The balance of ringer and regular in the Eldora Dirt Derby is one that has been discussed at length over the event’s history. Crafton says it all comes down to a healthy respect from both sides.
“There’s got to be a lot of the dirt ringers, if you want to call them that, and the guys that race dirt every week. They’re going to be very tough, and hopefully they race with respect and don’t tear you up,” said Crafton. “That’s some of the things that I worry about (as a series regular).
“A lot of them are coming out here, and it’s going to be their one shot to drive a truck, because they don’t get to go race Martinsville or any other place … but they’re going to get to come to Eldora,” Crafton continued. “My biggest hope is that they respect us like we would respect them if we came into their series (for) one of their big shows.”
Fellow Truck Series regular Brett Moffitt agreed with Crafton’s sentiments and paid a particular nod to the aggression level that might ramp up during the closing laps of Wednesday night’s race.
“You have to go in with the mindset of knowing that that is their one race and knowing that they’re going to do anything and will do anything possible to try to win it,” said Moffitt. “I think a lot of them have the potential to be a little bit too aggressive and possibly take themselves out … and maybe somebody else along with them, but we just need to be careful.
“Luckily for us, we’re in a great points position with our three wins to where we’re locked into the playoffs, so that helps us a lot,” Moffitt added. “Obviously we want to have a great day, but at the end of the night, if we get tore up, we get tore up. That’s part of racing, and that’s what the three wins allow us to kind of not focus on the points so much. We’ll just try to survive and go for the win at the end.”
Chase Briscoe, who is returning to the Truck Series this year as a ringer for the Eldora event but raced in it last year as a series regular for Brad Keselowski Racing, sees the battle from both sides.
“I think that this is probably the easiest race for a driver to come back to … or to come in with not a lot of stock car experience, and still fit in pretty quickly and contend for a strong finish,” said Briscoe. “This year, I’ve personally been doing a lot more dirt racing than I’ve been able to in the past, so I’m excited to be back in this position and thankful to Ford for giving me the shot to come out here and race.
“You’re going to be aggressive if you’re a driver who’s not out here much, but if you’re racing for points that will be in the back of your mind just as much,” Briscoe continued. “It’s two different schools of thought, for sure, but everyone wants to win the race really badly and I think that will be the bottom line at the end of the night.”
Then there’s a driver like John Hunter Nemechek, who isn’t a ringer, but he’s no longer a series regular either after moving up to a part-time NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule this season with Chip Ganassi Racing.
Nemechek’s objective boils down to the root goal that all 39 drivers in the field share: just win the race.
“Our goal is to just go and try and get trophies,” said Nemechek, who won earlier this season at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. “If that means that we’re going to pull a little bit different strategy or something along those lines, I don’t think that I would put it past our team.
“Overall, we’re going to find our balance and just go out there and do the best we can.”
And at the end of the day, that’s a sentiment that both the ringers and regulars alike at Eldora Speedway can all agree on.
