Tony Stewart remains lone SRX dirt winner with I-55 victory

A list of drivers who have won a Superstar Racing Experience race on dirt: Tony Stewart. That’s it.

The longtime dirt star and series founder dominated Heat #2 and the feature, leading the entire distance from the pole in the latter, to score his second win of the 2022 season. He had to stave off early charges from Ernie Francis Jr. and a multitude of late restarts in the process that resulted in Marco Andretti chasing him down in the two-lap sprint to the finish.

Stewart swept the two dirt races at Knoxville Raceway and Eldora Speedway in 2021, and the I-55 victory means he is now three-for-three on such surfaces.The 2022 season will end on another dirt track in Sharon Speedway, where he will seek to go for yet another clean sweep in his quest for a second straight title.

“This place is awesome,” said Stewart. “It’s always been good racing no matter what kind of car is in, but for our SRX series, it was a lot of fun tonight. The track crew did a great job reworking the race track before the race and made for some exciting racing.

“I love when we can run the dirt and run the top up by the wall. It’s a lot of fun, had a great time.”

I-55 co-owner Ken Schrader, who doubles as SRX test driver, won the first heat in his series début. The heat ended under caution after Ryan Newman and Paul Tracy‘s squabble resulted in the latter turning him into the wall, continuing a trend of Tracy feuding with much of the field. Tracy did not start Heat #2 due to damage to his car. He rejoined for the feature, only to get caught in a tangle with Matt Kenseth that resulted in more harm to both vehicles.

Hailie Deegan, who was among Tracy’s rivals in 2021, finished behind him in the feature after a brief period in which engine troubles kept her on pit road; with Kenseth racing in the #5, Deegan switched to #38 for I-55 which her father Brian used during his career.

Race results

Heat #1

Heat #2