PETERSEN MEDIA- Fresh after landing in the states, Shane Stewart showed why he was named the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame’s 360 Driver of the Year as he claimed two out of the three King of the 360 Ronald Laney Memorial feature events over the weekend at East Bay Raceway Park.
Stewart quickly overcame the abrupt time change as he piloted the Joe Gaerte/Tim Norman prepared All Star Performance/DDNI/KPC no 3G to victory on Thursday night.
After a strong heat, Stewart was the top point earner, and found himself drawing a number five pill for the feature, lining him up in the third row.
Stewart flexed his muscle early aboard the Gaerte Engines powered mount, as he grabbed the third spot by the fourth lap of the feature event.
Biding his time behind Lou Kennedy, Sr, and Terry McCarl, the reigning Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour champion pounced on a mistake by the duo on the eleventh circuit, the capture the lead, and cruise to the opening night victory over a pesky McCarl.
Friday night again saw the same stout field gather, and again Stewart showed strength aboard his Media Tile/GLR/Hoosier Tire backed entry as he again bested the field and picked up his second straight victory.
Heat race action saw Stewart start in the last row, and charge his way to a third place finish, again scoring him the top point earner, and lining him up in the third spot in the feature after the re-draw.
With “T-Mac” rushing out to the early lead, Stewart was able to get past the veteran driver by the third lap, and cruise on to the victory, earning him the right to start on the pole for the finale of the prestigious event.
With a deteriorating track rearing it’s ugly head to the competitors for the 40-lap finale on Saturday, Stewart eagerly watched the field compete in heat races and semi-mains to construct a game plan for the finale.
As he shot out to an early lead, Stewart did what he could to preserve his tires on the rubber-down track, until he got a flat on the 31st lap, and fell back to the fourth spot, before the red flew on the 34th lap.
Under the red, Stewart’s team changed right rear tires, for the final six laps and lined up in the rear of the field.
Over the final six laps, Stewart muscled his XYZ/All Star Performance powered machine back to the seventh spot as the checkered flag waved.
“I can’t say enough about this team,” said Stewart. “We were strong all weekend, and had some bad luck with the track conditions on Saturday. I did what I could with our tires, but like most of the field, we simply had some bad luck with making it all 40-laps. I can’t thank Tim Norman and Joe Gaerte enough for giving me such a strong car all three nights, and I’m looking forward to working with them again for a few nights throughout 2012”
ON TAP: Shane will now head back down to Australia for three more nights aboard Luch Monte’s No.17 entry.
STAY CONNECTED: For all of the latest news on Shane Stewart visit his website at www.shanestewart.com,become a fan of his on facebook at www.facebook.com/ShaneStewartRacing, or follow him on twitter @ShaneStewart57.
PETERSEN MEDIA: Petersen Media specializes in motorsports media constructing news releases, both pre and post race, as well as constructing email lists to keep sponsors, and fans up to date. Petersen media also utilizes today's Social Media networks to provide trackside updates to fans and sponsors, and can customize packages to fit your team’s needs.
For more information contact Sales@petersenmediainc.com, 916-342-3424, visit www.petersenmediainc.com, www.facebook.com/PetersenMedia or follow @Petersen_Media on twitter.
- Petersen Media on Feb 27, 2012
- Article Date: 2/27/2012