By T.J. Buffenbarger
ROSSBURG, Ohio (September 23, 2016) – Shane Stewart picked up his second consecutive feature victory with the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series Friday night at Eldora Speedway to kick off the 4-Crown Nationals weekend.
Stewart waited through four attempts to start the main event, running down Daryn Pittman in lapped traffic before driving away from the field over the final 19 laps driving the car fielded by Larson/Marks Racing. The wins follows his victory with the Outlaws Wednesday night at Hartford Motor Speedway.
“I have to thank my crew guys,” said Stewart. “They work endless hours to keep this thing up front. To win two in a row is really special. Everyone that is involved with LMR. It’s obviously special to win here, anytime you win here its special.”
The 30-lap feature got off to a rocky start with a caution flat and two red flags before a lap was completed.
The first attempt at starting the feature resulted in a caution when Jac Haudenschild spun in turn four. Jac was able to join the tail of the field for the restart. The next two attempt to start the feature resulted in consecutive red flags. The first red was for Tim Shaffer and Jacob Allen flipping down the backstretch and the second was for Sheldon Haudenschild getting upside down into the catch fence in turn one. All the drivers were uninjured. Following Sheldon’s red flag an open red was called for teams to work on the cars while Eldora officials made repairs to the catch fence.
Those red flags did not give Stewart much information to relay during the open red.
“I was actually really nervous at the beginning of that race. I had one good restart, one bad restart, and one good restart. On the open red I told my guys ‘I don’t know if my car is going to be good or not’”
Once the feature did get underway Pittman took the lead from Schatz with Stewart in tow. Stewart started working on Schatz for second, making the pass with a slide job in turn three on lap three.
By lap six Pittman closed in lapped traffic. One lap later Pittman had Stewart right on his back bumper. Pittman opened up some distance putting a lapped car between himself and Stewart, but Stewart quickly disposed of that lapped car and closed in on Pittman.
On lap 11 Stewart made his move with a slide job in turn four to take the lead. Pittman tried to cross over and drive under Stewart in turns one and two, but could not make the pass. Stewart used a slide job on a slower car to open up his lead while Pittman dropped back to Schatz and Logan Schuchart to create a three car race for second.
Schatz got a look under Pittman on lap 18, but could not make the pass. Schatz closed in on Pittman again when the red flag appeared for Gary Taylor flipping in front of the leaders in turn three. Taylor emerged frim his car uninjured.
Stewart chose the inside line for the restart. At the time Stewart was not entirely sure he made the right move, but pulled away after the restart.
“I was nervous, because I wasn’t sure where to go,” said Stewart. “Typically, you are better off starting up top, but the cushion was so high I figured if I started up there again they would be able to get a run on me going into one. It was all about hitting my marks after that.”
Behind Stewart Logan Schuchart made a big move to pass Schatz for third. Then on lap 27 Schuchart passed Pittman for second. Up front though Stewart had built up a full straightaway lead, pulling away for the victory over Schuchart, Pittman, Schatz, and David Gravel.
“All and all it was a great night, to start where we did and win a race at this level at this place is special,” said Stewart. “It just goes to show the people that are involved with this team how hard they work and keep us out here on the road.”
Late in the race Schuchart didn’t expect Stewart to use the low side of the track during the double file restart, but was glad he was able to use the top.
“I was kind of surprise Shane took the bottom,” said Schuchart. It’s better for me to start on the outside at Eldora. You can get a run down the hill, it really helps you. I just kind of got in my own lane on the restart and in control. I felt good behind Daryn, could kind of run my own line, and see where he went for a few laps before I made a move. I didn’t feel we were good enough to get Shane, congrats to those guys. But it’s good to get a top three and get a podium.”
Pittman felt his second place run was disappointing based on where they starting the feature.
“It’s a great finish for our Great Clips team, we are struggling to seal the deal and win races. At the end of the day, it’s another pole position where we didn’t win, and we have too many of those. My guys are working hard, we’ll just keep digging and make some changes and be better.”
Gravel, Schuchart, Kerry Madsen, and Schatz won heat race events. Hunter Schurenberg won the C-Main event, Greg Wilson won the B-Main, and Pittman won the dash.
World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series
Eldora Speedway
Rossburg, OH
Friday September 23, 2016
Qualifying Flight #1: 1. 5 – David Gravel, 13.108; 2. 1S – Logan Schuchart, 13.153; 3. 83 – Joey Saldana, 13.163; 4. 18 – Ian Madsen, 13.186; 5. 10H – Chad Kemenah, 13.193; 6. 41 – Jason Johnson, 13.198; 7. 2 – Shane Stewart, 13.202; 8. 7S – Jason Sides, 13.276; 9. 1B – Dale Blaney, 13.349; 10. 19 – Paige Polyak, 13.374; 11. 23C – Tyler Courtney, 13.486; 12. 93 – Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.508; 13. 7C – Caleb Armstrong, 13.570; 14. 6 – Bill Rose, 13.637; 15. 23 – D.J. Foos, 13.643; 16. OO – Dane Lorenc, 13.649; 17. 13 – Cylde Knipp, 13.660; 18. 8M – T.J. Michael, 13.690; 19. 99 – Brady Bacon, 13.833; 20. O7 – Jacob Wilson, 13.860; 21. 4 – Danny Smith, NT.
