ROSSBURG, Ohio (July 12, 2018) — Shane Stewart has a knack for being up front during Sprint Car racing’s premier events. Stewart continued that trend winning his first World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series feature of the season on Thursday night at Eldora Speedway during Jokers Wild event to kick off the 35th Annual Kings Royal weekend.
For Stewart having to overcome some old habits driving the Kyle Larson Racing car at the high banks at Eldora in the slick was part of the key to victory.
“To get a win in these conditions, our program doesn’t necessarily work that well when it gets really slick and we’ve really struggled here really bad the past couple of years just because (the track) is different,” said Stewart. “It’s a different track than it used to be. I felt like we have something to work with going into the next two nights. We just need to put ourselves into position and I feel like we’re going to have a shot. “
The win was not without incident as Stewart and David Gravel made contact racing for the second position with Gravel nosing into the fence at the end of the front straightaway spinning into turn one. Afterwards Stewart was apologetic unsure of what happened that caused the contact with Gravel.
“Obviously I didn’t ever mean to get into David. I felt like I had him cleared,” Stewart said after the feature in the media center. “I know that it was kind of getting slick coming off four…I don’t know what happened. I really just need to see a video, but definitely feel bad about that.”
Gravel led early on with Stewart in pursuit, but further back in the field Jacob Allen drove to the front from the 9th starting spot using to the bottom of the race track while most the leaders were using the top to quickly enter the top five and by lap seven drove by defending Kings Royal champion Donny Schatz for the third spot.
Allen continued his charge driving by both Stewart and David Gravel on lap nine to the delight of the large crowd at Eldora. One lap later Stewart and Gravel made contact racing for second with Gravel nosing into the fence and spinning into turn one to bring out the caution flag. No less than 20 crew members assisted with Gravel’s car in the work area to successful make repairs for Gravel to join the tail of the field.
Allen chose the inside line for the double file restart, but Stewart used the momentum at the top of the race track to capture the lead. Allen stayed within striking distance of the top spot until Stewart adjusted his line on lap 14 to start running the bottom of turns three and four. This allowed Stewart some breathing distance up front.
Allen soon found himself in a dogfight for second position with Tim Shaffer, Sheldon Haudenschild, and Donny Schatz through slower traffic. Shaffer drove by Allen for second position on lap 21 while Schatz captured third position from Allen three laps later.
Stewart did now allow the slower traffic to slow him down up front as his quickly disposed of slower cars and drove away for the win. Shaffer and Schatz completed the podium spots while Kerry Madsen drove from 16th to fourth and Brent Marks from 20th to fifth.
For Stewart the win capped off steady improvement over the past several weeks and the team sticking together through the tough times.
It definitely feels good to get a win, it feels good to get a win here,” said Stewart of his Eldora victory. “It’s a testament to Kyle, testament Paul, of course Lee, Heath, and Jacob for continuing to believe in me and keep working. Even through the bad times. We’ve thrown some daggers at each other, me and lee have, and we’ve just had to stick it out. This win definitely means a lot.”
Jokers Wild
World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series
Eldora Speedway
Rossburg, OH
Thursday July 12, 2018
