Tony Stewart shut down rumors surrounding Eldora Speedway sale.
Earlier this week rumors began swirling that Tony Stewart, owner of legendary dirt track Eldora Speedway, was in the process of selling the half-mile oval in Rossburg, Ohio. Well, that rumor is no more. Stewart appeared on the Thursday night Dirt Late Model Dream broadcast on FloRacing to dispel those rumors.
“I don’t know who was really bored and thought they would play a nice practical joke at home, but this track is not sold and it is not for sale,” Stewart told FloRacing’s Ben Shelton. “This is a tradition with Earl and Berneice (Baltes) that they started back in 1954 that we’re proud to be owners of this race track. It’s something that we’re passionate about. Trust me, when my phone started blowing up yesterday, it did not make me happy.”
Stewart purchased Eldora Speedway from Baltes, Eldora’s builder and original owner, in 2004, while in the early days of his NASCAR Cup Series career. While already a Cup Series champion, Stewart went on to win two more NASCAR Cup Series titles while owning Eldora Speedway, and he’s continued to be hands-on in his ownership of Eldora Speedway after retiring from NASCAR competition in 2016.
This track is not for sale. It’s not sold. It’s ours. And we plan on keeping it for a long time,” Stewart said.”
Eldora Speedway is the home of some of the biggest events in all of dirt track racing including the World 100, the Kings Royal, the Joker’s Wild, and the Dirt Late Model Dream, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this weekend.
Stewart explained on the FloRacing broadcast how he even learned about the rumors and the potential impact the rumors could have had on operations at Eldora Speedway leading into this weekend’s Dirt Late Model Dream.
“This is one of those situations where I was sitting at home yesterday getting ready to come here today and then onto Bristol this weekend, but literally for three hours yesterday I was sending text messages to people saying this is not true,” Stewart explained. “It affects everybody involved. It affects the fans, our sponsors. It’s unnecessary and unneeded. It created a lot of problems yesterday that we didn’t need.”
