Richards Experiences a Week of Highs & Lows at Eldora

SHINNSTON, WV – Josh Richards got a chance to climb the catch fence as a winner last week at Eldora Speedway.

That post-race celebratory maneuver, however, didn’t result from Josh’s exploits behind the wheel. It came in Josh’s role as crew chief for NASCAR star Tony Stewart, who won Wednesday night’s 30-lap Old Spice Prelude to the Dream event in a car prepared by Josh and the Rocket Chassis team.

Josh was hopeful that he could duplicate Stewart’s victorious effort when he climbed into his familiar Mark Richards Racing-owned Seubert Calf Ranches/Ace Metal Works/TSR-Tony Stewart Racing/Petroff Towing/MCB Motorsports/Ernie’s Auto & Hauling Rocket Chassis No. 1 for the weekend’s Dirt Late Model Dream event at the half-mile oval, but Lady Luck didn’t allow that to happen. He was involved in a heat-race tangle and failed to qualify for the $100,000-to-win spectacular, ending his extended stay at Eldora on a down note.

“It was really disappointing to miss the Dream, especially after winning the Prelude with Tony,” said the 20-year-old sensation from Shinnston, W.Va. “We felt like we had a car that could win the Dream, but we had some bad luck so we’ll have to try again.”

Josh qualified fifth-fastest among the 122-car field in Friday night’s time trials, showing his car’s speed. But his hopes were derailed on the first lap of Saturday night’s fifth 15-lap heat race, when he clipped the crashed car of Brad Neat in turn three and was left with significant damage to the right-rear of his machine.

Though Josh restarted the prelim at the rear of the field after his crew attempted to patch up the car’s thoroughly bent rear deck, he struggled to move forward and ultimately retired on lap 11 when the bodywork came loose and cut his right-rear tire. With Josh missing the cut to transfer to the C- or B-Mains and two drivers ahead of him on the time-trial sheet grabbing the pair of fast-time provisional spots for the Dream, ‘Kid Rocket’ had to watch the rich A-Main from the sidelines for the second time in his four attempts at the race.

“I got a little bit of a bad start (in the heat) so it took me until the backstretch to get back in line,” said Josh. “I followed Neat into the corner, but I couldn’t really see him that well because of the glare of the sun. When he came off the wall I tried to avoid him the best I could and I actually thought I didn’t hit him that bad, but my right-rear must have gotten caught on his car and it just ripped the whole rear deck off.

“The car was still good even with the deck all bent up as long as I could roll the top, but it was just so hard to pass with guys running side-by-side in front of me.”

Josh was certainly happy with his machine’s performance before the incident, boosting his confidence for Eldora’s upcoming World of Outlaws Late Model Series event (July 25) and the World 100 (Sept. 5-6).

“You couldn’t ask for a better car,” said Josh.

Josh will jump into the Ernie Davis-owned No. 25 this weekend for events on Friday night (June 13) at Winchester (Va.) Speedway and Saturday night (June 14) at Virginia Motor Speedway in Jamaica, Va. The VMS program is sanctioned by the Mid-Atlantic Championship Series.

Tony Wins Prelude to the Dream, What the Drivers Had to Say

ROSSBURG, Ohio– Tony Stewart dominated the Old Spice Prelude to the Dream dirt late model race Wednesday night at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio by leading all 30 laps en route to his second victory in the prestigious charity event.

Stewart, who owns Eldora, passed pole-sitter Kevin Harvick on the first lap and never looked back as he defeated Prelude rookie Robby Gordon by 1.502 seconds. Dirt track veteran Clint Bowyer was third.

“After crashing out last year, I was bound and determined that I was going to run better,” said Stewart, who finished 22nd in last year’s Old Spice Prelude to the Dream but won the event in 2006. “I mean, this team is always good. Mark Richards and Josh Richards and everybody at Rocket Chassis – these cars are better than ever now. Tonight was fun. When you can run around the rim like this, that’s what Eldora was built around – ‘rim riders.’”

Gordon, who has considerable off-road experience, was impressive in his Prelude debut.

“It was a good time,” Gordon said. “I want to thank Scott (Bloomquist, car owner) and the whole crew for doing a great job with the car. For me, I just had to drive it. I want to thank Tony for putting on another good event and inviting me to come play, and I look forward to coming back next year.”

