Winter Storms Expected to Affect Roads and Utilities; Eldora Officials Will Present Social Banquet

ROSSBURG, Ohio (January 16, 2019) – After consultation with local authorities, Eldora Speedway officials have announced severe weather expected this weekend has forced cancelation of the 2018 Championship Awards Banquet scheduled for Saturday.

“This was definitely not an easy decision because the Eldora banquet is always a fun-filled night,” said Roger Slack, general manager. “With nearly 400 people from 11 states and Canada expected, we wanted to get word out now so that people could adjust their travel plans.”

In an effort to outwit Mother Nature, Eldora officials are busy working on “Plan E” – the #EldoraSocialBanquet: one of the highlights at the banquet is the driver specific video honoring their achievements during their introduction. Eldora officials are currently editing and reformatting over 50 videos for release Saturday via its social channels using the hashtag #EldoraSocialBanquet. Drivers are encouraged to respond with their speeches via video or written text.

“Our team puts a lot of effort into the banquet videos and we wanted to do everything we could to honor the racers and their team’s achievements, so why not try a social banquet?” explained Slack. “Eldora’s social channels are some of the most popular in all of motorsports, so let’s give a guy like Donnie Jeschke the opportunity to show 400,000 people what kind of speech he can give wearing that white tuxedo.”

The top-15 drivers in each of the Sunoco Race Fuels Late Models, DIRTcar UMP Modifieds and Eldora Stock Cars were to be presented their point fund checks from a prize and awards fund of over $60,000. A number of specialty awards, including the prestigious Chick Hale Memorial Sportsman of the Year award, was also to be presented.

Devin Gilpin of Columbus, Indiana (Late Models), Jonathan Taylor of Saltsburg, Pennsylvania (Modifieds) are both first-time champions while Cincinnati’s Gary Rahe, Jr. collected his second consecutive Eldora Stock Car championship.

Each division champion earned $5,000 plus a custom Simpson Race Products driver uniform.

All banquet tickets will be refunded. Credit card sales conducted online or by phone will be processed via Eldora’s online ticketing system. Cash sales and checks cashed will be refunded by check. Checks not yet processed will be returned. Point fund awards will be mailed to the designated payee.

About Eldora Speedway:
Since carved from a cornfield in the natural amphitheater that existed between the Eldora Ballroom and the Wabash River by bandleader Earl Baltes in 1954, Eldora Speedway has grown to be a frontrunner in motorsports growth and stability. Baltes chose to sell the legendary high-banked clay oval to motorsports entrepreneur and NASCAR, IndyCar and USAC champion Tony Stewart in 2004. Eldora will host its 66th consecutive season of racing in 2019 featuring the biggest events in short-track racing, including: the 25th running of the $125,000-to-win Dirt Late Model Dream Weekend; the 36th Annual Kings Royal Weekend paying over $100,000-to-win for the first-time; the Gander Outdoors Truck Series Eldora Dirt Derby – NASCAR’s only race on dirt on Thursday, August 1st; the 49th Annual World 100 Weekend; and the historic 4-Crown Nationals in late September. Schedule information for Eldora’s 2019 season, including ticket and campsite information, is posted as available at www.EldoraSpeedway.com. Fans can get behind-the-scenes access by following @EldoraSpeedway on social media channels Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. Exclusive video content posted on www.youtube.com/EldoraSpeedway has been viewed over 5.2-million times.