2020 Eldora Dirt Derby: Event canceled; Track sends letter to fans

The NASCAR dirt race at Eldora Speedway has been canceled; Track issues letter to fans

Tracks all around Ohio have opened their gates and packed the grandstands. Then, there’s Eldora Speedway.

The famed half-mile dirt track has only hosted one event in 2020. That event was the Dirt Late Model Stream, a dirt late model event that was held without spectators, generating funds to pay the purse from a PPV package.

Related: 2020 NASCAR Schedule: July-August

On Wednesday, NASCAR released the latest addition of their national schedules. It included events for the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Truck Series and ARCA Menards Series.

The Eldora Dirt Derby was absent from the list. It was originally scheduled to run July 29-30, 2020. It has now be canceled. Canadian Tire Motorsports Park and the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course also lost events.

Two of the events above are in Ohio. The other is in Canada, which has a travel on Americans attempting to enter the country.

Since the announcement, Roger Slack has issued a press release with comments on the virus and the sport in general.

Roger Slack comments on Eldora Dirt Derby event

“Since we started working on this event in September 2012, it has been a collective team effort,” said Roger Slack, general manager of Eldora Speedway.

“When we held the first NASCAR race on dirt in almost 43 years, nobody knew what would happen, what to expect, if it would work, or if there would be a second one. We all took a giant leap of faith and placed a lot of trust in each other – Eldora, NASCAR, the teams and, most importantly, the race fans – that we would all deliver a successful event.”

“Eight years later, Eldora remains a highlight of the NASCAR season. The atmosphere in the grandstands is electric, and you can always count on someone having a big career moment that night. This year’s lineup of dirt racers who planned to battle the Truck Series regulars was going to produce one of our strongest fields ever. Losing this event is a gut punch for everyone who is a part of it.”

“We’ve now lost races for every single local and national division that competes at Eldora. We cannot hold events without healthy race fans and racers. It’s that simple. The fastest way for us all to be back together again at Eldora, with full grandstands and full campgrounds, and $2 beers, is another collective team effort.”

“As a community, racers and race fans need to heed the advice of our local doctors and nurses: practice social distancing; wear a cloth face covering, bandana or mask; wash your hands; and keep sanitizer at the ready.”

“The virus knows no county line or state border and it’s on all of us to do our part to stop the spread. Until we do so, Eldora and a lot of speedways are going to sit empty,” Slack concluded.

Links

Eldora Speedway | NASCAR

Categories

Tags