Stewart Wins Night Number Two of 360 Nationals
Friday, August 3, 2007
By Bob Wilson - Shane Stewart waited patiently for his turn and when it came he took it as he captured the Friday night edition of the 17th annual 360 Knoxville Nationals. The win paid the roaming Bixby, Oklahoma driver $2,000 for the ten mile sprint.
At the start of the feature event, second row starter Jonathon Allard grabbed the lead as he roared by pole-sitter Brett Mather as they exited out of turn two just after the initial green starting the race. By lap two Stewart had already come into contention from his fifth position start as he claimed the runner-up spot.
On a track that saw the bottom go away, the top five runners all circled the big half mile on the top side where the cushion had come mighty close to the fences. With five laps down, Allard's lead had dwindled to a mere five car lengths. He led Stewart, Mather, Wayne Johnson and Clint Garner.
Stewart's "turn" came on lap eight as he surged out of the bottom of turn four. That maneuver in that turn on that lap gave him the lead, a position he would keep to the end of the twenty-lap preliminary event.
Just after the half-way point, the only red flag of the event was displayed for an incident in turn two. Third running Wayne Johnson attempted to overtake the runner-up spot from Allard. With the track slicking over, a slide job would be the only way to get the job done.
As Johnson slid into turn two, he made contact with Allard. Allard's sprinter spun and rolled over. Johnson spun sideways and came to a halt in the middle of the track. It looked like everyone would miss him until B Main transfer Justin Barger clipped the front of Johnson's machine. Allard was done for the night but after repairs, both Barger and Johnson continued to race.
When the race resumed, Stewart again assumed control with Garner in pursuit. Garner attempted to make a slide of Stewart in turn two of that restart but it failed to produce results. Behind that duo Jason Johnson waited for either of those top runners to make an error he might take advantage of. That never came.
Lap 13 saw Higday side to fourth as the top runners continued to fly around the top of the track. Everyone awaited the surge into lap traffic to see how the leaders would handle it. All the top runners managed the backmarkers with no problems and no positions changed. Even the white flag lap, which saw Stewart come upon heavy lap traffic, did not change the running order.
Stewart claimed his first 360 career checkered flag at this central Iowa fairgrounds with the win as Garner, a fifth row starter, finished second. Jason Johnson was third, Higday claimed fourth and Mather took fifth. Completing the top ten were Darren Stewart, Greg Bakker (started 13th), Chad Meyer, Skip Jackson and Garry Lee Maier (started 15th). A total of 61 cars took qualifying time trials.
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