There were seven caution periods during the event, although the laps conducted under caution did not count.

The race, which drew more than 23,000 fans, was broadcast live on HBO Pay-Per-View with proceeds from the nationwide telecast going to support the soon-to-be constructed Victory Junction Gang Camp – Kansas City and the Tony Stewart Foundation.

All Old Spice Prelude to the Dream race information, from starting lineups to qualifying and finishing results, can be found at www.TrueSpeedMedia.com by simply clicking on the event logo.

TONY STEWART, Winner:
You won your own race for the second time.

“I can’t thank the guys up in the stands enough. They make the Prelude what it is. After crashing out last year, I was bound and determined I was going to run better. I mean, this team is always good. Mark Richards and Josh Richards and everybody at Rocket Chassis, these cars are better than ever now. Tonight was fun. When you can run around the rim like this, that’s what Eldora was built around – ‘rim riders.’ You know it was a little bit chunky tonight and a little bit rough out there. We tore up a lot of race cars, but everybody worked hard. The staff here at Eldora Speedway and Artie Kempner (FOX Sports) and Pam Miller (FOX Sports) and all the Fox staff that came to help out. And Old Spice, they really made this all possible. And Sprint NEXTEL, they’ve been great.

“I’m looking forward to a big weekend. Obviously we got Pocono from here, but we got a really big $100,000-to-win dirt late-model race called The Dream. So, I’ll be back Saturday night to see who gets that big check.

Talk about the level of competition at the Prelude.
“Shoot, I think Kyle Busch and I are the only two guys that didn’t test for this race. Everybody built cars and practiced. It was neat to see Jimmie Johnson and Robby Gordon come. It was their first time to Eldora tonight. Just everybody that’s come back – guys like Matt Kenseth who has been here from day one and hasn’t missed a Prelude. Ron Capps and Cruz Pedregon, all these guys, Mark Martin, I just can’t thank all these drivers who took time out of their schedule. I just can’t thank them enough for what they’ve done. You know, to get 25 guys all on the same night to be able to get an opening in their schedule – that’s something that means a lot to me. For all the fans to take off work to come here, along with the drivers, it just makes for an awesome victory.

“We don’t know what the results of the pay-per-view are and everything that’s coming in, but I’m going to guarantee Kyle Petty and the Victory Junction Gang $1 million from tonight’s event. The Victory Junction Gang camps have become such a part of my family too. That’s what tonight is all about. We all get to have fun out here tonight and get to drive dirt cars and have fun here, but it’s a lot deeper and bigger cause than that.”

ROBBY GORDON, Second-Place:
You got a second place your first time here, and you beat a lot of guys who have a whole lot more experience at this than you do. How was it out there?

“It was a good time. I want to thank Scott (Bloomquist, car owner) and the whole crew for doing a great job with the car. For me, I just had to drive it. What was cool was I had Scott down there giving me signals and he said, ‘Down there, go high, and down here, come inside.’ I saw what he was telling me to do so that was nice to be able to do that. Normally we have spotter radios and stuff like that which we don’t have for this. I enjoyed it. I want to thank the fans for coming out tonight. I want to thank Tony for putting on another good event and inviting me to come play, and I look forward to coming back next year. This car here, I underdrove it for the first five laps because I knew it was 30 laps and I knew there were going to be a lot of cautions, and I wanted to be there at the end to have a shot at it. We probably needed one more restart there and we might have had a shot at it. One thing I can tell you, we did one test before this race. I love racing Tony Stewart and I appreciate what he does, but be ready next year because we’re going to come back guns blazing.”

CLINT BOWYER, Third-Place:
It looked at one point like you were the only one who could catch Tony. What happened down the stretch?

“I think we missed it a little bit on tires or something. It would take off pretty good and it would just fade away too quick. This is fun. It’s just fun racing and good racing and these cars are blast to drive. It’s something different that we don’t get to do very often. That was more nerve-wracking than anything with having a two-time champion in your car. You don’t want to mess things up and Jimmie (Johnson) did great. I was happy to come out and put a car under Jimmie, so that means a lot.”

KENNY WALLACE, Fourth-Place:
What a great race coming from mid-pack into contention for the win. Did you enjoy yourself out there?

