-half mile clay oval.   Immediately following Stewart’s autograph session (limited to 500 armbands), Earl Baltes and Jack Hewitt will welcome the fans in yet another autograph session.

            Baltes, the founder and builder of Eldora Speedway, needs no introduction.   Recognized as the P.T. Barnum of auto racing, Baltes’ firm hand guided Eldora into prominence and first introduced USAC to the western side of Ohio back in 1962.   That started a storied trend that found many Indy 500 bound drivers competing on Eldora’s famed high banks.

            One of those drivers that completely reshaped the Eldora history books was Jack Hewitt from nearby Troy, Ohio.   Quickly earning the moniker as ‘Eldora’s favorite son’, Hewitt sits comfortably on top of the all-time USAC win list at Eldora with 13 wins.  The closest active driver to that total is Tracy Hines with 7 wins to his credit.  Hewitt, who many times bounced off the Eldora walls en route to victory, is best remembered for his stellar 1998 performance that found him winning all four legs of the annual Four Crown Nationals.

            Celebrated writer Dave Argabright, who has had the privilege of putting together intriguing books about the careers of Baltes and Hewitt, will be on hand as well, with copies of the books for the fans to purchase and have autographed.

            Stewart will begin his autograph session at 3:15, to allow  time to prep for another busy night of racing at Eldora.  Since assuming ownership of the facility from Baltes in 2005, the popular Indiana native has participated in Sprint and Late Model racing at Eldora, and has picked up wins in each, but on May 12 he will turn another page with a run with the UMP (United Midwestern Promoters) Modifieds.

            Baltes and Hewitt will welcome race fans from 5:00 until 6:30, at which time the action will turn to the race track for hot laps and time trials.   The first green flag of racing action is set to fall at 7:30 PM.

            ROSSBURG, OH (April 28) – Based upon the popularity and success of last year’s debut, Eldora Speedway officials have announced that during the Saturday (May 8) leg of the Outlaw Thunder by Goodyear, they will open the pit area to general admission ticket holders for a pre-race ‘pit party’.

            During this time, the race fans will be permitted to cross the front stretch of Eldora Speedway into the pit area to meet the drivers, get a close up view of the race cars and get autographs/pictures.  

            That night will feature the travelling stars of the World of Outlaw Sprint series in their Midwestern debut, along with the UMP (United Midwestern Promoters) Modifieds and Eldora Stock Cars.

            The ‘pit party’ will take place from 3:30 until 5:00, at which time the teams and drivers prep for the evening’s activities which begin with the hot laps and time trials at 6:00, followed by the first green flag of racing at 7:30 PM.

            ROSSBURG, OH (April 27) – Whenever the travelling World of Outlaw (WoO) Sprint series stops at Eldora Speedway, there has never been any shortage of anticipation and their Outlaw Thunder by Goodyear 2010 Midwestern debut May 7 and 8 is expected to be no different.

            Headlining the story lines will be the initial appearance for the recently mandated Goodyear racing tires at Eldora Speedway.  While the WoO teams have a brief history of 12 races at varying facilities to date on the new rubber, it will be ‘back to the drawing board’ at Eldora.  All previous chassis set-up notes will be thrown out the window.

            Admittedly the drivers and crew chiefs were apprehensive when Goodyear came on board as the compulsory tire choice for 2010.  After a void of many seasons from the winged Sprint Car world, Goodyear came out of the gate with a competitive tire and this season has found many races won from deep within the pack – something not seen on a regular basis for many years.

            Among the drivers adapting quickly to the Goodyear emergence has been Jason Meyers, who holds down the WoO cumulative points lead with only one race separating him from that title and the Eldora weekend.   Meyers has 4 wins to his credit thus far into the campaign, with 8 finishes in the top five and all 12 WoO appearances have found him finishing amongst the top ten.

            With two Eldora career wins, Meyers is hungry to pick up another Eldora triumph, as it has been since 2007 that he has visited the hallowed Big E victory lane.

