From Larry Boos
ROSSBURG, OH (April 29) – Coming into this weekend’s World of Outlaws (WoO) STP Sprint Car Series doubleheader at Eldora Speedway, parity has been the rule of the season, as 11 different drivers have shared victory honors in the 17 events completed to date. One driver that is in favor of that statistic and hoping the trend continues is Joey Saldana of Brownsburg, IN.
Although sitting third in the cumulative points chase, Saldana remains winless on the season. But Eldora and two nights of racing plays right into Saldana’s hand, as the second-generation driver has posted at least one WoO victory in six of the past seven seasons and ranks third on Eldora’s all-time WoO win list.
Saldana knows Eldora well and has become a fan favorite with his rim-riding style; often running above the cushion and only inches from the outer concrete wall.
He will be coming into the Eldora weekend as driver of a recently revived Sprint Car team that has had pretty good success at the historic speed plant as well. After a lengthy layoff from the sport, Dan Motter has returned and with the same familiar paint scheme that was used as Kenny Jacobs compiled multiple victories including a $100,000 win in the 1994 Historical Big One at Eldora.
Saldana has wasted little time in adapting to the new team, as he has compiled four top five finishes on the tour thus far, and has been the quickest qualifier twice. However, it is the feature win column that Saldana is seeking and his confidence level has been raised coming into Eldora and two opportunities to complete that goal.
Each night (May 3 and May 4) will feature a full program of competition for the WoO STP Sprint Car Series. Joining the Friday night leg will be the Eldora Stock Cars, while the UMP DIRTcar Modifieds complete Saturday’s twinbill. Both nights share a 7:30 p.m. race starting time.
AT 38.3 AVERAGE AGE, WoO DRIVERS BUCK SPORTS TREND OF YOUNGER IS BETTER
ROSSBURG, OH (April 29) – While the majority of the sports world statistics and peak performance standards favor younger participants, the World of Outlaws (WoO) STP Sprint Car Series boldly bucks that trend. In fact, the average age among the top ten drivers coming into this weekend’s doubleheader of action (May 3-4) at Eldora Speedway is 38.3.
Heading up the top end of that age list is 20-time champion Steve Kinser of Bloomington, IN at 58 years of age; with David Gravel of Watertown, CT coming in as the youngest at 20-years old.
Since the WoO Series was inaugurated in 1978, Kinser, who comes into the Eldora weekend 9th in points, has captured feature wins in 33 of those 35 years; including one this year that increased his total to 574 WoO wins. He also sits atop of the all-time WoO win list on Eldora’s high-banked .500-mile clay oval with 35 triumphs.
Standing right behind Kinser in the age, and ironically the win, category is 57-year Sammy Swindell who calls Germantown, TN home and is ranked fourth in the 2013 point standings. Swindell has three WoO championship titles on his resume and is coming off a strong year that found him finishing third in the overall points by capturing a series high 12 feature wins in 2012. With a victory earlier this year, Swindell has accumulated his 289 WoO victories by scoring in 29 different years. He follows Kinser in the Eldora win list at 20.
At the other end of the spectrum, trying to keep up with, and beat, the veterans, sits Gravel. Leading into this weekend’s Eldora twin bill, he is ranked sixth in cumulative standing; an amazing fete considering he is filling the role of substitute driver for Bill Rose who injured his arm earlier this year. Consistent runs by Gravel, who has one WoO career feature win to his credit, have seen him among the top five four times and the top ten nine times so far this year. His lone checkered flag at Eldora came in 2011 during NRA Sprint Invader competition during the Knight Before the Kings Royal.
Completing the age rundown, in chronological order are Craig Dollansky (46), Paul McMahan (42), Joey Saldana (40), Donny Schatz (35), Daryn Pittman (34), Kraig Kinser (28) and Cody Darrah (23).
SERIES LEADER, PITTMAN, SHARES WoO BIRTHDATE
ROSSBURG, OH (April 29) – It may be irony, or it may fate, but the current point leader of the World of Outlaws (WoO) STP Sprint Car Series, Daryn Pittman, was born the same year that the nationally recognized series was created – 1978.