“We come here to have a lot of fun, so to put on that show (when running) for second spot meant a lot to me. Tony decided to line us up 10th, fifth row and that was okay. I really had a good time and I want to thank Eddie Petroff and Brian Shirley, who are here with their car for the Dream, and letting me drive it. Nobody had anything for Tony. He’s the only two-time winner and now I’ve got a first, a fifth, a 13th and a fourth tonight. So we’ll come back next year and try to join him.”

The track was in great shape it looked like you could run all over.

“I could run anywhere I wanted to. It’s a great race track. I started 10th and worked my way up to third running the bottom, so it was hard for me to get off it when I was gaining so much down there.”

DENNY HAMLIN, Fifth-Place:
You raced from ninth to fifth. That’s a pretty solid race for someone with limited dirt experience.

“Yeah, it was fun. We definitely had some really good equipment. Dale (McDowell) gave me this car and it just took a little time to figure it out. We’re gaining on it, for sure. Every time we come back here, we run a little better. Next year, maybe we’ll have something for these guys.”

To run Eldora, you have to run up on the wall and it looked like you were having some great battles out there.

“It was really great. We could get the cushion going especially on restarts. After that, it was really hard and so bumpy in three and four you really couldn’t run the cushion as much as you could in one and two. It was a good night for us and we couldn’t be prouder to be driving this car tonight.”

You have the opportunity to compete in a lot of events, but this one is certainly unique. Do you agree?

“What a great experience to be a part of this. It’s for a good charity. Tony does a great job organizing this whole deal for us, making it painless for us and still have a lot of fun. That’s why he gets the drivers he gets each and every year.”

KEVIN HARVICK, Seventh-Place:
You got to start up front and stayed pretty close to the front all night. Once you got passed for the lead on the first lap, you seemed to settle in pretty well. Was it as fun as it looked?

“I got them to loosen the car up a bit too much and by the time the main rolled around I was just too free getting in the center. That’s just something I’ve just got to learn to do, to tell them the right stuff to do. Man, I had a great time and we were competitive. To (car owner) Mike Dillon and all these guys who built this car, I just can’t thank them enough because my goal is to be competitive and that’s what we did tonight. The start was good, I thought. The restarts were bad. I finally figured out that you’ve got to come to the bottom.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON, Eighth-Place:
What did you learn from your first outing at the Old Spice Prelude to the Dream?

“That was a lot of fun. There are some things that I recognize I need to come back and do a better job of next time. Qualifying is so important. We had a fast car and I passed a lot of guys since I started 16th and ended up the in the top-10 there. Just trying to pass people on all the restarts that I had, I would make up. I get one and lose two, then gain two spots and lose one. I’m a lot smarter now and I had a blast. I certainly will be back next year. You’re really fighting these cars. Once you get into the corner and the car loads up it starts catching those ruts. When it starts throwing the car the only way you get it back is by manhandling it back. It’s nice to get in something and throw it around. In stock cars we have to be careful not to blow the tires off when you are on radial tires on asphalt. You can just get in there and drive the crap out of it. It’s a lot of fun.”

KYLE BUSCH, 10th-Place:
It was a start to a really busy week but it probably didn’t start out like you envisioned?

“We worked our way up a little bit in the feature. We made a mistake there in the heat race. I don’t even know what I did wrong, yet. I’ll have to wait until I see it. I wrecked the thing, had to start in the back and I could never make up any ground. I made a couple of spots on restarts. I just kind of struggled this year. This is just a start since I have a lot to do this week. We’ve got a lot of laps and miles on the plane but I’m looking forward to it.”

JEFF GORDON, 14th-Place:
This is your second Old Spice Prelude to the Dream event at Eldora Speedway. Did you have as much fun as you did last year in your first race back on the dirt?

“It was awesome. I had such a blast racing in this event again tonight and I am so proud of Tony for raising all of that money for the Victory Junction Gang Camp. We didn’t have quite as good of a night as we did last year so we’ll have to give it another try tomorrow. I got in the wall in the heat and that put us behind all night long. In the race we started a little too far back to move up like we needed to.”

Would you like to participate in the 2009 Prelude to the Dream event?

“I certainly hope to come back again next year. Every year it just depends on the schedule and what’s going on. We try to put it on the schedule far in advance. We’ll see if things work out to where we can do this again next year.”

CARL EDWARDS, 18th-Place (defending race champion):
You were running up front for a long while. What finally put you out?

