Eldora season opener, Shady Bowl event highlights area racing

Scenes from the Robbie Dean 94 memorial series race at Shady Bowl Speedway in 2014. Germantown’s Bill Burba won the event, edging Troy’s Greg Stapleton at the finish.

Scenes from the Robbie Dean 94 memorial series race at Shady Bowl Speedway in 2014. Germantown’s Bill Burba won the event, edging Troy’s Greg Stapleton at the finish.

Three down. Three to go. That’s the tally entering Friday for area auto racing tracks and season openers.

Kil-Kare Raceway, Shady Bowl Speedway and Edgewater Sports Park kicked off the racing season last week. Eldora Speedway joins them Saturday at the Darke County half-mile dirt oval roars into action for its 64th season.

Here’s a quick rundown of area racing action this weekend:

Eldora Speedway: Eldora opens with the Sunoco American Late Model Series, the DIRTcar UMP modifieds and the Eldora stock cars. McClure's Rusty Schlenk (ALMS) and Lima's Jeff Koz (modifieds) and Rob Trent (stocks) captured track titles in those divisions last season.

Gates open at 2 p.m., hot laps start at 4:30 with racing at 6.

Shady Bowl Speedway: The 'Bowl hosts one of its biggest events of the season as the CRA Racing Series' street stocks roll into Champaign County. The 200-lap event features past event winners with Indiana drivers Josh Poore (2014, 2016) and Colby Lane (2015). They'll be challenged by locals Ricky Young (Beavercreek), Gordon Watson (Tipp City), Josh Sage (Piqua), Josh Smith (Quincy), Buck Purtee (DeGraff) and Rodney Roush (Sidney).

The modifieds, pure stocks and compacts are also part of the Shady Bowl program.

CRA street stock practice starts at 4 p.m., with the hometrack divisions at 4:30. Qualifying is at 6 and 6:30 p.m. Racing follows at 7.

An Easter egg hunt for kids will be held at 6 p.m.

Edgewater Sports Park: The dragstrip near Cleves in Hamilton County returns to action Saturday with the Quick 8 racing and NHRA-sanctioned Summit Racing Series. The super pro, pro, sportsman and junior dragsters are on the schedule. Gates open at 2 p.m. and racing starts at 6:30.

Kil-Kare Raceway: This past Sunday, the oval track ran its first stock car event since shutting down in October 2014. The Gem City Auto Racing series is idle until April 23, but action on the track resumes April 22 with the Midwest Drift Union's Back to Basics event. For more info visit mdudrift.com.

Gem City Auto Racing returns the next day with a show featuring the late models, modifieds, street stocks and compacts.

Kil-Kare Dragway: The first official race of the season arrives on May 5 with the Friday Night Super Pro Double Up event. The strip runs again on May 6 with NHRA-sanctioned Summit ET bracket series racing, also the first points race of the season.

Drag racers can get a feel for their rides and the track with a Test and Tune session at Kil-Kare on Saturday. Gates open at noon.

Waynesfield Raceway Park: The countdown continues for the 1/3rd-mile, high banked dirt track in Auglaize County. The track opens April 22 with a full show including the non-wing sprints, UMP modifieds, AMSA mini sprints, trucks and compacts.

About the Author