Eldora Speedway | 13929
St Route 118 | New Weston | OH | 45348
For immediate news release e-mail: mail@eldoraspeedway.com
HINES
RETURNS TO VICTORY LANE
ROSSBURG,
OH (May 10) – Tracy Hines quickly made up for lost time
Saturday night at Eldora Speedway, when the non-winged Sprint
Cars of the United States Auto Club (USAC) made their initial
2008 appearance in the Larson/Branson Classic; while Jerry Bowersock
redeemed himself in the Moser UMP (United Midwestern Promoters)
DirtCar Modified finale and Jeff Babock powered to victory in
the Advance Auto Parts Stock Car main event on a night sponsored
by Curb Records.
Hines’ 2007 season came to an abrupt halt early last year
with a non-racing accident. However, car owner Tony Stewart
remained steadfast with his decision to hire the New Castle,
IN veteran and promised that when healthy, Hines would have
a ride. Hines is back to full speed and certainly didn’t
let anyone down Saturday night, as he led all by four laps of
the 30-lap finale and those were at the expense of team mate
Levi Jones.
As the green flag flew over the talented field of entrants,
Hines shot into the lead, but by the end of the second circuit,
Jones had shot past Hines and was looking flawless. The action
came to a quick halt on lap five when Brad Sweet, flipped coming
off of turn four. At the same time, Rob Chaney did a rollover
in turn three. Neither were injured, but their cars were eliminated
for the balance of the chase.
During the red flag clean up period, USAC officials announced
that Jones had jumped the initial start and was being assessed
a two position penalty on the restart. That gave the lead back
to Hines, with Jerry Coons, Jr. moving into runner-up position
and Jones back to third.
That only served to spark Jones, who shot by Coons, Jr. in lap
two on the restart. Coons slipped above the cushion and fell
deep into the back, while Jones set aim for team mate Hines.
The run was again slowed on lap 7 as Brad Kuhn and Bret Mellenberndt
spun in turn two. During this caution flag period, Coons slipped
into the pit area to allow adjustments to his Hoffman Brothers
entry.
Back under green, the event again went but two laps before the
yet another caution appeared. This was for Jones, who was having
a disappointing night. The hood and broken loose and with the
impaired vision, he came to a stop on the front stretch. Repairs
were made in time for a return to the field, but it pretty much
ended his night.
Hines remained in command at this point, although Brady Bacon
had joined the chase with Neal Shepherd and Darren Hagen entering
the fray with their own spirited chase. That chase was the cause
for the final caution of the event, again two laps into the
restart. Hagen apparently misjudged his proximity to Shepherd
going into turn three and the resultant nudge put Shepherd into
a spin and into the outer wall. The resulting contact pushed
the nerf bar into his rear tire and Hagen made a hasty stop
in the pits for quick repairs and a restart at the tail of the
field. Shepherd was done for the night.
Bacon made a few bold moves to try in reel in Hine’s Chevrolet
sponsored machine, but Hines was not to be outdone and cruised
to the win, despite a last jump over the turn four cushion.
Bacon crossed the line second, while Shane Cottle salvaged a
third place finish with Brady Short and Jesse Hockett completing
the top five. Short had topped the 32-car field during the time
trial runs with a clocking of 15.388 seconds on the one-half
mile clay oval.
In recent weeks, Jon Henry has deemed himself as the driver
to beat amongst the Moser Modified ranks, but Saturday, veteran
Bowersock simply outsmarted him. True to form, Henry shot into
the early lead and in his unique style rim rode the high side
of the track, flirting with the outside retaining wall.
Early race action found Henry in an intense battle for the lead
with defending champion Scott Orr, while Bowersock was moving
forward from mid-field. Bowersock got by third place runner
Todd Sanders on lap seven to set his sights on Orr and Henry.
A restart tangle with another car found Orr slipping back in
the pack, while Bowersock waited a few laps before slipping
by Henry.
Following a caution flag restart, Henry pulled up alongside
Bowersock and nearly overtook the lead going down the back chute,
when yet another yellow bunting slowed the pace. This time,
Bowersock, aware of the Henry’s style, chose to ride the
high side himself and Henry made contact with the wall, inflicting
enough damage to see him retire to the pit area.
That left smoother sailing for Bowersock, as he bested Matt
Westfall in his first Modified run, Todd Sherman, Sanders and
Tim Richardson.
Babcock had destroyed his machine on opening night, and following
a near complete rebuild of the machine, was back in the thick
of things Saturday night. That meant bad news for the balance
of the field, who was struggling to keep up with Babcock’s
torrid pace.
Drama reigned supreme on laps 10 and 11. Perennial top runners
Kevin Gossard and Earnie Woodard suffered flat tires and dove
to the pits as the field completed lap ten, with neither making
it to the front stretch to be scored in that lap. Then, on lap
11, Jeremy Creech’s had something break on the right front
of his Stock Car and he did a wild end over end flip into the
outer retaining wall. He was not injured in the frightening
accident, but the lengthy clean up period allowed Gossard and
Woodard enough time to make repairs and join the field, one
lap down to the field.
On the restart, numerous caution flags were not enough to stop
Babcock from running away with the win. Doug Tiemann turned
in his best performance of the year to come home in second,
with Barney Craig, Mike Dirksen and Chad Barr completing the
top five.
POPULAR
RESPONSE DICTATES EXPANSION OF RESERVED CAMPING AREAS
ROSSBURG,
OH (May 8) – An outpouring of requests for reserved camping
sites during Eldora Speedway’s three major event weekends
has prompted track officials to expand their camping options.
Effective
May 15, 2008, an additional 74 graveled sites in Lot #3 will
become available for reservation for the weeks of the Old Spice
Prelude to the Dream & Dirt Late Model Dream (June 1-7),
Kings Royal (July 6-12) and World 100 (Sept. 1 – 6). Reservations
will be accepted by telephone at the track office (937) 338-3815
during normal business hours beginning May 15.
The campsites
are approximately 20’ in width and 50’ in length.
Tents and/or camp fires are not permitted within Eldora’s
reserved camping areas of Lots 1, 2 or 3.
Use
the jump menu below to scroll through the news stories at Eldora
from 2007. Simply click 'Go' to view each release.
For immediate news release e-mail: mail@eldoraspeedway.com
Note: Some Pop-Up
Blockers will not allow you to open the press releases located
in the menu. If that is the case, simply pause or turn off the
blocker while navigating this page.
