RPW Exclusive: Jerry’s Take: Eldora Speedway, American’s Modern Day Dirt Racing Done Right

Column By: JERRY SYMONDS / RPW – ROSSBURG, OH – I’ve seen plenty of racing throughout the 60 years that I’d been involved in the sport.

I’d been a dirt modified driver, held multiple officiating roles, even got to announce over the last few years, but I started out much like a lot of people as a dirt racing fan. I can say confidently that in all of my visits to dirt race tracks, I’d never seen a facility quite like the Eldora Speedway.

This past June, we packed up the camper and hit the road to visit the Eldora Speedway for the Dirt Late Model Dream. Traveling out to Eldora with me was my two sons, Bryan and Robert, along with my brother in law, Marty Conlon.

Being 8 hours away from New York’s Southern Tier, I wasn’t sure what this Ohio speedway had that some of our historic speedways didn’t have but after our trip, I think Eldora is the best in the country when it comes to modern day dirt racing.

This is on the basis of overall fan experience. It sort of gives you a NASCAR type feel but with a dirt racing flare.

Since it was the Dirt Late Model Dream, the track hosted the best dirt late model drivers in the world.

As Tim McCreadie described Dirt Late Model racing ‘This is like the NASCAR of Dirt’ however unlike NASCAR, the drivers and the crew don’t mind taking a few moments to talk to us, the fans.

This is not just in the grandstand areas but also down in the pit area. They were very down to earth and it was cool to chat with some of the best drivers and crew that dirt late model racing has to offer.

I would like to mention that even though we didn’t get to meet him in person, we can all at least say that we saw Scott Bloomquist’s last race at Eldora in person.

The staff at Eldora is very humble and they love their job. As we picked up our pit passes, the ladies at the window chatted with us a little about the event and some of the areas restaurants/bars we could visit. My son, Robert, who is a photojournalist here at Race Pro Weekly, met Eldora’s Race Director in the Media Center and it seemed like anything he talked about, he was happy to discuss including upcoming races and the history of the track.

One day during the week we traveled to the neighboring town of Greenville to pick up a part for my truck, when we saw an Eldora push truck at the Autozone. We chatted with the push truck driver for quite a while about the track and the surrounding areas. Hearing the history and seeing some of the historical components at the track make the Eldora Speedway more legendary.

The racing was great all weekend. Seeing the best dirt late model drivers in the world duke it out for $100k at a high banked dirt track, what is there not to like? Couple that with great staff, down to earth drivers & crew, a world class facility, and you have one great dirt track.

Thank you Eldora Speedway, we will be back some time again in the future.