KNOXVILLE, Iowa – A vicious flip during his heat race on Thursday left Shane Stewart’s CJB Motorsports team thrashing to get a new mount ready to race.
However, Stewart repaid his team’s hard work by surviving the Hard Knox program on Friday night at Knoxville Raceway and racing his way into the 59th annual NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals.
Stewart finished third behind winner Kerry Madsen and runner-up Logan Schuchart to secure his place in The Granddaddy of Them All, topping a torrid battle with Dominic Scelzi in the closing stages.
However, though Stewart ended up standing on the podium, he admitted after the race that he was particularly fortunate to be able to do so thanks to a sputtering engine as he came to the checkered flag.
“We were completely out of fuel, so we were lucky to finish that race,” noted Stewart. “This is a huge relief. Obviously, when you come here this week, your goal is to come here and sit on the front row of the A-main, and I know that this team works really hard to do that. It felt like we were on pace to do that on Thursday, and then the driver screwed up a little bit and cost us that chance.
“We’re fortunate to be here, and thanks to Knoxville for making the format change to allow those like myself and a few others … who had trouble on our qualifying nights, to still have a decent shot to race into the Knoxville Nationals,” Stewart added. “This crew worked their butts off and I’m happy to make the A-main for them after all they went through to get us back rolling.”
Locking into his 19th career Nationals A-main, the Bixby, Okla., native was nearly overwhelmed afterward when speaking about what it meant for him to earn a spot in the Knoxville big show again.
“There’s a lot of emotions after this one,” Stewart said. “The (No.) 5 car hasn’t had the best season, so there were a lot of high expectations going into this race. I’ve had some good runs here and Barry (Jackson, crew chief) has had a lot of strong runs here lately with several different drivers, so the plan is to shoot forward as far as we can now.
“My wreck (on Thursday), it honestly happened so quick that it’s tough to describe,” Stewart continued. “There was a little bit of moisture making the lane I was running in slimy and greasy, and when I went in I thought the cushion was going to hold me … and it didn’t. Then I thought, ‘if I hit my brakes, I’m going to wreck no matter what,’ and then I tried to power out of it and hit the wall, of course.
“It’s a myriad of high emotions and a ton of effort; it’s hard to explain.”
With his task of making the Knoxville Nationals finale complete, Madsen’s focus now turns to Saturday night’s $150,000-to-win feature and how he can win the 50-lapper from the 21st starting position.
“I’ve been very blessed to have a lot of fast cars here at the Knoxville Nationals, and I’ve been fortunate to turn several of those into some good runs,” said Madsen. “Hopefully we can sneak up through there.”
