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Stewart Skewers ASCS Midwest at McCool Junction
by: Lonnie Wheatley,
McCOOL JUNCTION, Neb. (May 22, 2009) – Shane Stewart took
full advantage of one last tune-up for this weekend's $10,000-to-win Steve
King Memorial in Kansas by racing to victory lane in Friday night's 25-lap
American Sprint Car Series Midwest Region feature at Junction Motor
Speedway.
The current Lucas
Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters points leader raced
past Ryan Roberts on the sixth round and led the rest of the way aboard Paul
Silva's Wesmar-powered ProBilt Construction/Palmer Properties No. 57 A.R.T.
"I have to give it
to Paul (Silva), he made the right call on the setup," Stewart commented in
victory lane. "We figured it might get harder to pass later in the race so
we had to get out front as quick as possible."
And, after gridding
the field outside the second row, it didn't take the Oklahoma native long.
When pole starter
Brian Brown bobbled at the drop of the green flag, outside front row starter
Ryan Roberts gunned into the lead with Stewart battling into second soon
after and setting his sights on the leader, who had fled to a six car-length
lead.
Stewart closed in
on Roberts by the fifth round and charged by for the lead exiting turn two
on the sixth lap. After entering lapped traffic two rounds later, Stewart
slipped away to nearly a straightaway advantage as Roberts, Brown and Don
Droud, Jr., diced for position in his wake.
Jonathan Cornell
soon joined the fray for runner-up honors, only to pop a right rear tire
with 15 laps in the books after climbing to fourth. Four laps later, Brown
surrendered a podium position after suffering a similar malady.
Roberts kept
Stewart within striking distance on the final restarts, including a
green-white-checkered dash to the strip after Jason Danley looped it in turn
two, but was unable to mount a serious bid for the win.
Stewart flashed
under the checkered flag with a four car-length advantage over Roberts, with
Gregg Bakker taking the show position. Droud, Jr., crossed the stripe
fourth, with Jack Dover rounding out the top five.
Lee Grosz was
sixth, with Mike Chadd, Patrick Bourke, Eric Lutz and Johnn Cressman
completing the top ten.
Droud, Roberts and
Chad Humston topped heat race action for the 26-car field, with Cressman
winning the "B" Main.
ASCS Midwest
Results from Junction Motor Speedway:
Heat One (10
Laps): 1. 2-Don Droud, Jr., 2. 57-Shane Stewart, 3. 82-Jason Danley, 4.
14g-Gene Ackland, 5. 71r-Ryan Anderson, 6. 5-Eric Lutz, 7. 51-Mike Boston,
8. 8b-Bobby Becker, 9. 17-Gage Dorr.
Heat Two (10
Laps): 1. 18-Ryan Roberts, 2. 24a-Jack Dover, 3. 21-Brian Brown, 4. 4J-Lee
Grosz, 5. 27-Patrick Bourke, 6. 17b-Ryan Bickett, 7. 19s-Steven Cross, 8.
93-Bob Schaeffer, 9. 7-Roger Sundquist.
Heat Three (10
Laps): 1. 1m-Chad Humston, 2. 28-Jonathan Cornell, 3. 4-Mike Chadd, 4.
11x-Gregg Bakker, 5. 71-Stuart Snyder, 6. 19-Joe McCarthy, 7. 15-Johnn
Cressman, 8. 14-Jeff Heffner.
"B" Feature (8
Laps): 1. 15-Johnn Cressman, 2. 17b-Ryan Bickett, 3. 51-Mike Boston, 4.
14-Jeff Heffner, 5. 93-Bob Schaeffer, 6. 8b-Bobby Becker, 7. 19s-Steven
Cross, 8. 17-Gage Dorr, 9. 7-Roger Sundquist. DNS: 19-Joe McCarthy.
“A” Feature (25
Laps): 1. 57-Shane Stewart, 2. 18-Ryan Roberts, 3. 11x-Gregg Bakker, 4.
2-Don Droud, Jr., 5. 24a-Jack Dover, 6. 4J-Lee Grosz, 7. 4-Mike Chadd, 8.
27-Patrick Bourke, 9. 5-Eric Lutz, 10. 15-Johnn Cressman, 11. 51-Mike
Boston, 12. 21-Brian Brown, 13. 71r-Ryan Anderson, 14. 82-Jason Danley, 15.
14g-Gene Ackland, 16. 71-Stuart Snyder, 17. 1m-Chad Humston, 18. 28-Jonathan
Cornell, 19. 14-Jeff Heffner, 20. 17b-Ryan Bickett.
ASCS Midwest Region
Points (Top Ten): 1. Brian Brown 554, 2. Don Droud, Jr. 552, 3. Jonathan
Cornell 542, 4. Mike Chadd 526, 5. Ryan Roberts 512, 6. Jason Danley 506, 7.
Chad Humston 502, 8. Lee Grosz 499, 9. Mike Boston 467, 10. Ryan Anderson
451.
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