Written by Dustin Albino

Mother Nature always wins when it comes racing, in fact she’s undefeated, thus why Tuesday’s (July 30^th) Super DIRTcar race at Sharon Speedway was postponed due to rain (fifth rainout of 2019), though never fear, Eldora is here. 

Watch 2019 Super DIRTcar Series at Eldora Dirt Derby Live!

The starts of the Super DIRTcar Series head to Eldora Speedway on Wednesday (July 31) for the first of potentially back-to-back nights at the venue (Eldora Invitational is Thursday, the same night of the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series event) for teams. However, all teams won’t compete in the invitational. 

As far as the Eldora Dirt Derby, the series hasn’t competed at the famed racetrack since 2017. Then, veteran driver Billy Decker started from the pole en route to leading all 75 laps, having to hold off the competition on a multitude of restarts. On that night, Pat Ward finished runner-up, with Matt Sheppard, Brett Hearn and Peter Britten rounding out the top five. 

Sheppard is going to be one of the favorites for this year’s Dirt Derby. The No. 9s enters the race winning back-to-back races, and a series-high five in 13 races. Since the last day of June, Sheppard has gone four for six in the win column. 

Friesen will also be one of the heavy pre-race favorites. On Thursday, the Canadian will be focused primarily on his No. 52 Truck Series team, entering NASCAR’s lone dirt race on the playoff bubble, 13 points ahead of Harrison Burton. But on Wednesday, he’ll be having some fun in the mud, hoping to grab his first Super DIRTcar win since winning at Albany-Saratoga Speedway on June 25. 

The Eldora Dirt Derby is a good way to impress NASCAR team owners, since many of the underfunded Truck Series teams look to put a dirt ace in one of its trucks at Eldora, though it would be for next year’s race. 

Following the two-day stint in Eldora, the Super DIRTcar Series will head to Merrittville Speedway next Monday (August 5) in Canada. 

You can catch all the action of the Dirt Derby on FloRacing, the last event on the network until Sept. 1 when the series visits Utica-Rome Speedway.