THE ROAD TO ELDORA

7/8/2013 THE ROAD TO ELDORA

Joey Coulter and his Kyle Busch Motorsports teammates went to Smokey Mountain Speedway last week in preperation for this month's much anticipated Inagural Mudsummer Classic - the first-ever dirt race for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. While Coulter has experience on dirt in the ARCA Racing Series at DuQuoin State Fairgrounds in DuQuoin, Il and Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, Il and races his Dirt Super Late Model every chance he get's, he knows that no test will prepare him or his Truck Series companions for what the series will experience when they invade Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, OH on Wednesday, July 24.

"The test  went really well," Coulter said. "It was a little bit of a culture shock for some of the guys on the team (which was kinda funny to see) but all in all it was good day. We were mainly focused on what adjustments affected the truck the msot and not really to concerned with the lap times that we could run around that particular track. The main reason for this is that dirt is a lot less predictable than asphalt and there is about 100 different ways that the staff at Eldora can prep the track, making it different from what we tested on. The one thing I learned is how difficult it's going to be to race on a surface that is so hard packed and that slick. The ARCA races that I've run on dirt in the past were on tracks that rubbered up like a pavement track would. Smokey Mtn. and Eldora will not do that unless there is a lot of different cars running the week leading up to the truck race. I am looking forward to unloading my Tundra in Eldora and seeing what it can do on a surface that it has never seen before."

The return to traditional short-track grassroots racing has Coulter, the entire NASCAR community and fans buzzing with anticipation and a blend of conventional NASCAR procedures with the traditional short-track race format will be a recipe for a memorable debut for the sport later this month.

For more information on the format details on the historic event visit: http://www.eldoraspeedway.com/2013/04/09/event-format-announced-for-inaugural-nascar-camping-world-truck-series-race/