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Earl Baltes

Eldora Speedway
The Big E
Auto Racing's Showcase since 1954
Eldora Speedway logo.jpg
EldoraSpeedwayUSGS.png
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.


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