After an eight-year run, the Prelude to the Dream will likely remain a dream forever.

Ask most drivers that competed in one of the most unique car races in history and they'd love to see it -- and more importantly, be in it -- again.

The Prelude to the Dream -- we'll call it simply the Prelude for short -- was an all-star race at Tony Stewart's Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. It featured drivers from a number of racing series, including NASCAR, NHRA, World of Outlaws Sprint Cars, IndyCar, and more, competing in a full-fledged late-model, grassroots race complete with heat races and an A Main.

The Prelude was a televised pay-per-view event, and it raised more than $3.5 million for a variety of charitable groups during its eight-year history from 2005 through 2012.

The Prelude was a warm-up act for the annual The Dream at Eldora, one of the biggest and most popular dirt track races in the sport.

On race day, Eldora had more people on its grounds -- between 10,000 and 15,000 -- than the population of most other towns in the area, short of Dayton, Ohio, 50 miles away.

A host of race car drivers from the aforementioned series competed at one point or more during the eight-year history on the legendary half-mile dirt track.

Among those, were the race's first eight winners: Kenny Wallace, Tony Stewart (three times), Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, Clint Bowyer, and Kyle Busch.

And then there were representatives from: 

NASCAR: Denny Hamlin, Bill Elliott, David Reutimann, Austin Dillon, Ray Evernham, Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, Ken Schrader, David Gilliland, Jason Leffler, Kasey Kahne, Bobby Labonte, Justin Allgaier, Ron Hornaday Jr., Matt Kenseth, Brian Vickers, Marcos Ambrose, Aric Almirola, J.J. Yeley, Jeff Gordon, A.J. Allmendinger, Joey Logano, Dave Blaney, Ty Dillon, Danica Patrick, Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, Brian Vickers, Casey Mears, Robby Gordon, Mark Martin, Mike Wallace, Josh Wise, Elliott Sadler, Kyle Petty, Jeff Green, and Juan Pablo Montoya.

NHRA:  Cruz Pedregon, Ron Capps

IndyCar: Tony Kanaan

World of Outlaws Sprints: Donny Schatz, Steve Kinser, Danny Lasoski

Plus, there were appearances by motorcycle racing's Ricky Carmichael, Travis Pastrana, and open wheel sprints' Levi Jones.

And let's not forget NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee Red Farmer, who was well into his 70s when he raced in several editions of the Prelude.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. even took part in one of the Preludes but as grand marshal. He did not drive.

It's hard to believe that the last Prelude to the Dream was five years ago. It's understandable in a way, as NASCAR saw the popularity of the Prelude and decided to bring the Camping World Truck Series to Eldora in 2013 for a full-fledged points-paying race.

(The Mudsummer Classic has also become a star-filled event with former dirt racers like Ryan Newman in attendance, Photo: Andrew Weber USA Today.)

The Truck Series race has been as much of a hit as the Prelude, drawing between 15,000 and 25,000 fans, squeezing into almost every inch of viewable space around the track.

And yes, the Trucks have put on exciting races in their first four events at Eldora, with Austin Dillon winning in the first Truck race there in 2013, followed by Darrell "Bubba" Wallace Jr. (2014), Christopher Bell (2015), and Kyle Larson (2016).

But fans continue to ask why can't the Prelude be resurrected. When Speedway officials announced in October 2012 that the 2013 edition of the Prelude would not be held, it was thought that it would be a temporary hiatus of maybe one or two years as the Truck race got established.

In a statement released by the Speedway, it cited "logistics associated with the Dream's expansion for the dirt Late Model teams that supplied the cars for the Prelude, along with speedway officials who must transition the facility" as the reason for not holding the Prelude.

Translated: officials had to make a number of changes and improvements to prepare the facility for the Truck Series race.

But now here we are at five years since the last Prelude, and it appears the event won't return any time soon -- if ever again. It's definitely a sad statement.

It seems we'll have to be happy for the eight years of exciting racing we had and the only opportunity around to get drivers from a variety of motorsports series together on the same racetrack.

Maybe another grassroots paved track -- such as Lucas Oil Raceway in suburban Indianapolis or Irwindale Speedway outside of Los Angeles -- might want to try and bring back its own version of the Prelude.

Sure, it might have to carry a different name, but race car drivers and race fans would likely love to see the grassroots version of the International Race of Champions -- an all-star event run from 1974 through 2006 -- brought back. It would no longer be a Prelude; it would be a dream come true.

After all, we can always keep dreaming, right?