“Well we must have had something in the radiator there. It was getting really hot, but I was going to the front, so I thought, I’ll buy them an engine for a win here. But once Robby got into me going into the corner and knocked the wheel out of my end. I couldn’t figure out which way was straight for a while. I tried my hardest, but I just wasn’t going to blow up an engine for 10th place or wherever we would’ve finished. I was having a blast when I finally figured out that one top, we were going somewhere. It was fun.”

DAVE BLANEY, 20th-Place:
You ran up front a good bit in the early part of the race. What knocked you out?

“We had some kind of engine trouble. I guess it was just an oil leak, but I didn’t want to take a chance on hurting their stuff. I really think we had a good chance to win that. We had a harder tire on the right rear that would just keep coming. That was a shame but it was a lot of fun and I want to thank these guys for bringing a great car here.”

KASEY KAHNE, 22nd-Place:
You struggled with mechanical problems all night. Certainly not the return to Eldora Speedway that you hoped for?

“I just wanted to race. I enjoy racing anything and everything. This is a cool event because we get to race at Eldora and because it’s for the Victory Junction. It’s disappointing that I didn’t get to race, enjoy it and try to put on a good show.”

Your problems started early in the night and continued in the heat race and ultimately a hole in the radiator ended your night on lap nine of the feature.

“We really never got the car running all night. In the feature, it wouldn’t run wide open. I was trying to run the bottom, so that I get on the throttle and then get off it. We didn’t get many laps in. The radiator had a hole in it by the first caution (on lap four) and I just had to keep pulling tear-offs and used up all 14 in about five laps. That was all I could do.”

-TSC-

Prelude to the Dream Results

Following his time in victory lane, Tony Stewart presented Kyle Petty with a check fofr $1,000,000 for the Victory Junction Gang Camp.

Here’s the results

1. Tony Stewart
2. Robby Gordon
3. Clint Bowyer
4. Kenny Wallace
5. Denny Hamlin
6. Matt Kenseth
7. Kevin Harvick
8. Jimmie Johnson
9. Kenny Schrader
10. Kyle Busch
11. David Reutimann
12. Ryan Newman 1
13. Red Farmer
14. Jeff Gordon
15. Cruz Pedregon
16. Ray Evernham
17. Ron Capps
18. Carl Edwards
19. Aric Almirola
20. Dave Blaney
21. JJ Yeley
22. Kasey Kahne
23. Bobby Labonte
24. Mark Martin
25. Bill Elliott

Following victory lane, Tony Stewart presented Kyle Petty with a check for $1,000,000 for the Victory Junction Gang Camp!

Tony Plays the Bad Host and Wins The Prelude to the Dream

Tony Stewart wasn’t a very good host tonight at Eldora Speedway.  Stewart invited a bunch of his NASCAR buddies up to his track in Rossburg Ohio, and then went out and won his own race.  Stewart was followed to the finish line by Robbie Gordon with Clint Bowyer picking up 3rd place.

Josh Heads Into Busy ‘Dream’ Week Following Heartbreaking Saturday-Night Loss At Sharon

SHINNSTON, WV – With a little change in fate, Josh Richards might have headed off for this week’s Dirt Late Model Dream activities at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, with the momentum of a victory in his back pocket.

The 20-year-old sensation known as ‘Kid Rocket’ suffered a heartbreaking defeat last Saturday night (May 31) in the 50-lap Independent Racing Series (IRS) event at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio, relinquishing the lead after a mid-race tangle with Robbie Blair.

An unexpected entrant in Sharon’s event after morning thunderstorms forced the cancellation of Saturday night’s scheduled World of Outlaws Late Model Series ‘Conococheague 50’ at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway, Josh made a strong push to put his Mark Richards Racing-owned Seubert Calf Ranches/Ace Metal Works/TSR-Tony Stewart Racing/Petroff Towing/MCB Motorsports/Ernie’s Auto & Hauling Rocket Chassis No. 1 in Victory Lane. He won a heat race and then stormed to the front in the A-Main, advancing from the seventh starting spot to the lead by lap 20.

But on lap 23, disaster struck Josh. As he attempted to overtake a pesky lapped car, there was contact between him and the challenging Blair. Damage to the left-rear corner of Josh’s car eliminated him, leaving him with a 21st-place finish.

