Stewart Takes Saturday Night Event After Crashing Out Friday

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Tony Stewart arrived for the second night of the Rumble in Fort Wayne indoor USAC midget program with some unfinished business.
He wasn’t happy to have been sidelined the previous evening when he clearly had the fastest car in the building, and he was a little more than 48 hours away from posting only his second winless USAC season since 1991. He took care of both in dominant style.
The two-time NASCAR Cup Series title winner set fast time and won his heat to start eighth in the feature — just like the night before.
This time, however, he patiently worked his way forward, passing Geoff Kaiser for the lead on lap 17 and easily pacing the balance of the 60 laps aboard his VW-powered Munchkin chassis.
Stewart’s car builder Mike Fedorcak raced from 12th to take second, a third of a lap behind. Dave Darland was third from 10th, while Derek Bischak and Rich Corson completed the top five.
Asked in victory lane why he still comes back to run midget races in his home state, the winner replied in typical Stewart fashion, “I’ll give you two reasons. The first reason is for all the fans that cheer for me. The second reason is for all the fans that boo me.”

TWO FOR TONY: Tony Stewart (left) talks to announcer Pat Sullivan about his second-straight Rumble in Fort Wayne victory. (David E. Heithaus Photo)

There was little negative reaction from the full house as Stewart charged to second in nine laps and measured Kaiser carefully before darting to the inside turn one.
Hometown favorite Fedorcak moved into second before the halfway mark, but could never get his own Munchkin close enough to challenge his best customer.
Darland was solid throughout the feature on the way to the completely unofficial honor of best-combined finishes for the two-night event. Bischak joined Darland with a pair of top-fives and his Pontiac was the best of the non-VW powerplants.
 The 600 cc micro sprint feature was taken by Ohio 410-sprint-car ace John Ivy after opening night winner Erick Rudolph spun out of the lead with five laps to go. Ryan Smith made it a clean sweep in the slingshots.
 The summary:
Qualifications: 1. Tony Stewart, Stewart 2, 7.509 seconds; 2. Billy Wease, Burrow 99, 7.512; 3. Dave Darland, RAD 0, 7.654; 4. Billy Hulbert, Hulbert 5x, 7.777; 5. Mike Fedorcak, Stewart 97, 7.780; 6. David Gough, Domark 12, 7.840; 7. Cale Conley, Conley 3, 7.855; 8. Derek Bischak, Barnett 3x, 7.859; 9. Ronnie Johncox, Gibson 0g, 7.873; 10. Kyle Robbins, Robbins 17r, 7.884; 11. Ryan Miller, Miller 00x, 7.907; 12. Joe Liguori, Sexton 31, 7.908; 13. Matt Estep, Estep 25, 7.942; 14. Kyle Hamilton, Hamilton 79, 7.956; 15. Tony Elliott, Williams 5, 7.967; 16. Ginny Quinones, Quinones 00, 7.968; 17. Geoff Kaiser, Moore 10, 7.991; 18. Arin McIntosh, Reed 8, 8.002; 19. Tim Jedrzejek, Williams 7j, 8.005; 20. Ronnie Wuerdeman, Wuerdeman 33, 8.008; 21. John Heydenreich, Heydenreich-Gander 92, 8.020; 22. Rich Corson, Corson-Savage 15, 8.029; 23. Tyler Nuckles, Rencurrel 56, 8.075; 24. Brandon Knupp, Knupp 15k, 8.090; 25. Jeff Wimmenauer, Wimmenauer 15x, 8.180; 26. Mel Kenyon, 3-K 61, 8.204; 27. Tyler Cottongim, Cottongim 28x, 8.233; 28. Jacob Wilson, Team WBR 07, 8.254; 29. Matt Westfall, Ryder 19, 8.263; 30. Dillon Welch, Welch 14, 8.313; 31. Tad Uzzle, Uzzle 69, 8.317; 32. Rod Anderson, Hot Rod Racing 35, 8.329; 33. Daniel Robinson, Meents 4m, 8.366; 34. Doug Dietsch, Dietsch 0x, 8.372; 35. Adam Schuyler, Schuyler 56x, 8.376; 36. Zach Leeke, Leeke 19x, 8.399; 37. Dave Fuhrman, Fuhrman 32, 8.485; 38. Drew Charlson, Charlson 21, 8.502; 39. Jason Dull, Dull 56q, 8.519; 40. Tim Argus, Fuhrman 32x, 8.564; 41. Jessica Iannuzzi, Iannuzzi 96, 8.565; 42. Austin Troyer, Troyer 24, 8.570; 43. Jeff Bookwalter, Benefiel 16, 8.715; 44. Deano Lennon, Lennon 27, 8.812; 45. Gary Bradley, Bradley 4g, 8.967; 46. Paul Crafton, Midwest Ventures 51, 9.196; 47. Paul Gray, Benefiel 16b, 9.516.
First qualifying race (8 laps): Robinson, Fuhrman, Schuyler, Bradley, Iannuzzi, Bookwalter.
Second qualifying race (8 laps): Dietsch, Charlson, Leeke, Argus, Troyer, Crafton.
First Heat (12 laps): Stewart, Kaiser, Johncox, Fedorcak, Estep, Heydenreich, Robinson, Wimmenauer, Westfall.
Second Heat (12 laps): Gough, Hamilton, Corson, Fuhrman, Kenyon, Wease, Welch, Robbins, McIntosh.
Third Heat (12 laps): Jedrzejek, Elliott, Darland, Conley, Miller, Uzzle, Dietsch, Cottongim, Nuckles.
Fourth Heat (12 laps): Bischak, Wuerdeman, Liguori, Wilson, Knupp, Charlson, Quinones, Anderson, Hulbert.
First Consolation (12 laps): Wease, Fedorcak, Knupp, Cottongim, Welch, Charlson, Robinson, Heydenreich, Estep.
Second Consolation (12 laps): Darland, Corson, Miller, Conley, Wilson, Dietsch, Wimmenauer, Quinones, Uzzle.
Third Consolation (12 laps): Ligouri, Nuckles, Westfall, Fuhrman, Anderson, Johncox.
Feature (60 laps): Stewart, Fedorcak, Darland, Bischak, Corson, Wuerdeman, Hamilton, Liguori, Elliott, Nuckles, Kaiser, Gough, Wease, Jedrzejek.