{"id":9873,"date":"2012-06-05T10:54:31","date_gmt":"2012-06-05T14:54:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/?p=9873"},"modified":"2012-06-03T19:55:19","modified_gmt":"2012-06-03T23:55:19","slug":"band-of-brothers-at-prelude-to-the-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/2012\/06\/band-of-brothers-at-prelude-to-the-dream\/","title":{"rendered":"Band of Brothers at Prelude To The Dream"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kurt & Kyle Busch and Austin & Ty Dillon To Compete in
\nAll-Star Charity Race Benefitting Feed The Children<\/p>\n

Wednesday, June 6 Presented Live by HBO Pay-Per-View\u00ae<\/strong><\/p>\n

The eighth annual Prelude To The Dream on Wednesday, June 6 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, will feature two races within the all-star dirt Late Model race that benefits Feed The Children<\/p>\n

A band of brothers will wheel 2,300-pound dirt Late Model stock cars capable of putting out more than 800 horsepower around the half-mile Eldora oval. NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers Kurt and Kyle Busch will vie for the win and bragging rights among themselves, as will Austin and Ty Dillon, who compete in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, respectively.
\n <\/p>\n

While the brothers have raced against each other numerous times, they\u2019ve never raced against each other in the Prelude To The Dream, where the top-10 finishers will get a tractor-trailer filled with food from Feed The Children delivered to their hometown or city of choice.<\/p>\n

Kurt Busch\u2019s only Prelude appearance came in 2006, and while Kyle Busch has been a Prelude regular, his first Prelude start wasn\u2019t until 2007. Austin Dillon made his Prelude debut last year, and Ty Dillon makes his first Prelude start this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cKyle has done really well in the Prelude and it\u2019s been awhile since I\u2019ve run it,\u201d says Kurt, the 2004 Sprint Cup champion. \u201cI feel like he has the upper hand, for sure, and he\u2019s definitely going to make it tough on me to get advice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKurt\u2019s always been a good dirt racer,\u201d Kyle counters. \u201cWe\u2019ve raced Dwarf cars against each other and Legends cars on dirt, and it\u2019s always fun to race like that. It\u2019s a charity race and it\u2019s for a very good cause with Feed The Children, but Kurt and I are going to get after it. We both want that trophy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dillon brothers have a wealth of dirt-track experience between them. In fact, as the duo began their climb up the racing ladder, much of their racing took place on dirt.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love racing on dirt. Really, it\u2019s where we got our start,\u201d says Austin Dillon, the 2011 Truck Series champion and grandson of championship-winning NASCAR team owner Richard Childress. \u201cWe got a later start in the sport than a lot of people because we focused on stick-and-ball sports as kids. I played in the Little League World Series in 2002 and Ty was always into football, but once we tried our first race, we were hooked. Now Ty and I try to race in 25-50 dirt races a year. Shane and Sara McDowell run our dirt team, Team Dillon Racing, and they\u2019ve been really influential in our racing development. I think Ty and I both have the same amount of experience in dirt cars.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe both started racing dirt about the same age,\u201d adds Ty Dillon, currently third in Truck Series points and handily leading the rookie of the year standings. \u201cI don\u2019t think you could say one has more experience than the other on dirt. I remember Pop Pop (Childress) telling us when we wanted to start racing to give him a call. We saw a Bandolero race at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway and we both wanted to try it, so we called Pop Pop and he arranged a test for us and we\u2019ve been racing ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, who\u2019s the better dirt-track racer among the Dillon brothers?<\/p>\n

Ty says, \u201cI am, of course.\u201d And Austin, predictably, thinks otherwise. \u201cI\u2019m the better dirt driver,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Despite the brotherly one-upmanship, the Dillon brothers form a formidable duo on the track.<\/p>\n

\u201cTy and I help each other a lot. Mainly, we push each other,\u201d Austin says. \u201cIf I\u2019m competing against Ty, I\u2019m going to try harder because we have a brotherly competition. It doesn\u2019t matter what we\u2019re doing, we\u2019re going to race each other and try to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

To get that win, the Dillon boys collaborate on setups, racing lines and anything else that will give them an advantage on the rest of the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that if I have a question or need help with something, I can go ask Austin and he\u2019ll help me out,\u201d Ty says. \u201cWe both have different driving styles when it comes to dirt racing. He\u2019s a little better in some areas, and I\u2019m a little better in other areas. Together, we make a pretty good driver.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re both really competitive and both really want to win. We\u2019ll fight to the end to get the win, but if I can\u2019t win, I want to see Austin do well and win. We\u2019ll be teammates for life because we\u2019re not only brothers, but best friends. That doesn\u2019t stop us from chasing each other to the finish line.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve learned a lot from each other racing against one another over the years. Austin said it\u2019s a lot of fun to race at Eldora. I\u2019ve been watching races there for a long time. Can\u2019t wait to finally race there.\u201d<\/p>\n

