Tony Stewart continues to rise in the NHRA. (NHRA photo)
It took Tony Stewart just four tries to win the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series competition. Two weeks after his first triumph aboard a Top Alcohol Dragster on the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the NASCAR Hall of Famer recognized another Wally on Sunday.
Alongside the special Cleetus and Cars event at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, Stewart defeated Jackie Fricke on the final lap with a speed of 276.35 mph.
“The last three races have been incredible. Winning in Vegas two weeks ago and finishing second in Charlotte, NC, then coming here to the regional event in Indy and winning is great,” said Stewart. “I’m really proud of this team and how far they’ve come. It’s been a rocky start to the year, but once they figured out our issues, this thing came to life.
Stewart and his McPhillips Racing crew at IRP. (Tony Stewart race photo)
“I feel like we’re getting better and better with every run we do and making the window a little bit bigger which makes the car happy. Rich (McPhillips Sr.), Richie (McPhillips Jr.), Renee, Wayne, Bill and Eric who are in my car are awesome.”
Stewart also claimed provisional qualifying position No. 1 in Q1 on Saturday.
With his Q1 run of 5.183 seconds, it was a career best in the series. His Q2 run of 282.07 mph is the fastest the 51-year-old has ridden in a Top Alcohol Dragster.
“There’s a great synergy with everyone,” Stewart said. “There’s Tex and Chris in Jasmine’s (Salinas) car and Darrell and Chad in Mike’s (Coughlin) car and Matt’s (Cummings) car when he’s driving it. Everyone works together and we are a huge team. It’s nice when you plan a run and imagine before you do it, and then it goes exactly how you planned it.
“The difficult thing about this style of racing is keeping up with the track and knowing how much power you can put into the car. They did a great job preparing the track and Richie did a great job keeping up with it so we knew what to do with the car.”
‘Smoke’ recently featured, reaching finals in the last three events of the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series.
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