For the first time in history, sprint car drivers will have the opportunity to race for more than one million dollars beginning Wednesday night with the Eldora Million at Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway in Rosburg, Ohio.
Twice previously the race has been run at Eldora Speedway for late model racers with Donnie Moran winning in October, 2000 and Jonathan Davenport winning it in June, 2022.
“The biggest thing I’m proud of is we are going to make history,” Stewart said in a news conference. “To have a sprint car driver win over a million dollars is something that has never been done.”
The best sprint car drivers in the world will converge on Eldora Speedway for the two-night Million show, which will be followed by a two-night World of Outlaws race known as the Kings Royal. The combined purse of these events is well over two million dollars with $1,002,023 going to the winner of Thursday night’s feature.
In order to increase the difficulty of earning the million, Stewart and his team at Eldora developed a complicated points structure designed to make every lap matter. Drivers will earn points for their qualification effort and running position in the races in order to seed the Thursday feature.
“We wanted to do something a little bit different and the thing I’m really passionate about and have strong feelings about: Whoever is going to win a million dollars needs to earn it,” Stewart said. “It shouldn’t be qualify quick time and start on the pole for the main event and not have to race anybody. That’s what’s unique about our format.”
Click Here for the entry list published at FloRacing.com
The format needs to be more complicated than a typical sprint car race because Stewart expects a car count of about 80.
“You’re going to have 80 of the best sprint car drivers in the world that are going to be here,” Stewart said. “It’s not so much about the quantity than it is about the quality.”
The payout will make this the second-richest race in 2023, behind the Indy 500.
To put the purse into perspective, the winner of the race will earn just over $40,000 per mile run. Josef Newgarden’s Indy 500 victory banked $7,332 per mile on May 28.
Eldora has long attracted a huge base of fans for their biggest shows. As of last week, tickets for the Eldora Million have been purchased from 46 states and five countries. Camping space sold out well in advance of the show.
Eldora Million preliminary action will begin on Wednesday, July 12 with a pair of 25-lap features that pay $12,000 to win out of a $117,300 purse.
The Outlaws’ Knight Before the Kings Royal on Friday, July 14 will pay $20,000 to win the A-main followed by a $175,000 payday for the Kings Royal on Saturday.