dpkimmel2001
Team Owner
Crow anyone? I’ll get back to the race later. I’m just going to give you a little, or maybe not so little, race week recon report…..
Never having been to Eldora I didn’t know what to expect. I’ve heard all kinds of good things about the track from others that have been there and they all were true. From A to Z, front to back, side to side, this is one top notch facility. I could only come up with one thing to complain about the whole week and even that was a stretch. More about that later…..
I put on the crocs and jorts and headed to Cracker Barrel for the first leg of our trip. After a couple fuel stops and a WalMart stop along with topping off the RV with a full tank of water, we were there. Talk about the middle of nowhere. You have to take a left at the middle of nowhere and Eldora will be about an hour or so down that road on the right. We managed to make a six hour tow into about eight with all of our stops.
We just happened to drive to the track along the same road that our camping spot was located making for an easy setup of our site. I was surprised as we drove up to the track the limited number of RV’ers that were there. Sure, it was still four days before the event but that’s not the norm for any of the races that I’ve ever been to. For just a second I thought that maybe I was at the wrong track. Setup was a breeze with the flat terrain of western Ohio. Our campsite was right along N. Star Fort Loramie Rd giving us a great view of everyone arriving to the track for the upcoming events. We unloaded and then put out the back deck on the RV and spent a relaxing afternoon there watching all of the RV’ers arrive while doing my best to kill my beer supply. Job accomplished by the way. I’m very well versed at judging my alcohol supply for a race week.
My group consisted of my wife, son, daughter & father in law along with a friend coming down from Fort Wayne to stay with us for the race. He’s never been to Eldora either but I can tell you that it will not be his last time there. We had a couple other friends camping across the road that we met @ Bristol in the spring. I won’t go into all of that detail but needless to say a good time was had by all. The camping experience at Eldora is much like all of the other tracks that we go to. We took many tours of the campground on the golf cart and made many new friends along the way.
It seems that this race had a large contingent of strictly dirt, non-NASCAR fans and also NASCAR fans both interested in seeing what this was all about. There were a lot of Eldora regulars there that had never been to a NASCAR race before just like there were a lot of NASCAR fans that had never been to a dirt race before. In talking with many around the campgrounds the dirt fans really weren’t all that impressed with the slowness of the trucks in practice. On the other side, the NASCAR fans seemed to really be loving what they were seeing. Sure they were slow, they’re NASCAR Camping World Tucks. I thought that the racing was excellent and exciting. Since I got back I’ve only been able to watch a little bit of the televised version but once again, it does not do it justice. The view that the Johali’s & the Kimmel’s had from our seating location was awesome. There was an obvious difference in setup and driver experience. I think overall that the local tracks out there will be benefiting more in the long run with the show that was put on this past Tuesday/Wednesday. I think a lot of dirt fans were born this past week.
All afternoon and evening on Monday the haulers were arriving and setting up in the staging area. The track opened up to them on Tuesday morning @ 10:30. We rode over to go watch them enter the track. There were many fans there to watch the parade.
The track and its facilities…..
First class. Tony and company do it right. I think Tony could be called the ‘Bruton of Dirt’. That is, with the exception of the pricing at Eldora. Eldora is very fan friendly when it comes to pricing. Sure, I couldn’t carry my beer in a cooler into the track but @ $2 for a cold one….. That can’t be beat. Not only that, when you purchase a 6 or 12-pack they fill your cooler with ice. Next to one of the beer vendors they also have a stocked bar for various mixed drinks. While I didn’t partake in that I could see that many do. Perhaps they do the same at your local track but I have to say that is the first time that I’ve seen that. While I didn’t purchase any food while in the track, the prices seemed more than reasonable and the food looked good.
Our seating was in the general admission section of turn #4. They have general admission seating where you are able to take in your lawn chairs. The gates opened for the first time @ 1pm on Tuesday. Johali and I were the first in line waiting for the line to open @ noon. By the time they let us through the gates there was a long line built up behind us. Mrs. Johali had found us a way to sneak into the track the day before so we already knew where we’d try to set our chairs. We had no problem getting to our desired spot so we staked claim to the top row of the general admission section in turn #4. We quickly set up our personal row of 8 seats and then sat and took in the view. Johali was grinning from ear to ear as was I. Hey, the first time only happens once and we knew sitting there that it was the beginning to a great memory.
The first track action of the two day event was truck practice. That had to be one of the largest attend truck practices that I’ve ever seen at any track. I’d bet Tony was grinning just as much as we were in the stands. The green track was producing some exciting practice. It was very easy to tell who the front runners were going to be for the Wednesday night event. Whether it was their experience or the setup there was quite the disparity in driving style. They had a two hour practice session followed by a break and then another session later in the day. The difference in the track between those two sessions were night and day. The second session was not producing the same type of racing as the track was worked in and that gave me just a little concern for the next night’s race. All of that was forgotten when the late models hit the track. The locals there put on one hell of a race. From what I’ve been able to read I guess only those of us at the track had a chance to see it. You missed some great dirt racing. I’ll leave it at that.
