Who misses the days of 200 plus late models at Elodora.

[spintowin]

Awesome seeing huge amount of haulers in line to get in the pits . It was cool seeing them one after the other arriving from the view of our campsite. All there is memories.

[old fan]

so true so true

[chupp n bloomer fan]

That's the World 100, not the Dream. But honestly I don't. They still weeded them down to 120.

[old fan]

I remember a year for the Dream they had 144 cars on the track packing in a rain soaked track https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=eldora+dream+100&view=detailv2&&id=4561C5B14AB9C652AFAFB88464801754D7053398&selectedIndex=20&ccid=AeMqSV3i&simid=608021629022964079&thid=OIP.M01e32a495de2f58f223132becd52e0fao0&ajaxhist=0

[dirtdobber45]

I remember a year for the Dream they had 144 cars on the track packing in a rain soaked track https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=eldora+dream+100&view=detailv2&&id=4561C5B14AB9C652AFAFB88464801754D7053398&selectedIndex=20&ccid=AeMqSV3i&simid=608021629022964079&thid=OIP.M01e32a495de2f58f223132becd52e0fao0&ajaxhist=0Thanx for those pics... brought back some memories. Did ya notice the tires on some of Davey J wedge cars? Look like they came off a monster truck lol

[old fan]

yep they ran humpers back in the day with large side panels

[Phatdaddy]

I always heard there the world 100 used to have no entry fee. And some of the big name teams back in the '80s used to qualify more that one car. If those things are true, it probably contributed to those high car counts.

[STRONGERTHANDIRT]

Some of the larger counts came after the rules were changed to one car per driver.

[old fan]

one year at the world not dream they had 262 cars single car teams

[tiger]

Was it really all that great? If there was 200 cars, there was probably around 50 guys that could actually went thinking there were going to make the show, another 50 that were long shots. and of all of those maybe 15 cars that were capable of winning the race. So there were 100 cars there that had little or even more likely no shot at getting in.

[old fan]

yes it was really great because many many of the name drivers went home early you miss the cut you home didn't matter who you were

[25 Jay 53]

I kinda miss those days but not too bad. It was neat to always top 200 cars but about 100 had no business there. It took forever to qualify too. But the new normal is 75 or so at the Dream and a few more at the W100

[play4kps]

Those were great days! It is not going to happen again! The sport has gotten out of control, people changing chassis every year, shocks are outrageous, fuel is getting close to 3 dollars a gallon again, pit pass prices have gone up. Just because more money is spent on outrageous chassis cost and shocks, does not mean its better for the sport!
Doug Drown, Conleys, Tim and Zack Dohm, Chub, Eckert, Wells, Brandon Kinzer, Chad Stapleton, Cody Mahoney, Ruhlman, Noonan, plus 8 or 9 drivers from Michigan were not even there, I think drivers are done blowing money if they feel they don't have a chance! The outrageous cost will hurt the sport further or potentially destroy it! The one charm of dirt racing is seeing locals or smaller team compete and even beat big money teams and drivers, that is not happening anymore!

[W2Racing09]

Those were great days! It is not going to happen again! The sport has gotten out of control, people changing chassis every year, shocks are outrageous, fuel is getting close to 3 dollars a gallon again, pit pass prices have gone up. Just because more money is spent on outrageous chassis cost and shocks, does not mean its better for the sport!
Doug Drown, Conleys, Tim and Zack Dohm, Chub, Eckert, Wells, Brandon Kinzer, Chad Stapleton, Cody Mahoney, Ruhlman, Noonan, plus 8 or 9 drivers from Michigan were not even there, I think drivers are done blowing money if they feel they don't have a chance! The outrageous cost will hurt the sport further or potentially destroy it! The one charm of dirt racing is seeing locals or smaller team compete and even beat big money teams and drivers, that is not happening anymore!

Well it does not help that all of these regional series' are running the weekends of the Dream. The Ethanol series in Michigan, the Appalachian Mountain Speedweek in PA, the MARS series in OK, The COMP Cams Series in AR, The STARS series, MSCCS Series, SAS, Clash, UFO, the Ultimate Series, etc. etc.

Back when those big car counts were happening I believe a lot of series and tracks took the weekend off, especially those nearby. But there are several races happening at or very close to OH even this weekend which is taking away some of the drivers you mentioned.

Thanks,
Jeff.

[old fan]

exactly sir

[kidrock]

Tracks did take the weekend off but, then someone sceduled a race and had a good field of cars and realized not everyone wanted to go to Eldora so, now more and more tracks or series is doing it.

[old fan]

no respect any more I think it has to d o with regional gys can't tae the day or days off from their real job to go race xxxx miles away

[Josh Bayko]

I don't understand the obsession with huge car counts. Quality trumps quantity every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

[W2Racing09]

I don't understand the obsession with huge car counts. Quality trumps quantity every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

I think there is a fine line, I think everyone would be disappointing to see only 48 cars at the Dream (two full fields), but there is no need for more cars than you can deal with in one B-Main for each prelim feature. In my opinion the car count they are at now (which is pretty much the car count for most big events 60-80 cars) is perfect. The only other consideration is how profitable the event is to the track (certainly Eldora liked it a lot better when 200 cars were showing up).

