ROSSBURG, Ohio — The richest sprint car race in history, paying a million dollars to win, the Dirt Track World Championship and a visit from the Superstar Racing Experience will highlight Eldora Speedway’s 70th anniversary season.
In addition, the 40th Kings Royal, the 53rd World 100 and the 29th Late Model Dream will be featured on the 2023 schedule.
Eldora will host 23 nights of action-packed racing, featuring 12 different divisions and eight sanctioning bodies. The season also features the return of the Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions Ohio Sprint Speedweek, the 41st running of the 4-Crown Nationals, FloRacing Night in America, two $10 Family Fireworks Nights and the popular #LetsRaceTwo open-wheel doubleheader weekend.
Feature winners will pocket $1,817,000 from total purses of approximately $4,300,000. Drivers and teams who do well will not only be handsomely rewarded financially, but they’ll have career-making bright spots on their bios. With so much on the line, fans are expected to see great competition throughout big fields of dirt track racing’s best teams and drivers.
For the second consecutive year “FloRacing Night in America” kicks off the season on Tuesday, April 18, with DIRTcar late models competing for $23,023-to-win, plus UMP modifieds and Eldora stocks.
World of Outlaws winged sprint cars and USAC non-wing sprint cars will run two nights on May 5-6 with the #LetsRaceTwo, featuring full programs each night. All four features pay $10,000-to-win over the course of the weekend.
The first of two $10 Family Fireworks Nights is set for Saturday, May 20, with USAC SpeeD2 Midwest Thunder midgets, UMP modifieds, Eldora stocks and the area’s largest fireworks and pyrotechnics display. Round two is set for Saturday, Aug. 5, with NRA 360 sprint cars, UMP modifieds, Eldora stocks and another grand fireworks spectacular.
With $129,000 on the line to the winner, the 29th running of the Dirt Late Model Dream is set for Saturday, June 10. Preliminary racing cards will run on June 8-9, featuring twin 25-lap, $12,000-to-win features nightly.
After a three-year hiatus, the Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions (ASCoC) Ohio Sprint Speedweek for 410 winged sprint cars returns Friday, June 16. With support from the Whistle Stop restaurant in nearby Ansonia, the ASCoC winner will take home $12,000. The Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Series (BOSS) non-wing sprint cars will also compete in a full program that evening.
Calling it “long overdue for winged sprint car racing,” Eldora Speedway owner Tony Stewart is posting a purse of $1.5 million for the latest edition of the Eldora Million on Thursday, July 13. The winner will earn $1,002,023 — making it the richest sprint car race in motorsports history. A full program that includes two $12,000-to-win, 25-lap features highlights the Eldora Million preliminary night on Wednesday, July 12.
To finish out the richest four days in sprint car racing history is the 40th running of the Kings Royal on Saturday, July 15, which offers a winner’s payout of $175,070 for the World of Outlaws sprint car-sanctioned event. On Friday, July 14, the annual “Knight Before the Kings Royal” will now offer $20,000 to the winner.
The Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) will return to Eldora for round five of ESPN’s six-race “Thursday Night Thunder” series on Thursday, Aug. 10. This series, which debuted in 2021, features former champions of NASCAR, IndyCar and other forms of motorsports, including previous winners of the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500. Drivers compete in special SRX stock cars prepared as equally as possible.
The founder of Eldora Speedway, the late Earl Baltes, and his family will be honored at the 15th running of the Baltes Classic on Sunday, Sept. 3. The program includes DIRTcar late models ($5,000-to-win), UMP modifieds and Eldora stocks.
The Biggest Dirt Race in the World, the 53rd running of the World 100, is set for Saturday, Sept. 9. Preliminary action is set for Thursday and Friday, Sept. 7-8. The 41st edition of the 4-Crown Nationals, an open-wheel classic, is set for Sept. 22-23. Friday’s program is highlighted by the World of Outlaws sprint cars as well as a complete program for USAC midgets and qualifying for the USAC Silver Crown division.
Saturday’s finale features complete programs for USAC Silver Crown, USAC sprint cars, USAC midgets and the ASCoC winged sprint cars.
And finally, the newest addition to the Eldora schedule is the 43rd Dirt Track World Championship (DTWC), which is the season finale for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. It offers a $100,000 first-place prize on Saturday, Oct. 21. UMP modifieds and Eldora stocks will compete on Thursday, Oct. 19, while Friday, Oct. 20, offers qualifying events for the Lucas Oil Late Model Series, the steel-block late models and features for the modifieds.