By Larry Boos
ROSSBURG, OH (July 8) – While the anticipation of Eldora Speedway’s 31st annual Kings Royal weekend (July 11 & 12) continues to center around Saturday’s magic moment as King XXXI is declared and climbs atop the fabled throne, it is the overall ‘Eldora Experience’ that is attracting near record-breaking interest.
Involvement, interaction and a unique twist to the driver meeting are the magnets to that fascination.
It all began with last Friday’s opening of the massive campgrounds surrounding Eldora and the menu gets heftier as the week progresses.
In chronological order, Wednesday night will see a migration of Eldora fans heading north to the Brad Doty Classic at Limaland Motorsports Park in a bus brigade courtesy of the St. Henry Nite Club. The first bus will pull out at 5 p.m.
Thursday’s plate kicks off with an inimitable Racing for Relief charity kart race on the front stretch of Eldora. Each team consists of four drivers that swap out in lightning-quick pit stops during the races; providing for some interesting moments. The event is donation-based with no admission charge to the fans.
Immediately following the kart race, the action swings up to the Fan Zone for the ‘World Famous Yuengling Thursday Night Party.’
Prior to Friday’s ‘Knight Before the Kings Royal’ doubleheader featuring the World of Outlaws (WoO) STP Sprint Car Series and the National Racing Association (NRA) Sprint Invaders, the 2014 Kings Royal Cornhole Tournament will take place in the Multi-Purpose Building at 1 p.m. A few hours later, the attention switches over the STP display in the Fan Zone for a Twitter Q & A with Tony Stewart Racing driver Donny Schatz.
Things really heat up Saturday. Probably the biggest off-track buzz surrounds the Tony Stewart Foundation 50/50 Raffle benefitting the West Ohio Food Bank. The winner’s share will begin at $8,672 due to last year’s winning ticket never being claimed. Joining that frenzy will be the annual National Sprint Car Hall of Fame charity auction in the Multi-Purpose Building at 2:30 p.m. and the huge driver autograph session in the same building at 4 p.m.
A Kings Royal first will take place at 5 p.m. The drivers will remain at their chairs in the Multi-Purpose Building and the mandatory Kings Royal driver meeting will take place with the race fans in attendance.
From that, it all switches back to Eldora’s legendary high banks, the chase for $50,000 and the pomp and circumstances that go with the crowning of King XXXI.
Remaining race tickets and campsites for the Kings Royal weekend (July 11 & 12) or any other exciting Eldora event, are available by going online to www.EldoraSpeedway.com. Additionally, tickets and campsites may be purchased through the Eldora offices during normal business hours by calling (937) 338-3815 or on race day.
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. Mobile device users can access the Eldora Speedway app for the iPhone, iPad and Android which are available for download via iTunes and Google Play.