Pit Passes were a Hundred for both nights.
200,000 150,000 100,000 first second and third. 10,000 to start. 12 lap heats and 40 lap feature. Car that Qualified got a stamp or sticker that couldn't be swapped out. Whatever you qualified, You ran. Hines totalled his Twister on Fri Night and Hoffmans worked all night just trying to rebuild the car around the stamp. Took it back to Cincy. Dickie in the other 69 came from 15th to first and led about 15 laps but was running half a groove lower than Smith and Haud who both got around. It was Stevie's first NW and given a couple more laps, He may have won it.

Don't know about the 9,000 fans, It was a little more than the normal four crown. But that could be close. I know the pits were full to the brim with both people and cars.

If my memory serves me right, my dad (team owner at the time) sold our entry position in this race for $500 bucks after I stuck the car in the backstretch pond @ Montpelier Speedway. Shows how important this race was just to be involved....

Remember JJ Yeley's car, with the dollar bills in the paint scheme? Didn't it have an odd-looking front end to it? That was an awesome show, and I doubt we'll ever see anything like this again. You really had to hand it to Earl Baltes for trying an event like this (and the Million dollar late model race too). Now Eldora is home to TORC and Monster Jam......

I'm primarily a late model watcher, but the Mopar Million was my first visit ever to the Big E. The racing was great. There was a guy named Troy Cline (I think) that went through a couple rounds of the alphabet soup & was half way through the field of the 3rd one when his motor let go.

Everything about that weekend was awesome. Even the weather!!

136 regular non wing drivers and 2 outlaws, the 2 outlaws finished first and second.
If my memory serves me right I believe that Stevie Smith never drove a non winged car till that weekend.
I also remember that the numbers of fans was way down on Friday because a lot of people thought that it was just going to be hot laps and 2 lap time trials so they stayed home but as it turned out Friday produced some very exciting racing.
It was like the WOODSTOCK for sprint cars.

Does the name TROY RUTHERFORD ring any bells? He, like Troy Cline, really had to make something happen. Both passed a lot of cars while transferring through the early mains.

That was a fabulous event and the collective level of energy that everyone brought was sky high.

My sweet wife, who never missed a day of work, actually took a day off to go with me for both days of this event. That is devotion!

Many times a "special race" doesn't live up to the hype. Not this time. The racing was great. The day after the Million, L'burg had a Sunday afternoon show and everytime I saw Dickie Gaines that afternoon he had a huge grin.

I talked to Dickie about a half hour after the racing ended at the Mopar Million and yes, He had a grin you couldn't wipe off. Your right, Burg did have a sunday show after that. Wow, Time flys.

What we remember most about "The Million" is the weather was absolutely beautiful and the first 30 laps or so of the A main. I remember cheering heartily along with a bunch of people setting around us for Russ Gamester early on hoping he could pull off the big win before he faded just a bit in the latter stages.

The Million is probably my fondest memory of Eldora, and that's saying something because we went to the World every year from 1984 up until around '04 or '05. I believe The Million was the first wingless sprint car race we'd ever seen at Eldora and the dirt late models and the World 100 never had the same appeal after that. Still don't!