Eldora Speedway | 13929
St Route 118 | New Weston | OH | 45348
For immediate news release e-mail: mail@eldoraspeedway.com
HARTMAN
OVERCOMES ELDORA ‘HEADACHE’ WITH WORLD 100 WIN
(courtesy of Kevin
Kovac)
ROSSBURG, OH (Sept.
11 & 12) – Eldora Speedway is no longer Bart Hartman's
Achilles' heel.
With a convincing
victory in Saturday night's 39th annual UMP DIRTcar Racing-sanctioned
World 100, Hartman not only kept the prestigious event's trophy
home in the Buckeye State for the first time in 12 years but
also ended his longtime run of frustration at the famed half-mile
oval.
Hartman, 40, of
Zanesville, Ohio, passed 2007 World 100 winner Jimmy Owens
of Newport, Tenn., for the lead on lap 20 and never looked
back en route to a $42,000-plus triumph at a track that had
never been kind to him over the years, and in front of what
may have have been the biggest crowed to have converged upon
Eldora since it was built in 1954.
“I never
disliked this place,” said Hartman, who became the first
Ohio driver to capture the World 100 since Donnie Moran in
1997. “I just didn't like my luck here.”
Indeed, Hartman's
previous career-high finish in one of Eldora's crown-jewel
dirt Late Model shows was a sixth in the 2007 Dream –
after an opening-lap spin forced him to restart at the rear
of the field. He had never finished better than 12th in three
career World 100 A-Main starts, all of which came consecutively
from 1998-2000.
“We were
up there (on stage in the spectator area) yesterday doing
that (pre-race show) interview with Donnie Moran and Rick
Eckert and they were making fun of me because I've never run
well here,” quipped Hartman, who didn't even enter last
year's World 100 activities. “Well, there you go –
we did it tonight. We won the World 100! We get to put it
up there with the rest of our trophies. It's a dream come
true.”
In a fast-paced
race slowed by just two caution flags, Hartman fought off
mid- and late-race challenges from 2002 World 100 champ Brian
Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa, to run the event's streak of
first-time winners to eight consecutive years. Hartman steered
his self-owned Rocket Chassis/Cornett Chevy engine combination
under the checkered flag several car lengths ahead of Birkhofer's
MB Customs mount.
Dale McDowell of
Chickamauga, Ga., who won the World 100 in 2005, moved forward
from the seventh starting spot to finish third in NASCAR star
Clint Bowyer's Warrior mount but never threatened the top-two
finishers.
World 100 rookie
Jared Landers of Batesville, Ark. – racing as a teammate
to McDowell – placed fourth after starting from the
pole position in a Warrior car, and Owens, who surged off
the outside pole to lead laps 1-19, settled for fifth place
in his backup Team Zero by Bloomquist machine after his primary
car was sidelined by engine problems during Friday night's
hot laps.
Hartman, who started
fourth, was understandably surprised by the superiority he
demonstrated over the talent-laden field.
“I didn't
think our car was as good as it was until we got out there,”
said Hartman, who grabbed second from Landers on lap 15 and
then rapidly ran down Owens. “This car was awesome.
We were good right around the middle to bottom (grooves),
and we just ran our line and we got by (Owens).”
During a long green-flag
run that stretched from lap 21 to 83, Hartman built a lead
of nearly a straightaway before lapped traffic slowed his
pace and allowed Birkhofer to close in.
Birkhofer, who
started fifth, pulled up to Hartman's rear bumper on lap 62,
but Hartman drove away when he broke into open track a few
circuits later. Birkhofer got within a car length when Hartman
approached lapped traffic again with five laps remaining,
but Hartman calmly maintained command.
“I knew Birkhofer
was getting closer at the end,” Hartman said. “I
was getting a little tight down into turn one, but I protected
the bottom enough so it was gonna have to be something real
special for him to roll me on the outside.”
Birkhofer, who
registered his first World 100 top-five finish since a fifth
in 2005, conceded that a $15,000 runner-up payoff was the
best he could do: “We got beat by a better car.”
And one tough driver.
Hartman made his march to victory while fighting a wicked
headache that developed during his heat race and left him
uncertain whether he could go the 100-lap distance.
“All of a
sudden, on about the third lap of my heat, I started feeling
a headache,” said Hartman. “It got to where it
was blurring my vision, but I was able to finish the heat
(as a winner). I took some pills and went and laid down in
the truck and didn't get out of it until right before the
driver introductions.
“I was determined
to run as many laps as I could (in the A-Main), but I didn't
know how long I could go. Then I thought, Man, I'm leading
the World 100! So we stayed out there and did the best we
could.”
Hartman's head
was still pounding during the post-race press conference in
the Eldora tower, but he wasn't about to let the pain damper
his memorable moment.
“I'm gonna
go ‘medicate' it in a little bit,” he said with
a smile, thinking of his family, friends and fans waiting
to celebrate with him in the pit area.
Finishing in positions
6-10 were Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va.; 20th-starter
Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla., who used a fast-time
provisional (he qualified second on Friday) to start the A-Main
after missing a transfer spot in his heat; 21st-starter Scott
Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn.; Matt Miller of Waterville,
Ohio; and two-time defending UMP DIRTcar national champion
Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill.
Among the pre-race
favorites who retired early were Jimmy Mars of Menomonie,
Wis., who pitted during a lap-21 caution period and did not
return; red-hot World of Outlaws Late Model Series star Tim
Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., who climbed as high as third from
the eighth starting spot before a skipping engine caused him
to drop out on lap 52 while running seventh; and WoO LMS points
leader Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., who went down a lap
early and pulled off the track midway through the 100.
Dan Schlieper of
Sullivan, Wis., who set fast time during Friday night's 172-car
qualifying session with a lap of 16.853 seconds, saw his weekend
go sour on Saturday. Terminal engine problems on the final
lap of his heat forced him to make a motor change and use
his fast-time provisional to get in the A-Main – and
then more woes under the hood caused him to slow and bring
out a caution flag on lap 21.
The race's other
caution period was necessitated when Eric Wells of Hazard,
Ky., backed into the outside wall between turns three and
four on lap 83. He wasn't injured.
The winners of
Saturday night's 15-lap heats were Wells, Birkhofer, Hartman,
Erb, Owens and Landers. The 20-lap B-Mains were captured by
Bloomquist and Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa.