            Equally hungry is a rejuvenated Steve Kinser.   The 20-time WoO champion joined the Tony Stewart Racing stable during the off-season and things have instantly clicked for the team.   Thus far into the 2010 campaign, Kinser is ranked third in the points chase, only 30 markers behind Meyers.  The all-time leading Eldora WoO victor (34 wins) has one 2010 WoO win, has finished in the top 5 eight times and has 11 of 12 finishes within the top ten.   It has been since 2007 and the Knight Before the Kings Royal event that the 55-year-old veteran has tasted an Eldora conquest and he is chomping at the bit.

            And while Kinser is pumped up after a dismal (by his standards) 2009 season, teammate Donny Schatz is a little bewildered.   With four consecutive WoO titles to his credit, Schatz is anticipating the Eldora visit as much as anyone.  Three of his four Eldora WoO wins have come within the last two years, including a pair of wins and last year’s Kings Royal.   He is hoping that the Eldora turf will turn his season around.   He is currently fourth in the points race with one victory and 10 top ten finishes.

            Nursing a broken hand suffered earlier in the season hasn’t slowed down Joey Saldana, who has always mesmerized the Eldora gentry with his ‘up against the wall’ flat out driving style.   The second generation driver has nine Eldora WoO wins on his resume and currently holds down runner-up honors on the 2010 WoO trail following his 3 wins and 11 top ten finishes.

            While much of the focus will be on this foursome, the advent of the new tires and set-ups could set the stage for a new winner.   It has been since 2004 that a non-follower of the WoO trail has upset the field.  That came when Dale Blaney captured the Knight Before the Kings Royal.

            Two complete nights of point racing are on tap for the WoO runners as part of the Outlaw Thunder by Goodyear.   Eldora’s stock cars will join the WoO teams each night, while the UMP (United Midwestern Promoters) Modifieds will make for a tripleheader on Saturday.

            Complete time schedules and event information may be found on the speedway’s website www.eldoraspeedway.com.

            ROSSBURG, OH (April 27) – In a rush to spread the word of Saturday’s (April 24) event cancellation, incorrect information as to the next appearance of the UMP (United Midwestern Promoters) Modified division at Eldora Speedway was posted.   As per the published 2010 slate of events, the UMP Modifieds will be racing on Saturday (May 8) of the busy Outlaw Thunder by Goodyear weekend, and not on Friday as mentioned in the press release.

            The complete agenda will find the travelling World of Outlaw (WoO) Sprints in full programs on Friday and Saturday, along with the Eldora Stock Cars both nights.   The UMP Modifieds will make for a tripleheader on Saturday.

            Full race information and time schedules may be found online at www.eldoraspeedway.com.

            ROSSBURG, OH (April 24) – Just as the track crews were putting the finishing touches on the clay one-half mile clay oval in preparation for Saturday’s race meet, another band of showers invaded the area.   With the forecast for heavy rains and thunderstorms invading the area during the early evening hours, race officials cancelled the event to avoid travel costs for the competitors and fans.

            The event was to have featured the non-winged Sprint Cars, Modifieds and Stock Cars.   While the event will not be made up, the Stock Cars have suffered two rain-outs during this early season.   As a result, they have been added to the Saturday night portion of the Outlaw Thunder by Goodyear weekend.   They will now race both nights of that weekend (May 7 & 8), along with the travelling World of Outlaw Sprints.  The UMP (United Midwestern Promoters) Modifieds will also race on Friday night.

RESCHEDULED ELDORA USAC SPRINT RACE REDUCED TO $10, STEWART TO RACE

            ROSSBURG, OH (April 19) – As promised in his open letter to the Eldora Speedway race fans, track owner, and two-time NASCAR Cup champion, Tony Stewart has rescheduled the postponed  opening night leg of the Coca-Cola Spring Classic for Wednesday night, May 12, 2010.  And he has done so in a big way. 

