This is big!: Stewart Wins His First World of Outlaws Sprint Car Event

Tony Stewart with Ohsweken owner Glenn Styres.

Dave Franks photo

Some say Tony Stewart is the greatest driver of his generation. No doubt he's become the most versatile. He proved it Wednesday night at Ohsweken Speedway when he fought off charging Sammy Swindell to capture the first World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series victory of his career in front of a huge crowd at the Canadian track south of Hamilton, Ontario.

Stewart is no stranger to the World of Outlaws. He's won three championships as a car owner in the series to go with his driving titles in the NASCAR Cup ranks and the Indy Racing League. However, for a native of Indiana who as a kid idolized legendary World of Outlaws racers like Steve Kinser and Doug Wolfgang, winning with the Outlaws fulfills a dream.

"Wow, this is big," said Stewart, of Rushville, Ind. "I saw Sammy dive below me once and that was one too many. We had such an awesome car tonight and I still just can't believe we won this thing. I grew up watching a lot of these guys like Kinser and Wolfgang. My career path didn't take me into a lot of winged sprint car racing but it's certainly something I enjoy. This just isn't something that Kasey (Kahne) and I do for the heck of it. We're passionate about putting together great teams and winning races."

Stewart had a strong car throughout the night. He was fifth quick in qualifying out of 31 cars, then won his heat race and started the 30-lap A-main from the third position. The front row consisted of young guns Sam Hafertepe Jr. and Brad Sweet, who led early before Stewart found a quicker line around the slick track and passed Sweet on Lap 9. Stewart's Office Depot/Mobil 1/Coke car ran away from the field quickly until Swindell mounted a charge in the Big Game Treestands machine. Swindell tried to play spoiler but the native of Germantown, Tenn., native didn't have enough to catch Stewart.

"Tony was really good tonight," said Swindell, a four-time winner this season. "I had to follow him getting through (turns) 3 and 4 but I was able to get through 1 and 2 better. I got to him a couple of times just to let him know I was there. I just wasn't able to get past him. Momentum was key here tonight and if someone broke your momentum, it took forever to get it back."

Chad Kemenah looked strong early, setting the pace in qualifying, but his car developed a mechanical issue before the start of the dash. Mechanical woes also affected Craig Dollansky as his car experienced trouble right after the traditional World of Outlaws four-wide parade lap.

Series points leader Jason Meyers raced his way to a third-place finish and extended his points lead over Donny Schatz to 24 markers. Early front runner Sweet, who continues to fill in for injured Joey Saldana, faded to fourth with three-time Ohsweken Speedway winner Jason Sides rounding out the Top 5.

The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series continues its Canadian tour with events on Friday at Brockville Ontario Speedway and Saturday Autodrome Drummond in Drummondville, Quebec.

OHSWEKEN SPEEDWAY NOTEBOOK

QUICK TIME – Chad Kemenah was the night's fastest qualifier with a lap around the three eighths-mile oval in 14.009 seconds, earning five championship points. Sam Hafertepe Jr., Kraig Kinser, Sammy Swindell and Tony Stewart also earned qualifying points. It marked Meyer's fourth Quick Time of the season.

WINNERS – There have been 37 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature events in 2011. The winners include: Craig Dollansky – 6 (Silver Dollar Speedway on March 12, Salina Highbanks Speedway on May 3, River Cities Speedway on June 17 and 18, Dodge City Raceway Park on July 1, Lebanon Valley Speedway on July 24); Steve Kinser – 5 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 11 and 12, Pike County Raceway on Feb. 25, the Dirt Track at Las Vegas on March 4, Lakeside Speedway on June 4); Sammy Swindell – 4 (Royal Purple Raceway on Feb. 26, Merced Speedway on April 1, Tri-State Speedway on April 30, Knoxville Raceway on June 11); Joey Saldana – 4 (Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 3, Thunderbowl Raceway on March 19, Eldora Speedway on May 6, Beaver Dam Raceway on July 9); Jason Sides – 4 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 13, Calistoga Speedway on April 2, I-96 Speedway on May 30, Dodge City Raceway Park on July 2); Donny Schatz – 3 (Attica Raceway Park on May 20, Princeton Speedway on June 25, Limaland Motorsports Park on July 13); Paul McMahan – 2 (the Dirt Track at Charlotte on May 28, Belleville Highbanks on June 3); Jason Meyers – 2 (Cedar Lake Speedway on July 8, Williams Grove Speedway on July 23); Tim Shaffer – 2 (Eldora Speedway on July 15, Lernerville Speedway on July 19); Dale Blaney – 1 (Lernerville Speedway on July 19); Greg Hodnett – 1 (Williams Grove Speedway on July 22); Daryn Pittman – 1 (Williams Grove Speedway on May 13); Tony Stewart – 1 (Oshweken Speedway on July 27); Tyler Walker – 1 (Eldora Speedway on July 16.)

NEW ONLINE HOME – Make sure to check out the all-new WorldofOutlaws.com for the latest news and results, plus exclusive driver interviews, video and pictures. Also listen to every event live at DIRTVision.com.

