ROSSBURG – The charismatic, colorful and prolific Jack Hewitt, a 43-time winner across six different divisions at Eldora Speedway, has been named grand marshal for Wednesday’s fifth annual Eldora Dirt Derby NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race.
Hewitt, a native of nearby Troy, has earned feature victories in every major division in which he has competed at Eldora, including USAC midgets, sprint cars and Silver Crown cars; Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions sprint cars; and UMP late models and modifieds.
“I have won a few races here, I’ve had a few crashes here, and I’ve watched a lot of races here. I tell people all the time the best race I see all year long is the truck series at Eldora,” Hewitt said. “They look like they are a lot of fun to drive. They don’t ever get away from each other. They are always on top of one another, and they’re beatin’ and bangin.’ They remind me of what it was like to run a modified around here. I won a few of those races at Eldora and I think I might have been able to win myself a truck race there, too.”
Hewitt made history at Eldora Speedway in 1998 when he became the first driver to sweep all four legs of the prestigious USAC Four Crown Nationals. The only other driver to accomplish that feat was Kyle Larson, winner of last year’s Eldora Dirt Derby. Larson swept the Four Crown Nationals in 2011.
“It’s great to be mentioned in the same breath as a guy like Kyle,” Hewitt said. “To see what he’s been doing in NASCAR the last couple of years has been really fun. He put on a great show last year. It’s great to see open-wheel guys like Larson and (Christopher) Bell do so well in the truck race. They’re real racers, and they know how to get it done.”
The fifth annual Eldora Dirt Derby kicks off with the Tuesday Tailgate, featuring practice for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and a full program culminating with a 75-lap feature for the big-block modifieds of the Super DIRTcar Series.
Wednesday’s activities begin with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver autograph session at 3 p.m. Single-truck qualifying is slated for 5:15 p.m., the first of five qualifying heat races is slated for 7:30 p.m., and the 150-lap feature will go green at 9:30 p.m. The Super DIRTcar Series modifieds also will be in action with a non-points exhibition event. Tickets are still available by visiting EldoraSpeedway.com.