            As was to have been the case on April 2, when the event was postponed, the non-winged USAC (United States Auto Club) Sprint cars and the UMP (United Midwestern Promoters) Modifieds will be in action for the mid-week doubleheader.

            On that night, the adult general admission price will be $10; a price not seen for USAC Sprint racing since the 1960 era.   Additionally, children 15 and under will be admitted free of charge; to make this event, also dubbed as the Jud Larson/Don Branson Memorial, the best bargain of the year at the one-half mile clay oval.

            The Modified portion will see increased interest, as Stewart will be bringing his Modified to compete against the Eldora regulars.   Since his purchase of the facility, Stewart has put on his helmet to race Sprint Cars and Late Models, but this will mark his debut in the Modified ranks.

            In a move of appreciation to the Eldora fans, Stewart will arrive early that Wednesday and host a pre-race autograph session.   Open to the first 500 patrons receiving an arm band, Tony will be on hand to sign one item per person, before moving down to the pit area to change hats from a promoter to a racer.

            The Coca-Cola Spring Classic will usher in the 49^th consecutive season of USAC racing at Eldora Speedway.

            Complete event information and time schedules may be viewed on the track’s website www.eldoraspeedway.com or by obtained by calling the track office at (937) 338-3815.

VANWORMER, BABCOCK & TRENT TAKE ELDORA OPENERS

            ROSSBURG, OH (April 17) – Amid bone-chilling temperatures, Jeep VanWormer (Sunoco American Late Model Series), Jeff Babcock (Modified) and Rob Trent (Stock Car) captured Saturday’s main events to kick off the 2010 racing season at Eldora Speedway.

            For VanWormer, the 25 lap distance was more than enough.  

            Only one lap slowed the pace, with that falling on lap two in a multi-car collision involving Tim Sabo, Scott Orr and Phil  Ausra.  On the ensuing restart, leader VanWormer had something poke a hole in his radiator and for the next 23 laps, he kept one eye on the gauges and one eye on the track.

            With the temperatures rising, he decided to ride it out and go for broke.

            The Pinconning, MI native had developed a nice lead over the remainder of the pack, as Wayne Chinn, Matt Miller and Steve Casebolt fought it out for runner-up honors.   Chinn held Miller at bay through lap 12, but with the race going non-stop, simply ran out of time to catch the high-flying VanWormer.

            VanWormer admitted to slowing down in the latter stages of the event in an effort to preserve the power plant; unaware that Miller was gaining momentum.  

            Following the duo to the finish line were Rusty Schlenk as he nipped Steve Casebolt at the finish and Chinn.

            The Modified finale was a heart-breaker for young Jacob Hawkins.   The second generation driver was simply in a different time zone from the rest of the pack when disaster struck on lap 8.

            Just as he was approaching John Brooks to put him a lap down, Brooks’ machine broke into a spin and Hawkins had nowhere to go.   The car was destroyed in the melee and dashed his hopes of an opening night win.

            Shaun Smith inherited the lead on the restart, but it only took two laps before multi-time feature winner Jeff Babcock moved to the front.  He brought Jon Henry with him and the duo staged a battle to the finish.

            Brian Post crossed the line third ahead of Smith, with Jamie Lomax completing the top five.

            The Stock Car finale was filled with multiple cautions, in fact so many that the allotted curfew time expired and a surprised, but deserving, Rob Trent carried home the honors.   At the time of the checkered flag, former champion Barney Craig was in second, with the top five declared to be Shawn Phillippi, Earnie Woodard and Jeff Koz.

            Each of the top four finishers, had gone into the pits for quick repairs in earlier cautions, but were able to come back.  

