Weekend Schedule
ELDORA SPEEDWAY
Today: USAC sprints, Eldora stocks. Gates open at 3:30 p.m., hot laps at 6, racing at 7:30. Pit party from 4 to 5 p.m. with general admission ticket.
Saturday: USAC sprints, UMP Dirtcar modifieds. Gates open at 3:30 p.m., hot laps at 6, racing at 7:30.
KIL-KARE SPEEDWAY
Today: NASCAR Whelen All-American Series late models, modifieds, sports stock, compacts, IKO Minicups. Gates open at 6 p.m., racing at 8.
KIL-KARE DRAGWAY
Saturday: NHRA-sanctioned Summit ET Bracket Racing Series. Gates open at 11 a.m., time trials at noon.
SHADY BOWL SPEEDWAY
Saturday: Postponed.
In May, sprint car driver Bryan Clauson will fulfill a dream by racing at the fabled Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the Indy Lights Series. Tonight, he takes on the dirt version.
Clauson and USAC’s national sprint car series thunder into Eldora Speedway for the two-day Don Branson/Jud Larson Classic, featuring a pair of 30-lap features.
“Eldora is a place, even though it hasn’t been too kind to me over the years, any race you show up for is a big one,” Clauson said. “It’s a place everyone wants to win at and kind of a place that separates the men from the boys. When you win at Eldora, it’s legit. It doesn’t happen by chance.”
Clauson, 21, doesn’t have a national sprint win at Eldora but did score a Silver Crown victory at last year’s 4-Crown Nationals. His most memorable — or perhaps most unforgetable — moment came when the then 16-year old flipped during practice in June of 2005 and was transported to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton.
“I think if you’re ever comfortable (running Eldora), you’re probably not going fast enough,” he said.
California’s Damion Gardner, winner of two of the first three USAC sprint races, leads defending series champion Levi Jones of Indiana by 22 points. Clauson, who won the other race, sits in third.
Shady Bowl plans
Shady Bowl Speedway plans to run this season, and the Champaign County track anticipates opening in late April.
Questions swirled around the track’s future after owner Charles D. Stapleton, 49, pleaded guilty on Feb. 15 to three counts of aggravated theft of more than $100,000, two counts of grand theft of more than $5,000 and three counts of identity theft. Stapleton was sentenced to four years in prison.
Stapleton’s wife, Lisa, could not be reached for comment about the track’s plans, but this was posted on Shady Bowl’s Facebook page and the track’s web site on Monday:
“We are racing this season. We are currently in the process of transitioning to new management. Current plans should have track preparations and racing ready to go by the end of April, subject to weather conditions.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2400, ext. 6991, or gbilling@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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