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.
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