ROSSBURG, Ohio — It’s where drivers balance commitment with aggression and precision with adaptability. It is Eldora Speedway, the ultra-fast half-mile clay oval built by Earl Baltes and now owned by Tony Stewart.
From July 15-18, sprint car racing’s elite descend upon the renowned oval for the 43rd Kings Royal Week, with Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing kicking off the action with Wednesday night’s Double Down Duels and Thursday night’s Joker’s Jackpot.
These races feature a who’s who of 410 winged sprint car talent, including those who remain true to their dirt-track roots even as they flourish in NASCAR. Two-time and reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson won last year’s Joker’s Jackpot, while two-time NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race winner Corey Day was a winner in last year’s Double Down Duels.
“Eldora’s events are so competitive and super difficult to win,” said Brad Sweet, who co-founded Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing with Larson. “To win a race there, you have to be willing to run within inches of the wall. It takes lots of bravery and commitment to rise above the competition and go to that next level.”
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“You look up and down the roster and it’s packed with race winners and championship-caliber teams, and that’s exactly what we hoped this series would become,” Larson said. “We had 18 different winners last year. That shows you how competitive Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing is.”
There have been nine different winners so far this season, with the series’ top-two points protagonists – Rico Abreu and Aaron Reutzel – accounting for 11 wins through the first four months of the season.
Abreu currently leads the championship standings with four wins and front-running consistency. Reutzel has a series-high seven wins and has traded the point lead with Abreu multiple times.
“Eldora is not one of those places where you just roll in with a good car and win,” said Reutzel, who won his Double Down Duel during last year’s Kings Royal Week. “Now, you still need to have a good car, but the driver has to be on his A-game. When the line gets up there on the fence and it’s treacherous, you have to really drive the car. You’re on the verge of crashing and you still have to put 30 perfect laps together. Eldora is like that. That’s why it’s so hard to win there. You’ve got to be perfect.”
Reutzel ultimately crashed out of last year’s Kings Royal Week in Friday night’s rough-and-tumble The Knight Before the Kings Royal.
“Leaving in an ambulance is what I most remember,” said Reutzel, who sustained a fractured right foot that sidelined him for seven weeks. “But I also remember that the racing was great.
“My crash was just a freak deal. I think I had a tire going low. When I left turn four, it kind of rolled up on the right rear. I told myself to move down, but I said, ‘No, I’m in second.’ It wasn’t really anything track-related. I’m super excited to get back and redeem ourselves because last year we were really fast.”
Abreu was quick too, finishing third in his Double Down Duel and third in the Joker’s Jackpot.
“I remember the intensity was quite higher than I expected and, knowing that, I felt like I put a lot of pressure on myself to win there,” said Abreu about last year’s event. “It was just a matter of allowing the race to evolve for me.
“That’s the same mindset I’m bringing this year. If I continue to put myself in position every year, I feel that we’re bound to conquer the big races at Eldora. Those are my focuses – just getting my team on the right page, not overthinking things, and just really being myself.”
It’s a philosophy that worked to perfection when Abreu returned to Eldora in September and won the 4-Crown Nationals finale.
“The biggest thing for me is understanding how the track raced and respecting it,” Abreu said. “The high line on the wall is very treacherous, so you need to be flexible to maneuver the race car and find different lines. I studied a lot of drivers over the years who’ve had a lot of success at Eldora, and that’s really allowed me to develop that same success for myself.”