Wednesday’s action started later in the day with qualifying. It was the luck of the draw when it came to qualifying. As the track hardened up those later qualifiers didn’t have a chance. I, for one, was happy to see Kenny Schrader get that top spot. We were also treated to yet another exciting late model race in the late afternoon. Then there were the heat races. All fun to watch but they really did nothing to get us ready for the main event. The only thing that came close was the last chance race. When it was really on the line, the racing really got good.
The race…..
The fans were ready. The drivers were ready. There was electricity in the air but unfortunately there was none in the power lines. I’m not sure what happened but the lights went out. Tony was probably crapping bricks when this happened. Just getting ready for the history making event at his premier dirt facility and the power goes out. I don’t know if any of this was obvious to the television viewer at home or not. Seeing their jumbotron off of turn #2 somehow the television cameras seemed to turn night into day. It was much darker than it looked on TV. While they worked out the electric issue at the track, they pointed out that Earl Baltes, the original creator and owner of Eldora Speedway was in the stands with the fan to watch the race. How cool was that? Think of all of the great racing that he’s seen there over the years.
I don’t really need to describe the race to you. You saw it and you liked it. For the most part anyhow. Not everyone is going to be pleased. There are some people that don’t even like ice cream so you’ll have that.
Did you really see it though?
Like I’ve said before, television simply doesn’t do this sport justice. It can’t. It can only focus on what the director in the little truck allows you to see and that perspective isn’t from the fan at the track. It’s not from the guy jumping out of his seat because of what’s unfolding in front of him. It’s not the same perspective as that eight year old, just to my right, jumping up and down all night long watching things unfold. That kind of experience does not translate and never will. Fans can sit at home and complain about the racing all they want but if you’d get up off of your collective a$$es and attend a few of these maybe you’d have a great time?
Quick note. Johali and Mrs. Johali are good people. I only had a brief visit with Smoke14 who also seems like a good guy. I made some new friends this week that I’m sure that I’ll see again at a track in the future. One of those probably being Eldora again next year.
I’ll post some various pics w/captions as I get them downloaded off of my phone. Nothing incriminating though. What happens at the track stays at the track.
Oh, and that complaint that I was talking about. It was simply that they need to create some kind of easy access from the grass section up to the regular seating level of the stands where the restrooms and food services are provided. I found many of those locals there weren’t too fond of allowing you to get up there.
Never having been to Eldora I didn’t know what to expect. I’ve heard all kinds of good things about the track from others that have been there and they all were true. From A to Z, front to back, side to side, this is one top notch facility. I could only come up with one thing to complain about the whole week and even that was a stretch. More about that later…..
I put on the crocs and jorts and headed to Cracker Barrel for the first leg of our trip. After a couple fuel stops and a WalMart stop along with topping off the RV with a full tank of water, we were there. Talk about the middle of nowhere. You have to take a left at the middle of nowhere and Eldora will be about an hour or so down that road on the right. We managed to make a six hour tow into about eight with all of our stops.
We just happened to drive to the track along the same road that our camping spot was located making for an easy setup of our site. I was surprised as we drove up to the track the limited number of RV’ers that were there. Sure, it was still four days before the event but that’s not the norm for any of the races that I’ve ever been to. For just a second I thought that maybe I was at the wrong track. Setup was a breeze with the flat terrain of western Ohio. Our campsite was right along N. Star Fort Loramie Rd giving us a great view of everyone arriving to the track for the upcoming events. We unloaded and then put out the back deck on the RV and spent a relaxing afternoon there watching all of the RV’ers arrive while doing my best to kill my beer supply. Job accomplished by the way. I’m very well versed at judging my alcohol supply for a race week.
My group consisted of my wife, son, daughter & father in law along with a friend coming down from Fort Wayne to stay with us for the race. He’s never been to Eldora either but I can tell you that it will not be his last time there. We had a couple other friends camping across the road that we met @ Bristol in the spring. I won’t go into all of that detail but needless to say a good time was had by all. The camping experience at Eldora is much like all of the other tracks that we go to. We took many tours of the campground on the golf cart and made many new friends along the way.
It seems that this race had a large contingent of strictly dirt, non-NASCAR fans and also NASCAR fans both interested in seeing what this was all about. There were a lot of Eldora regulars there that had never been to a NASCAR race before just like there were a lot of NASCAR fans that had never been to a dirt race before. In talking with many around the campgrounds the dirt fans really weren’t all that impressed with the slowness of the trucks in practice. On the other side, the NASCAR fans seemed to really be loving what they were seeing. Sure they were slow, they’re NASCAR Camping World Tucks. I thought that the racing was excellent and exciting. Since I got back I’ve only been able to watch a little bit of the televised version but once again, it does not do it justice. The view that the Johali’s & the Kimmel’s had from our seating location was awesome. There was an obvious difference in setup and driver experience. I think overall that the local tracks out there will be benefiting more in the long run with the show that was put on this past Tuesday/Wednesday. I think a lot of dirt fans were born this past week.
