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PRELUDE NOTES
Evernham to stay out of the way at Eldora
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
When the green flag drops to start the Prelude to the Dream, 24 drivers will try to charge to the front of the field. That 25th driver, though, will have just as big a smile even if the field files past him.
"This is something that Tony (Stewart) invited me to, and I think I'm still the only guy that's not a professional driver that gets invited," said NASCAR team owner Ray Evernham, who makes his second appearance at the Prelude today, June 4, at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg. "I don't know why Tony let's me be a part of it, but I can tell you it means as much to me as winning the Daytona 500 or at Indy or at any of those places."
Extras
For Evernham, who provides a Sprint Cup ride for Prelude participant Kasey Kahne, getting up on the stage with the drivers is his version of a photo finish.
"I tell everybody, 'Look, it doesn't matter. I don't want to get in anybody's way. I don't want to look stupid," Evernham said, "because once they take the picture of me in the firesuit with all the other guys just to prove that I was there with the greatest drivers in the world, it's worth it to me.' "
Men at work
The Prelude drivers didn't always have such cool day jobs. Kevin Harvick cleaned pools in Bakersfield, Calif. Matt Kenseth and Kasey Kahne mowed lawns. Kyle Busch worked at HobbyTown USA. Dave Blaney worked in his dad's sawmill and Kenny Wallace underneath the streets of St. Louis for a sewer repair company.
Clint Bowyer's first job seemed as though it took nine lives to complete.
"Putting 99-cent labels on cat food boxes," Bowyer said. "We had about 15 pallets full, and it took about a month to do. It was my dad's buddy. He owned a warehouse, and a pet food company in town got backed up. Those little exploding 99-cent orange decals, we had to pull each soft bag out of the box, put a decal on and put it back in the box, pull the next one out. It was ridiculous. It took forever."
Funny (Car) business
Every now and then Ron Capps gets a call from people wondering why Capps is in Rossburg, when he should be running his Funny Car with the NHRA somewhere around the country.
"I'll be at the (NHRA) race, and people will see (a Prelude replay) on SPEED and think it's live. They'll call me and say what are you doing at Eldora? That's pretty funny when that happens," Capps said.
Quotable
"It would rank near the top. Obviously I'm proud of my Sprint Cup championship, my Brickyard and Coke 600 trophies. I mean, it's Eldora. There are a lot of great dirt drivers that haven't won at Eldora. That would be cool." — Bobby Labonte
By the numbers
3 Prelude to the Dream champions (Kenny Wallace in 2005, Tony Stewart in 2006, Carl Edwards in 2007).
6 Winston and Nextel Cup champions scheduled to participate: Bill Elliott, Jeff Gordon (4), Jimmie Johnson (2), Matt Kenseth, Bobby Labonte, Tony Stewart (2).
9 Drivers currently qualified for the Chase for the Sprint Cup (through the Coca-Cola 600).
15.215 Eldora track record for late models (Rick Eckert, 2004).
15.457 Qualifying record for the Prelude (Tony Stewart, 2006).
325 Cup wins by Prelude participants (through the Coca-Cola 600).
1954 Year Eldora Speedway opened.
17,905 Permanent seating capacity (not counting hillsides).
