The Eldora Dirt Derby was a annual race in the

NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck-based stock cars. The series is o ...

race held at

Eldora Speedway Eldora Speedway (nicknamed "the Big E", "Auto Racing's Showcase Since 1954," and "the World's Greatest Dirt Track") is a high-banked Dirt track racing, clay dirt oval. Located north of Rossburg, Ohio in the village of New Weston, Ohio, its websit ...

in Rossburg, Ohio. During its existence from 2013 to 2019, the race was the only

dirt track racing Dirt track racing is a form of motorsport held on clay or dirt surfaced banked oval racetracks. Dirt track racing started in the United States before World War I and became widespread during the 1920s and 1930s using both automobiles and motorc ...

event on any NASCAR national touring series (

Cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...

Xfinity Comcast Cable Communications, LLC, doing business as Xfinity, is an American telecommunications business segment and division of the Comcast Corporation. It is used to market consumer cable television, internet, telephone, and wireless servic ...

, or Truck) schedule and the first since 1970. Due to coronavirus concerns in 2020, the race was not run and is not scheduled to be run again in the Truck Series. The standalone dirt event was later moved to

Knoxville Raceway Knoxville Raceway is a semi-banked half-mile dirt oval raceway (zook clay) located at the Marion County Fairgrounds in Knoxville, Iowa. Races at the "Sprint Car Capital of the World" are held on Saturday nights from April through September eac ...

for 2021.

History

On November 28, 2012, NASCAR announced the addition of a race at Eldora Speedway to the

2013 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series file:Ryan Blaney at Talladega 01 (cropped).JPG, Ryan Blaney, shown here in 2015, won the NASCAR Rookie of the Year#Craftsman Truck Series, Rookie of the Year honors. The 2013 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series was the nineteenth season of th ...

's schedule. The race would be the first on a dirt surface in any of NASCAR's national series since 1970, with the last being at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

. The inaugural running of the event, which completely sold out in January 2013, was run on July 24, 2013.

Austin Dillon Austin Reed Dillon (born April 27, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 3 Chevrolet ZL1 and part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 3 Chevrolet ...

won the event after retaining the lead on a green–white–checker finish. The event was originally branded as the Mudsummer Classic, but was renamed for the 2016 edition due to a

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a Good (economics and accounting), product or Service (economics), service f ...

dispute with

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

, as the league's

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, bu ...

is marketed with the trademark "Midsummer Classic". The event was ultimately renamed the Eldora Dirt Derby, with the 2016 edition being sponsored by

Aspen Dental Aspen Dental is an American dental support organization that supports Aspen Dental-branded dentistry locations. Its headquarters is in Chicago, Illinois and provides support services to independently owned dental offices in the United States. Lo ...

. The 2020 race was canceled due to state restrictions on large gatherings as a safety measure against the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The Derby was removed from the schedule in 2021.

Format

There are five qualifying races, consisting of ten laps each, that determine the starting grid. However, driver's starting positions in the qualifying races are determined by normal two-lap qualifying sessions. Caution laps in the qualifying races are not scored, and five trucks will transfer from each qualifying race. After the five races, a total of 25 trucks will have qualified for the feature (the main event). Another race, named the 'Last Chance Race', consists of 15 laps, and determines the lineup from position 26 to 29. The final position on the grid is awarded to the most recent Camping World Truck Series champion, unless there is no beneficiary to that position. In that case, the fifth-place finisher in the 'Last Chance Race' is awarded the final starting position. The main event, or feature, is 150 laps long, with three segments of 40, 50 and 60 laps. During each break, drivers are allowed to make

pit stop Pitstop may refer to: * Pit stop, in motor racing, when the car stops in the pits for fuel and other consumables to be renewed or replenished * ''Pit Stop'' (1969 film), a movie directed by Jack Hill * ''Pit Stop'' (2013 film), a movie directe ...

s. In 2014, the format was changed. Instead of lasting eight laps, the heat races will now consist of ten laps, with the top five teams failing to qualify for the Main Feature being awarded owners' points. Additionally, drivers are no longer required to pit. Following the abolition of the "all exempt" tour format in 2015, the last chance format changed. Only the top drivers advance to the feature from the Last Chance race, for a net of 27 cars. The remaining five trucks in the field will be filled by NASCAR's provisional starting regulations; trucks in the top four in owner points standings that have not qualified for the race, and then the most recent Truck Series driver champion not in the field if necessary, or if not, the fifth-place truck in owner points standings of those not qualified.

Past winners

Qualifying races

"Last Chance" qualifying race

Feature (Main Event)

*2013, 2015 and 2018: The race was extended due to a NASCAR Overtime finish. *2020: Race cancelled and moved to

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

due to the

Multiple Feature winners (teams)

Manufacturer wins

Tuesday Night Tailgate

The Tuesday Night Tailgate is the supporting event to the Mudsummer Classic featuring pre-race technical inspection for the Truck Series teams. From 2014 to 2015, the event included the Sunoco American Late Model Series. In 2016, the event will feature the

Super DIRTcar Series The Super DIRTcar Series Big Block Modifieds is a North American modified racing, big block modified touring series currently promoted by World Racing Group. The series primarily races on dirt track racing, dirt ovals in the Northeastern United S ...

Big Block Modifieds, which will return to Eldora for the first time since 2006.

Past winners

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eldora at Eldora Speedway 2013 establishments in Ohio NASCAR races at Eldora Speedway Former NASCAR races NASCAR Truck Series races Recurring sporting events established in 2013 July in sports Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2020