60^TH Season Slate Revealed

ROSSBURG, OH (Jan. 19) – Eldora Speedway owner Tony Stewart officially released the 2013 Schedule of Events for the historic half-mile’s 60^th 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 19^th Annual $100,000-to-win Dirt Late Model Dream Weekend (Thursday-Friday-Saturday, June 6-7-8); the 30^th Annual Kings Royal Weekend (Friday and Saturday, July 12 and 13); the 43^rd 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 32^nd 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 30^th 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 60^th 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.

2013 Schedule of Events

Saturday, April 6                      Test and Tune

Open to all divisions.

Saturday, April 13                    60th Season Opener

Sunoco American Late Models, UMP DIRTcar Modifieds plus Eldora Stocks.

Saturday, April 20                    USAC National Sprint Cars

USAC National Sprint Cars, UMP DIRTcar Modifieds plus Eldora Stocks.

Saturday, April 27                    Saturday Night Speedfest

UMP DIRTcar Mods, Eldora Stocks plus Front Wheel Drive Compacts.

Fri. & Sat., May 3 & 4               World of Outlaws

STP World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series plus Stocks (Fri) & Mods (Sat).

Fri. & Sat., May 10 & 11                        TORC – TRAXXAS Off-Road Championship

Baja comes to Eldora with an Off-Road Truck Spectacular!

Saturday, May 18                      Mobil 1 Family Fun Night #1

UMP DIRTcar Modifieds, Stocks plus FIREWORKS EXTRAVAGANZA!

Sunday, May 26                        Johnny Appleseed Classic presented by Miller Lite

 Sunoco American Late Models, NRA Sprint Invaders, UMP DIRTcar Mods plus Stocks.

Thu-Fri-Sat., June 6-7-8                  $100,000-to-win Dirt Late Model Dream Weekend (19^th annual)

Thursday: Multi-Car Time Trials, Heat Races, B-Features & Twin 25-laps Features.
Friday: Multi-Car Time Trials, Heat Races, B-Features & Twin 25-lap Features.
Saturday:  Heat Races, C- & B-Features & $100,000-to-win Dirt Late Model Dream.

Saturday, June 22                    Ohio Sprint Week returns to Eldora

UNOH All Star Circuit of Champion Sprints, UMP DIRTcar Mods plus Stocks.

Friday, July 12                         Knight before The Kings Royal

STP World of Outlaws Sprint Cars plus NRA Sprint Invaders.

Saturday, July 13                     The Kings Royal – $50,000-to-win (30th annual)

STP World of Outlaws Sprint Cars plus NRA Sprint Invaders Invitational.

Wednesday, July 24                 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Mudsummer Classic 

NASCAR’s first national series event on dirt since 1970.

Saturday, August 10                 Family Fun Night #2

UMP DIRTcar Modifieds, Eldora Stocks plus FIREWORKS EXTRAVAGANZA!

Sunday, Sept. 1                        WIX Filters Baltes Classic (6^th annual)

Sunoco American Late Models, UMP DIRTcar Modifieds plus Stocks.

Thu-Fri-Sat., Sept 5-6-7                   The World 100 Weekend – $46,000-to-win (43rd annual)

Thursday: Multi-Car Time Trials, Heat Races, B-Features & Twin 25-lap Features.
Friday: Multi-Car Time Trials, Heat Races, B-Features & Twin 25-lap Features.
Saturday:  Six Heat Races, B-Features & the 100-lap “Granddaddy of Them All!”

Fri. & Sat., Sept. 20 & 21                Four Crown Nationals Weekend (32nd annual)

Friday: Crown #1 – World of Outlaws Sprint Cars plus UMP DIRTcar Modifieds.
Saturday:  Crowns #2, 3 & 4 – USAC Midgets, Sprint Cars & Silver Crown.

Thu-Fri-Sat., Oct 3-4-5              UMP DIRTcar National Championships

Thursday: UMP DIRTcar Modifieds – Full Heat Race, B-Feature and A-Feature show
Friday: UMP DIRTcar Modifieds – Full Heat Race, B-Feature and A-Feature show
Saturday:  UMP DIRTcar Late Models Time Trials, Heat Races, B-Features & $5,000-to-win Late Model Championship.  UMP DIRTcar Modifieds “Alphabet Features” races, $5,000-to-win Modified Championship.

Saturday, October 12                UNOH Sprintacular

All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Cars, NRA Sprint Invaders plus the BOSS Non-Wing Sprints.

* subject to change