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500 laps at Eldora?
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1/24/13, 3:21 PM |
#1
500 laps at Eldora?
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Senior Member
Race Count Last Year: 26 Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 1,137 |
In Lou Long's column in last week's Area Auto Racing News, he mentions that Lou Blaney won 2 500 lap races at Eldora. He implies that they were sprint car races. Is that true? Anyone remember those? I can't imagine it.
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1/24/13, 3:35 PM |
#2
Re: 500 laps at Eldora?
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 897 |
yeah, they ran 500 lappers ........ I have seen the ads in old issues I have of NSSN.
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1/24/13, 3:38 PM |
#3
Re: 500 laps at Eldora?
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Member
Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 218 |
500 laps? Could you even see anything after the first 20? I love the speed of that track, but it's so stupid dry that you don't see half the racing. I can't imagine putting 75 laps in, much less 500.
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1/24/13, 3:46 PM |
#4
Re: 500 laps at Eldora?
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 3,048 |
Dick, according to Earl Baltes' autobiography he ran three 500 lap sprint car races. '65, '66 and '67. Orville Yeardon won in '65, Illini star Larry "Boom Boom" Cannon won the second one in '66 and Don Nordhorn drove Dizz Wilson's car to victory in '67.
Rollie Beale sat on the pole in '65 and Don Hewitt was on the pole for the '67 race. Earl said that he was afraid someone was going to get hurt so he only held just the 3 500 lappers. That must have been a spectacle, for sure.
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Silver Crown Championship Dirt Cars properly driven on a one mile dirt track are classic poetry in motion. Using that analogy, Jack Hewitt is one of the greatest poets of all time.
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1/24/13, 3:50 PM |
#5
Re: 500 laps at Eldora?
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Senior Member
Race Count Last Year: 26 Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 1,137 |
Eldora used to have good clay on it. When I first went there (in the 70s), it was often quite heavy and not dusty.
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1/24/13, 3:50 PM |
#6
Re: 500 laps at Eldora?
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 3,048 |
Quote:
It's stuff like this that made Earl the legend that he is!
__________________
Silver Crown Championship Dirt Cars properly driven on a one mile dirt track are classic poetry in motion. Using that analogy, Jack Hewitt is one of the greatest poets of all time.
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1/24/13, 3:52 PM |
#7
Re: 500 laps at Eldora?
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Senior Member
Race Count Last Year: 26 Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 1,137 |
So the column in AARN was wrong. Lou Blaney did not win two of them. None the less, I think he is a decent choice for the Sprint Car HoF (the reason for the comments about him).
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1/24/13, 3:56 PM |
#8
Re: 500 laps at Eldora?
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 3,048 |
Dick, this was the only mention of any kind of a 500 lap race at Eldora that I can remember in the book, but it's been a year or so since I read it. When I get a chance I'll look through Earl's autobiography thoroughly and see if I'm forgetting something.
__________________
Silver Crown Championship Dirt Cars properly driven on a one mile dirt track are classic poetry in motion. Using that analogy, Jack Hewitt is one of the greatest poets of all time.
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1/24/13, 3:58 PM |
#9
Re: 500 laps at Eldora?
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 897 |
Another reason the track stayed good, smaller tires and less horsepower. Cars weren't as hard on the track in those days.
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1/24/13, 4:07 PM |
#10
Re: 500 laps at Eldora?
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 897 |
The race was for "supermodifieds" not sprints and started 33 cars. I have the ad here in front of me from 1965 NSSN it was held on Aug 14th, 1965 and relief drivers were "permitted" lol. $7500 total purse and $10 entry fee.
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Last edited by sprinter14; 1/24/13 at 4:16 PM. |
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500 laps at Eldora?
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