April 17, 2010

Sunoco American Late Model Series - 30 cars
Overall Quick Qualifier: Jeep VanWormer - 15.723
Heat 1:
1. Jeep Van Wormer[4]; 2. Wayne Chinn[3]; 3. Rick DeLong[1]; 4. Jerry Bowersock[5]; 5. Keith Berner[6]; 6. Dusty Moore[8]; 7. Scott Orr[9]; 8. Curtis Deisenroth[7]; 9. Tom Treon[10]; 10. Curtis Roberts[2];

Heat 2:
1. Jon Henry[1]; 2. Steve Casebolt[4]; 3. Scott James[2]; 4. Duane Chamberlain[3]; 5. Ryan VanderVeen[6]; 6. Shane Negangard[5]; 7. Tom Ordway[7]; 8. Steve Kester[8]; 9. Phil Ausra[9]; 10. Gregory Cooper[10];

Heat 3:
1. Matt Miller[4]; 2. JR Hotovy[2]; 3. Rusty Schlenk[5]; 4. Brian Ruhlman[3]; 5. Jeff Babcock[1]; 6. Casey Noonan[7]; 7. Tim Sabo[9]; 8. Dale Glassford[10]; 9. Jeff Beyers[6]; 10. Brad Eitniear[8];

B Main :
1. Scott Orr[4]; 2. Dusty Moore[1]; 3. Tim Sabo[6]; 4. Casey Noonan[3]; 5. Curtis Deisenroth[7]; 6. Tom Ordway[5]; 7. Phil Ausra[11]; 8. Steve Kester[8]; 9. Gregory Cooper[14]; 10. Shane Negangard[2]; 11. Dale Glassford[9]; 12. Tom Treon[10]; 13. Curtis Roberts[13]; 14. Brad Eitniear[15]; 15. Jeff Beyers[12];

A Main :
1. Jeep Van Wormer[2]; 2. Matt Miller[3]; 3. Rusty Schlenk[9]; 4. Steve Casebolt[4]; 5. Wayne Chinn[1]; 6. JR Hotovy[6]; 7. Brian Ruhlman[12]; 8. Rick DeLong[7]; 9. Duane Chamberlain[11]; 10. Jerry Bowersock[10]; 11. Jeff Babcock[15]; 12. Keith Berner[13]; 13. Dusty Moore[17]; 14. Jon Henry[5]; 15. Ryan VanderVeen[14]; 16. Casey Noonan[19]; 17. Scott Orr[16]; 18. Scott James[8]; 19. Curtis Deisenroth[20]; 20. Phil Ausra[22]; 21. Tim Sabo[18]; 22. Shane Negangard[21];

UMP DIRTcar Modifieds - 38 cars
Heat 1:
1. Shaun Smith[1]; 2. Jon Henry[5]; 3. Bob Burch[2]; 4. Nick Rosselit[4]; 5. Mike Dirksen[8]; 6. Justin Coulter[9]; 7. Josh Greber[10]; 8. Randy Zeigler[6]; 9. Tim Richardson[7]; 10. Justin Matson[3];

Heat 2:
1. David Smith[1]; 2. Ryan Sutter[7]; 3. Scott Bowersock[10]; 4. Shawn Bayliff[8]; 5. John Brooks[6]; 6. Scott Knepley[3]; 7. Bill Keeler[2]; 8. Scott Williams[9]; 9. Anthony Davis[4]; 10. Rob Williams[5];

Heat 3:
1. Jacob Hawkins[2]; 2. Jeff Babcock[7]; 3. Scott Orr[5]; 4. Cory Seeling[9]; 5. Mike Roediger[6]; 6. Nick Katterhenry[8]; 7. Brent Hole[1]; 8. Jesse Bitterling[3]; 9. Shane Unger[4];

Heat 4:
1. Josh Morton[1]; 2. Jamie Lomax[4]; 3. Brian Post[7]; 4. David Treon Jr.[3]; 5. Kurt Allizon[2]; 6. Mike Chrisman[6]; 7. Ed Shaner[8]; 8. C J Field[9]; 9. Pat Ehlert[5];

B Main 1:
1. Mike Dirksen[1]; 2. John Brooks[2]; 3. Justin Coulter[3]; 4. Rob Williams[12]; 5. Justin Matson[11]; 6. Scott Knepley[4]; 7. Randy Zeigler[7]; 8. Bill Keeler[6]; 9. Josh Greber[5]; 10. Anthony Davis[10]; 11. Scott Williams[4]; 12. Tim Richardson[9];