“Our car was extremely fast and we went right to the front,” said Josh. “When I got to a lapped car that was on the top one lap, then on the bottom the next, I got held up a little bit. Finally I went into the turn (one) against the cushion because I wanted to cut down under the lapped car, but I guess Blair never lifted and he drove into my left-rear. It was probably a racing deal, but I think it could’ve been avoided.

“It’s too bad, because I think we could’ve won the race. We had on harder tires and my car was still getting better.”

Josh’s one WoO LMS start of the week, last Thursday night (May 29) at Delaware International Speedway, ended with a quiet seventh-place finish in the ‘First State 50.’ He timed second-fastest in qualifying and won his heat race, but he selected the worst possible starting spot in the pre-race draw (eighth) and was unable to make much headway in the A-Main.

“I think we were a little soft on tires,” said Josh, who left Delaware ranked third in the WoO LMS points standings (18 points behind co-leaders Steve Francis and Darrell Lanigan). “We might have had a fourth-place car if we had a better starting spot, but once everyone got so strung out it was tough to pass.”

Josh spent Sunday, Monday and most of Tuesday in his race shop preparing for his busy ‘Dream’ week at Eldora Speedway. It begins on Wednesday night (June 4), when Josh serves as crew chief for NASCAR star and Eldora Speedway owner Tony Stewart’s assault on the Old Spice Prelude to the Dream, a special event televised live on HBO Pay-Per-View that pits 25 world-renowned drivers against each other in dirt Late Models.

Josh oversaw the preparation of Stewart’s Old Spice/Bass Pro Shops Rocket No. 20, which sports a distinctive Day-Glo orange color scheme for the Prelude. He also was involved in the preparation of the Ernie Davis-owned Rocket car that former NASCAR Sprint Cup champ Matt Kenseth will drive in the Prelude; Josh, of course, runs many non-WoO LMS events in Davis’s car, which for the Prelude will carry Kenseth’s familiar No. 17, yellow-and-black colors and sponsorship from DeWalt and Blain’s Farm & Fleet.

“The Prelude is definitely going to be a lot of fun,” said Josh. “Being able to work with two Cup champions is an opportunity that doesn’t come along very often.”

On Friday and Saturday (June 6-7), Josh will go to the post in his No. 1 mount in search of a $100,000 victory in the 14th annual Dirt Late Model Dream. His hopes for the event are sky-high because he’s coming off his first career win at Eldora in the track’s Johnny Appleseed Classic on May 25.

Setting the Stage an Exact Science at Tony Stewart’s “Field of Dreams”

ROSSBURG, Ohio – With more than 20,000 people in the grandstands and countless others tuning into the HBO Pay-Per-View broadcast of the fourth annual Old Spice Prelude to the Dream at 7 p.m. EDT on Wednesday,June 4, there will be plenty of attention paid to the cars and stars as they lap the half-mile dirt oval that is Eldora Speedway.

But long before such world-renown drivers as Tony Stewart Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch descend upon Eldora and the tiny hamlet of Rossburg, Ohio, the unsung heroes of the historic
dirt track set the stage for what has become a must-see racing event.
While other premiere sporting events such as The Masters, Super Bowl and World Series have scores of people that work to get the respective playing surfaces ready for the big events, Eldora also has a staff – albeit much smaller – that has been working long hours each day to keep the track in the best racing shape possible for the Old Spice Prelude to the Dream.

“What people don’t see is that at a dirt track, it’s not a matter of just putting dirt on it the day of the race,” said Stewart, the two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion who also doubles as owner of Eldora Speedway. “It’s Larry Kemp and Larry Boos, and Earl Baltes’ grandson Chad, who do the majority of the work during the week. It’s a seven-day-aweek job taking care of a dirt track. You want to get moisture in it early in the week to where, no matter what the conditions are on race day, you’re able to adjust how much water you put on it on race day, so when nighttime comes, that moisture keeps coming out.”

Even though it takes plenty of preparation to get Eldora Speedway ready for any of its weekly events, which includes
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series and United States Auto Club (USAC) races, Stewart’s staff prepares the track a bit differently for the Old Spice Prelude to the Dream.

With a field that has various levels of experience competing in 2,300-pound dirt late model stock cars capable of putting out over 800 horsepower, Stewart and his staff put down less water than usual over the track’s clay surface.

