50th
ANNIVERSARY OF USAC RACING TO BE CELEBRATED IN GRAND STYLE
Minimum $10,000 Payday Awaits Victor of 50-Lap Main
Event
ROSSBURG, OH (Feb. 3) –
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of USAC (United States
Auto Club) Sprint Car racing at Eldora Speedway, one giant
night of racing, Saturday July 28, has been inked. It will
live up to the traditional Eldora standards of greatness,
complete with a 50-lap finale to honor the benchmark occasion.
Completing the doubleheader program will be the winged National
Racing Alliance Sprint Invaders, as announced this week
by Eldora general manager Roger Slack.
“Fifty years of history,
memories and traditions just can’t go unobserved –
this calls for another fabled Eldora Experience,”
stated Slack.
A whopping minimum $10,000
payday awaits the victor of the grueling chase around Eldora’s
fabled high banks with $2,000 earmarked for a tenth place
finish and a minimum of $1,000 to start the historic main
event. In continuing with Eldora’s respected trend
of putting showmanship and excitement to the forefront,
a special event format is being developed and will be released
soon.
“The partnership between
Eldora and USAC has been magic; one that has produced multiple
storylines since that initial April 1962 event won by Stan
Bowman. Non-winged Sprint Car fans have been clamoring for
more USAC Sprint racing at Eldora and this will certainly
whet their appetite,” continued Slack in making the
announcement.
Kevin Miller, CEO/President
at USAC shared the excitement, "Eldora Speedway has
seemed like home to USAC participants since its first USAC
race in 1962," says Miller. "The history established
there in the past 50 years is incredible and we certainly
look forward to another 50 years of the same type of excitement
the track has always generated. We salute Eldora for this
initiative of honoring this rich tradition and expect a
stellar field of drivers and cars for what will most certainly
be one of the track's signature events."
Since Bowman took that checkered
flag in April of 1962, another 180 USAC National Sprint
Car races have been contested, with 70 different drivers
tasting the flavor of an Eldora victory.
That win list is populated
with many of the greatest names in open wheel, non-winged
Sprint Car racing; including drivers that have gone from
USAC events at Eldora to heralded National events such as
the Indianapolis 500 and Daytona 500. Recognized names include
Gary Bettenhausen, Mario Andretti, Roger McCluskey, Johnny
Rutherford, Larry Dickson and of course, current Eldora
Speedway owner and three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion
Tony Stewart.
Atop the list is a name even
more common and recognizable to grassroots fans –
Jack Hewitt from nearby Troy, Ohio. The colorful and outspoken
Hewitt has amassed 13 USAC Sprint Car wins at Eldora, four
more than his nearest rival, Larry Dickson.
Additional
details and ticket information for the storied event will
be released through the track’s website www.EldoraSpeedway.com.
The targeted date for ticket sales is Monday, March 19;
through the Eldora box office at (937) 338-3815 or online.