The 35-year old tour will be heading into Eldora Speedway this weekend (May 3-4) with two complete nights of racing that each pay $10,000 to win and award full points towards the 2013 crown that Pittman has aspirations of taking home.
The Owasso, OK native has a comfortable 136 point margin over runner-up Paul McMahan, who in turn leads Joey Saldana by another 19 markers.
Pittman came into the 2013 season replacing Saldana in the Kasey Kahne Racing prepared machine and has shown no difficulty adjusting to the team. Three feature wins, twelve top five finishes and three quick times thus far into the season have been the propellants to his lead.
Pittman’s credentials at Eldora carry some impact; having come in high profile events. His two Eldora WoO wins include the $50,000 to win Kings Royal in 2008, an honor he preceded with a Knight Before the Kings Royal victory in 2002. Sandwiched between those two was a $100,000 payday in Eldora’s 2003 Historical Big One.
1200 MILE ROUNDTRIP IS IRRELEVANT; IT’S THE 15-MILE CHASE THAT STEWART IS CONCERNED ABOUT
ROSSBURG, OH (May 1) – It’s not the 1200 mile round trip from Talladega, AL to Rossburg, OH each night this weekend (May 3 & 4) that Tony Stewart is concerned about, it’s the 15-mile World of Outlaws (WoO) STP Sprint Car Series nightly feature event on Eldora Speedway’s .500-mile clay oval that he wants to chart successfully.
Jetting between roles as NASCAR Sprint Cup driver at Talladega Superspeedway and WoO Sprint Car driver at Eldora, a facility he owns, will give Stewart two opportunities this weekend to capture his first-ever WoO victory on home turf. The three-time NASCAR Cup champion has already captured victories in USAC Sprint, USAC Midget, UMP DIRTcar Modified, UMP DIRTcar Late Model and NRA Sprint Invader competition, along with three victories in the talent-laden Prelude to the Dream charity event at his Eldora oval.
WEEKEND FOLLOWING WoO STP SPRINT CARS BRINGS UNIQUE EVENT TO ELDORA
ROSSBURG, OH (January 10) – Already known for its speed, diversity and action-packed events, Eldora Speedway is entering yet another dimension and reaching out to a new demographic with the Traxxas TORC (The Off Road Championship) event for May 10 & 11, 2013.
Off-road racing’s greatest stars will invade the clay oval of Eldora for the first time in the track’s 60 year history. Led by 7 time AMA Motocross Champion Ricky Johnson, TORC’s driver line up includes off-road and Baja Champions Bryce Menzies, Rob MacCachren, Johnny Greaves, Scott Douglas along with newcomers Cassie Currie, Matt Cook and Mitchell Dejong.
The Traxxas TORC Series, sanctioned by the United States Auto Club (USAC), is billed as the fastest, most punishing short course racing series on the planet; featuring flag-to-flag fender banging as the drivers push the limits over whoop and jump filled natural terrain. TORC bridges the gap between extreme sports, traditional racing and even mixed martial arts.
Eldora’s traditional clay 1/2 mile oval will be transformed for the two-night racing event into an odd-road course including table tops, rolling jumps, moguls and high speed action on the tracks steep banked turns. TORC has visited similar dirt tracks at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Chicagoland’s Route 66.
TORC will bring multiple divisions to Eldora for the two night event (May 10 & 11). The PRO Lights will kick off the PRO divisions, along with PRO 2WD and PRO 4×4 divisions.
Complete event information, along with ticket and campsite purchase opportunities, may be obtained by visiting the track’s website www.EldoraSpeedway.com, or by calling the speedway office at (937) 338-3815. Additionally, race fans and race teams can get behind-the-scenes access by following @EldoraSpeedway on Twitter, hitting ‘Like’ at Facebook.com/EldoraSpeedway and view video highlights at YouTube.com/EldoraSpeedwayInc.