It may not have been the Knoxville Nationals or in a Sprint Car but Tony Stewart is finally a winner on the Iowa clay.
After all the years that Stewart has been coming to Knoxville, he’s never won. That was until the newly formed Superstar Racing Xperience(SRX) made it’s trip to the famed dirt track in Iowa. Stewart led every lap of the A-Main to secure the SRX win over Hailie Deegan and Ernie Francis, Jr.
Any race won at Knoxville is special and Tony Stewart made that very apparent after the race. He has wanted to win at this facility for a long time in his career. Now he can finally say he is a Knoxville winner and the first to do it in the SRX series. It’s something that he isn’t taking lightly.
“It’s fun to win here at Knoxville,” Stewart said after grabbing his first Knoxville win. “This is a much bigger deal to me to win here than most people realize. I’ve been coming here since 2000 as a team owner with the World of Outlaws so to finally win here is a big deal to me.”
By no means was it an easy feat but Stewart made the right moves and ultimately adjusted with the changing track. He won the first heat race pretty convincingly. Then had to start in the rear of the second heat race and ran into a little more trouble. Still Stewart worked his way through the field and took fifth place in that heat.
Early in the first heat, Stewart had a great line and stuck with. Despite some battles with Deegan, Stewart was able to power past every time she made a move on his No. 14. Then in the second heat, the line for Stewart changed and he had to adapt with that changing line. This helped him get a notebook for what to do come the 50 lap feature.
“The track changed complexion a lot,” Stewart said. “From where I ran in the first heat race versus where we had to run in the second heat race coming form the back. Then even in the 50-lapper, we ran different lines during different stages of the race to find the fastest lines. Just kept having to move around and find out where was the best spot to be on the race track for where my car goes.”
Stewart grabbed two solid finishes and put him in a good spot for the feature. In fact, it led to him being on the pole for the A-main. In the feature it was all Stewart. There was some challengers, like Scott Bloomquist early on. A few cautions and a bobble in turns one and two cost the Voodoo Child of the win. Then it was Francis, Jr and Deegan that Stewart had to fend off and he did that as well.
It was Stewart’s dirt experience, in knowing what the track could do or was doing, that might have played a role in the race. He said that was the only advantage that he had however. After the race he said this was the most foreign thing compared to running the sprint car or even the late model at Knoxville.
“I’ve run a lot of dirt races and I still run my winged sprint car so I feel that I should have a little bit of an advantage on the dirt tracks,” Stewart said. “That’s the great thing about these cars though. They are so even that things I know what to do with a dirt car, I couldn’t do with the SRX car.
“It really comes down to figuring it out as drivers and watch guys like Michael Waltrip, who’s not a dirt guy. Ernie Francis, Jr., Hailee Deegan, who’s won in a dirt race in Vegas, I mean these are guys who don’t get run on dirt a lot so it makes you have to learn what the car likes on dirt.”
The race started off with a barrage of cautions. Only a couple of laps into the main event Paul Tracy had some damage and debris fell on the track, leading to the first caution of the night. This set up a battle between Stewart and Bloomquist. A great restart by Bloomer put him in the driver’s seat but unfortunately for him another caution forced the field to re-stack.
This caution was for local hero Brian Brown going for a spin in turn three. Bloomquist got another great restart and looked to have Stewart cleared but before a lap was complete the yellow flew.
Brown went around again as an evasive move to get away from Willy T. Ribbs. Once again the field had to reset and it was Bloomquist on the outside of Stewart for this restart. When they came around to complete the lap, Bloomquist had the lead. Yet again another caution flag. This time it was for Ribbs going around in turn one. It negated the lead that Bloomer had and Stewart was given his spot back.
When they went back to green, things changed for Bloomquist. In turn one, Bloomquist went to cover the bottom and drove it in too deep. He hit the curb and set his car up the track and forcing him to lift. After losing four or five spots with the bobble it ultimately took him out of competition for the win. He felt that if any one of those cautions stayed green he might have had something for Stewart.
