From Kyle Lutters
Homesville, OH — (October 11, 2012) — Of the 26 tracks that Stevie Smith and his #19 CL Motorsports team have competed at in 2012, none have proved as frustrating as Eldora Speedway. In four starts, Smith has only one top-10 at the famed half-mile located near Rossburg, Ohio. As the UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions wrap up their season at the track known as the “Big E,” the New Oxford, Pa native is looking to make a statement.
“Eldora has been elusive for us all season,” said the driver of the #19 CL Motorsports/ DDNi/CJB Motorsports/Spectro Oils sprinter. “We’ve crashed, missed the setup and had a whole host of other problems at that track this season. It’s been one of the reoccurring themes of our season in that we qualify really well yet can’t move forward in the feature. We went out near the tail end of qualifiers for the Kings Royal there in July and timed in third. However, we ended up finishing dead last. It’s just been extremely frustrating but I feel like with how we’ve been running lately, we can turn it around in our final race there this season.”
After enduring a mid-September slump, Smith has regained his consistency after two events with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series at Williams Grove Speedway.
“Once again, Williams Grove proved to be our saving grace,” explained Smith. “We ran there the last weekend in September and had a shot to win both Friday and Saturday. The car ran strong and the crew made the right changes to keep us going forward. Victories are great but consistency has been our hallmark this year. It’s how we won the Ohio Sprint Speedweek title with the All Stars this year.”
Speaking of the UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions, the Saturday, October 13 UNOH Sprintacular event at Eldora Speedway marks the end of the season for the series. Smith and his CL Motorsports team have competed with the series 25 times in 2012 and is currently seventh in the series points standings.
“The All Stars have been great to us this year and we’ve enjoyed racing with them,” commented Smith, who has an 85-point lead over eighth place Danny Holtgraver. “They’ve allowed us some great opportunities this season and we’ve had success with them. They sanction races at some of the most exciting and difficult tracks around and that’s what makes it fun for the driver. Racing in their finale at Eldora Speedway will be really cool but it’s also a chance for us to settle the score with that track. I know we’ve talked about it a lot this season but we really feel like we’ve left some things on the table. We’ve been trying some new things as we gear up for 2013 and we’re pretty excited about them. We want to see how they will hold up at a place like Eldora. Who knows, they could be that final push that turns our car into a winning threat every night.”
Grandstands for the UNOH Sprintacular at Eldora Speedway will open at 2:00 p.m. with hot laps beginning at 4:30 p.m.
For more information about Eldora Speedway, please visit www.EldoraSpeedway.com
For more information on CL Motorsports and the Black Bandit, please visit www.TheBlackBandit.com