B Main 2:
1. Mike Roediger[1]; 2. Nick Katterhenry[3]; 3. Mike Chrisman[4]; 4. C J Field[8]; 5. Ed Shaner[6]; 6. Kurt Allizon[2]; 7. Pat Ehlert[10]; 8. Shane Unger[9]; 9. Brent Hole[5]; 10. Jesse Bitterling[7];

A Main :
1. Jeff Babcock[7]; 2. Jon Henry[5]; 3. Brian Post[12]; 4. Shaun Smith[4]; 5. Jamie Lomax[8]; 6. Josh Morton[1]; 7. Shawn Bayliff[14]; 8. C J Field[24]; 9. Justin Coulter[21]; 10. Rob Williams[23]; 11. Mike Dirksen[17]; 12. Nick Katterhenry[20]; 13. Scott Bowersock[10]; 14. Scott Orr[11]; 15. Mike Roediger[18]; 16. Ryan Sutter[6]; 17. Nick Rosselit[13]; 18. Cory Seeling[15]; 19. Jacob Hawkins[2]; 20. David Smith[3]; 21. David Treon Jr.[16]; 22. Bob Burch[9]; 23. John Brooks[19];

Eldora Stocks - 28 cars
Heat 1:
1. Doug Tiemann[2]; 2. Jason Kinney[3]; 3. Earnie Woodard[5]; 4. Rodney Lacey[1]; 5. Stacey Gazarek[6]; 6. Ronnie Bloomfield[8]; 7. Bob Sutter[9]; 8. Andy King[4]; 9. Keith Ralston[7]; 10. Ed Johnson[10];

Heat 2:
1. John Phlipot Jr.[2]; 2. Jeremy Creech[8]; 3. Barney Craig[4]; 4. Anthony Goode[3]; 5. Adam Schaeff[6]; 6. Amanda Smith[1]; 7. Matt Phlipot[7]; 8. Jeff Smith[9]; 9. Cale Ramey[5];

Heat 3:
1. Rob Trent[8]; 2. Dean Pitts[1]; 3. Shawn Phillippi[6]; 4. Mike Dirksen[7]; 5. Jeff Koz[9]; 6. Casey Barr[3]; 7. Jamie Heiser[4]; 8. Jeff Coate[5]; 9. Eric Sandlin[2];

B Main :
1. Keith Ralston[10]; 2. Ronnie Bloomfield[1]; 3. Casey Barr[3]; 4. Bob Sutter[4]; 5. Jamie Heiser[6]; 6. Jeff Coate[9]; 7. Jeff Smith[8]; 8. Eric Sandlin[12]; 9. Amanda Smith[2]; 10. Matt Phlipot[5]; 11. Andy King[7]; 12. Cale Ramey[11]; 13. Ed Johnson[13];

A Main :
1. Rob Trent[3]; 2. Barney Craig[8]; 3. Shawn Phillippi[9]; 4. Earnie Woodard[4]; 5. Jeff Koz[15]; 6. Rodney Lacey[10]; 7. Jamie Heiser[9]; 8. Ronnie Bloomfield[17]; 9. Stacey Gazarek[13]; 10. Doug Tiemann[2]; 11. Jason Kinney[4]; 12. Mike Dirksen[12]; 13. Casey Barr[18]; 14. Jeremy Creech[5]; 15. Keith Ralston[16]; 16. Dean Pitts[6]; 17. John Phlipot Jr.[1]; 18. Anthony Goode[11]; 19. Adam Schaeff[14]; 20. Bob Sutter[19];

THURSDAY PRACTICE SESSION SET

            ROSSBURG, OH (April 13) – Eldora Speedway officials have set their previously announced pre-season open practice session on the one-half mile clay oval for Thursday evening (April 15) from 6:00 – 8:00 PM, with the pit gate opening at 5:00 PM.

