Eldora Speedway
October 22, 2011
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HISTORY REPEATS FOR ELDORA DIVISIONAL CHAMPIONS

ROSSBURG, Ohio (October 25) – With the season having drawn to a close, Eldora Speedway’s 2011 divisional championships have been determined and they reflect a flashback, of sorts, with Rob Trent taking the Stock Car title and Jerry Bowersock the Modified title, while Brian Ruhlman and Jon Henry tied for top honors in the Late Model ranks.

Getting a divisional championship title at Eldora Speedway is tough. Tough due to the fact that the famed southwestern Ohio speed plant runs under a ‘major-event’ status rather than with a weekly menu, and that only allows for a limited number of point awarding events per division. It boils down to being on your game at every event, with little margin for error. A lot of that comes from repetition and ‘lap time’ on the venerable one-half mile clay oval.

Each of the four has held titles at Eldora in the past.

Trent has waited the longest to repeat a championship, as his previous trip to the stage as champion was in 1998. Consistency in the seven 2011 Stock Car events paved the way for the Lima, OH chauffeur; with six of the seven main event finishes among the top five, including one checkered flag. His championship was not solidified until the final night of action for the Stock Cars, where a third place finish gave him a seven point margin over point runner-up Dean Pitts; with Barney Craig, Earnie Woodard and Shawn Phillippi completing the top five.

Bowersock, hailing from Wapakoneta, OH, took advantage of a late season rash of hard luck suffered by Jesse Bitterling to take his second Eldora Modified trophy. His previous honor in that division was earned in 2008, but the versatile driver has a 2001 Late Model title on his resume, along with a 7th place finish in this year’s Late Model chase. Two feature wins and six finishes within the top five sealed the honor for Bowersock, with Bitterling, who led the points chase much of the late season before suffering engine woes in the final points night, taking runner-up honors, seven tallies behind Bowersock. Brian Post, Josh Morton and Tim Richardson completed the top five.

The Late Model chase boiled down to the final night of racing – the UMP (United Midwestern Promoters) National Championship and while the standings juggled around throughout the night, the final outcome ended with a bittersweet tie for top spot between Ruhlman (Clarklake, MI) and Henry (Ada, OH).

It is not the first time that a tie for Late Model honors occurred, as rivals Shane Yoder and Kris Patterson shared the podium in 2007.

With Mother Nature and scheduling reducing the Late Model point awarding events to five chases, it was a matter of ‘getting it done’ for the racers chasing the ultimate spot. While Ruhlman was able to grab one feature win enroute to the championship, Henry’s claim to fame was consistency.

Both have previous Eldora stage appearances. Ruhlman ruled over the Late Models from 2002-2004, while Henry was last season’s Modified titlist. Jeep VanWormer and Kent Robinson finished third and fourth, while another tie prevailed over fifth spot between Curtis Roberts and J. R. Hotovy.

The champions, and their court, will be crowned at the Eldora Speedway traditional Awards Ceremony, tentatively set for January 21, 2012. Details will be announced when confirmed.