PETERSEN MEDIA
Competing in the Short Track Nationals on Saturday night, where he finished ninth, Shane Stewart made an overnight trip to the Eldora Speedway wear he grabbed is 18th win of the season on Sunday!
Making his first start aboard the potent Indy Race Parts No.71 machine, Stewart would ultimately march from his seventh starting spot to score the win at the Blue Collar Bash.
By the completion of the first lap, Stewart had jumped up to the second spot as he haunted early leader, Kyle Sauder.
Following a lap four restart, Stewart grabbed the lead, and let the field know the race would be for second.
“It was a great first night in the 71 car,” Stewart said. “We are going to run together at the World Finals, and we thought this was the perfect opportunity to get acclimated with each other.”
Earlier in the week, Stewart was in action at the Short Track Nationals aboard the Joe Gaerte owned 3G.
Kicking his weekend off on Friday night, Stewart started dead last in his heat race, and raced to a fifth place finish, accumulating very important passing points.
Stewart then proceeded to pick up his qualifier win aboard the Red Line Oils/DDNi/Media Tile entry, and earn an eight starting position in the preliminary feature event.
When the green flag waived, Stewart instantly jumped up to the cushion on the tight confines of the I 30 Speedway, but early on, Stewart got over the cushion and slid back to the 17th spot.
True to form, Stewart got up on the wheel and powered himself back to a seventh place finish, salvaging what could have been a disastrous night points wise.
Accumulating enough points to start in the second row of the first B, Stewart would snag the third spot and transfer to the 40-lap feature event.
Starting in the 11th spot of the feature, Stewart fought early to get a handle on his entry, but it was apparent the car was not to his liking.
Holding on for 40-laps Stewart would end up finishing in the ninth spot.
“We had a tough weekend,” he said. “The guys worked hard, but we just weren’t very competitive. I do have to thank them for busting tail all night on Saturday to make Sunday possible.”
Shane and the 3G Motorsports team would like to thank Red Line Oil, Media Tile, DDNi, XYZ Machine, Gaerte Engines, All Star Performance, KPC Chassis, and SST Shocks for their continued support.
ON TAP: Shane will now head to Charlotte for the World Finals against the World of Outlaws this weekend, as he will again be at the wheel of the Indy Race Parts No.71.
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. You can also follow him on twitter @ShaneStewart57.