Racing on Eldora's dirt path special for big-time drivers

They're billing it as "Prelude to the Dream," and selling the event on HBO pay-per-view.

But truth be told, Tony Stewart and the other Prelude competitors, most of them Nextel Cup drivers like himself, would race at a place like Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, with no one watching and for little more than bragging rights for a day.

"We could race for a six-pack, I wouldn't care," Cup driver Clint Bowyer said. "That's the part about being a racer that you never lose."

Bowyer and Stewart are two of the competitors in the field of 27 who will participate in the Nextel Prelude to the Dream in support of the Victory Junction Gang this Wednesday at Eldora, the legendary, half-mile dirt oval located in tiny Rossburg. Other notable participants include Cup drivers Bill Elliott, Bobby Labonte, Carl Edwards, Dave Blaney, David Reutimann, Denny Hamlin, Elliott Sadler, J.J. Yeley, Jeff Gordon, Juan Montoya, Kasey Kahne, Ken Schrader, Kenny Wallace, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, Mike Wallace and Ryan Newman, as well as Cup car owner Ray Evernham.

The difference between Stewart and the rest, of course, is the fact that Stewart also happens to own the place where they'll be racing. He bought the joint known as "Auto Racing's Showcase since 1954" from original owners Earl and Berneice Baltes in November 2004.

At the time of the sale, Baltes said of Stewart: "I wouldn't do it unless I knew the track was being left in the right hands. Tony Stewart is a true racer. He's raced here many times, but he's also been here as a car owner and as a spectator. He knows what Eldora is all about, and he's the perfect guy to run Eldora for the next 50 years."

That would take Stewart well into his 80s, if his blood pressure permits it. And yes, Baltes was talking about the same Tony Stewart who frequently catches heat from NASCAR officials and others for the outspoken, controversial ways he conducts his Cup business. But this much is certain: Stewart is serious about how he conducts his business at Eldora -- and his main order of business is pleasing everybody else.

Ask him about Eldora, and Stewart's eyes immediately light up. He's not always willing to talk incessantly and pleasantly with reporters about current events in the Cup world, but he'll talk all night about his beloved Eldora -- even though the relationship sometimes leaves him with a gnawing pain in his gut. Asked about this latest Prelude production, his third attempt at it and the most star-studded field of Cup regulars yet, Stewart sighed and said with a grin: "I'm going to have an ulcer over this event. I can't wait for it to happen."

Asked about what kind of track owner Stewart is, and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate J.J. Yeley quickly adds: "He's a pain in the butt. He's like any other track promoter -- he wants to sell more hot dogs and pay less money."

Stewart laughed when he heard that.

"I wish. That's the least of my worries," Stewart said. "You know what? The thing about being the track owner there is that I've been there in every aspect that you can be there. I've been there as a fan, I've been there as a crew member, I've been there as a driver, I've been there as a car owner. So I would like to think, you know, that the main things that I worry about are the important things most people worry about.

"I want the track to be good, I want everybody to have fun. I worry about the same thing every other promoter across the country does. I think the thing that helps me as sort of a rookie owner is that when someone comes to me with a concern -- whether it's you as a fan, or you as a car owner, or as a driver, I can relate to what they're talking about."

Now 36, Stewart was 15 years old when he first raced a sprint car at Eldora in the USAC 4-Crown Nationals. When he was younger, he used to sit in the grandstand and watch the action coming off Turn 4 with a level of intensity that escaped most of the other spectators, no matter how passionate they might be. He eventually raced a total of 17 USAC events at Eldora, including winning Sprint and Midget races there in 1995 when he became the first driver (Yeley later became the second and only other one) to capture the USAC Triple Crown in by winning the national Midget, Sprint and Silver Crown titles in a single season.

He couldn't have imagined owning Eldora Speedway back then. But once he made a pile of money racing first in Indy cars and then in NASCAR and the place became available, he couldn't imagine doing anything else.

"What kind of retirement program do we all have here? We don't have any," Stewart said. "You know, at some point, you sit there and think, 'What am I going to do when I quit driving a racecar?' That was just an easy thing, to sit here and say, 'Hey, I can own a racetrack and still be involved in racing without necessarily having to be behind the steering wheel of a racecar.'"

Yeley said that he is not surprised Stewart ended up owning Eldora. He said that it's obvious Stewart, and many Nextel Cup drivers like him with a background in dirt racing, are far more comfortable there on a race weekend than they are at a big-time Cup event.

"All kidding aside, he's one of the coolest guys around. Not because he's Tony Stewart, but because of what he's done for this sport -- and I'm not talking about just NASCAR," Yeley said. "Here's a guy who has given back. He's just a pure racecar driver. He's taken one of the best dirt tracks in the country and made it better. Being a fellow dirt guy -- and all of us love dirt racing -- it's just really neat to see that."

