PETERSEN MEDIA-
When it comes to the first weekend of August at the Knoxville Raceway, there is no better combination than Paul Silva, and Shane Stewart, and the duo pocketed their fourth consecutive 360 Knoxville National’s crown on Saturday night.
“I can’t thank Paul Silva, and his guys for working so hard on this Jeff Gordon Children’s Foundation/Kick-It Car,” Stewart said. “No one works harder than Paul, and it is a pleasure to drive this car.”
With the week starting off Friday night with Stewart’s preliminary night, he was able to time his Jeff Gordon Children’s Foundation/Kick-it/Lucas Oil Products entry in third fastest, and charge to a second place finish in his heat.
Starting seventh in the feature event, as it was to the top-eight in points were inverted, Stewart showed why he is so good at the ½ mile facility.
Finding a ton of grip on the bottom of the speedway, the Bixby, OK driver was able to claw his way to a second place finish, putting him atop the point’s chart heading into the Saturday night finale, where he started on the pole.
The initial start saw fellow front row starter, Wayne Johnson, grab the lead, but the caution waived, and the field was re aligned for a complete restart.
The second start was much better for Stewart, as he shot out to an early lead aboard his A.R.T./Pro Bilt Construction/Palmero Properties backed entry.
Out front, Stewart was simply dominant, as he quickly began stretching his lead over the lead pack of cars.
In just a handful of laps, Stewart pulled to nearly a straight away lead, as he was himself in very thick traffic.
As Stewart fought traffic, he still maintained his advantage, as he stretched his lead to 3.6 seconds, with just three laps to go, until the caution flew, erasing it.
With Brad Sweet on his rear bumper, Stewart was able to again take off to a sizeable lead when the green flag waived, as he was not challenged, taking the white flag, Stewart navigated around the track, well on his way to the win, and as he entered turn three, the red light’s flickered, setting up a green-white-checkered finish, with Kevin Swindell and Kyle Larson on his tail.
What most did not know, was that coming to the green on the previous restart, Stewart broke a power steering line, and had to manhandle his machine with brut force.
The final restart saw Swindell hang with Stewart for the first lap, but with Larson challenging Swindell, Stewart was able to get away and pick up the huge win.
“I don’t know how many more laps I could have gone,” he said. “My arm pump is so bad right now, I am just lucky it happened when it happened. To win this race again is crazy, and hopefully we can carry this over to next week during the 410 Knoxville Nationals.”
Stewart also grabbed a win earlier this week in Ohsweken aboard the 3G Racing machine during their Summer Nationals.
The Silva Motorsports team thanks Kick-it, The Jeff Gordon Children’s Foundation, Lucas Oil Products, A.R.T. Speed Equipment, Pro Bilt Construction, Palmero Properties, Finley Farms, Car and Fleet, Stepping Stone Genetics, FK Rod Ends, OMP Racing, Wesmar Racing Engines, Amerikote, XYZ, Hoosier Tire, Pro Shocks, 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 2013.
2013 BY THE NUMBERS- Starts-60, Wins-113, Top 5’s-34, Top 10’s-39.
SILVA MOTORSPORTS 2013 BY THE NUMBERS: Races-12, Wins-4, Top-5’s-9, Top 10’s-9.
ON TAP: Stewart and Silva will be in action tonight for the Capitini Classic at the Knoxville Raceway for a fine tune-up before the Nationals.