All afternoon and evening on Monday the haulers were arriving and setting up in the staging area. The track opened up to them on Tuesday morning @ 10:30. We rode over to go watch them enter the track. There were many fans there to watch the parade.
The track and its facilities…..
First class. Tony and company do it right. I think Tony could be called the ‘Bruton of Dirt’. That is, with the exception of the pricing at Eldora. Eldora is very fan friendly when it comes to pricing. Sure, I couldn’t carry my beer in a cooler into the track but @ $2 for a cold one….. That can’t be beat. Not only that, when you purchase a 6 or 12-pack they fill your cooler with ice. Next to one of the beer vendors they also have a stocked bar for various mixed drinks. While I didn’t partake in that I could see that many do. Perhaps they do the same at your local track but I have to say that is the first time that I’ve seen that. While I didn’t purchase any food while in the track, the prices seemed more than reasonable and the food looked good.
Our seating was in the general admission section of turn #4. They have general admission seating where you are able to take in your lawn chairs. The gates opened for the first time @ 1pm on Tuesday. Johali and I were the first in line waiting for the line to open @ noon. By the time they let us through the gates there was a long line built up behind us. Mrs. Johali had found us a way to sneak into the track the day before so we already knew where we’d try to set our chairs. We had no problem getting to our desired spot so we staked claim to the top row of the general admission section in turn #4. We quickly set up our personal row of 8 seats and then sat and took in the view. Johali was grinning from ear to ear as was I. Hey, the first time only happens once and we knew sitting there that it was the beginning to a great memory.
The first track action of the two day event was truck practice. That had to be one of the largest attend truck practices that I’ve ever seen at any track. I’d bet Tony was grinning just as much as we were in the stands. The green track was producing some exciting practice. It was very easy to tell who the front runners were going to be for the Wednesday night event. Whether it was their experience or the setup there was quite the disparity in driving style. They had a two hour practice session followed by a break and then another session later in the day. The difference in the track between those two sessions were night and day. The second session was not producing the same type of racing as the track was worked in and that gave me just a little concern for the next night’s race. All of that was forgotten when the late models hit the track. The locals there put on one hell of a race. From what I’ve been able to read I guess only those of us at the track had a chance to see it. You missed some great dirt racing. I’ll leave it at that.
Wednesday’s action started later in the day with qualifying. It was the luck of the draw when it came to qualifying. As the track hardened up those later qualifiers didn’t have a chance. I, for one, was happy to see Kenny Schrader get that top spot. We were also treated to yet another exciting late model race in the late afternoon. Then there were the heat races. All fun to watch but they really did nothing to get us ready for the main event. The only thing that came close was the last chance race. When it was really on the line, the racing really got good.
The race…..
The fans were ready. The drivers were ready. There was electricity in the air but unfortunately there was none in the power lines. I’m not sure what happened but the lights went out. Tony was probably crapping bricks when this happened. Just getting ready for the history making event at his premier dirt facility and the power goes out. I don’t know if any of this was obvious to the television viewer at home or not. Seeing their jumbotron off of turn #2 somehow the television cameras seemed to turn night into day. It was much darker than it looked on TV. While they worked out the electric issue at the track, they pointed out that Earl Baltes, the original creator and owner of Eldora Speedway was in the stands with the fan to watch the race. How cool was that? Think of all of the great racing that he’s seen there over the years.
I don’t really need to describe the race to you. You saw it and you liked it. For the most part anyhow. Not everyone is going to be pleased. There are some people that don’t even like ice cream so you’ll have that.
Did you really see it though?
Like I’ve said before, television simply doesn’t do this sport justice. It can’t. It can only focus on what the director in the little truck allows you to see and that perspective isn’t from the fan at the track. It’s not from the guy jumping out of his seat because of what’s unfolding in front of him. It’s not the same perspective as that eight year old, just to my right, jumping up and down all night long watching things unfold. That kind of experience does not translate and never will. Fans can sit at home and complain about the racing all they want but if you’d get up off of your collective a$$es and attend a few of these maybe you’d have a great time?
Quick note. Johali and Mrs. Johali are good people. I only had a brief visit with Smoke14 who also seems like a good guy. I made some new friends this week that I’m sure that I’ll see again at a track in the future. One of those probably being Eldora again next year.
I’ll post some various pics w/captions as I get them downloaded off of my phone. Nothing incriminating though. What happens at the track stays at the track.
Oh, and that complaint that I was talking about. It was simply that they need to create some kind of easy access from the grass section up to the regular seating level of the stands where the restrooms and food services are provided. I found many of those locals there weren’t too fond of allowing you to get up there.
<----- That's a selfie by the way.