Bowyer, whose background also is in dirt racing, said that going to a place like Eldora to race brings back fond memories of sleeping 10 to a room at a cheap motel and competing for the pure joy of it more than anything else.

Track Facts

LAYOUT:	Half-mile dirt oval
BANKING:	Turns, 24 degrees; straightaways, 8 degrees
CAPACITY:	17,905 permanent seats plus hillside seating

Back in the day, he said, "No matter how you run, you could go out and have fun and have a beer afterward and then get up the next morning and get things rolling again for the next night. Now, if you run bad, you've got a lot of people to answer to. You've got a pretty angry boss; you've got sponsors who are wondering what's going on. It's your career, you know? It's your life. So it is different."

Yeley added that anyone with a background in dirt racing always jumps at any opportunity to go back and run on it again.

"That's where all the fun is at," he said. "It's not that I don't have fun on Sundays. But at this level, the Nextel Cup level, there's not a lot of fun to it -- because there is a lot of pressure. Your races are so long. You're always intense, if it's focusing on your line, racing somebody or racing the racetrack, making sure you take care of all you're sponsor commitments. You don't get to just show up on Sunday and race.

"I've always been very hands-on. When I get to go to a dirt track, I'm getting dirty and working on the car, signing a few autographs and then you go out and get to race with no pressure. It's fun when you get to go do that, because it's more like a pastime versus a job."

No one realizes that more than the often-controversial Stewart.

"There is a simplicity to it," Stewart said of returning to race on the dirt of Eldora. "With every bit of fame and fortune that you have, there is responsibility and pressure that goes along with it. It's an even scale. It's a lot of fun to go there and not be there for three days -- to just show up in the afternoon and race and then load up and go home that night.

"That's what makes an event like this fun. Everybody can go there, and they're not worried about what time do I have to be at hospitality and what time do I have to be there or what time to I have to do this or do that. It just makes it a lot simpler."

Eldora is a simple kind of place. On the nights of really big races, the main concession stands stay open all night -- as in overnight -- to accommodate hungry and thirsty customers, many of whom cram the on-site campgrounds for up to a week at a time. They serve cold Mountain Dew in cans and the establishment's most famous menu item is what once was described by a reviewer as "something called a Pizza Steak" -- a double burger with Italian dressing and Mozzarella cheese.

Natives of Ohio are familiar with the Pizza Steak concept, and it's a tasty one. It's just that the rest of the world has yet to catch on.

The bottom line is that Stewart knows what makes his customers at Eldora happy, and works hard to keep them that way. His Prelude event is just that: a prelude to The Dirt Late Model Dream that is one of dirt racing's premier events every year and will be run later this week at the same venue.

The Prelude also is lots of fun and raises a large amount of money for a very worthwhile charity in the Victory Junction Gang, which benefits disabled and disadvantaged children.

"It's a fun event," Stewart said. "The neat thing is that it's fun to be able to race with your peers that you race against every week. When we're out here racing [in Nextel Cup], you're racing against the best in the country and it's a very pressure-filled, intense situation. When you go to Eldora, it's just about having fun and raising money for a good cause.

"You'll see a totally different atmosphere at Eldora than you see at a Nextel Cup race. You don't see drivers walking around the garage area [at a Cup event], because they can't walk around the garage area and just hang out and talk without somebody wanting something all the time. But at Eldora, you'll be able to walk out there and see three guys leaning on the same car, talking about hot laps. It's just a totally different atmosphere. It's laid back and fun for everyone."

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Even for the track owner?

"If I didn't care, I wouldn't have the ulcers. But I wouldn't trade in my ulcers, anyway," Stewart said. "I think that's why I like it. Everything about that facility, I take personally -- whether I'm there or not. It's my heart and soul, it's my reputation. And I want every person, whether it's a spectator or a driver or a car owner, I want everybody involved to be happy and have fun. That's my goal every week. No matter what role you play when you go to the track, I want the experience to be enjoyable for you."

Yeah, well, Yeley said he will believe that when he sees it -- when it comes to racing in the Prelude. After all, they are racers. And racers do whatever it takes to win.

In the end, that's what puts on the best show for the spectators. And that, along with Pizza Steak sandwiches being served from all-night concession stands under the watchful eyes of a track owner who really cares, will keep those customers coming back year after year.

"You know, Tony told me last year that he wasn't supposed to win this race -- but then of course he went out and did it, because he's one of those guys that when he hits the track he wants to win no matter what," Yeley said. "I've got that same fierce, fire in me. ... I'm sure we're all going to go out there for the win -- and if I have to stick Tony Stewart in the fence to do it, I'm sure we'll all be fine with it."