ROSSBURG, Ohio (June 7) — Count Jerry Bowersock among competitors pleased that crew members standing along the frontstretch fence at Eldora Speedway won’t be allowed to use lengthy and colorful signal stick to let their drivers know which groove to run on the historic half-mile oval.

With Eldora officials banning the practice for this weekend’s $129,000-to-win Dream XXIX, Bowersock is glad drivers will have to use seat-of-the-pants skills to determine if a rallying competitors is threatening to go past in a faster groove.

Crew members can still use hand signals — using colorful gloves, if they choose — but no sticks or other items to signal.

“I’m old school. I don’t think (signal sticks) got no place in the sport myself, you know? They need to do away with hand signals, sticks, crew guys hanging on the (frontstretch) fence. To me, just get in and race and whatever happens, happens,” said Bowersock, Eldora’s 2001 Late Model champion and longtime regular at the track. “These guys are all big boys. They know how to drive race cars. They don’t need somebody tell them where to go. You know, I think a lot of races I’ve watched (on streaming) and a lot have been ruined, I think, by (crewman using) the sticks moving people up in front of somebody in the last lap or two and probably ruined a good finish.”

The 57-year-old Bowersock, who has never liked using signals from crew members, thinks hampering the ability of crew members to communicate with drivers could affect the outcome of events during the richest Dirt Late Model event of the season.

“You could get caught, you know, maybe being too low on the track and somebody drives around you on the top, where before they had been getting moved up (by an infield signaler) a lap or two sooner. I think it could definitely make a difference,” Bowersock said Wednesday during DIRTcar technical inspection. “I mean, it could go both ways. If you’re just unaware and you’ve been riding along maybe 20 or 30 laps and haven’t seen anybody, and you think you’re in the right spot, then all of a sudden somebody’s making time somewhere else and you aren’t aware of it, they’re going to drive by you before you know what happened — which that’s how it should be in my book. I hope it works out. Maybe it gets adopted to all the other series here as we go on down the road.”

Even without signals, the facility itself offers drivers one way to just the competition. The track’s turn-two video board — upgraded this year with a higher-definition screen — gives drivers heading down the frontstretch and into turn one a chance to peek at what’s happening behind them. But it’s not always easy to take your eyes off the track as Bowersock realized in recent modified action at Eldora.

“A couple of weeks ago, I was trying to glance over at it. I was leading the heat race (and wanted to) see how far ahead I was,” he said. “And, you know, I caught myself I was getting close to the corner and I still tried to look at it. And then I thought that wasn’t such a wise idea. I better quit, you know, trying to look at it.”

But he wouldn’t be surprised if some drivers are able to glean information from the video board.

“I kind of forgot about the new one being up until the last couple laps of that heat race. So, you know, maybe this weekend a guy needs to look at that a little closer,” he said. “I’m sure these guys that race all the time and use the (signal) sticks and stuff like that, they’re definitely gonna use it to their advantage since there’s no sticks this weekend.”

Clem’s Eldora debut

Tyler Clem of St. Petersburg, Fla., has big plans with his Ocala, Fla.-based Big Frog Motorsports in the coming weeks by tackling the DIRTcar Summer Nationals. Competing at more than two dozen tracks over five weeks is exciting, but the 20-year-old has an even more exciting kickoff to his June racing at Eldora’s lucrative Dream.

Clem has only been to Eldora twice, both times as a spectator. He saw sprint car racing’s Kings Royal as an elementary-schooler and five years ago saw the rain-postponed World 100. Coming to the historic track as a competitor is a little different.

“When you come through the gate and come to the infield, it’s like ‘Oh crap, we’re here, we’re ready to go.’ Obviously I’ve seen the 100s of races here (on video) and watched every Dream, every World (100) that I’ve been alive for,” Clem said. “This is awesome. (Just) the atmosphere compared to like Speedweeks or something else that I’ve ran, this is unbelievable for sure.”