Thanks,
Jeff.

[jshawn81]

I miss the six hours of qualifying all those cars fighting to stay awake just to watch the non qualifiers race at 2 in the morning lol

[jlacey]

I liked seeing big car counts at Pennsboro every year only bc 80-90% of them were cars/drivers I had never seen race before. Quite a few had no business being there but i guess theres always the chance of an easy heat or bmain

[ohdrtfan]

Yep sure do miss those days. Also missed the days of Earl running the place and not changing at catering the rules more and more every year to favor the the "professional" touring racer. I always liked when one of the smaller teams "shocked " everyone and got a good qualifying draw a good time. Started up front and made the show. I recall Many many years ago when a small team from our local area Made the World with a cast iron block 408 with a cast iron 3 speed tranny. I would personally like to see at least a full field for the heats. Never gonna happen anymore though due to all the format changes going the way of the Touring driver. Guess that happens when you get a Professional Driver who takes over and runs things. Just one mans opinion.

[CIRF]

I don't understand the obsession with huge car counts. Quality trumps quantity every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
+1 Exactly what he said! ↑

[Bubstr]

Today there are more cars capable of winning with this format and rules, than any time previous. No matter how many cars show up.

I remember the first daytime races and if you didn't time in the first 30, you could go home. Los of cars? Yes. Good racing? Not quite. Even after they went to nights, when you timed was more important than how fast you where. I'm sorry, Just not a fan of big car counts for races, but it's nice to see all the new drivers, that you never saw before.

[Ryan21mid]

There is a fine line when it comes to car counts, but it sure is disappointing to not see big regional names at the 2nd biggest crown jewel of the year such as the guys listed earlier, as well as: Tony Jackson, Stovall, Culp, McCool, Gustin, Asplin, Looney, Unzicker, Weaver, Spatola, English, Payne, Utter, Eckrich, Beard, Rasdon, Furman, Papich, Posposil, Sullivan, Rickman, Jon Mitchell. The list goes on, stout regional guys that could have a shot at making some noise at a big event like this and are either staying home or their regional tour has scheduled a race this weekend. Quality>Quantity but there are a lot of quality cars and drivers not competing for $100k this weekend.

[jog49]

The times, they are a'changin'!

[Clayton_Wetter]

I remember a year for the Dream they had 144 cars on the track packing in a rain soaked track https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=eldora+dream+100&view=detailv2&&id=4561C5B14AB9C652AFAFB88464801754D7053398&selectedIndex=20&ccid=AeMqSV3i&simid=608021629022964079&thid=OIP.M01e32a495de2f58f223132becd52e0fao0&ajaxhist=0

Did all of them cars make the feature or create any more racing?

[chupp n bloomer fan]

Yep sure do miss those days. Also missed the days of Earl running the place and not changing at catering the rules more and more every year to favor the the "professional" touring racer. I always liked when one of the smaller teams "shocked " everyone and got a good qualifying draw a good time. Started up front and made the show. I recall Many many years ago when a small team from our local area Made the World with a cast iron block 408 with a cast iron 3 speed tranny. I would personally like to see at least a full field for the heats. Never gonna happen anymore though due to all the format changes going the way of the Touring driver. Guess that happens when you get a Professional Driver who takes over and runs things. Just one mans opinion.Tony has done tons for Eldora, and I don't even like him. This format was I guarantee wanted by the regional teams just as much as the big ones. It gives them a much better chance of making money and getting seat time at Eldora. This isn't the old days. If you don't have about $75k in your car, your chances are very slim. All the drivers are to blame for that and the series. And it isn't going to change. Till there's no one left.

[Dante Toledo, OH]

I have been there with the big car counts, and it is way better now. Thursday 8 heats, 2 b mains, 2 a mains. Old format Thursday was just tech. New format Friday 8 heats 2 b's and 2 a's that pay 10k each. Old format 400 laps of one car at a time qualifying and then the slowest would race at 1am. You guys that miss the old days are crazy. And on Saturday at 7pm when the place goes crazy and the first heat rolls off, who cares if their is 20 cars in each heat or 14 or whatever. If you aren't starting in the top 14 for your heat you are really in a huge hole.

[DarrellGoode]

My first trip to Eldora was back in 1998 for the World. 248 late models. To this day, I've never seen anything like it...other than the Million.

[dirtdobber45]

The world 100 was and still is (to me) the most prestigious race there is because of the history of it. And yes most tracks and series always took that weekend off because of that. Now a days racers cant afford to go there for that weekend or you have your 'cherry pickers' that would rather go somewhere they know they have a better chance to win...sad

[latemodelman]

I was there back in 2005 and saw 217 late models let me tell ya 120 and this format is great. I miss 200 but man. I was there on Thursday to get my $5 pit pass and to see at 9a.m. 90 late models and more coming in was amazing and Friday the pits were full. I hated 1a.m. non qualifiers.

