Stewart qualifies for Chili Bowl

Tony Stewart placed second in the main feature Friday night to qualify for a slot in the 50-lap championship feature of the O'Reilly Chili Bowl Midget Nationals tonight in the Tulsa (Okla.) Expo Raceway.

Stewart, the two-time Cup champion who flipped last year at the event, said it took a while to get back in the groove. He won his first heat race Friday and finished third in the qualifier prior to the main event.

"It took both those practice sessions that we got on Tuesday to get the bugs out and even a little bit Friday in the practice, it took a couple of laps to really start getting comfortable again," said Stewart, who finished second to Dave Darland. "I feel like I'm a little bit behind the eight ball this year because of what happened last year.

"With the way the second heat and the main turned out, I think we're right on par with where we need to be as far as confidence and feeling like we're back in the groove again."