Earl Baltes

Eldora Speedway

The Big E Auto Racing's Showcase since 1954
Eldora Speedway from overhead
Location	Allen Township, Darke County, near New Weston, Ohio
Time zone	GMT-5
Capacity	17,905 (permanent)
Owner	Tony Stewart
Opened	1954
Architect	Earl Baltes
Major events	The Dirt Late Model Dream The Kings Royal World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series USAC Midget, Sprint, and Silver Crown World 100 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Super DIRTcar Series
Oval
Surface	Clay
Length	0.5 mi (0.804 km)
Turns	4
Banking	Turns: 24° Straights: 8°
Lap record	0:12.707 (Craig Dollansky, Dollansky Racing, 2002, World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series)

Eldora Speedway, also known as The Big E, is located near New Weston, Ohio. Eldora is a half-mile clay oval with an estimated seating capacity of nearly 18,000. It hosts such races as "The Kings Royal," "The Dirt Late Model Dream," "Chevrolet American Revolution Weekend," the "Aspen Dental Eldora Dirt Derby", and "The World 100." The World 100 annually attracts over 200 dirt late-model racers, while the Chevrolet American Revolution Weekend originally featured four races in one night -- midget, non-winged sprint, Silver Crown, and dirt modified, with drivers earning a special bonus should one driver win all four races.

Three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Tony Stewart purchased the speedway in late 2004 from Earl Baltes, who built the speedway from the ground up in 1954. In 2011, Stewart hired former Charlotte Motor Speedway V.P. of events Roger Slack to direct the day to day operations as general manager and speedway promoter. The historic racing oval now features state of the art luxury suites atop the turn three area while fans also enjoy live coverage and replays of the on-track action via the large Coca-Cola video board in turn two. Additional catch fencing, attenuators, a widened pit road, a helipad and infield care center were added to increase safety during competition.

Eldora Speedway New Weston, OH was built in 1954 by Earl Baltes, a prominent area bandleader with no previous racing experience. Baltes, who was born on April 27, 1921 in nearby Versailles, Ohio, had stumbled onto a race at New Bremen Speedway and was so impressed by the big, enthusiastic crowd that he decided to build his own race track.

Baltes had purchased the Eldora Ballroom from "Ma" Shoes two years earlier, offering weekly dances and musical performances. Eventually Baltes curtailed the musical performances as the track grew more successful.