Four Crown Nationals celebrates America’s love of open wheel cars, brave racers and high speeds at Eldora

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ROSSBURG – If you like open wheel racing, this is your weekend at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg.

The 34th Four-Crown Nationals are set for Friday and Saturday at the half-mile dirt track. Friday night the World of Outlaws (WoO) Sprint Cars will take to the track along with the UMP Modified division. Saturday will see the United States Auto Club (USAC) Silver Crown, Sprint Car and Midget Cars national tours join together at a place that they’ve run since 1962.

On top of that, the future stars of racing will race during the day at with their USAC .25 midgets on the adjoining Little Eldora Speedway. Also, the Vintage American Race Cars (VARC) members will be on hand with their biggest display of the year to bench race and retell the history of their restored racecars.

It makes for an exciting weekend of racing and tickets can be purchased at www.EldoraSpeedway.com or by calling 937-338-3815.

The World of Outlaws will run their fifth and final event at Eldora on Friday night, and they have put on some excellent races at the half-mile.

Donny Schatz swept the two WoO races in May, and then Shane Stewart won both races in July as part of the 32nd Kings Royal. Schatz, from Minot, North Dakota, and Stewart, from Tulsa, Oklahoma, are the top two in the championship standings, but Schatz has dominated and will be going for his 30th victory of the season on Friday night.

The UMP Modifieds also will battle on Friday and are prepping for next week’s UMP Nationals, which will determine their championship. Seven drivers are within 14 points of each other with veteran Jerry Bowersock, from Wapakoneta leading by four points over Jeff Koz and Travis Stemler.

On Saturday, the USAC drivers will hit the dirt with their top three divisions.

Shane Cockrum, from Benton, Illinois, won the last Silver Crown race in DuQuoin, Illinois, but will be challenged by brothers Kody and Tanner Swanson, who each have multiple victories this year.

In the Sprint Car division, Dave Darland, from Kokomo, Indiana, has won four times this season and has five wins at Eldora including in April 2014.

Tracy Hines, from New Castle, Indiana, is tied for the second most victories at Eldora with nine, and he last won in September 2012. Should he win this week, he will be within three races of the Eldora’s favorite son Jack Hewitt, who has won 13 times at the half-mile.

For the midgets, it should be Rico Abreu, Bryan Clauson and Tanner Thorson fighting for the win as all three drivers have won this season.

Hewitt is the only driver to win the Four Crown as in 1998 he won all three USAC races plus the UMP Modified race. Kyle Larson won the three USAC divisions in 2011 after the World of Outlaws were added running as Crown #1 of the Friday/Saturday weekend.

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