USAC: June 22-23 Eldora 'Doubleheaders' mark a first for USAC

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

June 8, 2001

Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio will make USAC racing history when it hosts back-to-back USAC "doubleheader" racing programs June 22-23, honoring participants who have competed in the previous 208 USAC races at the venerable 1/2-mile dirt oval. Never before in USAC's 46-year history has a single track conducted back-to-back Sprint Car/Midget Car "doubleheaders" on consecutive nights, although in 1977 and 1978 Salem (Ind.) Speedway hosted four USAC events in single-day programs.

Pancho Carter scored an incredible three feature wins at Salem on May 30, 1977. Pancho nearly "swept the Salem card, winning the first three races (2 Midgets and a Sprint), while Tom Bigelow won the Sprint finale at Salem.

Grand Marshal Johnny Rutherford, who won the 1965 USAC Sprint Car Championship and a 1964 Sprint car feature at Eldora, plus former USAC driving champions Larry Dickson (a 9-time Eldora winner), Rollie Beale and Gary Bettenhausen are expected to attend the June 22-23 events, along with currently active driver Jack Hewitt, who will be trying to score a record 25th Eldora USAC victory.

The Stoops Freightliner Sprint Cars and WorldCom National Midget Car Series will present 30-lap feature events each night, marking the first time back-to-back USAC "doubleheaders" have been conducted at a single track on successive nights.

Eldora race organizer Earl Baltes is continuing to close on the late J.C. Agajanian for the honor of hosting the most USAC races in history. Earl has 263 total USAC races under his belt, compared to Agajanian's 298. Since Agajanian's death in 1984, his family had conducted an additional 164 USAC events, giving the Agajanian family a record 462 USAC promotions.

In 108 previous USAC Sprint/Midget "doubleheaders" only a dozen "sweeps" have been recorded. Dave Darland was the last to do it, winning the Sprint Car and Midget Car portions of the 1999 "4-Crown Nationals" events at Eldora.

Ironically, Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kans. also has back-to-back USAC Sprint Car/Midget Car "doubleheaders" scheduled this year, July 6 and 7.

Text provided by Dick Jordan

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