Eldora

    

               13929 S.R. 118           New Weston, OH 45348                 (937) 338-3815

 

29th annual World 100

Sept 10 & 11, 1999

ROSSBURG, OH (Sept. 10 & 11) -- With tears rolling down his cheek, Steve Francis shouted out “this is the greatest race in the world and I have been dreaming of winning it since I was a kid” as he climbed atop Eldora Speedway’s famed stage to accept the globed trophy signifying a victory in the World 100. Driving at a fierce but consistent pace, the popular Ashland, Kentucky veteran proved that Friday night’s quick time over the 228 car field was no fluke in his six car length victory over Darrell Lanigan. 

After two weeks of extensive dirt hauling by promoter Earl Baltes, the drivers encountered an entirely new racing surface on the one-half mile clay oval, the fans were treated to some of the most competitive late model racing seen in recent years. In fact, of the 24-car starting field, the only previous winner was Billy Moyer, while six drivers were making their first-ever start in the prestigious event. 

Don O’Neal took off at a break-neck pace from his pole starting position to outdistance Bill Frye into the first turn the and take the lead he was to hold for the first 15 laps before slowing abruptly down the front stretch. 

While O’Neal was distancing himself from the balance of the field, the action behind him was hot and heavy. Moyer was puffing on a driving school as he began his charge from the 24th starting slot, picking off at least one car per lap. 

Frye had his hands full holding back first Lanigan and then Bob Pierce, who entered the weekend as the nation’s honest commodity in dirt late model racing based upon multiple major wins in the past two weeks. 

Pierce finally got by Frye on lap 15, just as O’Neal encountered his rough luck, giving him the lead the next circuit. Pierce duplicated O’Neal’s earlier dominance in grand style, and began using lapped traffic to his advantage by lap 19. Frye found a new nemesis in the form of Kevin Weaver on lap 20 and gave up his position, dropping to third on lap 22. Weaver, other than Moyer, appeared to be the fastest car on the track and was reeling in Pierce until a flat tire slowed his efforts one lap short of the half-way mark of the century grind to bring out the only caution of the main event. 

A lapped car separated Pierce and Francis on the restart, but Francis quickly disposed of him within one lap to begin his methodical charge to victory. 

Moyer’s hectic pace was beginning to show, as he was all the way up to fifth, by the three-quarter century mark. However; his tires began to show wear and the former winner was unable to continue the strong run, sealing for seventh at the finish. 

Lanigan finally cleared Pierce on lap 81 with Rick Eckert, winner of the Dream earlier this year at Eldora, also in the thick of the baffle, as the capacity crowd sensed a wild finish. 

Lanigan fried every trick in the book to catch Francis, but hand signals from the pits let Steve know that competition was on his way and his determination drove him to a victory. 

Following those two across the line were Rick Aukland, Eckert and Pierce. Aukland was the silent hero, as he crept to the front unnoticed. 

In addition to the $32,000 paycheck and the winning hardware, Francis collected the $250 half-way bonus bosted by Die Cast Digest and the $500 fast time award put up by Big Johnson and J & J Steel. 

The night was not without controversy, as the apparent sixth heat race winner, Scoff Bloomquist, was disqualified after failing to meet the minimum weight requirements. Bloomquist crossed the scale three consecutive times short of the required weight. 

228 cars - fast time: Steve Francis 16.445

 

Friday Night Non-qualifier Race Results:

 

Event #1: Billy Dever, James Huff, Chris Carlson, Steve Hillard, Brandon Kinzer, Shannon Thornsberry, Curt Addison, Chad Zobrist, Jeff Smith, Jeff Semmens, Chris Winters, Ron Bohm, Bruce Stuart, Billy Trueblood, Chuckie May, Brian Hendrick