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Stewart repeats as Prelude winner at Eldora
NASCAR Sprint Cup points leader continues his success on track this year
with Eldora triumph.
By Greg Billing
ROSSBURG , OHIO (Sept 9) - The NASCAR Sprint Cup field has been chasing Tony
Stewart much of the season.
The Prelude to the Dream at Eldora Speedway on Wednesday, Sept. 9, wasn’t
much different.
Stewart, the Sprint Cup points leader, used a slide job to get past leader
Kenny Wallace and ran off the next 17 laps unchallenged to win the 30-lap
feature.
It was Stewart’s second straight Prelude victory. After his Victory Lane
celebration — and with the crowd chanting “Climb the fence!” — the Eldora
owner hopped off the stage and did just that in front of a grandstand crowd
making up most of 23,000 spectators.
Wallace, the 2005 Prelude champ, jumped past Clint Bowyer on the first lap
and held the lead until Stewart caught up.
Stewart smokes ’em
They don’t call him “Smoke” for nothing. Stewart, perhaps relying on his
home-track advantage, ripped off a lap in 15.405 seconds (116 mph) during
qualifying to set a Prelude track record. Stewart topped the mark of 15.436
set by Dave Blaney in 2008.
“I’ve got first-hand knowledge. I’ve seen every inch of this race track from
either a race car or tractor,” Stewart said during the prerace media
session. “I probably know this place better than anybody.”
Denny Hamlin (15.664), Ryan Newman (15.688), Kyle Busch (15.762) and Wallace
(15.771) rounded out the top five.
Close shave
As the Prelude sponsor, Gillette also chipped in a trophy designed like its
Fusion Power shaver. As a Young Gun sponsored by Gillette, Busch was hoping
to be razor sharp and win.
“It’s another race. You try to take home the trophy and kiss the girls after
every one of them,” Busch said. “Fortunately tonight I have a cool trophy I
can take home, kiss the girlfriend and head on down to Richmond.”
Hot laps
Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne and Aric Almirola all won heats.
Jacob Hawkins won the UMP DirtCar Modified feature and Mike Dirksen the
stock car feature. The top 24 drivers in Eldora points qualified to race in
the feature-only events.
NASCAR announcer Darrell Waltrip has driven a push truck, a water truck and
a late model at the Prelude. On Thursday he drove the U.S. Army’s Ripsaw, an
off-road assault vehicle.
Results Wednesday of the Gillette Young Guns Prelude to the Dream Dirt Late
Model event September 9 at the half-mile Eldora Speedway, with order of
finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, laps completed and reason
out (if any):
1. (6) Tony Stewart, 30
2. (1) Clint Bowyer, 30
3. (3) Kyle Busch, 30
4. (4) Ryan Newman, 30
5. (11) Matt Kenseth, 30
6. (15) Cruz Pedregon, 30
7. (18) David Reutimann, 30
8. (9) Aric Almirola, 30
9. (8) Kasey Kahne, 30
10. (10) Jimmie Johnson, 30
11. (17) Kevin Harvick, 30
12. (12) Brian Vickers, 30
13. (23) Ron Capps, 30
14. (19) Marcos Ambrose, 30
15. (20) Casey Mears, 29
16. (22) Red Farmer, 27
17. (2) Kenny Wallace, 20, Mechanical
18. (7) Robby Gordon, 12, Accident T3
19. (14) Ken Schrader, 12, Accident T3
20. (13) Joey Logano, 12, Accident T3
21. (21) Ray Evernham, 2, Accident T1
22. (16) A.J. Allmendinger, 0, Accident T3
23. (5) Denny Hamlin, DNS, Mechanical
Race Statistics
Winner's average speed: 38.978 mph
Time of race: 23:05.405
Margin of victory: 3.358 seconds
Cautions: 4 (Lap 1: Allmendinger, Accident T3; Lap 3: Evernham, Accident T1;
Lap 13: Schrader, Gordon, Mears, Logano and Ambrose, Accident T3; Lap 20:
Mears, Spin T2)
Lead changes: 2 among 2 drivers
Lap leaders: Wallace 1-12, Stewart 13-30
Attendance: More than 23,000
Broadcast: HBO Pay-Per-View
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