The trip to Eldora driving the No. 58 owned by Augie Burttram and wrenched by Mike Rey is “a dream come true,” Clem said. “I was here in ’18 When McCreadie won the World and it’s just like a whole other atmosphere being here. I’ve just got great people behind me, obviously a great team, a great car, Augie and Mike and everybody here on this Big Frog has given me a helluva an opportunity to basically live my dream out here, so (I’ll) just make the best out of it. I’ve probably only got like 15 Super (Late Model) races under my belt, so I don’t have a whole lot of experience, but we’re gonna try our best and see what happens.”

He’ll lean on a few fellow drivers as he learns the ropes at one of Dirt Late Model racing’s highest-speed ovals.

“I’m good friends with Tanner English and have talked to him a little bit. Obviously he drove this car (previously),” Clem said. “I’m good friends with him and (Brandon) Overton and just guys like that, they have the experience and have the knowledge of what it takes to be able to run well here. So just leaning on those guys, leaning on like friends like (Ashton) Winger, people that’ve been here before, just good people to talk to, for sure.”

Clem’s goal? Make the feature lineups for Thursday and Friday’s 25-lap preliminary features to get laps and accrue enough points for a respectable starting spot in Saturday’s heat races.

“I think if we can make both prelims, that would set us up well for Saturday night,” he said. “If we can do that, I’d be really happy with that. You know, like I said, we’re just going to do our best. I’ve never been here before drivingwise, so just try our best … I’d be really happy if we can make both features on the prelim nights.”

Modified transition

Adam Stricker of Batavia, Ohio, has a family legacy at Eldora Speedway he’d like to live up to. His grandfather Joe Stricker was the first World 100-winning car owner when Bruce Gould raced to victory in 1971, a race where Joe himself finished sixth. The famed Stricker Streak was a potent car for years in regional events.

The 24-year-old Stricker enters the Dream for his first Super Late Model start at Eldora, a track where just a few weeks ago he came from the eighth starting spot to win a modified feature. Unable to enter Eldora’s lone Super Late Model event so far this season — he was prevented from competing in the weeknight Castrol FloRacing Night in America event because of work commitments with his job in the natural gas industry — Stricker hopes his modified victory gives him info to work with in his full-fendered MasterSbilt Race Cars house car.

“We’ve been really good here in the modified stuff. Obviously, it’s a different whole deal between the Late Models and the modifieds,” Stricker said, adding that he did get some indication of speeds and aerodynamics he’ll be facing.

“I’ve never been in a crown jewel event and if I can just go out here and make the show, you know, obviously all the history that my family has with Eldora, and obviously it’s the first time I’ve run a Super (Late Model) here, so if we can come here and at least make the race” (it will be a success), Stricker said. “Like I was talking to somebody before, there’s a lot of luck involved. I feel like you can be one of the fastest cars in the pits, and if luck don’t go your way, you could be loading it in the box not even making the 100-lapper Saturday. You’ve got to put yourself in a position. I think we’ve got a good enough piece here to do it. … it’s all about luck and you gotta be there at the end and make good strides and complete the night in one piece.”

Odds and ends

At a merging point of the technical inspection line in Eldora’s infield on Wednesday afternoon, Hall of Fame crew chief Steve Norris held up Billy Moyer’s car and allowed the No. 76 of Brandon Overton, winner of the past three Dreams, to slip ahead in line. “We’ll let that guy in,” Norris quipped. “Maybe a little speed will rub off.” … Tyler Erb’s Ohio-based Best Performance Motorsports team has entered a car with a black and gold scheme with a red, white and blue No. 1 on the door panel. … Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., is unveiling a graphics scheme supporting cancer survivors. … Former driver and 2023 National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame inductee Randy Korte is back at the track assisting customers as a racing consultant a few weeks after the passing of his father Charlie Korte. The elder Korte, of Pocahontas, Ill., suffered an aortic aneurysm and died May 26 at the age of 79. Korte, 58, continues his 13-year battle with multiple myeloma and undergoes weekly chemotherapy treatments.