Tony Stewart used a stellar .006 reaction time and cruised to a final-round victory over McPhillips Racing teammate Matt Cummings in the final of the NHRA Regional Race at Maple Grove Raceway. Cummings, who had a great reaction time himself (.021 ), suffered a broken fuel pump drive shaft at the hit of the throttle that ended his run.
The McPhillips cars dominated from the start of the event, securing low et in every round of qualifying and eliminations.
As It Happened:
Tony Secured No. 2 qualifying position in Q3 on Friday (5.266 ET at 273.16 mph), and Advanced to Finals on Saturday:
Round 1: 5.294 ET at 273.72 mph, defeated Mike Hepp (5.519 ET at 258.52 mph)
Round 2: 5.276 ET at 272.39 mph, defeated Dan Page (5.739 ET at 216.13 mph)
Finals: 5.291 ET at 271.90 mph, defeated Matt Cummings (Didn’t cross the finish line due to a sheared fuel pump drive)
Tony Stewart, Driver of the Mobil 1 Top Alcohol Dragster:
“The weekend was a polar opposite compared to what happened last race in Columbus (Ohio). The whole team made a conscious decision to try and be on the other side of it. Even though we made it to the Finals, we felt like we were a little too aggressive in Columbus and it bit us.
We came into Reading with a plan to make sure we made a solid lap the first round of qualifying and we could press from there. We kept it in a good, safe zone. My teammate, Matt Cummings, had the fastest car. He was just a little quicker than us all weekend. I was able to have really good reaction times both days and that was a big key to getting us here.
You hate to win a race at the end against your teammate due to a mechanical failure, but unfortunately it happens. Being able to win the race and take over the national points lead is something we’re extremely proud and happy about. You don’t want to beat your teammate with misfortune like that, but it could happen to us too.
I was really proud of the McPhillips Racing team. They did a great job of giving Matt and I two cars that were dominant all weekend. It came down to the two of us. We’re gelling with this team and now that we have the points lead, the plan is to keep it. We don’t want to let it get away from us. We’ll stick to the plan and stay the course. We’ll keep executing run after run.”
Championship Standings:
With the East Regional Race win at Maple Grove Raceway, Stewart takes the lead in the Top Alcohol Dragster championship standings, 32 points ahead of Julie Nataas .
In addition to a national championship, Stewart is also vying for a regional championship in the North Central Region. He’s leading the North Central Region championship point standings by a healthy margin with a total of 266 points
Up Next:
The next event on the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series schedule for Stewart is the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals August 18-20 at Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minnesota.
Race Information & Photo by Ashley Wilson | Tony Stewart Racing