There will be no pit fee or entry fees; however all normal pit regulations and age requirements will apply.   In addition, the grandstands will be open free of charge to the public.

The two-hour session will be open to all divisions of race cars.

Eldora’s 2010 season will then kick off on Saturday with an invasion of the Sunoco sponsored American Late Model Series in a tripleheader program with the UMP (United Midwestern Promoters) Modifieds and Stock Cars. at 7:30 pm.

5^th MS. ELDORA SPEEDWAY TITLE UP FOR GRABS

            ROSSBURG, OH (April 13) – While most of the competition at Eldora Speedway is on the race track the battles shift indoors on June 10, into the Eldora Ballroom with the 5^th annual Ms. Eldora Speedway pageant.

            On that night, the sovereignty of reigning queens Abby Hoffert and Megan Spink, along with alternate Abby Pfleiderer, will draw to a close and a new court will be determined.

            The pageant, which gets underway at 7:30 PM, includes three phases of modeling, in various forms of dress, by the applicants, along with impromptu questioning and the presentation of a prepared speech.   Each of these phases is scored by a panel of celebrity judges, with the outcome announced that evening.

            In addition to representing Eldora Speedway in victory lane, the winning queens participate in trade shows and assorted other appearances.   A cash prize of $2,000 awaits the top vote getter, while the runner-up receives $1,000 and the alternate collects $250.   The winning girl will also receive a pair of tickets to view the 2011 Indianapolis 500 in Tony Stewart’s (Eldora track owner) private suite.

            Applications and event guidelines may be downloaded from the speedway website www.eldoraspeedway.com, or applications may be mailed by calling the track office at (937) 338-3815 during normal business hours.

SUNOCO ALMS RICH IN ELDORA STORY LINES

            ROSSBURG, OH (April 8) – When it comes to regional touring series at Eldora Speedway,  the Sunoco sponsored American Late Model Series (ALMS) tops the list in parity and story lines.   Saturday’s (April 17) invasion of the one-half mile clay oval is expected to be no different.

            In jeopardy this season is Kris Patterson’s stronghold as the leading ALMS feature winner at Eldora.   Patterson, a six-time ALMS champion, holds down the top spot on Eldora’s win list with 5 victories, but the St. Johns, MI veteran has drastically cut back his racing efforts to coach his son’s racing career.  

That opens the door for a bevy of drivers with four wins to move into a tie with Patterson.  Among that list are Jerry Bowersock (champion 1999), Darrell Lanigan, Jerry Rice, Brian Ruhlman (champion 2005,2007), Shane Yoder (champion 1996, 2001) and Jeep VanWormer.   All but Yoder remain active on the Late Model trail.  Of the group, VanWormer is the most recent victor; having taken the ALMS/Eldora opener a year ago.

While that battle looms, another aspect is the number of drivers that have collected their first-ever Eldora Late Model feature wins during an ALMS season opener.

Jerry Rice was the first to turn the trick when the ALMS made their debut in 1995, with Scott Sexton duplicating that fete the following season (1996).  After that, Brian Stinson (1998), Curtis Roberts (2000), Chuckie May (2004) and Casey Noonan (2007) celebrated inaugural Eldora wins via the traditional ALMS season springboard event.

Of the 58 ALMS features staged to date, there have been 28 different winners, including 15 single-event winners.

As a rookie, young Jon Henry captured the Sunoco title last season, behind the wheel of the Shane and Jennifer Halcomb owned machine.  Henry has moved out of that ride to form his own team, allowing another rookie, Jeff Babcock to take his shot at the title.

Babcock is certainly no rookie when it comes to Eldora Speedway.   He captured the Eldora Stock Car title in 2007 and has four UMP (United Midwestern Promoters) Modified feature wins to his credit.

Completing the April 17 tripleheader will be the UMP Modifieds and Stock Cars, with racing set to begin at 7:30 PM.   Complete event information, including pricing may be viewed on the track’s website www.eldoraspeedway.com