By T.J. Buffenbarger
Michigan race fans have had two teams from the Great Lakes State on hand for the first two nights of Kings Royal joined by a last-minute entry for the remainder of the weekend.
Naida making his first laps at the Big E
Darin Naida, the only Michigan resident driver on hand this weekend at Eldora, picked up a ride with Marc Dailey for the Kings Royal. Dailey has been teamed up with Cap Henry for the High Limit Sprint Car Series Mid-Week Money Series events, but with Henry driving for Jeff Ward Motorsports this weekend opened an opportunity for Naida to make his first start at Eldora.
For Naida, teaming up with Dailey goes back to his micro sprint days when they first crossed paths.
“I met him doing some micro racing four or five years ago and always hung out with him down when we see him down at Charlotte or the Chili Bowl. We just got to talking and he didn’t have a driver for this weekend and and I didn’t have anything to drive, so it just it just kind of like came together just hanging out talking.”
The first two nights Naida’s progress was hindered by some fuel system issues that led to and 11th place finish in the B-Main on Wednesday and a 17th place run in the C-Main Thursday.
“We ran into a couple of engine issues so far this week,” Naida said as the team finished up maintenance on Friday afternoon. “We got most of that sorted out last night and Wednesday, so looking forward to my first real shot at it tonight.”
The weekend also presented an opportunity to work with Bernie Stuebgen from Indy Race Parts as crew chief who has wins at Eldora with Shane Stewart and Kevin Swindell.
“It’s has been really enjoyable,” said Naida of his first pairing with Stuebgen. “He’s great to work with. He’s really calm, which is nice, and he doesn’t really get wound up and get on you much. Just gives you a little advice here and there, talking about the race car, so it’s been good and I’m looking forward to two more nights of it.”
After the issues on Wednesday and using Thursday to gain more experience, Naida is looking forward to a fresh start with two, single day programs to apply what he learned the past two nights.
“Very refreshing,” was how Naida described the fresh start. “I felt like last night was just reliving a nightmare because we buried ourselves on Wednesday with engine issues in hot laps and then struggled with qualifying. All through the night we were struggling with the engine running flat. Now that we have the fuel right and figured out our issues t’s nice to have a fresh start because last night it felt like we were still being penalized from what we had the night before.”
Tyler Gunn Makes Last Minute Decision to come to Eldora
Tyler Gunn from Malinta, Ohio had originally decided to take the weekend off until striking up a conversation with Parama, Michigan car owner Danny Williams.
Gunn and Williams decided after that conversation on Tuesday they would come down to Eldora Speedway for the Knight Before the Kings Royal and the Kings Royal on Saturday, which is a reunion of sorts for both car owner and driver.
“I’ve ran for Danny back in the day,” said Gunn. “He’s always been a great friend and we just got to talking Tuesday night and here we are at Eldora.”
The crew that helps Gunn on his own ride were ready to go once they were told the news about going to Eldora.
“I texted my crew chief Zach Wednesday afternoon when me and Danny figured out we were going to come down here. He’s on his way down here and will be here in a little bit. They’re all excited to give it a shot here at Eldora.”
Gunn was unsure of any plans beyond Eldora between himself and Williams.
The Shingle Special Puts Gary Taylor Back in the Seat at Eldora
Gary Taylor had not turned a lap at Eldora Speedway since 2018. That all changed when Shannon Eifert decided to put Taylor behind the wheel of his Home Pro Roofing car after Taylor assisted fellow Washington state driver J.J. Hickle working on the car last year.
After some time away from sprint cars, Taylor made his first start for Home Pro during a 360/410 double header at Butler Motor Speedway on June 15th. Two weeks later Taylor made one other start at Crystal Motor Speedway with the Great Lakes Super Sprints before the team came to Eldora.
So far this week at Eldora Taylor won his heat race on Wednesday night but ended up 22nd in the main event that night and 12th in the C-Main on Thursday.
Although he’s limited by his day job in motorsports with Andretti Autosport, look for Taylor to be in the car following the Kings Royal during the next two weeks of Great Lakes Super Sprints action.
Michigan represented during opening ceremonies tonight at Eldora
Michigan will be represented during opening ceremonies on Friday at Eldora Speedway with Morgan Blonde, daughter of Michigan Motorsports Hall of Fame driver Jason Blonde, singing the National Anthem at Eldora Speedway.
GLSS In Action Near the Kings Royal; GLTS, Butler, and Springport also in action
While the Great Lakes Super Sprints are not participating in the Kings Royal, the series is in action one hour north of Eldora at Limaland Motorsports Park for the makeup of the Run for the Rabbit tribute race. GLSS is off on Saturday, but the Great Lakes Traditional Sprints are in action on Saturday at Silver Bullet Speedway in Owendale, Michigan.
With Fremont Speedway off on Saturday look for a handful of their cars to venture over to Butler Motor Speedway on Saturday where the winged 410 sprint cars return after being off last week.
Springport Speedway will host the second race of the Tri-State Sprints that compete using 10 inch wide tires on Saturday. This will be the first sprint car race in Springport in 25 years.