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Joe Gaerte en route to winning the 1988 season finale for the All Star Circuit of Champions at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway. The victory also secured the series title for the Indiana racer. (Steve Frayre photo)

National Sprint Car HoF To Honor Eldora Speedway In Track Tribute

The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum in Knoxville, Iowa, will feature a “Track Tribute to Eldora Speedway” exhibit over the summer.

The tribute will be on display through Oct. 1, and includes cars, memorabilia and much more from one of the most revered tracks in sprint car and motor racing history — Eldora Speedway, established in 1954.

Sprint cars, a dirt late model, a midget and several items of memorabilia are exhibited in honor of the famous western Ohio facility. In addition, videos showcasing the track and memorabilia are also part of the exhibit.

The cars on display this summer include the Jim Linder 1975 Eldora championship sprint car, the Elder Cadillac No. 55 driven by Tom Bigelow, the 2004 King’s Royal champion Jason Sides No. 7s, the Keith Kunz No. 97 midget driven by Rico Abreu to the 2016 Four Crown win, Donnie Moran’s 2001 million dollar late model, the Shark Racing No. 1s driven by Logan Schuchart during last year’s Eldora Million win, the Nickles Bros. No. 31 driven by Shane Carson to the first Eldora Nationals win, the Williams No. 8, Doug Wolfgang’s 1990 King’s Royal winner and Brent Marks 2022 Historical Big One and King’s Royal winner. 

Also on the grounds are Tim Allison’s Eldora track championship No. 11 and Kenny Jacobs No. 71m that won the 1994 Historical Big One.

“The history of Eldora Speedway is a large one,” said Museum Coordinator Bill Wright. “From Earl Baltes cutting the track out on his land, to the passing of the torch to Tony Stewart, it has seen so much over eight decades. It’s hard to represent the entire history of a track like Eldora, but we feel we’ve done our best to select a variety of cars and moments that will bring back memories for our visitors. 

“We’d be remiss if we didn’t thank those who made it possible. Nine of our cars have nine different owners including the Linder family, Sides Motorsports, Keith Kunz, Donnie Moran, Shark Racing, Mike Nickles, Tony Stewart and Brent Marks. We also couldn’t do this without memorabilia contributions from Eldora Speedway, Kelly Lincoln, Veronica Frost, and others. 

“We feel the exhibit will be great for not only the fans of Eldora, but anyone wanting to learn more about it.”