PETERSEN MEDIA
Shane Stewart continued his strong run during the Southern Iowa Speedweek as he closed it out with a sixth place finish during the 52nd Annual Goodyear Knoxville Nationals.
Fresh off his fourth 360 Nationals triumph, Stewart returned to action to qualify for the “Grand Daddy of them all” on Wednesday night.
After a late thunderstorm rolled through Knoxville, IA, action got started a little late, and Stewart was still strong as he timed in seventh fastest aboard his Kick=It/Jeff Gordon Children’s Foundation/A.R.T. machine after being the third car to go out.
Heat races proved tough to pass on Wednesday as many of the top qualifiers failed to transfer out, including Shane who finished seventh and put his Finley Farms/Stepping Stone Genetics/BHG entry into the B main.
Starting in the sixth spot, Steward was hard on the gas as the race went green and jumped up into the third spot, where he would finish, and transfer into the feature event.
Starting the Wednesday night feature in the 23rd spot, Stewart again wowed the Knoxville crowd by impressively running up into the tenth spot in just ten laps, as the red flag waved.
During the red, Stewart’s right rear tire lost a few pounds of air pressure, as he wrestled his machine around the ½ mile track and moved up to a seventh place finish at the stripe.
Following Thursday’s race, Stewart sat 13th in points and was locked into the feature event on Saturday night where he would start in the 13th spot.
With the race going green following an exciting display of fireworks, Stewart himself had fireworks for the fans as he again was able to pick off cars early in the feature aboard his Paul Silva prepared entry, as he clawed his way up to the sixth spot by the time the yellow waved on lap 26 for the fuel stop.
On the restart, Stewart fell back to the seventh spot as Jason Meyers raced his way by him.
Falling back to eight late in the feature, Stewart made a couple moves late in the race to get himself back up to the sixth spot as he took the crossed checkered flags.
“Overall it was a pretty good Nationals for us,” Stewart explained. “It was great working with The Jeff Gordon Children’s Foundation as well as all the people from Kick-It. You can’t complain about sixth, but one day it will be out turn to stand in the center of the podium.”
The Silva Motorsports team thanks Kick-It For Children’s Cancer, The Jeff Gordon Children’s Foundation, Lucas Oil Products, A.R.T. Speed Equipment, Pro Bilt Construction, Palmero Properties, Finley Farms, Car and Fleet, FK Rod Ends, OMP Racing, Wesmar Racing Engines, , Shift Creative, Amerikote, XYZ, Hoosier Tire, Pro, Banshee Graphics, Dan Olson Products, K&N Filters, RE Technologies, Weld, Schoenfeld Headers, Butlerbuilt Seats, Vortex Wings, CP Pistons, Cometic Gaskets, Huggins Cams BR Ignitioneering, Blackwell Consolidation, and Petersen Media for their partnership in 2012.
ON TAP: Shane will now pilot the 3G Motorsports entry at the Ohsweken Speedway this Friday and Saturday night.
STAY CONNECTED: For all of the latest news on Shane Stewart visit his website at www.shanestewart.com or become a fan of his on facebook at www.facebook.com/ShaneStewartRacing. We also encourage you to visit www.kick-it.org for all the happening with the Kick-It For Children’s Cancer program and www.jeffgordonfoundation.com for all the happening with the Jeff Gordon Children’s Foundation.