Mooresville, NC – Call him King Shane the 32nd. Shane Stewart, driver of the No. 2 Larson Marks Racing sprint car, swept the weekend at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, to earn the biggest win of his career in the wee hours of Sunday morning.
“I don’t know what to say,” an overwhelmed Stewart said in victory lane. “I just can’t thank my guys enough. They gave me a great, great racecar all weekend long and I actually thought I had a legitimate shot at Donny (Schatz) there.
“This is definitely the biggest win of my career. I actually told myself coming into the weekend that this is the best shot I’ve ever had at winning a big race. I can’t thank these race fans enough for sticking around. By God, this is a late night and I’m going to celebrate.”
Stewart was the second-fastest qualifier of the night. As heat races began to line up, a monstrous storm hit Eldora Speedway, followed by another wave of rain shortly after. The delay was nearly four hours long, but track officials worked hard to get the track perfect by the time heat races began at roughly 1am, ET.
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Stewart lined up fifth in his heat and finished third. Due to the Kings Royal’s unique format, Stewart’s heat race finish moved him to 14th for the start of the 40-lap race.
From the moment the green flag waved, Stewart wasted no time showing the speed of his race car. He moved into the top-10 in the opening 10 laps and into third by the halfway point of the race. A caution with six laps remaining saw Stewart restart on the front row next to the race’s leader, Schatz. As the field came back to the flagstand, Schatz ran out of fuel with Stewart on his bumper. Stewart claimed the lead with just three laps to go.
As Schatz slowed, another competitor ran into his car, bringing out the caution. Stewart maintained the lead for the subsequent green-white-checkered finish and earned the $50,000 paycheck.
The Knight Before the Kings Royal also saw Stewart and the Larson Marks Racing team in victory lane. Stewart won the dash to earn the pole position for the event. He led every lap, holding off a hard-charging Schatz in the closing lap, to claim the win and sweep one of racing’s most prestigious weekends.
[title size=”4″ content_align=”left” style_type=”single solid” sep_color=”” class=”” id=””]Quick Notes[/title]
TRACK: Eldora Speedway
SERIES: World of Outlaw
HEAT FINISH: 3rd
STARTING POSITION: 1st
TRACK: Eldora Speedway
SERIES: World of Outlaw
HEAT FINISH: 3rd
STARTING POSITION: 14th
DATE: July 17, 2015
QUALIFIED: 3rd in Group B
DASH FINISH: 1st
FEATURE FINISH: 1st
DATE: July 18, 2015
QUALIFIED: 2nd
DASH FINISH: N/A
FEATURE FINISH: 1st
[title size=”4″ content_align=”left” style_type=”single solid” sep_color=”” class=”” id=””]Season Statistics[/title]
STARTS: 48
WINS: 6
TOP FIVES: 25
TOP 10s: 35
FAST TIME: 4
[title size=”4″ content_align=”left” style_type=”single solid” sep_color=”” class=”” id=””]Next Race[/title]
The Larson Marks Racing team will next compete at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Penn., on Tuesday, July 21.
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