ROSSBURG, Ohio — Tony Stewart won his own dirt-track charity race in dominating fashion on Wednesday.
Stewart overtook Kenny Wallace on the 13th lap and never looked back to capture the Gillette Young Guns Prelude to a Dream for the second year in a row.
Clint Bowyer finished second, and Kyle Busch was third.
Twenty-two drivers in late-model stock cars competed in the 30-lap contest.
Stewart, racing on his own track, started in the sixth position but moved into second by the 12th lap. After taking the lead from Wallace on Lap 13, Stewart extended his lead and was never seriously challenged after that.
“The top (of the track) was so much faster,” Stewart said. “It made for a really good race — guys moving around and trying to find a spot on the bottom to get by. We got very, very lucky that Clint and Kyle went to the bottom at the same time on the same corner, and we were able to run around the top pretty hard and catch Kenny.”
However, Stewart said his victory wasn’t pretty.
“It was a lot of luck because I tore the race car up pretty bad,” he said. “I hit the wall on the first two starts pretty hard and bent the suspension on the right front and bent both wheels. So it wasn’t a clean race on my part by any means.”
Following his victory — his third in the five-year history of the race — Stewart climbed the chain-link fence in front of the grandstand and shook his fist in celebration.
The race fell three days before the Chevy Rock &Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway, where 11 drivers are vying for the remaining eight spots in the 12-driver Chase for the Championship. Only four drivers have clinched spots: Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin.
Of the 11 drivers who haven’t clinched spots, six competed in the charity race — Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth, Brian Vickers, Kyle Busch and David Reutimann. Stewart, Johnson and Hamlin are also in the race.
“I know there’s a lot of pressure, but at the same time this is something that’s a release for these guys,” said Stewart, NASCAR’s Sprint Cup points leader. “It’s a nice diversion from getting ready for this weekend.”
There are no points to be won in the charity race, only bragging rights.
“You don’t have points. You don’t have money. You don’t have anything on the line,” Busch said. “You’re just racing for a good cause.”
Johnson said the race is exciting and has an invigorating effect on drivers because they are outside of their element — racing on dirt instead of asphalt and competing against some drivers they don’t know.
“The impact will be a lot of guys showing up at Richmond with a smile on their face,” Johnson said.
Drivers have said the contest on Stewart’s half-mile, high-banked oval track carved out of farmland takes them back to their roots, when they drove in local, short-track weekend races.
On dirt, drivers must steer right for the car to go left. Going through turns, the front left tire comes off the track and the left rear tire provides traction. And the short 30-lap race gives drivers precious little time to make their moves.
The cars weigh about 2,300 pounds, supply 800-plus horsepower and, at Eldora, reach top speeds of about 150 mph. The vehicles have two-speed transmissions and no windshields — only short plastic shields to protect drivers from rocks.
Stewart won the race last year, grabbing the lead in the first lap and leading the rest of the way. He also won in 2006. Carl Edwards won in 2007, and Kenny Wallace in 2005.
This year’s race was originally scheduled for June 3, but was rained out.
Proceeds from the race will go to groups whose missions are to assist the families of soldiers who have died serving their country and to severely injured military personnel — Wounded Warrior Project, Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, Operation Homefront and Fisher House.
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