By Larry Boos
ROSSBURG, OH (December 20) – In the spirit of Christmas and celebration, Eldora Speedway staff members and vendors recently joined together in their annual ‘Pack the Pantry’ festivity to amass nearly $4,000 in cash and non-perishable goods to be donated to two area food banks.
Benefitting from the generosity of the assemblage will be CALL (Community Action Life Line) Food Pantry of Mercer (OH) County and Fish Choice Pantry of Darke (OH) County. The non-perishables and additional goods purchased through the cash, which was raised from an auction of donated items from area businesses, will be distributed to Mercer and Darke County families in need, as identified by the pantry directors.
According to Eldora Concession Manager Todd Stucky, “The Pack the Pantry party is a reward to the Eldora team and vendors for their dedication towards another successful year of racing; and it allows us to collectively help the less fortunate during this time of the year. We are truly honored and moved by the support of our Eldora family.”
Eldora’s Pack the Pantry proceeds complements the $8,405.05 earned by the West Ohio Food Bank from the Tony Stewart Foundation (TSF) in appreciation of their operation of TSF’s 50/50 Raffle held at the majority of Eldora’s events. The Lima-based food bank will use their donation towards the purchase and distribution of supplies to be distributed throughout 11 Western Ohio counties while TSF will use their share of the funds to help care for children diagnosed with critical or chronic illness, animals which are at-risk or endangered, and for drivers injured in the sport of motor racing.
Looking back upon the tremendous success of 2013, the staff reviewed the exciting 2014 Eldora major event schedule that includes a return of the celebrated 1-800 CarCash Mudsummer Classic for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The Wednesday, July 23 spectacle will be joined by the time-honored $100,000-to-win Dirt Late Model Dream presented by Ferris Mowers (June 5-6-7), the $50,000-to-win Kings Royal Weekend (July 11 & 12) for the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Cars and the 44th Annual World 100 Weekend (September 4-5-6) – dirt racing’s greatest event.
Seats and campsites for those major events are on sale now through the track’s website www.EldoraSpeedway.com or by calling the track office at (937) 338-3815.
Race fans and teams can get the latest news by following @EldoraSpeedway on Twitter, become a fan by hitting ‘Like’ at Facebook.com/EldoraSpeedway or downloading the Eldora Speedway app for iPhone and iPad via iTunes or Android via Google Play.