Typically, the Eldora Speedway staff would prepare the track with plenty of water to be soft and tacky, which helps produce fast lap times. But some of the drivers in this year’s Old Spice Prelude to the Dream having little to no dirt track experience. The less water laid down on the track, the slower the speeds, thereby leveling the playing field and ensuring a better show for the fans in the grandstands and watching on HBO Pay-Per-View.

“Last year we dried the track out a little bit, so it was hard and slick from the top to the bottom and the pace was slower so the guys weren’t holding their breath and it was a lot easier for them to drive,” said Stewart of the 2007 Old Spice Prelude to the Dream, which was won by Edwards. “Especially for the guys that are new to the dirt track scene, it’s a little easier for them to get used to since the pace isn’t so fast. It makes all the guys driving those cars feel a lot more comfortable.

And for what we’re doing with the television aspect, it’s a lot easier to leave it slow with a lot less dust.” Last year, the hard work put in by the Eldora Speedway staff prior to the event paid off for two dirt newbies – Juan Pablo Montoya and Busch. Both showed remarkable skills despite limited experience racing on dirt. Busch even challenged for the win late in the race with dirt veteran Edwards before eventually settling for a runner-up finish. The strong runs by
both drivers really impressed dirt track veteran and Sprint Cup driver J.J. Yeley, who doesn’t mind the Eldora staff slowing the track down to make the show better for the fans and for the television audience.

“I was really impressed with guys like Juan Pablo and Kyle, who hadn’t been in that type of car on dirt before but really adapted to it quickly,” Yeley said. “You want to make sure it’s nice and slick where the speeds will be a little bit slower. I’m sure all the car owners who will have the Cup drivers in their cars will be happy to know that. When the track is hard and slick, it makes the cars a little bit easier to driver, and I think it will make the racing even better for the fans.” Yeley also knows a thing or two about what makes up the surface of various dirt tracks, as the winner of multiple USAC championships has seen plenty of them throughout his career.

“The biggest thing is that you have to start with a good product,” Yeley said. “Eldora Speedway has been around for so long that they have really good clay. You try to explain to people the difference between dirt tracks – red clay, black clay – and there’s a lot of differences in the consistencies. Clay just wears out over time to where it just doesn’t hold the moisture. The biggest thing is to keep just a little bit of water on the race track and keep the dust down.”

Not only does Stewart appreciate all the hard work put in by his staffers, but also the efforts of dirt track owners across the country. He hopes the Old Spice Prelude to the Dream shines a positive light on grassroots dirt racing across the country.

“Guys that take care of dirt tracks across the country are really unsung heroes of the sport,” Stewart said. “There’s so much science about how much clay content you have in the dirt, and that’s what makes every dirt track unique. You could have two guys that owned two different race tracks, but they have to prepare them differently for the conditions where the races are as good as possible. What we do at Eldora isn’t necessarily the same thing that someone else does 30 miles down the road that has the same dirt as us. These promoters and track operators that take care of these race tracks and do a lot of work should be proud of what they do.”

The live, commercial-free broadcast of the Old Spice Prelude to the Dream will begin at 7 p.m. EDT (4 p.m. PDT), with
an immediate replay and subsequent replays throughout the week and the following weekend. HBO Pay-Per-View’s racing telecast has a suggested retail price of $24.95 and is available to more than 71 million pay-per-view homes. HBO Pay-Per- View is the leading supplier of event programming in the pay-per-view industry. Ordering information and up-to-the minute racing information is available at www.hbo.com. Prospective viewers can order the Old Spice Prelude to the Dream on Tuesday and right up until race time on Wednesday.

With no points and no pressure, the Old Spice Prelude to the Dream is a throwback race, allowing drivers to step back in time and compete for the reasons they all went racing in the first place – pride and a trophy. And they’ll do it on the same surface that Indianapolis 500 legends like A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Bobby Unser, Al Unser Jr., and Parnelli Jones have competed on throughout the last 54 years. Gordon, Johnson, Kahne, Busch and defending Old Spice Prelude to the Dream winner Edwards will join Stewart, Yeley, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Mark Martin, Denny Hamlin, Bobby Labonte, Clint Bowyer, Ryan Newman, Bill Elliott, Dave Blaney, David Reutimann, Robby Gordon, Aric Almirola, Ron Capps, Cruz Pedregon, Ray Evernham, Red Farmer, Ken Schrader and Kenny Wallace in this year’s edition of the all-star dirt late model race.