Stewart would like to have Nationwide and Sprint Cup races at Eldora (Update)
Enjoying a second consecutive successful truck race, Stewart publicly lobbied through Wednesday for a Nationwide or Cup race at the half-mile dirt track that has about 18,000 seats plus a hillside for general admission.
"This is something that we feel like is very important to the sport," Stewart said. "I think it is the best way we have been able to tie major NASCAR racing to grass-roots racing. … We hope we continue to have this event every year.
"I'm going to throw it out there — I'd love for the Truck Series to not be the only NASCAR series that comes here. If this continues to go as well as we hope it does, there is no reason the other two divisions couldn't possibly come in the future."
But NASCAR Executive Vice President Steve O'Donnell said there have been no discussions about adding another major NASCAR race at Eldora.
"We haven't had any discussions with Tony beyond that (truck race)," O'Donnell said. "I wouldn't rule out looking at potential other venues for trucks, but I think for the most part, we want to keep the uniqueness of that event. It has been really successful.
"They have done a great job for us. They set the bar very high. But we like where we're at right now with it."
The Eldora event is a successful weeknight event. Whether that success could translate to a Cup race on a weeknight remains to be seen. Both the track and television partner would have to be prepared for it, and so far NASCAR has not had a track want a weeknight prime-time event that it could then pitch to the networks. The truck race at Eldora was the biggest sports cable event of Wednesday night, giving Fox Sports 1 a rare evening win over ESPN.
"One of the challenges with most of the venues, especially on the Cup side, is big camping unlike other sports, so that presents a challenge," O'Donnell said. "It is something we have discussed with promoters. But we just aren't there from a logistics standpoint to be able to pull it off.
"But it has worked for the trucks. That is something going forward you could see us take a bigger look at with some other venues that have interest." Sporting News
07/24/14 While he's not planning for it, Tony Stewart would love for the addition of more NASCAR Racing at Eldora Speedway. Stewart, along with track general manager Roger Slack, talked about the possibility during a press conference for the unveiling of the new infield building that will be added for the 2015 season.
"I'd love for the Truck Series to not be the only NASCAR that comes here," Stewart said. "If this continues to go as well as we hope it does there's no reason that the other two divisions couldn't come possibly in the future. I think we can make it work. If you can take the trucks and make them work here, the Cup cars and Nationwide cars aren't much of a stretch from that. So it's definitely feasible to do that."
The new building, which will begin to be constructed in October, will house the media center that will also double as an infield hospitality suite. The building will also be the site of the infield care center along with a concession stand with double lines. Stewart said the decision to build in the infield building had no bearing on the possibility of getting a Nationwide of Cup Series race in the future.
"This is part of the continued process of us making the commitment of improving the facility to making it bigger and better," he said. "But we are very appreciative and very content if we only run truck races from here on out. We get the privilege to keep hosting Truck races and we are very happy doing that." Motor Racing Network