Eldora Speedway
Today: World 100 qualifying for late models. Gates open at noon, racing at 6 p.m.
Saturday: World 100 for late models. Gates open at noon, racing at 7 p.m.
Kil-Kare Dragway
Today-Sunday: NHRA Division 3 Jr. Dragster finals. Gates open at 3 p.m. today, 8 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Shady Bowl Speedway
Saturday: Main Event Racing Series, late models, modifieds, street stocks, tuners, dwarf cars. Gates open at 4 p.m., racing at 7.
Edgewater Sports Park
Saturday: NHRA-sanctioned racing. Gates open at 2 p.m., racing at 7.
Tri-State Dragway: NHRA-sanctioned racing. Gates open at 9:30 a.m., eliminations at 1 p.m.
It’s the event that turns Eldora Speedway into the largest “town” in Darke County for a week as campers, racers and fans pack the track for the World 100, dirt late model racing’s most prestigious prize. And for the first time since the race started in 1971 racing fans don’t have to be there in order to watch it.
Eldora is offering a limited number of pay-per-view online subscriptions for the World 100 for $39.95 (the same cost as a ticket), and the production will enhance the experience for fans at the track with additional graphics, action and replays on the video board in Turn 2. For the online subscription, DirtonDirt.com is producing the Countdown to the World pre-race show.
As for the race, 93 cars had registered as of Tuesday — including area drivers Wayne Chinn of Bradford, Gary Major of Monroe and Tom Ramey of New Paris — for their chance to survive the door-banging heat races and then, hopefully, outlast the 30-car field in the 100-lap, $45,000-to-win World 100 feature on Saturday. Qualifying is tonight.
Jimmy Owens of Tennessee is the defending champ.
Centerville native scores win: Team Falken Tire drivers Bryan Sellers and Wolf Henzler won the GT class when the American Le Mans Series visited Baltimore last weekend. The duo, who won in Baltimore last year, led 42 of 67 laps in their No. 17 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. Henzler started behind the wheel in seventh and eventually climbed to first before pitting 37 minutes into the two-hour race. Sellers rejoined the field eighth before retaking the lead thanks to pit strategy. Sellers held off challenges after two restarts late in the race.
“When you’re given that opportunity, you can’t falter,” Sellers said. “My only mindset was to go as hard as I could and as long as I could, and not let that be the thing that stopped us from getting a win.”
Schedule changes: Rain forced the rescheduling of two events from last weekend. Tri-State Dragway will host the Bob Louden Memorial on Sept. 29-30. Winchester Speedway's World Stock Car Festival has been moved to Sept. 22-23. In a related note, Shady Bowl Speedway will host the Main Event Racing Series on Saturday after it was postponed on Aug. 4.
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