While the racing world prepares for the 56th running of the World 100 at Eldora Speedway, it also celebrates its sixth decade as one of short track racing’s most prestigious events. As the history of the race grows through variations of racecars and generations of people on both sides of the catch fence, one thing remains a constant; a truly great history.
The meaning of becoming a World 100 winner quickly grew the event into a dirt track crown jewel. Yes, the Rossburg, Ohio track has so many different big events on its annual calendar between various series and disciplines, but the romanticism of this particular Dirt Late Model race has become something truly special in the racing world.
FloRacing was looking back at the grand history of The World 100 and thought it would be best to celebrate the race in the form of decades. “World 100: Decades” will explore five races from five different decades sharing the story of the moments that make The World 100 such a special part of the sport’s culture. The series kicks off with a story penned about the sixth running, and then will highlight the next five decades with a series of produced videos about the 1986, 1996, 2006 and 2016 races.
THE 1976 RUNNING OF THE WORLD 100
The first World 100 that we will dive into took place 50 years ago. The year was 1976 and the race was entering its sixth running.
The midwest’s black dirt had produced the first five winners of Earl Baltes’ growing event. The inaugural running saw Ohio driver Bruce Gould take the checkered flag. The second edition was won by Minnesota’s Verlin Eaker. Floyd Gilbert was the World 100’s second Ohio winner in the races’ third running. Then, the state of Iowa took the next two Globes back to the Hawkeye state with the legendary Ed Sanger and Joe Merryfield grabbing trophies in back to back seasons in 1974 and 1975.
In 1976, the midwest domination was up against its biggest challenge, and it was to come from south of the mason-dixon line.
Going into the 5th annual World 100, it was safe to say that nobody had Georgia racer Charlie Hughes as a driver with high odds to win at Eldora, even himself. But from the drop of the green flag, Hughes’ gold No. 39 was on a mission to put his state on the map.
The winning move came 20 laps into the race when Hughes drove by Waterloo, Iowa’s “King of the Mud” Ed Sanger, who was the race’s polesitter, to take the lead. The Dalton, Georgia native never looked back and drove his car into victory lane to become the south’s first World 100 victor. It was a 1-2 sweep for “Peach State” racers with Dahlonega, Georgia’s Doug Kenimer finishing in the runner-up spot. The path to victory wasn’t a cake walk for the southern boys as Hughes drove to the victory from a 10th-place starting position and Keminer from 27th.
Hughes humbly admitted that he drove up from Georgia to Ohio with Kenimer and never gave it a thought that they would end up in victory lane at the end of the 100-lap affair.
Florida’s Gene Petro finished seventh with Tennessee's H.E. Vineyard in ninth, stamping the rise of the Southern Late Model racer at the midwest classic.
The next season, Kenimer got his chance to bring a globe back to Georgia, winning the 1977 running of the World 100.
While the midwest has been dominant in the history of the World 100, Georgia, with 10-victories in 55-races is second to only Ohio (11 wins) in state-rankings. It took 28 years after the two-year ‘76 & ‘77 Georgia sweep for another driver from the state to score a win, with Rossville’s Dale McDowell capturing “The World” in 2005. Locust Grove’s Shane Clanton took the Globe in 2008. Blairsville, Georgia’s Jonathan Davenport leads the state with five World 100 wins (2015, 2017. 2019, 2020, and 2022). Davenport enters 2026 attempting to tie Billy Moyer’s record of six globes.
The 56th World 100 weekend kicks off with the first two nights on Thursday and Friday September 10 and 11, culminating with the 100-lap feature event on Saturday night. The entire week will be broadcast live on FloRacing.