2008 NASCAR Prelude to the Dream Event at Eldora Speedway

Mud in my hair, dirt down my pants and bathrooms that don't work ... it must be the Prelude to the Dream at Eldora Speedway.

When Tony Stewart announced that the boys would be returning to the dirt for the fourth annual Prelude to the Dream presented by Old Spice at the Eldora Speedway, I knew I would be there. I also knew that I would be sitting at the track with my parents to one side and my boyfriend to the other. We purchased our tickets prior to the event and started planning our trip. Since we live less than an hour away, we knew it would be an easy one.

The night before the race though, our area of Ohio was pounded by rainstorms that knocked out the power and left many areas with severe flooding. One of those areas under a flood watch was New Weston where Eldora was. At around 1 pm though the official word came down that the race was a "go" and off we trooped.

The traffic wasn't as bad as we expected given that 23,000 people were on hand for the event. The announcers stated that 46 states were represented by race goers and people as far away as Denmark bought tickets to the race. It's not often that you see some of the brightest names in NASCAR arrive at a little town in Ohio to race on a dirt track.

The one thing we did notice was the mud and the mud was everywhere. Track workers including owner Tony Stewart did everything they could to dry the track, but us fans were left on our own. I understand that they needed to dry the track and that was their main priority, but after roughing it through the mud I was more than a little annoyed.

Prior to the race we had the chance to walk around and look at the different souvenir haulers that were set up. Kevin Harvick was signing autographs at his souvenir hauler and was nice enough to pose for a quick picture with me. We then made it back to our seats where we saw Tony Stewart on the track, driving around in an old pickup truck with Kyle Petty sitting on the other side.

The drivers had the chance to come up on stage and draw for their qualifying order, but no one could convince Tony Stewart to get out of his truck long enough to go on stage. During driver introductions I wasn't surprised that Kyle Busch was booed, though I was surprised that he had his fair share of cheers. However Jimmie Johnson picked up quite a lot of boos, as did Jeff Gordon though he had a lot of people cheering too.

Once the qualifying laps started you could tell fairly easily who had experience on the dirt and who was a novice. Clint Bowyer, Tony Stewart, and Dave Blaney put down fast times with Blaney setting a new record for qualifying at this little track. Since Blaney has the nickname of the Buckeye Bullet, maybe I shouldn't have been very surprised. I also wasn't surprised to see Robby Gordon toss off a fast lap or adapt so quickly to his car given that it was his first time at the track. Robby can drive almost anything you put him behind the wheel of.

The heat races were next and I have to say that I was fairly impressed at Kevin Harvick. He tends to mock his abilities as a driver, but he sure seemed to know what he was doing that night. Clint Bowyer won the first heat, with Tony Stewart winning the second and Robby Gordon picking up the third.

We were on hand when JJ Yeley kept experiencing problems, when Ryan Newman hit the wall, and when David Reutimann saw the top of his hood fly off and land on the track only feet in front of us.

Then the race started and it was pretty much a runaway with Tony Stewart passing Harvick on the second lap and holding onto the lead for the rest of the race. While we all expected to see Stewart win, it was more exciting to watch Robby Gordon flying up through the field and coming close to catching the track owner.

Now for the bad part. Halfway through the race I headed up to the bathrooms only to find that they weren't working. When I saw they weren't working, I mean that the water was off. You couldn't wash your hands and even worse you couldn't flush the toilets. Many of the toilets were overflowing and most were out of toilet paper. It was one of the most disgusting things I've seen in a long time and it made me want to run outside to the port-a-johns.

The mud was so bad that I felt sorry for those people camping outside in tents. When we sat in our camp chairs, they sank into the mud by nearly 6 inches. Climbing up the hill after the race was even worse. My dad almost fell on top of one woman, while my boyfriend fell on his back when he slipped on a particularly bad spot.

Once we left the track we found that there were several police officers outside directing traffic to ensure that everyone turned right. If you came in from the opposite side of the track, you were pretty much out of luck. The track has parking available, but no one made that clear and we actually had to park in a large, muddy field across the street. I was a little worried that my car wouldn't make it out, but we eventually got out though my boyfriend did fall in a muddy ditch we were trying to cross.

I'm still finding pieces of dirt in my clothing, especially in my pockets and ruined a pair of shoes in the process, but none of that seems to matter. The Prelude to a Dream at Eldora is something that every race fan needs to see firsthand for their self. You can order the package from HBO, but it's not the same as being there.

Finishing Order:

1. Tony Stewart
2. Robby Gordon
3. Clint Bowyer
4. Kenny Wallace
5. Denny Hamlin
6. Matt Kenseth
7. Kevin Harvick
8. Jimmie Johnson
9. Ken Schrader
10. Kyle Busch
11. David Reutimann
12. Ryan Newman
13. Red Farmer
14. Jeff Gordon
15. Cruz Pedregon
16. Ray Evernham
17. Ron Capps
18. Carl Edwards
19. Aric Almirola
20. Dave Blaney
21. J.J. Yeley
22. Kasey Kahne
23. Bobby Labonte
Mark Martin, DNS
Bill Elliott, DNS

Here's hoping we see the fifth annual Prelude to the Dream in 2009.