(July 9, 2023) — When an event comes along like the Eldora Million for Sprint Cars it calls for some special treatment. Several weeks ago, I came up with the idea to seed all the entries for the event like how the NCAA Basketball Tournament is seeded 1-64.
I started dividing the entry list into four groups based on my own “eye test” of everything I have seen in person and online since 2020. I then started looking at numbers of overall performance this year, performance leading into the July and August portions of the season, how drivers and teams faired on high speed/larger racetracks (with an emphasis on Eldora) and used those numbers to determine seeding within the groups.
After sleeping on it for a night or two I moved any drivers I felt should be part of different groups from the original seeding. As the entry list has grown, I have slotted in drivers where I felt they should seed and moved a few entries around based on recent events.
I realize not every entry may show up at the event and there are drivers that will appear that are not pre-entered. Those drivers will be added and slotted in leading into the event, but I will not move any of the other seeding unless someone announces they are not coming or fails to show up.
What you are seeing is the 15th revision since this process started. I’m typically not into rankings and such when it comes to motorsports over an entire season, but something intrigued me about doing this for a single event at a single track.
Here is the seeding as of Sunday, July 9, 2023
1-10
| 1 | Rico Abreu |
| 2 | David Gravel |
| 3 | Brent Marks |
| 4 | Kyle Larson |
| 5 | Brad Sweet |
| 6 | Donny Schatz |
| 7 | Tyler Courtney |
| 8 | Carson Macedo |
| 9 | Logan Schuchart |
| 10 | Giovanni Scelzi |
After a lot of thought I placed Rico Abreu at the #1 seed leading into the Eldora Million. Abreu is currently driving with as much confidence as I have seen him during his career. A first and second place finish at Eldora during #letracetwo along with a win last September combined with the ability Abreu had to pull away in traffic while leading during Ohio Sprint Speedweek before having a flat tire was enough for me to place him at the one seed. 50 laps with a stop for Ricky Warner to work his magic would make anyone feel confident going into the highest paying race in sprint car racing history.
David Gravel is coming off a major victory at Huset’s Speedway during the High Bank Nationals and has been a consistent finisher on the podium at Eldora in July but has not ascended to the throne during Kings Royal weekend. Gravel, crew chief Cody Jacobs, and the rest of the Tod Quiring owned team appear to have taken another step forward this season.
Brent Marks also has picked up his performance through June and July with big wins during Ohio Sprint Speedweek and PA Speedweek. While Marks performance during #letsracetwo was not up to his normal standard at the Big E, during Speedweek Marks and his team appeared to be back on the right track with the way his car picked up speed at the end of that race. Being the winner of $275,000 in two races last year at Eldora also makes him worthy of a top five seeding.
There isn’t much I can write about Kyle Larson that has not already been put into print. One of the elite wheelmen in the world only comes in as a four seed just from not making as many sprint car starts this season. Car owner Paul Silva is one of the elite owner/mechanics in the sport and will be highly motivated to bring one of the best drivers on the planet to Eldora. Larson has been victorious in everything he’s driven at the Big E and could make me look foolish putting him only at the four.
Brad Sweet is another driver that makes good speed at Eldora and is in the top five seeds for many of the same reasons as the others. Sweet is very good on big tracks, good at Eldora, is a former Kings Royal winner, and has an amazing consistency to finish near or around the top five against the toughest competition in the sport week in and out.
I surprised a lot of people I let preview this list taking Donny Schatz at the six seed. Schatz’s past three finishes at Eldora have been second, third, and third. Eldora is also where we started to see signs last year that Schatz would be fast at the Knoxville Nationals. Two or three years from now I would have Schatz lower in the seedings, but at this point he still deserves to be near the top.
Tyler Courtney was also a given to put into the top 10. I debated putting Courtney higher, but felt it was proper seeding at the seven with such tough competition even though Courtney has all the same Eldora qualifications as the drivers ahead of him.
Carson Macedo’s aggressive style along with his ability to “make speed” on the big tracks makes him worthy of a top 10 seeding even after coming off injuries from a major crash and fire at Knoxville Raceway in June.
The 9 and 10 spots were the most difficult to seed as multiple drivers passed through these spots as I looked at numbers and thought about past performances. I eventually landed on Logan Schuchart, who has won at Eldora and come close to scoring major victories at Eldora and Giovanni Scelzi, who I feel is on the verge of breaking through in one of these major events put his name on a t-shirt race.
11-30
| 11 | Anthony Macri |
| 12 | Brian Brown |
| 13 | Spencer Bayston |
| 14 | Michael Kofoid |
| 15 | James McFadden |
| 16 | Sheldon Haudenschild |
| 17 | Zeb Wise |
| 18 | Kerry Madsen |
| 19 | Cory Eliason |
| 20 | Parker Price-Miller |
| 21 | Jacob Allen |
| 22 | Sam Hafertepe |
| 23 | Aaaron Reutzel |
| 24 | Shane Stewart |
| 25 | Daryn Pittman |
| 26 | Danny Dietrich |
| 27 | Hunter Schuerenberg |
| 28 | Justin Peck |
| 29 | Brock Zearfoss |
| 30 | Kasey Kahne |
This is the part of the list that could make me look foolish because all the drivers on it can do extraordinary things. Drivers in this section I feel could still be contenders, but I didn’t feel I had a good sample size to put them as a top seed or had questions if they would be in contention for the victory overall on Thursday.
New combinations like Buddy Kofoid and Roth Enterprises, Kerry Madsen reuniting with Vermeer Motorsports, Hunter Schuerenberg in the Swindell Speedlaps entries are difficult to judge due to the overall sample size, but should be fast this week.
