The World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series took on two tracks in the Midwest this past weekend. On Friday, Kyle Larson Racing competed at I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Mich., for the Rumble in Michigan and followed that up on Saturday with the Badger 40 at Wilmot (Wisc.) Raceway.
Friday night, Stewart was the third car out in qualifying and ended up second at I96 Speedway, which marked the World of Outlaws’ only visit to Michigan. He started on the pole of Heat 2 and won, transferring him into the Sears Craftsman Dash. Stewart finished fifth in the dash and lined up for the 35-lap Rumble in Michigan from the inside of row three. Stewart slipped back as far as seventh in the opening laps of the feature.
The first caution came out on Lap 14 and the pilot of the ENEOS No. 2 restarted seventh and quickly jumped up to fifth before another quick caution was displayed the following lap. Stewart again gained two positions on the restart, but slipped back to fourth by the time the next caution came out on Lap 19. He held on to the fifth position until another caution came out on lap 29. In the final six laps, two more cautions came out and Stewart was able to make a late-race charge to earn a solid runner-up finish at the checkered.
The following night at Wilmot Raceway for the Badger 40, Stewart was the 25th of 28 cars to go out for qualifying and he ended up eighth. He started and finished third in the second heat race transferring him into the 40-lap feature event.
As a result of a brief, but heavy rainfall during the Last Chance Showdown, there was about a two-hour delay before the World of Outlaws feature event started. The track crews re-worked the racing surface and Stewart started the Badger 40 from the eighth position. The Bixby, Okla., native quickly jumped up to sixth on the start and bounced back and forth between sixth and seventh during two early cautions. Stewart again reclaimed the sixth spot on the Lap 5 restart and held on the remaining 35 caution-free laps to finish just outside the top-five.
“It was a good weekend for us,” said Stewart. “We’ve really been able to turn our season around these last couple of races and I can’t thank Kyle and Paul enough for having the patience to get us to this point. My guys give me a fast car and work so hard every night and we’ve been close lately, so I know the wins will start coming. We’re starting to get into a busy stretch and I’d love to keep this momentum rolling.”
TRACK: I-96 Speedway
STARTING POSITION: 5th
TRACK: Wilmot Raceway
STARTING POSITION: 8th
DATE: June 1, 2018
FEATURE FINISH: 2nd
DATE: June 2, 2018
FEATURE FINISH: 6th
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STARTS: 25
WINS: 0
TOP FIVES: 9
TOP 10s: 17
[title size=”4″ content_align=”left” style_type=”single solid” sep_color=”” class=”” id=””]Next Race[/title]
The Kyle Larson Racing team will be back in action tomorrow, June 5 at Fairbury (Ill.) American Legion Speedway for the rain-postponed FVP Platinum Battery Showdown. Ticket’s for tomorrow’s event can be purchased here.
View 2018 schedule
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