The Eldora Speedway dirt track facility in Rossburg, Ohio, has "sold out" its 17,782 grandstand seats for its July 24 inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, according to Bob Pockrass of SPORTING NEWS. NASCAR, which has not had a national series race on dirt since '70, "still needs to finalize a format for the event." NASCAR VP/Racing Operations Jim Cassidy said that the Eldora event is "expected to have heat races with 30 trucks starting the main feature event" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 1/29). Eldora Speedway GM Roger Slack last week said that the venue "could accommodate as many as 22,000 fans" (CINCINNATI.com, 1/29). NASCAR.com's David Caraviello noted tickets for the event "went on sale Jan. 5, and the track sold all but 2,600 of its grandstand seats that first weekend." Slack said, "There are a whole lot of unknowns, other than the fact that it was unique and it was NASCAR on dirt. I went conservative and figured we'd hope to get it to about 10 (thousand). Because ultimately, we're still a dirt track, and we're seeing that with over 70 percent of the fans being new to Eldora. But it's pretty impressive." The speedway sold tickets to the July 24 race to "buyers from 48 states, seven Canadian provinces, as well as the Virgin Islands, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand." While Rossburg has a population of only 201, Slack said that he "doesn't expect any logistical issues" (NASCAR.com, 1/29).
