Larson Marks Racing and Shane Stewart had a successful weekend despite both tracks being new to the team. Stewart earned an almost perfect night at Black Hills Speedway in Rapid City, S.D., Friday night, then followed that up with a runner-up finish at BMP Speedway in Billings, Mont., Saturday night.
Friday at Black Hills Speedway, Stewart earned the quickest time in qualifying and set a new track record to kick off the night. After winning his heat race, the four pill was drawn for the Craftsman Club Dash inversion, lining up the Bixby, Okla., native on the outside of the second row for the dash. Stewart was able to gain two positions, earning a front row starting spot for the main event.
Stewart settled into the runner-up positon until Lap 8 when he successfully completed a slide job on the leader before the caution was displayed. The pilot of the LMR No. 2 chose to restart from the bottom line and maintained the lead. Stewart did a solid job and then survived lapped traffic to pick up his fifth series win of the season.
“We unloaded fast and kept that momentum going through the night,” said Stewart in Victory Lane. “I just can’t thank this team enough. We’ve gone through a couple crew chiefs, have come across Lee and we’re starting to get our act together. I’ve got to thank Lee, Heath and Dennis for providing such a great racecar. Justin [Marks] and Kyle [Larson], our sponsors – ENEOS, ParkerStore, Rider Engines – everyone has been doing a great job this summer and we wouldn’t be out here without them. These wins are hard to come by and I am just very thankful to get another one.”
The following night at BMP Speedway, Stewart qualified fifth and won his heat race. He started on the outside of the front row for the Craftsman Club Dash and earned the win to start on the pole of the 40-lap main event. Stewart led the first nine laps of the feature before eventual winner, Daryn Pittman, took over the top spot. Stewart maintained the second position through several restarts and lapped traffic to earn a runner-up finish.
“I was probably a little too cautious there early in the race with lapped traffic,” said Stewart. “I thought I was getting a good run off the bottom, but it just caught me off guard there. Towards the end of the race, I got close to him [Pittman] but could never get far enough ahead of him to clear him. It was a solid weekend for everyone here at LMR and hopefully we can carry this momentum on to the West Coast.”
TRACK: Black Hills Speedway
STARTING POSITION: 2nd
TRACK: BMP Speedway
STARTING POSITION: 3rd
DATE: August 25, 2017
FEATURE FINISH: 1st
DATE: August 26, 2017
FEATURE FINISH: 2nd
[title size=”4″ content_align=”left” style_type=”single solid” sep_color=”” class=”” id=””]Season Statistics[/title]
STARTS: 65
WINS: 6
TOP FIVES: 23
TOP 10s: 45
[title size=”4″ content_align=”left” style_type=”single solid” sep_color=”” class=”” id=””]Next Race[/title]
The Larson Marks Racing team will be back in action Friday, September 1 at Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash., for the Outlaw Energy Showdown.
View 2017 schedule
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