Eldora trucks

[Matt Albee]

Track looks painfully slow and tedious as hell. Hope they wet it down a bit so they can let the tires eat. I know they did this intentionally but I aint a fan yet.

I noticed on the tv coverage last night that they look like they're on ice. The track condition is probably to " keep them big motor guys " from running away with the show. LOL
And i'm not sold on any race car only being able to use 1/2 throttle on any track. But that was just practice, we'll see what Tony does to the track for qualifying and the race.

[luke81]

I imagine we'll see a track tonight much like it was last night. It's either going to be very interesting, or very slow and boring. If they get the middle worked in like Bloomquist was talking about last night it could be pretty good. My only concern is it being a caution fest.

[steadysteve]

oh Tony...

Stewart wanted the track this way.That's right,driving skill over engine.Quiroga looked like he's scared to drive on it.The surface is as good as I have ever seen.That includes both time's Ive been there in persom(tho it was way before when Stewart bought it),and for races I've seen on the Speed Channel.Most of Rossburg OH. will be there.

The track will be so packed,that you might so folks sitting on top of the old ballroom across the street.

Annie Oakley grew up on a farm,not far away from Rossburg.She would love the truck race,as it will be a shootout!!!

[zerofor]

I'm a little disapointed in the car count

I thought with all the great dirt racing that goes on in the tri-state area (ohio,indiana & kentucky)there might be a few more dirt teams trying to get a ride into the field.Guess it aint gonna happen(sigh)

[Jimmy McKinley]

We were there last night for the Truck race.

I'm not a dirt guy.

But, *this* was the way to run a RACE - as a *show* for the fans. Guys having to RACE their way in to the feature.

Ol' Darrell Wallace was fastest in practice on Wednesday afternoon.

In qualifying, the old man, Kenny Schrader, went out early (about sixth), set fast time, and held on to it.

The heats were pretty good with guys racin' hard for the transfer spots. I still hate the "locked-in" rule - the top 20 in Truck owner points were locked in. I think they split up the heat races so that at least three trucks would have to race their way in, in each heat. In other words, "TV racing".

Bloomquist, one of the nearly-favorites going in, was *dog-slow* in practice in Kyle Busch's #51, but was locked into the feature by virtue of owners' points for the 51. In qualifying, he bounced off the turn three wall - twice. And in the feature, he just went *backwards*. He was the first truck to go a lap down.

The last-chance race was *great* with the 57 and the 68 and everybody behind them racing to get into the feature. The 68 tried the slide job under the 57 (Norm Benning) quite a few times, but knocked both of 'em into the fence. Benning stoof on it and powered around the top to get the final spot in the feature. The 68 truck wasn't too happy about "how Benning raced him", but, it shoulda been the other way around. In a lot of people's opinions, the 68 raced the 57 "dirty".

With all of the damage on the 57, a lot of other teams' guys jumped in to help him get it ready for the feature. Class.

Larson, Blaney, Austin Dillon, Newman, and that kid in the #6, were all *fast* all night. I don't know what all they showed on TV, but, guys were runnin' three-, four-, and sometimes five-wide all night long.

Matt Crafton used the bottom to pick up a TON of spots, as did Larson. Guys would try the middle and bottom, but very few could either pull off the slide job without getting into someone, or, picked up very few spots.

Polesitter Schrader went backwards a bit, but picked up eight spots using the bottom in the final 30 laps.

Austin Dillon did a good job getting to the front, using the fast way around the top.

Kyle Larson is gonna go places. He's got *amazing* car and throttle control. He'd try the slide on the bottom, but, if he saw he wasn't gonna make it work, he'd back off a bit and take another run at it.

Got Schrader to autograph my MudSummer Classic T-shirt

Saw Phil Parsons, Tony Stewart, Brad Keselowski, and Earl and Bernice Baltes walkin' around

All in all, *I* thought it was a very competitive race. At least five or six different leaders. Larson used the slide job quite a few times to get by guys up top. Hated to see Dave Blaney get punted into the turn-two wall. Lot of non-regulars in the field. The Mexican guy and the Brazilian absolutely *hated* the track - and it showed. But, because they were "points racing", they stayed out of trouble and finished. Other than the guys that dropped out, I don't think anyone was more than a single lap down at the end. CLEAN race as far as actual racing incidents go (only one caution for an actual on-track altercation between about five trucks). The rest of the cautions were for debris - and pretty good chunks, too, as guys were bouncin' off the walls and each other all night. Hated to see that last yellow, but there *was* actually nearly a fender-sized piece of sheet metal on the track.

Got over 300 pictures on my FaceBook page - once they finish gettin' uploaded, I'll post the pics

Blaney ran up front until he got punted into the wall.

GREAT, clean racing all night. Typical short-track beatin' and bangin'.

Hope they do this again - next time, make it a doubleheader with the Nationwide guys.

[Frasson118]

Excellent review Jimmy. This race just created a new place in the Bucket List.

Also jealous that a personal friend got to go, and I didn't.....!!!

[Jimmy McKinley]

Excellent review Jimmy. This race just created a new place in the Bucket List.

Also jealous that a personal friend got to go, and I didn't.....!!!

:P

Save your money and come on up next year. We'll camp across the street.

The *racing*, I thought, was excellent all night long. That last caution, though...well, even though there *was* sheet metal on the track, everyone (fans) still hated to see it. Was hopin' Larson would take a shot at Dillon with the slide, but he just couldn't get to him.

I don't think I've ever heard so many drivers say they've had *this much fun* RACING all at once. During the track's interviews, these guys were grinnin' ear to ear. And ol' Norm gave the #68 the one-finger salute after the checkered flag in that last-chance race. I LOVED seein' the un-sponsored underdog get into the field, but...ehh...kind of a low-class move, I think...as if to say, "Nyah, nyah, nyah! You're loadin' up and goin' home, I'm in the show..." LOL...but...that 69 tried to beat the hell outta Norm on the race track.

[zerofor]

To anyone on the board who was at Eldora and is interested

Columbus Motor Speedway (my old hometrack) has the John Nuckles Memorial on tap saturday night for the late models.This event typically has 25-30 superlates in the pits along with open wheel mods,sport stocks and compacts(the compacts usually have 20-25 cars every week)its a couple hours from Eldora but if you're not leaving Ohio right away....

[Jimmy McKinley]

...and if you head north, Sandusky has their annual Hy-Miler Nationals for the ISMA Supermodifieds, pavemnet Sprint cars, and a couple of local divisions. Friday night is a 40-lap feature for the Supers, and Saturday is 100 laps on the fast half-mile.

This race is only second on the list to the Oswego Classic as far as prestige and history for the Supermodifieds. The place is always packed when these guys roll into town.

[pwfinn]

Eldora Truck Race

Some of the Finney family, Phil, Tom, Andy, Parks and 5 other friends made the trip to the Eldora Truck race. This was our annual "Guys Summer Race Trip" that we do each year. Very impressed with the Eldora Speedway facility and the whole event. We all had a great time and are ready to go back. Just wish that my 50/50 ticket would have been drawn on Wednesday. The 50/50 winner got over $17,000 dollars. Yes, that is right, $17,000 and change to the winning ticket holder.