Eldora Speedway
The History of the Most Famous Dirt Short Track in America, 1954-2013

Bill Holder

BOOK DETAILS

Softcover 8.5" x 11" -- 128 Pages -- 400+ B&W Illustrations -- Appendix of Race Winners

ABOUT THE BOOK

This book covers the the exciting six-decade history of Eldora Speedway which has the unique capability of being a national leader in both stock cars and open wheel machines. With the stockers, the track has hosted ARCA, ALMS, UMP, USAC, STARS, and FASTRAK series'. For the open wheel cars, it's been USAC, WoO, All-Stars, ASCS, NRA, and CRA.

Longtime owner Earl Baltes headed the track for a half-century and his promotion skills made the track tops. He had the first Dirt Late Model big track with the World 100 and later the Dream. He also had the unforgettable Eldora Million race with the winner getting that seven figure payoff.

It was the same for sprint cars with the Kings Royal, USAC Four Crown Nationals and Historical Big one. He did things that other promoters wouldn't have dared to undertake. In the mid-2000s, Tony Stewart took the reins and big things continued. His Prelude event invited NASCAR drivers to come and compete at his track. It was a huge success with full houses and great ratings on Pay-Per-View television.

There are other rumors about other big happenings at the track. It just never seems to end at this famous half-mile dirt speedplant!

With remembrances of Eldora by such notables as Donnie Moran, Johnny Rutherford, Mario Andretti, Bobby Unser, Jack Hewitt, Jeff Gordon, Larry Moore, Parnelli Jones, and of course, Tony Stewart and Earl Baltes, this book has something for everyone!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

BILL HOLDER is a veteran auto sports writer and photographer with hundreds of articles and over thirty books under his belt. With over five decades of covering racing and cars, he has seen just about everything that can happen at a race track. A Purdue University graduate, he lives in Dayton, Ohio.

Dedication -- Chick Hale by Jerry Hale .......... i

Acknowledgments .......... iii

Forewords .......... iv

Chapter One -- Beginnings .......... 1

Chapter Two -- USAC .......... 15

Chapter Three -- World of Outlaws .......... 25

Chapter Four -- All Star Springs .......... 34

Chapter Five -- Other Open Wheel .......... 40

Chapter Six -- Stock Cars .......... 46

Chapter Seven -- Big Open Wheel Events .......... 54

Chapter Eight -- Big Stock Car Events .......... 69

Epilogue by Brad Doty .......... 86