“Oh absolutely, I think one time there we had him passed,” Bloomquist recalls on a restart. “Then the caution got it. It’s still hard to know what would have happened. If we hadn’t gotten into that little skirmish, they’ll check the car out and probably see something bent in the front end. We had a good time, it was nice to win that heat race and dual with Tony early in the race.”
Despite his finish, Bloomquist enjoyed the race and had a great experience. Something that he was looking forward to doing in the first place and still enjoyed the race after his mistake.
It was a roller coaster night for the Voodoo Child @Bloomquist_0. He ran up front in his heat race and then was in a battle with Tony Stewart early in the A-Main. A bobble cost him in the end but overall he enjoyed the night. pic.twitter.com/oAvMElGlHn
— Always Race Day (@AlwaysRaceDay) June 20, 2021
The new challenger for Stewart came in the form of Francis Jr and then Hailie Deegan. There wasn’t much of a challenge until late and even then Stewart drove away. He had his car hooked up and was able to keep a half straightaway distance between himself and whoever was running second.
After the early cautions the middle portion of the main event was pretty clean. Cars started to get strung out and the drivers seemed content to ride around for a little while. Making his first appearance on dirt, Michael Waltrip looked like a pro on the clay. He led a bunch of laps in the second heat race and then was in the top five for most of the main event. Waltrip was one that wasn’t about to ride around for the night. He made some passes and found himself up six spots to challenge Stewart for the lead in the feature.
However, Waltrip’s car started to go away late in the going allowing for the top three to go around him for position. Stewart then scampered away from the field and it was a battle for second to close out the night. Stewart with a comfortable lead with five laps to go.
Ernie Francis Jr had company in the final few laps. Hailie Deegan, who missed practice yesterday, drove right to the front. She battled Francis on the final laps and was able to stick her nose inside of Francis to take the second spot with two laps to go. She would hold on for the spot and bring home runner up honors. For her it was an honor to run second to Stewart.
“That was so much fun. To come out here and say I ran second to Tony Stewart, that’s a big accomplishment for me,” Deegan said. “I’ve had an up and down Truck season this year and to come out here and do good it means a lot. It’s a little bit of a confidence booster, confirms that I still have a little bit of talent.”
Deegan missed the practice session because she was out running her Camping World Truck in Nashville. When she stepped foot on the dirt in Knoxville today she had no idea what to expect. It was all going to be a learning experience. She learned pretty quick.
With the race, she was also able to pick up some valuable experience for when the Trucks come to Knoxville in July. She feels that this will most definitely help her in understanding how the track changes. Also it gives her the ability to know and feel comfortable with the track itself.
“I think just getting laps on the track was crucial for me,” Deegan said. “It’s going to help me for when the Truck Series race comes around.”
Deegan made it around Francis for second place. No one would have a challenge for Tony Stewart on this night. It would be Stewart’s night in Knoxville and he comes away with the trophy.
A monumental win for Stewart he says and certainly one that he will cherish for years to come.
A-Main Results
| Pos. | Car | Name, Hometown | ||
| 1. | 14 | Tony Stewart Columbus, IN | ||
| 2. | 1 | Hailie Deegan Temecula, CA | ||
| 3. | 2 | Ernie Francis Jr. Davie, FL | ||
| 4. | 3 | Helio Castroneves Ribeirao Preto, Braz | ||
| 5. | 15 | Michael Waltrip Owensboro, KY | ||
| 6. | 18 | Bobby Labonte Corpus Christi, TX | ||
| 7. | 98 | Marco Andretti Nazareth, PA | ||
| 8. | 21 | Brian Brown Grain Valley, MO | ||
| 9. | 00 | Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg, TN | ||
| 10. | 17 | Willy T. Ribbs San Jose, CA | ||
| 11. | 9 | Bill Elliott Dawsonville, GA | ||
| 12. | 13 | Paul Tracy Scarborough, ONT, Ca |
