Announcement: Tony Stewart Just Hand NASCAR Champion $1 Million To Return To Eldora Speedway

The terms “Kyle Larson” and “not so fast” are related for the first time this year, but not in the way you may expect. Although the recent winner of the NASCAR Cup Series is usually swift on ovals, he might not be as quick to claim Tony Stewart’s $1 million reward. Thus, “Not so fast, Kyle Larson,” seems like a fair warning for the time being if Larson believes he can quickly make a million dollars by working a second job late in the spring of next year.

Tony Stewart is bringing back the Eldora Million

Even though Tony Stewart has won the NASCAR Cup Series three times, his passion has always been for the tiny tracks. Stewart even purchased Rossburg, Ohio’s sacred oval, Eldora Speedway, in 2004. The track was constructed in 1954 by Earl Baltes, who ran it until Stewart made an offer for his life’s work that was too good to refuse. Stewart is now honoring one of the most audacious promos ever made by a small-town promoter.

Baltes declared in February 2000 that the winner of a dirt late model race that was set for October of that year would get an extraordinary $1 million from him. Rain and very low temperatures, however, caused Baltes to reschedule the race for June 2001. On that day, Ohio native Donnie Moran overtook Don O’Neal on lap 25 and held on for the final 75 laps to win the massive payout.

On June 9, 2022, Stewart will now reintroduce the Eldora Million. Heat races, last-chance contests, and a championship feature with a $1,002,022 prize pool will all be featured in the Thursday event. One night beforehand, preliminary matches in the manner of a tournament will be used for seeding.

Kyle Larson scored big at Eldora Speedway this summer

Like Tony Stewart, Kyle Larson recently won the NASCAR Cup Series championship in his debut season at Hendrick Motorsports. Exiled from NASCAR in 2020, he threw himself into World of Outlaws events, and he didn’t let up during the recently concluded season.

In addition to his ten wins in the high-profile Cup Series point races that viewers watch on Sunday nights, Larson has amassed nineteen triumphs in midget, winged, and late model races, according to the website SprintCarRatings.com. The last one was on Friday in Placerville, California, where he won the 30-lap feature race after starting from the eighth position. The previous two were in the Chili Bowl in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in January.

The 37th Kings Royal took place at Eldora Speedway in Ohio on July 17th, somewhere in the midst of those victories. The largest dirt win of Larson’s career, the 40-lap feature win paid his team $175,000 and was one of the WoO diamonds. He finished seventh in the Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway the next day.

Despite all of his success this year, Kyle Larson has only won three of his 19 races while driving dirt late models (the Sprint Car Ratings website values his earnings at $488,400). One of his eleven victories was the Kings Royal triumph.

There was only one victory in the dirt late models during the 32-win season in 2020. Therefore, despite his usual prowess on dirt tracks, Larson does not favor the DLM.

The good news for Larson is that he should be able to try his hand at the Eldora Million anyhow thanks to the NASCAR schedule. On June 5, the Cup Series will be held at World Wide Technology Raceway in Illinois. Eldora’s races are scheduled for June 8–9. This allows Larson enough time to travel to Sonoma Raceway in California for the following Cup Series race, which is scheduled for June 12.