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 This week, however, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will
compete on dirt in Wednesday night's 1-800-CAR-CASH Mud Summer
Classic at Eldora Speedway (9 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1). The 75-mile
race at the half-mile clay oval in Rossburg, Ohio, is the only dirt
track race across NASCAR's three national series.
Two of the sport's top prospects, Christopher Bell, 20, and Tyler
Reddick, 19, hold a distinct advantage over the field. Both grew up
racing sprint cars on dirt before transitioning to stock cars
recently.
"I have to say that I am pumped to run the truck race at Eldora,"
said Bell, who logged 24 feature wins on dirt last season in
non-NASCAR action. "I've never even gotten to run a stock car on
dirt so it will be interesting to see how well it translates from
sprint cars and midgets to the truck on dirt."
Bell made his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut last month,
posting a fifth-place finish in his debut at Iowa. He struggled in
the last race at Kentucky, finishing 17th, but growing pains are
typical for young drivers at 1.5-mile tracks.
he No. 54 Kyle Busch Motorsports driver competed at Eldora last
weekend in the Kings Royal, placing third in one sprint race and
17th in another.
Bell believes his Eldora experience will come in handy on Wednesday.
"I think it definitely gives me an advantage," he said. "The track
record at Eldora in a sprint car is about 12.7 seconds, so to be
running around there in sub 13-second laps and then go there in a
truck where the quick time was a 19.9 last year, it's much slower
than the sprint cars ran. I think having run that fast there in a
sprint car will definitely translate to running the truck there
because it will slow everything down."
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Reddick caught on to NASCAR quickly. In 2012, he became the youngest
driver to win a NASCAR K&N Pro Series race when he took the
checkered flag in his debut at Rockingham. He nearly won the Truck
Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award while running a partial
schedule last season. Ten races into the 2015 campaign, he ranks
second in the points standings with two wins and eight top 10s.
On dirt, the No. 29 Brad Keselowski Racing driver is the youngest
driver to start the World 100 at Eldora. He began the race from the
pole at 16 years old. He is also the youngest competitor to start a
World of Outlaws feature event (12 years old). Reddick finished 11th
in last season's Mud Summer Classic.
"I've really wanted to win a race at Eldora for a long time, more
than any other track," Reddick said. "And if that happens Wednesday
night, it would be really special."
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