Everybody Chasing Tony Stewart in Sixth Annual Charity Dirt Race

Tony Stewart owns just about everything there is at the Prelude to the Dream.

He's won it the most (3 times), is the only driver to lead all 30 laps of the feature (2008) and holds the one-lap qualifying record at 116.845 mph.

One other thing: he owns the track. Literally. Bathrooms, concession stands and all.

Stewart -- the two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion -- purchased Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio in 2004. The tiny half-mile dirt track, best described as a set of grandstands, buildings and light poles rising from the agriculture-rich and population-light west central Ohio countryside, has long been one of dirt racing's most coveted palaces of speed.

Wednesday night, it'll host another of those coveted events -- but instead of the typical dirt track crowd, racing superstars from all genres will gather to turn left by steering right in the sixth-annual Gillette Fusion ProGlide Prelude to the Dream.

Make no bones about it: the track's status of "coveted" among the lifelong dirt racers hasn't passed up guys like Jeff Gordon, Marcos Ambrose, Tony Kanaan and even drag racers Ron Capps and Cruz Pedregon.

"As a Sprint car fan, if you know two tracks, you know Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway and you know Eldora," said Ambrose, a native of Tasmania, Australia and current driver of the No. 47 in the Sprint Cup Series. "So, to have your first proper race on dirt at Eldora was quite intimidating, but I'm looking forward to getting back there and it's going to be a fun day, a fun night and for a great cause."

That cause isn't to fill the drivers' pocketbooks like most dirt track races, but intstead geared to benefit children's hospitals across the U.S. Four hospitals -- Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Riley Children's Hospital (Indianapolis), Levine Children's Hospital (Charlotte) and St. Jude's Children's Hospital (Memphis) -- will be matched with four teams of drivers that will compete to determine which hospital gets what.

The top team will earn its hospital 45 percent of the event's net earnings, second-place will get 25 percent and third and fourth will each nab 15 percent of the proceeds.

With Stewart representing the Cincinnati team, you can bet that his squad has to be the favorite Wednesday night. A favorite, of course, if Stewart isn't too busy trying to get everything prepared at his now-growing speedway. Past results indicate he's been OK on that side of things.

"You kind of have the feeling of what I would assume a proud father feels like," Stewart said. "You watch us start from something really small and get bigger and better every year, and that makes you proud. And, thankfully, I've got a great staff that put it all together and make all the logistics happen."

One aspect that Stewart and his team can't control is the weather. Twice already in the short history of the event, rain has postponed the event until September. Forecasts list the possibility of showers Wednesday morning, but they are expected to clear by race time -- meaning early-attending fans might just see Stewart working heavy equipment to prepare the track surface.

Denny Hamlin, last Sunday's winner at Pocono, captains the St. Jude team and admitted that he'll have to get used to the team racing concept.

"I really don't think I ever have been in a team race before, so I might have that list actually on my dash so I make sure I don't take those guys out," said Hamlin. "I think the most important thing is you don't want to be the guy who drags the team down, so you've got to finish the race. That's important."

Hamlin's Cup Series Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch acknowledged he's more than glad to participate in Stewart's ever-expanding event -- over 20,000 people are expected in person and HBO will carry it live on pay-per-view -- in support of charity. He admits, though, that running and winning at Eldora is plenty enough motivation.

"You always want to race at the tracks with a lot of history," Busch said. "The Milwaukee Mile was a historic racetrack and there are plenty of others, like Daytona and Indianapolis, that we go to. But Eldora is a lot of fun. It's got the flat bottom, it's got the high banks up near the outside walls and it's always a good show."