It only took Tony Stewart four tries to win in NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series competition. Two weeks after his first triumph aboard a Top Alcohol Dragster at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the NASCAR Hall of Famer notched another Wally on Sunday.
Competing at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park apart of the special Cleetus and Cars event, Stewart defeated Jackie Fricke in the final round at with a speed of 276.35 mph.
“The last three races have been amazing. To win at Vegas and runner-up at Charlotte (N.C.) two weeks ago, then come here to the regional event in Indy and win is awesome,” Stewart said. “I’m really proud of this team and how much they have progressed. It was a rocky start to the year, but once they figured out the problems we were having, this thing has come to life.
“I feel like every run we make, we’re getting better and better and getting the window a little bigger of what makes the car happy. Rich (McPhillips Sr.), Richie (McPhillips Jr.), Renee, Wayne, Bill and Eric that are on my car are great.”
Stewart earned the provisional No. 1 qualifying position in Q1 on Saturday as well.
With his Q1 run of 5.183 seconds, it was a career-best in the series. His Q2 run at 282.07 mph is the fastest the 51-year-old has gone in a Top Alcohol Dragster.
“There’s an awesome synergy with everyone,” Stewart said. “There’s Tex and Chris on Jasmine’s (Salinas) car and Darrell and Chad on Mike’s (Coughlin) car and Matt’s (Cummings) car when he runs it. Everybody works together and we’re one giant team. It’s nice when you plan and envision a run before you do it and then it goes exactly like you had planned.
“The hard thing with this style of racing is keeping up with the race track and knowing how much power you can put to the car. They did a great job prepping the track and Richie did a great job keeping up with it, so we knew what to do with the car.”
‘Smoke’ has been on a role recently, advancing to the finals in the last three NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series events.