Tony Stewart Shows Consistency; Earns Pair Of Top-Fives During PA Sprint Speedweek
Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / TONY STEWART RACING – BROWNSBURG, IN – Entering six events in six days, five of which against the infamous Pennsylvania Posse, Tony Stewart’s recent stretch of competition was action-packed and successful, earning a trio of top-ten finishes in the Keystone State before ending the week with an All Star Circuit of Champions feature start during the 10th Annual Lou Blaney Memorial at Sharon (Ohio) Speedway.
Stewart, driver of the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing/Rush Truck Centers/Textron Off Road/Ford Performance/Curb Records/Sage Fruit/No. 14 sprint car, entered five rounds of Pennsylvania Sprint Speedweek from July 2-6, visiting five different facilities across much of Central Pennsylvania and northern Maryland. After not qualifying for feature action at Lincoln Speedway on July 2, Stewart rebounded big and finished fourth, fifth, eleventh, and eighth during visits to Grandview (Pa.) Speedway, Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway, Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway, and Williams Grove (Pa.) Speedway, respectively. The trio of top-ten finishes bumped his season top-ten count to 26, 17 of which occurring inside the top-five.
Although pulling off of the speedway early after starting ninth, Stewart ended his near-week long campaign with an Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 main event start at Sharon Speedway on Saturday, July 7. Stewart, a former winner of the prestigious event – his first 410c.i. sprint car victory – earned his fifth row starting position by finishing fifth during his respective dash. A heat race victory sealed his position in one of the two All Star dashes.
“We got rolling in PA pretty well. The original plan was to head back east on Sunday and visit Selinsgrove to end PA Sprint Speedweek, but my guys are dragging; they are tired and they need some rest. I figured it was time to head home,” Stewart said of his long trip. “I wish I could say the same about our performance at Sharon Speedway. We’ve been successful there in the past. We just didn’t have it on Saturday.”
Tony Stewart’s upcoming plans are still in the works. Tentatively, Smoke is scheduled to join the All Star Circuit of Champions for a pair events in Western Pennsylvania, visiting Eriez Speedway and Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway on Friday and Saturday, July 20 & 21.
