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Clint Bowyer wins Tony Stewart's annual Prelude to the Dream
dirt race for charity
ROSSBURG, OH (June 8, 2011) - Clint Bowyer grew up racing on dirt and he
showed Wednesday night that he hasn't forgotten how to win on dirt.
Bowyer led every lap of the annual Prelude to the Dream race at the
half-mile Eldora Speedway dirt track in Rossburg, Ohio, owned by Tony
Stewart.
The race is only seven years old but it always attracts a who's who of the
racing world for a night when all the money goes to charity. The race was
shown on HBO Pay Per View with the net proceeds from the telecast supporting
four of the nation's top children's hospitals.
"It's just so much fun to be able to come here and compete," Bowyer said.
"What an awesome race track. I've always loved this place and I'm very proud
of Tony Stewart and everybody behind him that makes this event awesome.
There's a lot of hard work to put on something like this, and we are very
lucky to have him put forth the effort."
Bowyer had to hold off a hard-charging J.J. Yeley for the win. Yeley is a
former USAC champion.
"It was a ton of fun. I had to grab a spare helmet out of the trailer. I had
to find an old uniform that barely fits," Yeley said. "The race track just
got slippery and because there's not a lot of experience out there, the
racetrack doesn't get very wide, which makes it very difficult to pass. I
got a good start, got by Almirola and whoever started inside of me there
and, for a while, I thought I had something for Clint, but he was just
really good tonight. It beats going to any golf tournament any day of the
week, and then some. Any time you can go play in the dirt, and for a good
cause, it's a thrill to just be here."
Jimmie Johnson, who won last year's race in a car owned by Bowyer, had to
start from the back this year.
"The track conditions were a lot different (than last year)," he said.
"These conditions take a little more experience. Last year was a little more
forgiving and more grip. But I had a blast. Finally understood about how to
pass some cars about 10 laps into it and started working my way forward. I
had a great night."
IndyCar driver Tony Kanaan was also in the race. He got bumped into the wall
and lost a wheel, but said he had a blast, even with all the dirt in his
driving suit.
"This (driving) suit is going to have to retire, now, from IndyCar," he
said. "But I'm going to frame it and hang it up on the wall just like this."
Results:
1. (1) Clint Bowyer, 30
2. (4) J.J. Yeley, 30
3. (2) Aric Almirola, 30
4. (10) Kyle Busch, 30
5. (5) Justin Allgaier, 30
6. (6) Ricky Carmichael, 30
7. (8) Ken Schrader, 30
8. (13) Austin Dillon, 30
9. (12) Ryan Newman, 30
10. (11) Kasey Kahne, 30
11. (21) Denny Hamlin, 30
12. (17) David Reutimann, 30
13. (14) Matt Kenseth, 30
14. (18) Brian Vickers, 30
15. (9) Carl Edwards, 30
16. (27) Kenny Wallace, 30
17. (20) Ron Capps, 30
18. (28) Jimmie Johnson, 30
19. (16) Cruz Pedregon, 30
20. (26) Tony Stewart, 30
21. (19) David Gilliland, 30
22. (22) Bill Elliott, 30
23. (24) Bobby Labonte, 30
24. (3) Marcos Ambrose, 30
25. (25) Ray Evernham, 21, Mechanical
26. (23) Ron Hornaday, 20, Mechanical
27. (15) Tony Kanaan, 18, Lost Wheel
28. (7) Jason Leffler, 16, Accident
Race Statistics
Winner's average speed: 45.285 mph
Time of race: 19:52.459
Margin of victory: .531 of a second
Lead changes: None
Cautions: (Lap 10: Debris; Lap 13: Evernham, Hornaday Spin T3; Lap 19:
Kanaan Lost Wheel; Lap 20 Labonte, Hornaday Spin T4)
Leaders: Bowyer 1-30
Attendance: Approximately 20,000
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