General manager Roger Slack said he began planning to secure face masks in case Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, decided to hold a few events without a crowd.
They would have been used for employees, their families and race teams.
Working with friends in Shanghai, who had warned about the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak, Slack took delivery of 2,800 masks from overseas last week after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended limiting gatherings to fewer than 50 people.
With Eldora remaining closed to the public (staff working from home since mid-March), Slack put out word in the region around the dirt track he would like to donate the masks to emergency workers needing personal protective equipment. Within 30 minutes of contacting local hospitals and officials, all of the masks had been committed.
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Slack said anywhere from 50 to 200 went to several local volunteer rescue squads rationing one mask per volunteer.
”Nobody was greedy. They all just asked for whatever we could spare,” Slack said.
The track sent hand sanitizer, nitrile gloves and masks from its infield care center to a locally based manufacturing company that’s an essential business and was running low on personal protective equipment for employees.
Eldora was scheduled to open its 67th season April 18, but Slack said this week, all events scheduled for April and early May have been postponed until further notice.
For up-to-date info on the 2020 race schedule, go to eldoraspeedway.com.
Eldora announces broadcast agreement
Eldora Speedway and FloSports, the innovator in live digital sports and original content, have announced a multiyear agreement for live and on-demand coverage from the high-banked, half-mile dirt oval.
The partnership makes FloRacing the exclusive worldwide provider for the 50th World 100 from Sept. 10 to 12 and the 26th Dirt Late Model Dream from June 4 to 6.
In addition to two of dirt racing’s largest multiday event weekends, FloRacing will livestream each Eldora Championship Series event for the dirt late model, modified and super stock divisions.
The partnership, which also includes the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions, brings more than 60 nights of racing to the FloRacing platform, which already includes the full slate of United States Auto Club events across the country, making FloRacing the premier destination for dirt racing fans.
“I’m passionate about dirt racing and grassroots motorsports in general, and there’s no better way to access some of the greatest racing in the country than with FloRacing,” said Tony Stewart, who has owned Eldora Speedway since 2004 and the All Star Circuit of Champions since 2015.
“While I’m obviously partial to Eldora Speedway and the All Star Circuit of Champions, I’m a spectator and a competitor at dirt tracks all over the country, and I see firsthand the level of talent that’s out there," he said. "And now, you can see that same talent on your TV, tablet and phone. If you can’t physically be in the grandstands at a race, FloRacing has you covered. I’m extremely excited about this partnership and appreciative of the commitment Mark Floreani and his team are making to motorsports.”
Local go-kart racing on hold
The local go-kart events scheduled for Columbus Speedway Go-Kart Racing, which holds events at the Bartholomew County 4-H Fairgrounds, and Jennings County Outlaw Karting, which conducts races at the Jennings County 4-H Fairgrounds in North Vernon, have put their season-opening events on hold due to the COVID-19 mandates.
Columbus Speedway was scheduled to start its season April 25, and for now, that event has been moved to May 9. Jennings County promoter Clayton Perry has postponed the April 17 races scheduled for his track.
Brownstown canceled for tonight
Brownstown Speedway has canceled tonight’s race program.
For further info on the upcoming race schedule, visit brownstownspeedway.com.
Bloomington cancels first two races
The Bloomington Speedway has canceled its first two events of the 2020 season, including the season opener April 10 and the USAC National Sprint Car Series race scheduled for April 17.
USAC schedule update
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, USAC has postponed/canceled the following USAC National Sprint Car and Midget events for April: April 18, USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Cars at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt; April 24, USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midgets at Kokomo Speedway in Kokomo; and April 25, USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midgets at Kokomo Speedway in Kokomo.
This week in racing history
This weekend 50 years ago in 1970, Jim Curry won his first career Brownstown Speedway feature, winning over Gene Petro, Bob Kinser, Jack Smith and Gene Sutton.
From 30 years ago in 1990 at Brownstown, C.J. Rayburn won the late model feature over Jim Curry, Bob Pierce, Mike Jewell and Doug Ault. The street stock feature went to Mark Barber over Earl Plessinger, Scott Patman, John Abel and Rodney Riggle.
There were two bomber features run with Bob Johnson taking the first one over Don Walp, Kevin Sebastian, Shannon Stewart and Jerry Corson and Darin George taking the second feature over Brad Schlehuser, Jeff Wilson, Kenny Hardin Jr. and Mike Jones.
From 10 years ago in 2010, Steven Godsey won the Indiana late model feature at Brownstown over Zak Blackwood, Kevin Hardin, Alan Magner and Edgar Godsey.
Jay Deckard grabbed the super stock main over Lee Hobbs, Tim Clark, Jeremy Hines and Brad Cummings. Aaron Fields won the bomber feature over Josh Turner, Bubba Woods, Nathan Baker and Keaton Streeval. Curt Bennett won the pure stock main event over Tim Roberts, Cody Vanosdol, Mickey Hines and Brian Ballard.