PETERSEN MEDIA- Shane Stewart rebounded from an opening night crash to pick up a seventh place finish at the recently completed Australian Open at the Archerfield Speedway in Brisbane, AU.
The two day, World Series Sprint Car event got underway Friday, and the Kratzman Caravan/KRE Racing Engines/BK Trading entry got off to a rough start as Stewart got upside during hot laps.
With the crew thrashing to get the car put back together, Shane was able to sneak into the top-30 inversion during time trials with the 30th fastest lap of the night.
Needing to make up as many points as possible, Stewart proceeded to pick up two heat race wins, and a second place finish during the his three heats.
With point totals not high enough to make the preliminary feature, Stewart and his No.77 entry would call it a night and return Saturday night for a shot to race their way into the 50- lap feature.
Saturday night, Stewart picked off a win in the dash, moving him up into the top eight in points where he would have the right to compete in the tracks shoot out system to set the first four rows.
With the top eight broke into groups of four, the bottom four point getters would run a session with the top two fastest drivers moving on to race the next highest two in points with the slower two filling in the fourth row up until the fastest two set the front row.
Stewart would line his Kaeding Performance/OMP Safety No.77 entry up in the eighth spot for the 50-lap $20,000 to win finale.
As the feature went green, the extremely slicked off, abrasive track visibly began taking rubber early in the feature, making the racing groove narrow and tough to pass on.
Stewart wasn’t able to do much back in the field, but at the stripe he was able to gain a spot and end his stint in the Kratzman Caravan entry with a seventh place finish, as Donny Schatz won the event over Robbie Farr, James McFadden, Dave Murcott, Rico Abreu, and Tim Schaffer.
“Qualifying and crashing on Friday really put us behind the eight ball,” said Stewart. “My guys did an awesome job of getting everything back together, and I’m glad we were able to put it in the feature. I wish the track would have been a little better, but that’s part of it. I have to thank all of these guys for giving me a great car while I raced with them, and I’m glad we had a strong stint together.”
ON TAP: Shane will now switch over to the Monte Motorsports No.17 entry, the entry Donny Schatz has competed in, for the remainder of his time down under. The teams next race is scheduled for January 14th at Adelaide for another WSS event.
STAY CONNECTED: For all of the latest news on Shane Stewart visit his website at www.shanestewart.com or become a fan of his on facebook at www.facebook.com/ShaneStewartRacing.
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- Petersen Media on Jan 09, 2012
- Article Date: 1/9/2012