Citing a desire to make history, Eldora Speedway owner Tony Stewart says his half-mile dirt track in Rosberg, Ohio, will pay a million dollars to the winner of a Sprint Car race later this month.

Known as the Eldora Million, the 50-lap sprint car race scheduled for July 12-13 will pay the winner $1,002,023. It marks the first time in sprint car racing history the winner of an event will receive that amount, which is second only to this year’s Indianapolis 500 winning payoff of $3,666,000. Eldora has hosted $2 million to win dirt late model races.

“It’s always been in my mind to be the first to do a million-dollar sprint car race,” says Stewart, who’s been planning it for about a year. “It’s a financial responsibility for sure, but there’s just things that feel right and you know you’re doing for the right reason. This is one of them.”

Stewart says the format for the two-day event will be unique and “too complicated” to cover during a zoom conference. However, he notes the event winner will have definitely earned his million dollars.

“It shouldn’t be qualify, quick time and start on the pole, and the next thing you know you start on the pole for the main event and you don’t have to race anybody,” Stewart says. “We laid out a format with our staff that we felt like was going to give the fans the best opportunity to see the best racing. Whatever driver that’s on that stage winning a million dollars at the end of the night will have earned it for sure. It’s not a free ride. You’re going to have to pass cars no matter what during the prelim and the main event … to get there.”

Stewart expects about 80 entries for the event. He says camping has been sold out for months. Tickets have been sold in 46 states and five countries, and it will be televised on FloSports. Immediately after the Eldora Million, the track rolls into the 40th running of the Kings Royal.

“We’re going to pay out over $2 million over the course of four days at Eldora,” Stewart says. “It’s about making history more than it is anything else at this point.”