“We’re Gonna Pay $2 Million Dollars” -Tony Stewart Confesses to the Financial Burden of His Million Dollar Dirt Racing Dream

While the NASCAR nation is headed to New Hampshire Motor Speedway following an epic action-packed Quaker State 400 in Atlanta, 3-time Cup Series champion and Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner, Tony Stewart is all geared up to host the first-ever million-dollar Sprint car race on his home turf, the Eldora Speedway in Ohio.

Amidst the SHR debacle owing to the team’s primary sponsor’s partying ways and joining Trackhouse Racing, Stewart is all set for the dirt racing extravaganza on Wednesday and Thursday. With the seven-digit cash prize up for grabs, several prominent names will battle it out on the half-a-mile short track, including Stewart’s favorite Cup Series driver and, a once-in-a-generation talent, Kyle Larson. Reflecting on the massive cash prize being the highlight of the event, the Hall of Famer admitted the financial burden bearing its weight on the 51-year-old.

Tony Stewart aims at “making history,” hosting the first-ever million-dollar Sprint car race

For avid racing fans, Tony Stewart is indeed special. The NASCAR Hall of Famer after dominating IndyCar and NASCAR circles has been an ardent dirt racing enthusiast even having his own half-a-mile dirt track, Eldora Speedway in Ohio. And now with the Quaker State 400 in the rearview mirror, Stewart is hoping for the best with tickets already going on sale. Fans from 46 states and 4 countries have bought tickets for the weekend.

Above all, the event will certainly be one epic showdown for dirt racing enthusiasts, with a star-studded lineup of 80 drivers including former Tezos All-Star Circuit of Champions titlists Tyler Courtney and Aaron Reutzel, USAC champions Brady Bacon and Chris Windom and NASCAR’s very own 2021 Cup Series champion, Kyle Larson.

Speaking to floracing, Stewart got real about the financial side of things, with 2 million dollars up for the taking over the course of 4 days. The SHR co-owner said, “ Yeah it’s a big financial commitment to do this, obviously you know, we’re gonna pay over 2 million dollars over the course of 4 days at Eldora next weekend so that is a huge financial burden but dirt racing kicks in for the Sprint car side and what the Kings Royal because it’s under their sanctioning,”

With Kings Royal overlooking the event, the dirt racing fanatic in Stewart popped up as he opened up about the real reasoning behind the event while he credited their broadcasting partner, floracing. Stewart said, “We’re doing with flosports and flo has been a huge asset in helping us with this as well with their advertising that they can do during their broadcasts so that’s gonna help us a lot, it’s about making history more than it is anything else.“

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Tony Stewart pays tribute to his late role model, keeping up his promise

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During his glory days in NASCAR, Tony Stewart was known for his brash self and cut-throat attitude, while the 51-year-old has embraced change for the better, his promises were still intact. And with the multiple-day event coming to his home turf, Ohio, the veteran revealed his well-kept promise to his late dirt racing role model, Earl Baltes.

He explained his vision to keep his word. Stewart said, “We’ve had two one million dollar to win races for the Dirt Late Models, one under Earl (Baltes)’s leadership and one under ours last year.  It’s always been in my mind to be the first to do a million-dollar Sprint Car race.”

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Furthermore, Stewart added, “I don’t know who will step up after us but I hope it’s something that’s not exclusive just to Eldora Speedway. Eldora will always strive to be the pioneer to do things bigger and better than anyone else that has ever done it. That was the way Earl Baltes did everything and when I bought the racetrack from him, I looked him in the eye and shook his hand and said I will continue that tradition to the best of my ability.”

While his team, SHR is caught up in a rut with their primary sponsor parting ways, Stewart’s latest venture will certainly treat purists and traditional dirt racing enthusiasts.