Eldora Speedway

Eldora Race Format

A Nascar race on dirt has not been seen for 40 years. The last time Nascar saw a dirt track was September 30, 1970 in Raleigh, N.C. Richard Petty won the Home State 200 at the one-mile State Fairgrounds Speedway. But that’s about to change on July 24, 2013!

The Nascar Camping World Truck series heads to New Weston, Ohio and the famous Eldora Speedway dirt track owned by 3-time Sprint Cup Champion Tony Stewart for the inaugural “Midsummer Classic”.

Nascar announced on April 09, 2013 the format for this historic race. Unlike asphalt or concrete, dirt tracks have long held a different format to racing events. And that will be the case with this inaugural event. Anyone familiar with dirt track racing will recognize the heat sessions to qualify for the main event at the end of the evening. And that’s basically what’s happening at Eldora.

The race will feature a traditional two-lap qualifying session to determine a drivers starting position in the heat races. There will be five of these heat races, along with a “one last-chance” race. A champion’s provisional will also be included to determine the 30-truck starting field for the main event. The top-20 in owners’ points entering the race event will have a guaranteed starting position. Now this rule seems pointless to me. Why have the heat races if 20 of the 30 trucks are guaranteed?

Here are the basic format rules as we know them today:

• Qualifying
  • Two-lap qualifying determines starting position for the qualifying (heat) races
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• Qualifying Races (the Heat races)
  • Five qualifying races
  • Each heat will be eight laps each; only green flag laps count.
  • Five trucks transfer from each qualifying race
  • Lineup for the qualifying races will be based on qualifying speeds with four locked-in trucks (trucks in the top 20)
  • The top five trucks in qualifying will start on the pole for their respective qualifying race
  • Highest finishing non-locked-in truck will transfer to race main event from each qualifying race
  • At the completion of the qualifying races, 25 trucks will have earned spots into the feature.
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• Last Chance Race
  • 15 laps; only green flag laps count
  • The top four finishers will transfer to the feature and start in positions 26-29
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• The Feature Race (the main event)
  • The lineup will be based on the finish from the qualifying races
  • The race will be 150 laps divided into three segments. The segments will be 60, 50 and 40 laps.
  • There will be pit stops between each segment, with teams having the opportunity to change tires and work on their trucks.
  • Starting position No. 30 will go to the most recent past series champion who has not already qualified.
  • If the 30th starting position is not filled by an eligible champion, it will be assigned to the next highest finishing truck in the Last Chance Race.

Nascar announced that this format was worked out collectively between their representatives and Eldora Speedway to embrace the history of dirt track racing. I hear this and I’m fairly sure that means Tony Stewart had a hand in ensuring his dirt track roots are being represented at his special track. I hope so anyway.

Nascar will release more details on the event schedule later this spring.

You can keep up to date on announcements by following Eldora Speedway on Facebook or Twitter.
You can also follow Nascar Trucks on Twitter for all truck racing news.

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