Tony Stewart to fans: ‘Put some pressure on NASCAR’ for Xfinity race at Eldora

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“Fans, if you’re out there, think about starting to put some pressure on NASCAR,” Stewart said during an appearance Tuesday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “I think we need to get an Xfinity race. If we could get an Xfinity race and it was successful, maybe one day we could get a Cup race here at Eldora, and I think that’s something everybody would like to see.”

https://nascar.nbcsports.com/2018/0...ressure-on-nascar-for-xfinity-race-at-eldora/
 
Hey, Tony, sell the place to SMI. It worked for Kentucky.

On the other hand, it hasn't done so well for Loudon, so maybe just forget that.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
Hey, Tony, sell the place to SMI. It worked for Kentucky.

On the other hand, it hasn't done so well for Loudon, so maybe just forget that.
Click to expand...
Why, so Eldora can go the way of Wilkesboro and the Rock? That's the last thing that place needs.
 
I guess I'm the only one not in love with Eldora. Sure, I think it suits the Trucks nicely, but I've long said that series should return to it's barnstorming roots. But if the point of the X series is to prepare drivers for the Cup series (another debate entirely), I don't see how dirt races accomplish that. Cup doesn't run on dirt and isn't likely to.

This sounds to me like just Tony trying to drum up some business. Nothing wrong with that, it's his job, but I don't have any reason to help him with that. For all the complaining people do around here about gimmicks, this strikes me as one of the bigger ones.
 
If the teams are trying to cap their cost building a one off car for a dirt race really isn't gonna do that. Taking the Cup teams there or the Xfinity teams there isn't going to do much for the sport. The novelty will wear off. Bad idea and I hope NASCAR isn't desperate to do this.
 
I will be at the truck race tomorrow and have only missed one at Eldora. I think Eldora is one of the best short tracks there is. But, I am not sure I agree with having a X or Cup race there. The trucks run painfully slow at Eldora and I just can't picture the other series putting on a better show than the trucks.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
I guess I'm the only one not in love with Eldora. Sure, I think it suits the Trucks nicely, but I've long said that series should return to it's barnstorming roots. But if the point of the X series is to prepare drivers for the Cup series (another debate entirely), I don't see how dirt races accomplish that. Cup doesn't run on dirt and isn't likely to.
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I'll say this. As an actual big dirt racing fan, the heavy pavement stock cars aren't really built for it, and it is awkward to watch. Dirt cars evolved to be much lighter and have very different suspensions, among other differences. I would rather watch dirt late models or sprint cars at Eldora any day. The Prelude was a lot of fun as far as I'm concerned.

However, NASCAR cars aren't really designed for road racing either, and those races are good. I'm in all in favor of Trucks and Xfinity having one or two each if the demand is there. Anything more is misguided.
 
Well if Eldora is too slow someone should just copy the old Memphis-Arkansas Speedway. Look it up it was a mile and a half high banked dirt track in the 50s.
 
Who wouldn't want to see Kyle Busch try dirt racing? I'd love to see what elite cup drivers adapt the quickest, and if some of the mid packers acclimate quicker and can actually beat the big dogs for a change.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
I guess I'm the only one not in love with Eldora. Sure, I think it suits the Trucks nicely, but I've long said that series should return to it's barnstorming roots. But if the point of the X series is to prepare drivers for the Cup series (another debate entirely), I don't see how dirt races accomplish that. Cup doesn't run on dirt and isn't likely to.

This sounds to me like just Tony trying to drum up some business. Nothing wrong with that, it's his job, but I don't have any reason to help him with that. For all the complaining people do around here about gimmicks, this strikes me as one of the bigger ones.
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Yep...a Cup race will never happen there.
 
NASCAR would be better off figuring out how to race in the rain instead of sending Cup teams to Eldora. It might keep people interested in the race instead of sitting through the bad TV we get to watch when the networks are trying to fill airtime during a rain delay.
 
Nah I’m good for Cup cars on dirt.....hard pass....Same for Xfinity. Now if Tony and NASCAR wanted to Shift the all star race to Eldora and the Cup guys race a Sprint Car on dirt....sign me up for that. I would say that’d be a hell of a show.
 
I'm torn, but leaning towards no. I also thought I read something way back when this was first mentioned a couple years ago that most of the cup drivers have no interest in racing on dirt.
 
I'd like to see the Xfinity cars do a test run at Eldora to see how it works out. If they do race there I'll go just like I did for the first two truck races. If it wasn't so damn far we would still be going.
 
DaBiff1618 said:
Who wouldn't want to see Kyle Busch try dirt racing? I'd love to see what elite cup drivers adapt the quickest, and if some of the mid packers acclimate quicker and can actually beat the big dogs for a change.
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I'd love to see that too, but in cars designed for that kind of track.

Bristol hosted sprint cars a couple of years ago. They brought in dirt first. Pave Eldora for the weekend and I'll back this idea. :D
 
:idunno:

"If you can do it with trucks, you can do it with Xfinity, you can do it with Cup, you can do it with anything," Stewart told ESPN Wednesday night after the Eldora Dirt Derby. "Let's try to get an Xfinity race here; let's crawl before we walk, and then walk before we sprint."