Qualifying Group #1: 1. 49X – Tim Shaffer, 12.954; 2. 17 – Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.068; 3. 1A – Jacob Allen, 13.085; 4. 15 – Donny Schatz, 13.086; 5. 2 – Shane Stewart, 13.093; 6. 1S – Logan Schuchart, 13.184; 7. 9 – Daryn Pittman, 13.185; 8. 21 – Brian Brown, 13.191; 9. 3Z – Brock Zearfoss, 13.198; 10. 18 – Ian Madsen, 13.202; 11. 24 – Rico Abreu, 13.230; 12. 49D – Shawn Dancer, 13.245; 13. 4 – Parker Price-Miller, 13.305; 14. 70 – Dave Blaney, 13.317; 15. 41S – Dominic Scelzi, 13.318; 16. G1 – Justin Peck, 13.346; 17. 81 – Lee Jacobs, 13.365; 18. 12 – Cole Duncan, 13.369; 19. 83 – Cory Eliason, 13.417; 20. W20 – Greg Wilson, 13.445; 21. 26 – Joey Saldana, 13.500; 22. 99 – Jay Waugh, 13.761; 23. 8J – Jess Stiger, 13.980
Qualifying Group #2: 1. 49 – Brad Sweet, 13.279; 2. 87 – Aaron Reutzel, 13.303; 3. 71 – Giovanni Scelzi, 13.315; 4. 13 – Paul McMahan, 13.460; 5. 71M – Randy Hannagan, 13.510; 6. 1ST – D.J. Foos, 13.517; 7. 10H – Chad Kemenah, 13.564; 8. 5 – David Gravel, 13.577; 9. 7S – Jason Sides, 13.615; 10. 83H – Justin Henderson, 13.651; 11. 11K – Kraig Kinser, 13.654; 12. 3S – Sammy Swindell, 13.659; 13. 45T – Trevor Baker, 13.678; 14. 19 – Brent Marks, 13.734; 15. 17 – Bill Balog, 13.789; 16. 2M – Kerry Madsen, 13.794; 17. 44 – Trey Starks, 13.963; 18. 97 – Mitch Wormall, 14.011; 19. 97G – Hunter Schuerenberg, 14.026; 20. 28 – Brian Paulus, 14.062; 21. 22M – Dan McCarron, 14.170; 22. 49J – Josh Schneiderman, 14.195; 23. 17 – Caleb Helms, 14.258;
Heat Race #1 (8 Laps): 1. 49X – Tim Shaffer, 2. 2 – Shane Stewart, 3. 1A – Jacob Allen, 4. 9 – Daryn Pittman, 5. 3Z – Brock Zearfoss, 6. 41S – Dominic Scelzi, 7. 24 – Rico Abreu, 8. 83 – Cory Eliason, 9. 26 – Joey Saldana, 10. 4 – Parker Price-Miller, 11. 8J – Jess Stiger. DNS: 81 – Lee Jacobs. (First five positions transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #2 (8 Laps): 1. 17 – Sheldon Haudenschild, 2. 15 – Donny Schatz, 3. 21 – Brian Brown, 4. 1S – Logan Schuchart, 5. 70 – Dave Blaney, 6. 18 – Ian Madsen, 7. 49D – Shawn Dancer, 8. 12N – Cole Duncan, 9. W20 – Greg Wilson, 10. G1 – Justin Peck, 11. 99 – Jay Waugh. (First five positions transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #3 (8 Laps): 1. 49 – Brad Sweet, 2. 71 – Giovanni Scelzi, 3. 10H – Chad Kemenah, 4. 11K – Kraig Kinser, 5. 7S – Jason Sides, 6. 97G – Hunter Schuerenberg, 7. 17B – Bill Balog, 8. 71M – Randy Hannagan, 9. 44 – Trey Starks, 10. 17C – Caleb Helms, 11. 45T – Trevor Baker, 12. 22M – Dan McCarron. (First five positions transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #4 (8 Laps): 1. 87 – Aaron Reutzel, 2. 5 – David Gravel, 3. 13 – Paul McMahan, 4. 2M – Kerry Madsen, 5. 19 – Brent Marks, 6. 3S – Sammy Swindell, 7. 83H – Justin Henderson, 8. 28 – Brian Paulus, 9. 1ST – D.J. Foos, 10. 97W – Mitch Wormall, 11. 49J – Josh Schneiderman. (First five positions transferred to the A-Main)
C-Main (10 Laps): 1. 12N – Cole Duncan, 2. 83 – Cory Eliason, 3. 97G – Hunter Schuerenberg, 4. 26 – Joey Saldana, 5. W20 – Greg Wilson, 6. 28 – Brian Paulus, 7. 97 – Mitch Wormall, 8. 22M – Dan McCarron, 9. 8J – Jess Stiger, 10. 99 – Jay Waugh, 11. 17 – Caleb Helms, 12. 49J – Josh Schneiderman. DNS: 81 – Lee Jacobs, 1ST – D.J. Foos. (First two positions transferred to the B-Main)
Dash (6 Laps): 1. 5 – David Gravel, 2. 2 – Shane Stewart, 3. 15 – Donny Schatz, 4. 49X – Tim Shaffer, 5. 49 – Brad Sweet, 6. 17 – Sheldon Haudenschild, 7. 71 – Giovanni Scelzi, 8. 87 – Aaron Reutzel. (Finish determined the first eight starting spots of the A-Main)
B-Main (12 Laps): 1. 24 – Rico Abreu, 2. 18 – Ian Madsen, 3. 3S – Sammy Swindell, 4. 4 – Parker Price-Miller, 5. 41S – Dominic Scelzi, 6. 83H – Justin Henderson, 7. 83 – Cory Eliason, 8. 71M – Randy Hannagan, 9. 12N – Cole Duncan, 10. 49D – Shawn Dancer, 11. 44 – Trey Starks, 12. G1 – Justin Peck, 13. 45 – Trevor Baker, 14. 17B – Bill Balog (First four finishers transferred to the A-Main)
A-Main (30 Laps): 1. 2 – Shane Stewart, 2. 49X – Tim Shaffer, 3. 15 – Donny Schatz, 4. 2M – Kerry Madsen, 5. 19 – Brent Marks, 6. 17 – Sheldon Haudenschild, 7. 1A – Jacob Allen, 8. 49 – Brad Sweet, 9. 18 – Ian Madsen, 10. 10H – Chad Kemenah, 11. 21 – Brian Brown, 12. 1S – Logan Schuchart, 13. 24 – Rico Abreu, 14. 71 – Giovanni Scelzi, 15. 87 – Aaron Reutzel, 16. 9 – Daryn Pittman, 17. 11K – Kraig Kinser, 18. 3S – Sammy Swindell, 19. 7S – Jason Sides, 20. 5 – David Gravel, 21. 4 – Parker Price-Miller, 22. 3Z – Brock Zearfoss, 23. 13 – Paul McMahan, 24. 70 – Dave Blaney.