World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Ohsweken (Ontario) Speedway; July 27, 2011

A-Main – (30 Laps) – 1. 14S-Tony Stewart [3] [$10,000]; 2. 1-Sammy Swindell [5] [$5,500]; 3. 14-Jason Meyers [8] [$3,200]; 4. 9-Brad Sweet [2] [$2,800]; 5. 7S-Jason Sides [4] [$2,500]; 6. 15-Donny Schatz [20] [$2,300]; 7. 83-Paul McMahan [14] [$2,200]; 8. 6R-Bill Rose [12] [$2,100]; 9. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [1] [$2,050]; 10. 11-Steve Kinser [7] [$2,000]; 11. 7X-Jamie Collard [9] [$1,500]; 12. 32-Justin Barger [18] [$1,200]; 13. 6-Kraig Kinser [6] [$1,100]; 14. 1Z-Jessica Zemken [22] [$1,050]; 15. 77X-Wayne Johnson [17] [$1,000]; 16. 63-Chad Kemenah [10] [$900]; 17. 2M-Dustin Daggett [16] [$800]; 18. O1-Mikey Kruchka [11] [$800]; 19. 91-Cody Darrah [15] [$800]; 20. 5-Keith Dempster [21] [$800]; 21. O-Glenn Styres [19] [$800]; 22. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [24] [$800]; 23. 80-Chris Steele [13] [$800]; 24. 7K-Kyle Moffit [23] [$800]. Lap Leaders: Brad Sweet 1-9, Tony Stewart 10-30. KSE Hard Charger Award: 15-Donny Schatz [+14].

Qualifying – 1. 63-Chad Kemenah, 14.009; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr., 14.054; 3. 6-Kraig Kinser, 14.253; 4. 1-Sammy Swindell, 14.305; 5. 14S-Tony Stewart, 14.364; 6. 9-Brad Sweet, 14.384; 7. 14-Jason Meyers, 14.387; 8. 7X-Jamie Collard, 14.387; 9. 7S-Jason Sides, 14.397; 10. 5-Keith Dempster, 14.466; 11. 7-Craig Dollansky, 14.466; 12. 11-Steve Kinser, 14.474; 13. 6R-Bill Rose, 14.543; 14. O1-Mikey Kruchka, 14.552; 15. 83-Paul McMahan, 14.592; 16. 71-Travis Cunningham, 14.626; 17. 80-Chris Steele, 14.663; 18. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 14.682; 19. 2M-Dustin Daggett, 14.684; 20. 91-Cody Darrah, 14.732; 21. 32-Justin Barger, 14.836; 22. 77X-Wayne Johnson, 14.862; 23. 15-Donny Schatz, 14.886; 24. O7X-Dain Naida, 14.936; 25. 10-Mitch Brown, 14.969; 26. O-Glenn Styres, 15.003; 27. 5D-Dave Dykstra, 15.114; 28. 7K-Kyle Moffit, 15.115; 29. 1Z-Jessica Zemken, 15.183; 30. 14H-Jim Huppunen, 15.582; 31. 30G-Stevin Goldner, 16.135.

Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 14-Jason Meyers [2]; 2. 63-Chad Kemenah [4]; 3. 1-Sammy Swindell [3]; 4. 2M-Dustin Daggett [7]; 5. 77X-Wayne Johnson [8]; 6. 6R-Bill Rose [5]; 7. 7K-Kyle Moffit [10]; 8. 5-Keith Dempster [1]; 9. 71-Travis Cunningham [6]; 10. 10-Mitch Brown [9]; 11. 30G-Stevin Goldner [11].

Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 14S-Tony Stewart [3]; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [4]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz [8]; 4. 7-Craig Dollansky [1]; 5. 7X-Jamie Collard [2]; 6. 91-Cody Darrah [7]; 7. O1-Mikey Kruchka [5]; 8. 80-Chris Steele [6]; 9. O-Glenn Styres [9]; 10. 1Z-Jessica Zemken [10].

Heat 3 – (8 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 11-Steve Kinser [1]; 2. 7S-Jason Sides [2]; 3. 9-Brad Sweet [3]; 4. 6-Kraig Kinser [4]; 5. 83-Paul McMahan [5]; 6. 32-Justin Barger [7]; 7. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [6]; 8. O7X-Dain Naida [8]; 9. 5D-Dave Dykstra [9].

Dash – (6 Laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature) – 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [5]; 2. 9-Brad Sweet [1]; 3. 14S-Tony Stewart [2]; 4. 7S-Jason Sides [9]; 5. 1-Sammy Swindell [3]; 6. 6-Kraig Kinser [4]; 7. 11-Steve Kinser [10]; 8. 14-Jason Meyers [7]; 9. 7X-Jamie Collard [8]; 10. 63-Chad Kemenah [6].

B-Main – (12 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. O1-Mikey Kruchka [2] [-]; 2. 1Z-Jessica Zemken [11] [-]; 3. O-Glenn Styres [8] [-]; 4. 80-Chris Steele [4] [-]; 5. 5-Keith Dempster [1] [-]; 6. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [5] [-]; 7. 7-Craig Dollansky (DNS A-main-paid for first non-transfer position and points in B-main) [$200]; 8. O7X-Dain Naida [6] [$180]; 9. 5D-Dave Dykstra [9] [$175]; 10. 10-Mitch Brown [7] [$160]; 11. 71-Travis Cunningham [3] [$150]; 12. 30G-Stevin Goldner [10] [$150]; 13. 14H-Jim Huppunen [12] [$150].