Qualifying Flight #2: 1. 1ST – Gary Taylor, 13.036; 2. 9 – Daryn Pittman, 13.135; 3. 1A – Jacob Allen, 13.241; 4. 15 – Donny Schatz, 13.289; 5. 11K – Kraig Kinser, 13.307; 6. 49X – Tim Shaffer, 13.314; 7. 17W – Kerry Madsen, 13.320; 8. 49 – Brad Sweet, 13.325; 9. 7 – Paul McMahan, 13.361; 10. W20 – Greg Wilson, 13.460; 11. 21C – Cap Henry, 13.495; 12. 35 – Jac Haudenschild, 13.531; 13. 7J – Joe Swanson, 13.583; 14. O9X – Carson Macedo, 13.588; 15. 11N – Randy Hannagan, 13.638; 16. 33M – Max Stambaugh, 13.664; 17. 20N – Hunter Schuerenberg, 13.672; 18. 49D – Shawn Dancer, 13.743; 19. 59 – Ben Schmidt, 13.841; 20. 5B – Chad Blonde, 14.103; 21. 57X – Andrew Palker, NT.
Heat Race #1 (8 Laps): 1. 5 – David Gravel, 2. 2 – Shane Stewart, 3. 83 – Joey Saldana, 4. 10H – Chad Kemenah, 5. 7C – Caleb Armstrong, 6. 1B – Dale Blaney, 7. 23C – Tyler Courtney, 8. 23 – D.J. Foos, 9. 13 – Clyde Knipp, 10. 4 – Danny Smith. DNS: 99 – Brady Bacon. (First five finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #2 (8 Laps): 1. 1S – Logan Schuchart, 2. 18 – Ian Madsen, 3. 7S – Jason Sides, 4. 41 – Jason Johnson, 5. 19 – Paige Polyak, 6. 93 – Sheldon Haudenschild, 7. 6 – Bill Rose, 8. 00 – Dan Lorenc, 9. 07 – Jacob Wilson, 10. 8M – T.J. Michael. (First five finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #3 (8 Laps): 1. 17W – Kerry Madsen, 2. 1ST – Gary Taylor, 3. 1A – Jacob Allen, 4. 7 – Paul McMahan, 5. 11K – Kraig Kinser, 6. 21C – Cap Henry, 7. 11N – Randy Hannagan, 8. 20N – Hunter Schurenberg, 9. 59 – Ben Schmidt, 10. 7J – Joe Swanson. DNS: 57X – Andrew Palker. (First five finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #4 (8 Laps): 1. 1. 15 – Donny Schatz, 2. 9 – Daryn Pittman, 3. 49X – Tim Shaffer, 4. 35 – Jac Haudenschild, 5. 49 – Brad Sweet, 6. W20 – Greg Wilson, 7. 33M – Max Stambaugh, 8. 49D – Shawn Dancer, 9. 09X – Carson Macedo, 10. 5B – Chad Blonde. (First five finishers transferred to the A-Main)
C-Main: DNS: 1. 20N – Hunter Schuerenberg, 2. 59 – Ben Schmidt, 3. 13 – Clyde Knipp, 4. 07 – Jacob Wilson, 5. 8M – T.J. Michael, 6. 5B – Chad Blonde, 7. 49D – Shawn Dancer. DNS: 99 – Brady Bacon, 4 – Danny Smith, 57X – Andrew Palker. (First two finishers transferred to the B-Main)
Dash (6 Laps): 1. 9 – Daryn Pittman, 2. 15 – Donny Schatz, 3. 18 – Ian Madsen, 4. 1S – Logan Schuchart, 5. 2 – Shane Stewart, 6. 17W – Kerry Madsen, 7. 5 – David Gravel. DNS: 1ST – Gary Taylor. (Finish determined the first eight starting positions in the A-Main)
B-Main (12 Laps): 1. W20 – Greg Wilson, 2. 93 – Sheldon Haudenschild, 3. 1 – Dale Blaney, 4. 23C – Tyler Courtney, 5. 21 – Cap Henry, 6. 09 – Carson Macedo, 7. 23 – D.J. Foos, 8. 6 – Bill Rose, 9. 00 – Dane Lorenc, 10. 20N – Hunter Schuerenberg, 11. 11N – Randy Hannagan, 12. 33M – Max Stambaugh. DNS: 59 – Ben Schmidt, 7J – Joe Swanson.
A-Main (30-Laps): 1. 2 – Shane Stewart, 2. 1S – Logan Schuchart, 3. 9 – Daryn Pittman, 4. 15 – Donny Schatz, 5. 5 – David Gravel, 6. 83 – Joey Saldana, 7. 17W – Kerry Madsen, 8. 18 – Ian Madsen, 9. 49 – Brad Sweet, 10. 10H – Chad Kemenah, 11. 41 – Jason Johnson, 12. 35 – Wes McGlumphy, 13. 7S – Jason Sides, 14. 11K – Kraig Kinser, 15. W20 – Greg Wilson, 16. 7C – Caleb Armstrong, 17. 23C – Tyler Courtney, 18. 7 – Paul McMahan, 19. 1ST – Gary Taylor, 20. 1B – Dale Blaney, 21. 1A – Jacob Allen, 22. 19P – Paige Polyak, 23. 93 – Sheldon Haudenschild, 24. 49 – Tim Shaffer.
Lap Leaders: Pittman 11-30 Stewart