‘Tough road to navigate;’ Local racing community remembers late NASCAR champion Kyle Busch
The local racing community is remembering the late NASCAR champion Kyle Busch. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks ] News Center 7’s John Bedell talks to racing fans about Busch’s legacy and learns about his Dayton-area ties LIVE on News Center 7 at 6:00. >>RELATED: NASCAR champion Kyle Busch dead at 41 TRENDING STORIES: Man arrested on nearly 2 dozen counts of rape in Clark County Dayton man accused of stealing over $15K in property from cars in Butler County Coroner identifies man killed in shooting on I-71 in Hamilton Co.
Racing fans often say the greatest dirt track in the world is in Darke County. “I think last year we sold tickets to 49 states and seven countries. So our little slice of heaven here in Darke County is known all over the world,” Levi Smith said.
Smith is the General Manager of Eldora Speedway, which is just north of Rossburg. NASCAR legend Tony Stewart owns Eldora, so the track’s owners and the track itself have connections to Busch. “Kyle has a connection to Eldora.
He was the winner of the Prelude to the Dream in June of 2012 here, where Tony brought a bunch of his buddies and raced in dirt late models before one of our major events,” Smith said. He added that it meant a lot to Eldora and racing fans to see Busch at the track in Darke County. “When you have someone like Kyle Busch in the racing world at an event, everybody knows Kyle Busch.
So, to have those types of guys here puts the spotlight even bigger on those events and those places,” Smith said. It was a shock to the racing world to lose the two-time NASCAR Cup champion after his sudden death on Thursday. “Yeah, you’re never ready for that.