[rds10378]

I remember a year for the Dream they had 144 cars on the track packing in a rain soaked track https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=eldora+dream+100&view=detailv2&&id=4561C5B14AB9C652AFAFB88464801754D7053398&selectedIndex=20&ccid=AeMqSV3i&simid=608021629022964079&thid=OIP.M01e32a495de2f58f223132becd52e0fao0&ajaxhist=0
I miss the old layout. They took all of the banking out and really taking a lot of racing from it.

[buster83]

i remember them saying they would draw more cars going to this format yeah right this much racing on that big of a track is for big money teams.

[old fan]

they could run 3 nights but thurs day would be practice

[old fan]

Did all of them cars make the feature or create any more racing? no but it made more pressure on the big teams to perform better or on there toes not run like crap thursday kicke butt on friday wow looky here a good spot in a heat on sat night

[Aces&Eights]

I always heard there the world 100 used to have no entry fee. And some of the big name teams back in the '80s used to qualify more that one car. If those things are true, it probably contributed to those high car counts.No they actually had 200+ racers show up. There were teams who had second cars qualified, just in case, but that wasn't the norm.

[old fan]

+1 Exactly what he said! �ªcoming from a guy that goes to a champ car or midget race with not even a full field and brags about it

[Hoosier_Dirt]

Why in the world any dirt track qualifies is beyond me!

[IZZOJR16]

I miss it a TON. Nothing like the good ole days of seeing all those cars at crown jewels, it was such a sight to see. Like a kid in a candy store.

[chathamracefan]

Do you guys have any ideas of things to do to bump the car count back up? I will say the quality of the field at this year's Dream was the best ever. I don't think I saw a car that clearly had no business being there. Sure there were some slower ones but none of them were "dog slow". Just curious as to ideas. Obviously cost is the biggest issue. Perhaps they could try to get some of the better regional sanctions to co sanction & have free entry for the top 5 in points or something like that (Southern All Stars, Mars, etc). Also, the support from the Ohio/Michigan drivers has fallen off.

I will say the racing was really good all weekend.

[W2Racing09]

Do you guys have any ideas of things to do to bump the car count back up? I will say the quality of the field at this year's Dream was the best ever. I don't think I saw a car that clearly had no business being there. Sure there were some slower ones but none of them were "dog slow". Just curious as to ideas. Obviously cost is the biggest issue. Perhaps they could try to get some of the better regional sanctions to co sanction & have free entry for the top 5 in points or something like that (Southern All Stars, Mars, etc). Also, the support from the Ohio/Michigan drivers has fallen off.

I will say the racing was really good all weekend.

There is no outstanding need to increase car counts unless the race is unprofitable to the track.

The biggest way to increase car counts is for all of the surrounding series' and tracks to take the week off. I don't see that happening.

Thanks,
Jeff.

[play4kps]

One thing you could do is pay 50,000 to win, take the other 50,000 and pay it thru the field, no less than 5000 up to 20th and 3500 to start. no driver will stay away if the 1st is cut in half!
and maybe have a non qualifier race for 3 grand! 30 or 40 laps!!

[chathamracefan]

I had thought about a non qualifier type of race also. Don't get me wrong I thought all 3 nights were good. I'd just like to see a few more of the regional guys that have a chance to compete. Somewhere around 100 cars.

[zyoung25]

One thing you could do is pay 50,000 to win, take the other 50,000 and pay it thru the field, no less than 5000 up to 20th and 3500 to start. no driver will stay away if the 1st is cut in half!
and maybe have a non qualifier race for 3 grand! 30 or 40 laps!!

I can see where you're coming from, but I'm a firm believer in not messing with tradition, it wouldn't be considered a dream to me if the winner won 50-75k, since there is a handful of 50k to win races out there. Do I think Saturdays payback purse could use a little upping....yes sir.

The dream never pulled the cars of the world, never has and never will. Mainly due to the time of year. The world is at the end of the year, when some tracks and regional series' seasons are over. To where the dream is around the time some guys are just getting going, guys that run tracks and regional series' don't want to take a chance on nuking an engine or tearing their car up early in the season.

I was there and witnessed all of these big car counts. I miss them, but don't in the same sense. There were a lot cars that came back then, that didn't need to be there. They just went for the experience, and to say they had done it. We still have a few that do it, and that's fine by me, I like seeing them there honestly. That track would be completely burned up with today's format and 200+ cars, it just wouldn't be as fun I don't think.

[TerryM]

It was awesome getting to see 200 cars back then, mostly because it was the only opportunity a lot of us got to see many of the drivers from out of our region. But entertainment-wise, 75-80 cars running three nights is much better than watching 200 race one show.

[racinjason29]

I personally miss the old Eldora myself. But times change and we must accept it. Ive been going to Eldora since 1988, I was 7 years old. We used to park our camper on the front row in turns 3 and 4. A lot of people never got to witness Eldora back then. It sure was great and still fun to talk about.