The track had another solid crowd but not a sellout of its 17,782 seats for the midweek event. Stewart has no idea how feasible it is to get a Cup race; NASCAR has not added a new date to the schedule since 2001. Any changes since then on the Cup schedule have come from realignment requests within the portfolios of current track owners.
Former Charlotte Motor Speedway president Humpy Wheeler, who was the grand marshal for Wednesday's race, said he had tested Cup cars on the dirt track at Charlotte and he believes they could run right away on a dirt track.

"Dirt has made a tremendous comeback in this country the last 20 years," Wheeler said. "They're ready for a Cup race. I would love to see a Cup race here.

"They could put some extra seats in here and end up with 35,000 to 40,000 paid and have more people than a lot of races that we run right now on superspeedways."

http://www.espn.com/racing/nascar/s...obbies-nascar-cup-series-race-eldora-speedway
 
Tony Stewart ramps up lobbying for Cup Series race at Eldora Speedway
The track's owner wants more.

ROSSBURG, Ohio -- Tony Stewart watched NASCAR's Truck Series drivers go four wide in a battle for the lead in the waning laps and two trucks speed side by side for an incredible finish on Wednesday at Eldora Speedway.

Chase Briscoe, an Xfinity Series driver who won the truck race Wednesday night, said there is no doubt that Cup cars should run at the track.
"The Cup Series, to me, is the best race car drivers in the world," Briscoe said. "The best race car drivers should have to run a superspeedway, they should have to run on a short track, they should have to run on an intermediate course, they should have to run on a road course and they should have to run on a dirt track."

"The teams are getting more used to it," Stewart said. "If you can get the truck guys to figure it out, Xfinity and Cup guys can figure it out. They all have the resources to do it.

http://www.espn.com/racing/nascar/s...obbies-nascar-cup-series-race-eldora-speedway
 
If NASCAR can race a Charlotte road course, maybe Cup at Eldora isn't as crazy as it sounds

ROSSBURG, Ohio -- Imagine how fans seven years ago would react to NASCAR Cup series teams preparing for a road course that combines the Charlotte Motor Speedway oval and runs through the infield.

And then how they would react the next day when the track owner of Eldora Speedway clamored for a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race on dirt.
Any fan who heard all that seven years ago might have just finished laughing. A road course at the famed Charlotte Motor Speedway? Serious talk that Cup cars could run a dirt race at Eldora?

"My opinion is for most of these racetracks we should go just once anyway because it makes it more of an event," Logano said. "When you have two shots to go, you go, 'Eh, I'll miss this one. I'll go to the next one.'"

As the NASCAR world has become increasingly frustrating with aero-dependent rules and the crowds continue to decline so much that there was a test on a makeshift road course right in the middle of the Charlotte infield, a bigger race at Eldora is starting to make more and more sense.

"It sure would be cool," Eldora Speedway owner Tony Stewart said. "Why wouldn't you?"

As the sport continues to struggle, a Cup race at Eldora might not be a bad idea.

http://www.espn.com/racing/nascar/s...-cup-stock-cars-run-dirt-race-eldora-speedway
 
Last nights race made it clear why you don't want the Cup teams there. First, that small a track can't handle that many cars. The Cup series would have another 8 cars on that track. Drivers up front would have to continually battle slower cars as they lapped them and we all know how much Harvick complains when he has to do that. Secondly, I've never been a big endorser of speed but watching the trucks slowly make their way around the track last night brought home the fact that speed is an important part of the NASCAR show.
 
I don’t know how anyone that watched last night wasn’t beyond entertained. That was incredible racing with a photo finish. How often do you see four wide for the lead on a restart with 10 to go?
 
Mispeedway15 said:
I don’t know how anyone that watched last night wasn’t beyond entertained. That was incredible racing with a photo finish. How often do you see four wide for the lead on a restart with 10 to go?
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Could it have had something to do with the number of cautions? That kind of killed it for me.
 
Towmater said:
Could it have had something to do with the number of cautions? That kind of killed it for me.
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The thing about dirt is that it is ok to lean on each other. Pavement is viewed a little differently, so in a big dirt race that guys want to win they are more willing to take liberties with each other as the laps wind down. The reason we saw 4 wide was because there were legitimately 6 or 7 guys that could have won that race and the first two rows were willing to drive it into the corner on differing strategies to see it they could make it stick. There is no need for the guy to push you to get you out front, there is no side drafting or stalling a guy out in dirty air. Dirt is about momentum. That is what makes the lap traffic battle so intriguing. These guys have to find a way to get through it while limiting the amount of momentum they are losing. It's just a much more entertaining style of racing amongst a bunch of guys who are willing to risk a little more and everyone is ok after it.

I was a pavement guy for a very long time and in the last 5 years I can count the amount of great pavement races I have seen on one hand. The amount of great dirt races I have seen seem endless.
 
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