Stewart Rebounds for Sixth-Place Finish at 81 Speedway
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (May 8, 2017) – Larson Marks Racing and Shane Stewart headed to the Midwest this weekend for two races, both at new tracks for the team. Friday night, The World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series competed at Missouri State Fair Speedway in Sedalia and followed that up with 81 Speedway in Park City, Kan.
At Missouri State Fair Speedway on Friday night, Stewart was the 23rd of 32 cars out for qualifying and he earned the 19th-quickest lap time. He started and finished fifth in the third heat race to earn the 19th starting position for the 25-lap main event at the half-mile. By lap 10 of the feature event, the Bixby, Okla., native had advanced four positions to run 15th. The race appeared as though it would go green wire-to-wire, but the caution was displayed just as the white-flag came out to signify the final lap of the race. On the ensuing green-white-checkered restart, Stewart gained one more position to earn an 11th-place finish.
The following night, Stewart and team traveled to 81 Speedway and qualified 22nd. Despite the early set back, he advanced to the sixth and final transfer position in the opening heat race after starting eighth. Stewart then started the 30-lap feature event from the 16th spot and was up into the top-10 just after the halfway point of the race. The caution was displayed on lap 18 and the pilot of the No. 2 LMR sprint car lined up 10th for the following restart. Once the field was back to green, Stewart wasted no time and climbed to the sixth-running position on the restart. He maintained the spot during the closing laps and earned a sixth-place finish, the team’s 14th top-10 of the season.
“It definitely wasn’t the weekend that we wanted,” said Stewart. “But we are making some progress, unfortunately we just started too far back in the field. I am really looking forward to getting back to Eldora Speedway for the first time this season. It’s one of our most successful tracks as a team and hopefully we can pick up a win and get some good momentum going.”
The Larson Marks Racing team will be back in action at the famed Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio on Friday, May 12 for the #LetsRaceTwo two-day event.
