(Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images for True Speed Communication)
Every sport has its rendition of an all-star event. For NASCAR, that event is the All-Star Race in Charlotte, NC, in mid-May. It's a chance to go out and race not for points, but for bragging rights.
About a month after the All-Star race, many of those same drivers come to Rossburg, Ohio, to also race for bragging rights, but not in a Sprint Cup car.
For one night, many of the premier drivers in NASCAR go back to their roots, and go racing on the dirt.
Wednesday night, 23 drivers took center stage as they competed in the fifth annual "Prelude to the Dream" late model race at Eldora Speedway.
This event was set to take place in mid-June, just prior to the Sprint Cup race in Pocono, however heavy rain caused the event to be postponed. When the teams and fans returned, they were met with a beautiful sunny evening that was perfect for a classic dirt-track shootout.
Qualifying was the first order of business as right away it became evident that the top groove, right along the cushion was the fast way around the speedway. The third car on track, Denny Hamlin, set the pace early with a blistering lap of 15.664 seconds. Many of the cars that followed came close, but none could quite top that lap.
Then came Tony Stewart, the owner of Eldora Speedway. As soon as he took the green flag, he never lifted the throttle, driving the track as if he was running Darlington. His first lap put him on the pole, but his second lap of 15.405 seconds assured him the top spot.
The top ten qualifiers each had sub-16 second runs, meaning the track was fast and would make for an exciting evening.
The heat races were next on the bill. The top four drivers from each heat got the front positions in the 30-lap feature.
Each heat was first set from qualifying, as the top three drivers earned the provisional pole for their respective heats. However, to make things interesting, the front four cars were inverted.
The first heat of the evening saw pole winner Stewart start from the fourth position, while Jimmie Johnson and Robby Gordon led the field to the green flag. Right at the drop of the green, Johnson got the high groove from Gordon, as he scraped the wall out of the second corner.
The field was slowed quickly as the first caution of the night came on lap three as Marcos Ambrose slid up into the wall. Caution laps on this night did not count, so the field would restart with eight laps remaining.
Right away, Johnson was able to hold off Stewart for the lead, while Gordon and Kyle Busch battled for the third spot. Stewart, try as he might, could not catch Johnson as he took the win in the first heat.
The second heat saw Matt Kenseth and Kasey Kahne lead the field to the green. Right away, Kahne got the jump on the high side and bolted out front. His car was hooking in the corners as he had a straightaway lead only three laps into the heat. His lead would shrink as the caution came out on lap seven for debris on the race track.
The pieces were cleaned up and the field quickly went back to green, but Kahne shot out like a rocket in his No. 9 car and didn't look back. Kahne took the win as Kenseth, Hamlin and Kenny Wallace rounded out the transfer positions.
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