In terms of experience in the Prelude To The Dream, Kyle Busch leads the band of brothers and knows what to expect on the high banks of Eldora.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first year I remember the track was really tacky and you could move all over the place,\u201d Kyle says. \u201cAnd then it kind of glazed over and you still raced all over the place. The last couple years it\u2019s been more single-file. You get up along the outside and it\u2019s kind of only one-groovish. I try to make the bottom work and make up ground, but momentum is just so important around the top side, so you try to pull some slide jobs on some guys and get down low, and then slide up in their groove. Then they\u2019ll come back and they\u2019ll slide you in the next corner. It\u2019s fun racing, and it\u2019s just a part of what you\u2019ve got to do in order to get up front.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kyle\u2019s best Prelude finish is second in 2007, but he\u2019s always been in contention, running with the leaders throughout the race.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been close a few years,\u201d Kyle says. \u201cI want to win everything that I get in, and the Prelude\u2019s been eluding me. I thought I had a chance to win it in 2007. Me, Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards were coming to the line, all side by side. Missed out there. A couple other years have been close, and it would mean a lot to get my first win there. I\u2019m looking forward to that day and, hopefully, it\u2019s this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

To get that win, Kyle will have to outduel his brother Kurt, who despite limited experience in the Prelude To The Dream, has a strong understanding of what it takes to sling a Late Model around Eldora.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way that you have to have the car sideways, but still understand how to generate forward bite \u2013 it\u2019s an art and it\u2019s a balance,\u201d says Kurt. \u201cThe dirt Late Models are so big, yet you have to race so close to the other cars. You do it like figure skaters would \u2013 they\u2019re just in a pair and they run sideways through the corners. The thing I remember from the last time I was at Eldora is that you could have the right-rear (tire) rubbing the flagstand if you weren\u2019t careful. It\u2019s a whole different game on how you have to balance it out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m running for MasterSbilt and I feel like it\u2019s my best attempt to go racing at Eldora and do something special. These guys at MasterSbilt have done a great job with their cars over the years and, right now, I think they\u2019re one of the hottest teams in dirt racing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 2012 edition of the Prelude To The Dream includes hot laps, qualifying, heat races and a 40-lap feature with double-file \u201cshootout style\u201d restarts. Stars representing NASCAR, NHRA, INDYCAR and the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series will battle for dirt supremacy with HBO Pay-Per-View\u00ae presenting the event LIVE in high-definition to the entire nation. Net proceeds from the telecast will support Feed The Children, a U.S.-based charity that domestically has helped more than 365,000 families since 2009 through its Americans Feeding Americans Caravan.<\/p>\n

The live, commercial-free, high-definition broadcast of the Prelude To The Dream will begin at 8 p.m. EDT (5 p.m. PDT) with an immediate replay. The Prelude To The Dream has a suggested retail price of $24.95 and is available to more than 92 million pay-per-view homes. HBO Pay-Per-View is the leading supplier of event programming in the pay-per-view industry. Ordering information and up-to-the minute racing information is available at either www.PreludeToTheDream.org or www.HBO.com. Updates can also be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com\/PreludeToDream and on Twitter at twitter.com\/PreludeToDream (@PreludeToDream).<\/p>\n

Tony Kanaan of the IZOD IndyCar Series will again compete against Danica Patrick, who in 2012 has made the full transition from IndyCar to NASCAR. They\u2019ll rub fenders with straight-liners Ron Capps and Cruz Pedregon of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Dirt regulars Steve Kinser and Donny Schatz, who have collectively won 24 World of Outlaws championships, will race for the first time in dirt Late Models. All will join NASCAR stars such as Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Clint Bowyer, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Bobby Labonte, Aric Almirola and many others.<\/p>\n

New participants include Patrick, Kinser, Schatz and Ty Dillon, who will join Stewart, Capps, Kenny Wallace and Kenny Schrader as drivers who have participated in every Prelude To The Dream since 2005, where Wallace was the inaugural winner.<\/p>\n

With no points and no pressure, the Prelude To The Dream is a throwback race, allowing drivers to step back in time and compete for the reasons they all went racing in the first place \u2013 pride and a trophy. And they\u2019ll do it on the same surface racing legends A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti competed on nearly 50 years ago. <\/p>\n

For those who want to see the Prelude To The Dream in person, tickets are available online at www.EldoraSpeedway.com or by calling the track office (937) 338-3815. Act fast \u2013 the race has sold out in previous years.<\/p>\n

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Kurt & Kyle Busch and Austin & Ty Dillon To Compete in All-Star Charity Race Benefitting Feed The Children Wednesday, June 6 Presented Live by HBO Pay-Per-View\u00ae The eighth annual Prelude To The Dream on Wednesday, June 6 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, will feature two races within the all-star dirt Late Model race […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[15096],"class_list":["post-9873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nascar","tag-prelude-to-the-dream"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9873\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}