One of the more recent racing event successes to come out of NASCAR has been the Eldora Dirt Derby at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. Wednesday night marks the sixth consecutive running of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, which is the only dirt track racing event on any NASCAR national touring series.
Tony Stewart, who just so happens to own Eldora, thinks that this needs to change, and he said as much on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Tuesday morning.
"Maybe one of these days we will get an Xfinity or a Cup race here because we've proven you can run the vehicles here," Stewart said. "We've proven that the Truck drivers that have never been on dirt before can sit there and get around this track really well. If a truck can get around here, an Xfinity or Cup car get around here as well. Who knows, I never dreamed we'd have a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race here. Now maybe the dream will start now that maybe we can get an Xfinity race here in the future, too."
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Stewart has already gotten quite a few folks on board with the idea, chief among them being none other than Dale Earnhardt Jr. When you've got Dale Jr. in your corner, that's not exactly a bad place to be in.
Hey @TonyStewart, this @XfinityRacing owner would love to have a race @EldoraSpeedway on the schedule. What say you @NASCAR? Let?s do this already! https://t.co/4HNXSXWdAG
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) July 17, 2018
Of course, Dale Jr.'s input is all well and good, but he isn't racing anymore. Current drivers, such as Brad Keselowski, think Stewart's idea has promise, but some important changes would need to be implemented first.
Catching up on today?s racing news.
I?m not against running an xfinity race or maybe even one day a cup race on dirt, but it?s gotta be on a better Tire with more performance characteristics than what?s currently being used by the truck series.
— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) July 17, 2018
Naturally, for a NASCAR race to be feasible, it has to be appealing to the drivers, first and foremost. But, from a fan perspective, it seems like having more Eldora races would be a no brainer. Since the 2019 schedules for both the Xfinity and Cup series have already been released though, adding a dirt track race at Eldora wouldn't be able to happen until 2020 at the earliest.
It'll be a few years in the making, but for the sake of NASCAR ratings (Lord knows they need a boost), the powers that be should really try getting the ball rolling on this sooner rather than later.
Watch: Tony Stewart makes a racing debut that has been over 20 years in the making