Eldora’s fence has fear factor

Three-time Prelude winner Stewart says the track takes some getting used to.

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By Greg Billing, Staff Writer 1:10 AM Friday, September 11, 2009

ROSSBURG — There was a time, believe it or not, Tony Stewart was afraid of racing at Eldora Speedway.

But years later, Stewart isn’t bothered by running right up against the fence. Now he’s even climbing it.

Stewart — who bought Eldora in 2004 — celebrated his second straight and third overall Gillette Young Guns Prelude to the Dream title by scaling the fence Wednesday, Sept. 9, as about 23,000 cheering spectators urged him on.

“Before I came here the first time I was scared to death, ” Stewart said. “This is kind of hallowed ground. This is a place you had to hang it out on the top and run right against the fence. ... I have to pump myself up to do it, and I’ve run here three times this year already.”

Stewart, who led 18 of the 30 laps, beat runner-up Clint Bowyer by 3.358 seconds. Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top five.

“He works his butt off for this event,” Bowyer said. “Man, it’s only right that he does win it. ... He’s one of the best racers in the world, and he showed it again (Wednesday night).”

On top of the World

Next up at Eldora is the World 100. Qualifying starts today, and the feature is Saturday.

Defending champ Shane Clanton hopes to follow Stewart’s lead and make it a repeat weekend.

“You want to win every chance you get. Definitely to repeat would be something special,” the Locust Grove, Ga., driver said. “I guess it so-called put me on the map. Everybody calls me the ‘World 100’ now. To win the World was pretty spectacular.”

Kil-Kare finishes up

Kil-Kare Speedway’s points titles should be decided tonight as the track closes out the season with all divisions running plus the Legends.

In last week’s racing, Springfield’s Mike Stacy set the super late model track record with a qualifying lap of 12.567, lowering the previous best of 12.658 set by Springfield’s Chad Poole.