NASCAR returns to its roots this week when the NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES slings dirt at Eldora Speedway for the third consecutive year. Tony Stewart’s dirt track in Ohio hosts NASCAR’s only national series dirt race on Wednesday, July 22, live on FOX Sports 1 at 9:00 PM ET.
Beginning with practice on FOX Sports 1 at 10:30 AM ET on Wednesday, FOX Sports offers nine hours of live coverage from Eldora, the series’ 11th stop of the season, including practice, qualifying, five 10-lap qualifying races and the feature race (9:00 PM ET on FOX Sports 1). The 150-lap race is divided into three segments of 60, 50 and 40 with competition cautions at the breaks at laps 60 and 110.
The inaugural Mud Summer Classic drew several Cup Series regulars and non-NASCAR dirt-track legends, and continues to attract competitors outside the Truck Series. Confirmed for Eldora are 2012 NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES champion Brad Keselowski, the first past Cup Series champion to compete at Eldora; inaugural Mud Summer Classic winner Austin Dillon; NASCAR XFINITY SERIES regular Ty Dillon; and 2013 Eldora pole sitter Ken Schrader. The Dillon brothers first competed at Eldora in Dirt Late Models and have vast dirt experience, as does Schrader.
Keselowski, however, hits dirt for the first time ever this week but has the experience of his Brad Keselowski Racing teammate and dirt ace, Tyler Reddick, to lean on should he need it. In 2012, Reddick became the youngest driver ever to start the World 100 at Eldora and is the youngest to win a Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series feature event. Also entered is Christopher Bell, who earned 26 feature wins on dirt in 2014, including wins in Midgets (18), Winged Sprint Cars (four) and Non-Winged Sprint Cars (four). Bell also is the 2013 United States Auto Club (USAC) National Midget Champion and the 2013 USAC Midget Rookie of the Year.
Ralph Sheheen, who has called countless dirt races, including numerous races at Eldora, calls the action all day with analysis from Phil Parsons and Michael Waltrip. Hermie Sadler, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum report from pit road.
NCWTS SETUP, hosted by John Roberts with analysis from two-time series champ Todd Bodine and Ray Dunlap, sets the stage at 8:30 PM ET. Featured in the pre-race show are: A look back at Matt Crafton’s win in the series’ last outing at Kentucky Speedway; a flashback to Darrell Wallace Jr.’s 2014 victory at Eldora; a piece on Austin Dillon’s 2013 Eldora win; and a feature on John Hunter Nemechek, who recently turned 18 and thus became eligible to run the entire Truck Series schedule, focusing on lessons he has learned and the biggest challenges ahead for him at Eldora.
At 7:00 PM ET, FOX Sports 2 and FOX Sports GO offer live coverage (FOX Sports 1 simulcasts the final 30 minutes of the session at 8:00 PM ET) of the five 10-lap qualifying races, held per dirt-track tradition, that set the field for the feature race. Trucks with top-five speeds in each of the five qualifying races transfer to the feature. Starting lineup for the qualifying races is set based on qualifying speeds from the single-truck qualifying session, live on FOX Sports 2 at 5:00 PM ET. The top-five trucks in single-truck qualifying start on the pole position for their respective qualifying races.
A 15-lap Last-Chance Qualifier (LCQ) is staged immediately following the conclusion of the five qualifying races and is also live on FOX Sports 2. The top-two finishers from the LCQ transfer to the feature and start in positions 26 and 27. Only 32 trucks start the race.
Heading into Eldora, two-time and defending champion Matt Crafton leads Tyler Reddick (-20), followed by Erik Jones (-29), Johnny Sauter (-58) and John Wes Townley (-87) after 10 races.
FOX Sports GO, the critically acclaimed app that provides live streaming video of FOX Sports content at home or on the go, offers live streaming of all NASCAR programming in 2015. Customers of participating video providers may access the live streams of the race through the FOX Sports GO app for iOS devices, as well as on desktops through FOXSportsGO.com. For the latest NASCAR news and information, please visit www.FOXSports.com and follow @NASCARonFOX on Twitter.
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