2013 Eldora Schedule Released

ROSSBURG, OH (Jan. 19) – Eldora Speedway owner Tony Stewart officially released the 2013 Schedule of Events for the historic half-mile’s 60th consecutive season of racing at tonight’s (Saturday, January 19) Annual Awards Banquet held before a capacity crowd at the Eldora Ballroom.

And, as has become an Eldora trademark, diversity is the keyword with a lineup of traditional specials, a return of fan favorites, local family fun and one of the most anticipated events in all of sports.

Joining the long-standing “Major Special Events” previously announced: the 19th Annual $100,000-to-win Dirt Late Model Dream Weekend (Thursday-Friday-Saturday, June 6-7-8); the 30th Annual Kings Royal Weekend (Friday and Saturday, July 12 and 13); the 43rd Annual World 100 Weekend (Thursday-Friday-Saturday, September 5-6-7) and the Inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Mudsummer Classic (Wednesday, July 24) is a vast variety of nationally recognized sanctioning bodies totaling 27 nights in 2013.

The exciting season kicks into gear Saturday, April 13 with a tripleheader program featuring the Sunoco American Late Model Series (ALMS), Modifieds; both running under the UMP DIRTcar banner, and Stock Cars. While the Modifieds and Stocks round out many of the events throughout the season, the ALMS group will return for the Miller Lite Johnny Appleseed Classic (Sunday, May 26), WIX Filters Baltes Classic (Sunday, September 1) and the Saturday portion of the UMP DIRTcar National Championships on October 5.

With a rich 50-year history of competing at Eldora, the Indianapolis-based United States Auto Club (USAC) and their non-winged brand of open wheel racing will invade the high banks on Saturday, April 20 with a National Sprint Car chase and then again on the Saturday card of the the 32nd Annual Four Crown Nationals Weekend (September 20 & 21). The Four Crown extravaganza will feature USAC’s three national touring Midget, Sprint Car and Silver Crown divisions.

The STP World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series will make their first of five stops with a doubleheader on Friday and Saturday, May 3 and 4. The winged-warriors will return to take on Sprint Car racing’s best at the Knight Before the Kings Royal (Friday, July 12) and the 30th Annual $50,000-to-win Kings Royal on Saturday, July 13 and make their final visit of the season on Friday, September 20 to kick off the Four Crown Nationals Weekend.

Additional Sprint Car dates will see the return of Eldora’s participation in the Ohio Sprint Week (Saturday, June 22) under the auspices of the UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions, who will then conclude the ambitious slate on Saturday, October 12 with a blockbuster UNOH Sprintacular featuring two other Sprint Car groups. The NRA Sprint Invaders, who will have visited Eldora on May 26, July 12 and July 13 will be making their fourth showing, while the addition of the BOSS Non-Winged Sprint Series will make the UNOH Sprintacular a triple-header of 410 wing, 360 wing and 410 non-wing sprint cars.

Baja comes to Eldora on Friday and Saturday, May 10 and 11 when the Traxxas Off-Road Championship (TORC) debuts its radical brand of short-course off-road racing. The high-flying Pro 4×4 and Pro 2WD Truck divisions will be in action throughout the weekend which will feature a drag racing-style ‘open paddock’ allowing fans the opportunity to interact with the teams in between events.

Eldora’s popular Mobil 1 Family Fun Night and FIREWORKS Extravaganza featuring the UMP DIRTcar Modifieds and Eldora Stock Cars returns on Saturday, May 18. The Back-to-School edition will take place Saturday, August 10.

The nation’s best Dirt Late Model competitors will battle for the lion’s share of nearly $600,000 in posted awards over six days this summer. The $100,000-to-win Dirt Late Model Dream (Thursday-Friday-Saturday, June 6-7-8) and “The Granddaddy of Them All” the World 100 (Thursday-Friday-Saturday, September 5-6-7) have each added full racing programs to Thursday and Friday nights and will each present a full evening of Heat Races, Last Chance Races and Twin 25 Features prior to Saturday night’s traditional program of six Heat Races, Last Chance Features and 100-lap championship events. Competitors and fans alike have reacted favorably to the idea of “More Nights, More Racing, More Eldora” with overwhelming support from the racers and record advance ticket and camping reservations.

The inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Mudsummer Classic, NASCAR’s first national series event on dirt since September 1970, has produced unprecedented anticipation since word of a secret test session being held at the track leaked out in October. In just 14 days of ticket sales, fans from 48 states, the Virgin Islands, seven Canadian provinces and New Zealand have secured their ticket to witness NASCAR stars take on ‘dirt track ringers’ in another historic Eldora moment.

The traditional UMP-branded DIRTcar National Championships Weekend which has long celebrated the midwest’s weekend warriors from the Late Model and Modified divisions, will expand in 2013 to become a cornerstone event for their Modified division. Over the course of the three-day weekend (Thursday-Friday-Saturday, October 3-4-5), the Modifieds will see an aggressive menu with Modified-only on Thursday and Friday (consisting of full Heat Race, Last Chance Race and purse paying Feature events each night), preceding Saturday’s progressive ‘alphabet of features’ and $5,000-to-win Championship. The UMP DIRTcar Late Models will run a full program on Saturday night; also chasing for a $5,000 paycheck.

The complete schedule for Eldora’s 60th consecutive season, including ticket and camping information, is now posted on the newly revamped www.EldoraSpeedway.com and can be requested by phone at (937) 338-3815. Fans can get behind-the-scenes access by following @EldoraSpeedway on Twitter, hitting ‘Like’ at Facebook.com/EldoraSpeedway and video highlights at YouTube.com/EldoraSpeedwayInc. The new Eldora Speedway app for the iPhone, iPad and Android is now available for download via iTunes and Google Play.