The half-mile dirt oval will become the center of the stock car universe in a 30-lap showdown featuring track owner Tony Stewart and such stars.
A 25-driver field representing 26 major championships and 639 wins will descend on Eldora, in remote Rossburg (population: low 200s).
“There’s more demand than supply, because it’s turned into big bragging rights,” says Brett Frood, chief operating officer for Stewart’s True Speed Enterprises, which promotes the race. “They’re here solely to have a good time, and they know a 25th place won’t cost them anything but maybe some bruises.”
Gordon says Eldora is the antithesis of the corporate-tinged Sprint Cup Series, where teams plaster Fortune 500 companies on their hoods and spend millions in pursuit of a 10th of a second: “It’s a business; you’ve got sponsors you have to make happy. You don’t have that pressure when you go (to Eldora). You’re sliding sideways, having fun, and it doesn’t matter if you win.”
NASCAR team owner Ray Evernham, who will race in the event for the second year in a row, says wheeling 800-horsepower Late Models is the most fun you’ll see Sprint Cup drivers have all year.
The primary goal of the event is to donate more than $1 million for the Victory Junction Gang Camp and the Tony Stewart Foundation; $800,000 was raised last year.
“You get to race all your peers without all the strains and stress,” Stewart says. “But it doesn’t mean that you don’t take it serious.”
Drivers such as Bowyer and Edwards have an edge in dirt-track experience, but those whose careers have been spent on pavement are trying to close the gap.
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