Danny Dietrich coming off destroying the car he was going to use at the Million during the PA Speedweek finale at Port Royal are just a few examples of people I feel could run well, but I wasn’t confident enough to put them as a top 10 seed.
The most perplexing on the list are Shane Stewart and Daryn Pittman coming out of retirement to run the Million. Both are in good equipment driving for Bernie Stuebgen and Alex Bowman respectively, have Kings Royal wins to their credit, and are very fast on half mile racetracks. It’s very difficult to just drop in and run well in a sprint car (unless you are Kyle Larson) and it wouldn’t surprise me if either were contending for the win or scrambling to get in the show through the B-Main just because they have been on the sidelines.
Anthony Macri, Spencer Bayston and Michael Kofoid may seem like unusual choices to be towards the top of the next group of seedings. Macri has been doing a considerable amount of winning the past several years and has grown tremendously as a driver over the past year. Bayston and Kofoid have been coming on of late and with the format I feel can make some noise at the Million taking advantage of their recent performances.
Brian Brown has had strong moments at Eldora, has a World of Outlaws win to his credit at Knoxville Raceway, and has shown some speed at Knoxville all season. Reunited with crew chief Chad Morgan, I expect Brown to have a strong week at Eldora and has the most potential to make me wish I listed him with a top 10 seeding.
Sam Hafertepe scored a win during Ohio Speedweek and qualifies well at Eldora, but sometimes has not raced as well at Eldora and prevented me from listing him further up the list.
Others like Kasey Kahne have run well, but just seem to have terrible luck at times. Kahne enjoys racing at Eldora and runs well, but often seems to have odd things occur that take them out of contention.
31-50
| 31 | Brady Bacon |
| 32 | Blake Hahn |
| 33 | Cole Macedo |
| 34 | Ian Madsen |
| 35 | Chris Windom |
| 36 | Sye Lynch |
| 37 | Chase Randall |
| 38 | Tim Shaffer |
| 39 | Jamie Veal |
| 40 | Cale Thomas |
| 41 | Cole Duncan |
| 42 | Bill Balog |
| 43 | Garet Williamson |
| 44 | JJ Hickle |
| 45 | Dylan Cisney |
| 46 | Brandon Wimmer |
| 47 | Justin Whittall |
| 48 | Kyle Reinhardt |
| 49 | Greg Wilson |
| 50 | Lachlan McHugh |
The next two sections of the seedings were the most challenging. Putting a veteran driver like Tim Shaffer with an All Star Circuit of Champions feature win this year or a young driver like Sye Lynch that has had impressive moments at Eldora was difficult.
There are some incredibly talented drivers on this portion of the list, and on different racetracks some would be found in the second or even the top seedings.
There are also a lot of unknowns in this section such as Justin Whitall, Garet Williamson, Jamie Veal that would not surprise me at all if they performed well this week. Others are on this list due to new combinations such as Cole Macedo bringing Tarlton Motorsports east to Eldora and Ian Madsen joining Sandvig Motorsports after being out of the driver’s seat for a few weeks.
51-80
| 51 | Noah Gass |
| 52 | Lee Jacobs |
| 53 | Cody Maroske |
| 54 | Zachary Hampton |
| 55 | Travis Philo |
| 56 | Harli White |
| 57 | TJ Stutts |
| 58 | Jordan Ryan |
| 59 | Conner Morrell |
| 60 | Skylar Gee |
| 61 | Zane DeVault |
| 62 | Chris Andrews |
| 63 | Paige Polyak |
| 64 | Kory Crabtree |
| 65 | Cody Bova |
| 66 | Tyler Street |
| 67 | Landon Myers |
| 68 | Brandon Matus |
| 69 | Michael Bauer |
| 70 | Brent Matus |
| 71 | Ryan Myers |
| 72 | Mitchell Harble |
| 73 | Danny Smith |
| 74 | Bradley Ashford |
| 75 | McKenna Haase |
| 76 | Trent Pigdon |
| 77 | Michael Millard |
| 78 | Austin Bishop |
| 79 | Frank Rodgers |
| 80 | Denny Peebles |
Several strong regional and local teams are listed in this section of the seeding. There are several drivers that could be prime to upset the apple cart in this group. For example, Lee Jacobs had a fourth place run at the Kings Royal in 2018 and was one of the best stories of the weekend that year. I would love to write the story of one or most of the drivers in this section of the list having an impressive performance during the Million at Eldora.
81-83
| 81 | Henry Edward |
| 82 | TBA TBA |
| 82 | Lance Dewease |
“Henry Edward”, a TBA entry for Jay Kiser, and Lance Dewease are at the bottom of the seedings. While I have some idea of who Mr. Edward is, without official confirmation I didn’t feel comfortable seeding him. If my intuition is correct, I would likely seed this entry in the mid-30’s. Kiser’s entry could vary greatly depending on who is in the driver’s seat. Dewease and car owner Don Kreitz announced they would not be making the trip to Eldora for the Million. Before that announcement I had Dewease seeding near the top of the second group between 11 and 15.
The plan going forward…
The seedings as you see them now will remain the same and I will slot in additional entries as they are added during the week. On Wednesday I will move anyone that does show up to the bottom of the list and just move everyone up one spot and will slot in teams that do not pre-enter. The newest revision will appear on page one and the others on subsequent pages to keep myself accountable.
Friday after the Million is complete the plan is to compare my seeding to the final performance on Thursday to see how close my seeding was to the actual finishing order. I have low expectations going on how accurate this is going to be, but seeding this field for a single event has been one of the most enjoyable things I’ve done for the website.