Eldora Speedway continues to lead the way in terms of headline grabbing Dirt Late Model racing events. This past year the Rossburg, Ohio track pleased both fans and racers alike by not only bringing their two crown jewel events back following the 2020 cancellations caused by the coronavirus pandemic but also doubling down by staging an additional makeup race for both the Dirt Late Model Dream and the World 100 over the course of four-day spans in June and September.
Next year, the Tony Stewart-owned facility plans to go even bigger by bringing back the most famous race in the legendary track’s history. On June 9, 2022, the Eldora Million will return to the half-mile clay oval with a Dirt Late Model feature race that will dole out $1,002,022 to its victor.
The only other time a dirt race that paid $1 million was contested was back on June 9, 2001 at Eldora under the promotion of Hall of Fame track owner Earl Baltes. That race was won by Ohio native Donnie Moran.
But it isn’t just that Eldora will be hosting the richest feature in the history of the sport. On that same weekend, the 28th annual running of the Dirt Late Model Dream will take place and will pay out $128,000 to its eventual winner.
Brandon Overton accomplished a remarkable feat in 2021 by capturing both the 26th and 27th Dream features garnering a total payment of more than $250,000. Any driver who would be able to repeat that achievement in 2022 would earn well over four times that amount.
Please consider also reading “Racing with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series is a life Carson Macedo loves“
Once again in 2022, the track will play host to the Dirt Late Model world for four consecutive nights. On Wednesday, June 8th a tournament-style set of preliminary features will be used to establish the seeding for Thursday’s heat races. After those heat races and Last Chance Showdowns have been completed, the field for the Eldora Million will take to the track on Thursday night.
The action will begin all over again on Friday, June 10th with preliminary action for the 28th Dirt Late Model Dream. That feature race will be held on Saturday, June 11th.
In all, a total of more than $1.9 million in purse money will be paid out to competitors. All four days of action will be aired live by FloRacing.com.
In a press release posted to EldoraSpeedway.com, Tony Stewart offered his thoughts on the massive set of shows coming to his track.
“I have said from the first-day I took ownership of Eldora that we want to make Earl and Berneice proud and continue to push the limits of race promotion. I can’t think of a better way to honor their legacy than bringing back The Eldora Million® one more time for both our longtime drivers and fans as well as a whole new generation who have only heard about it,” the former NASCAR champion stated. “And I couldn’t do it without our phenomenal partnership with Mark Floreani and his team at FloSports. I love working with them in growing our sport, showcasing our events, and creating engaging content for our fans on FloRacing, and the entire FloSports subscriber base.”
After the amount of buzz created in the motorsports world by Eldora in 2021, next year will no doubt push that to an entirely new level.
Respond to this post on Twitter by following @RichardAllenIDR and @MichaelRMoats or by liking the InsideDirtRacing.com Facebook page.
Also, NASCAR and pavement racing fans can check out InsideCircleTrack.
