Tony Stewart finishes seventh in Valvoline Australian Sprint Car Grand Prix
NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Tony Stewart finished seventh in Sunday's Valvoline Australian Sprint Car Grand Prix at Sydney’s Tyrepower Parramatta City Raceway.
// LaDon George, NASCAR Scene
Related story: Tony Stewart fourth in race at Australia's Tyrepower Parramatta City Raceway
NASCAR Sprint Cup owner/driver Tony Stewart finished seventh in Sunday’s Valvoline Australian Sprint Car Grand Prix at Sydney’s Tyrepower Parramatta City Raceway while Donny Schatz, who competes for Stewart in the World of Outlaws Series, won the event.
Making a rare start in a Sprint Car, Stewart started the race from the back row but moved forward for his finish despite competing on a rain-soaked track.
"I think to finish seventh from the tail was OK,” Stewart said. “It was a good first night for me, obviously not as good as my teammate who won the race but he runs 100 races a year and I get to run three. I don't know how many days it is until we run again but I can't wait for it. I'm a little tired tonight. It is a set of muscles that I don't use very much, but I had a blast.
“The rain really hurt the race track; it was hard. With the rain that we got over the last couple of days, it was bound to make the track a little messy, but I think everybody did a pretty good job considering the conditions.”
The race was postponed a day and rescheduled for Sunday because of rain.
"I’m glad to be back,” said Schatz, a four-time World of Outlaws champion. “Mother Nature didn't co-operate last night and we here tonight, we got a great race in and glad to get the win.
“Tony is my boss 95 percent of the time and it's pretty neat to see him out here; he loves dirt-track racing and loves these types of cars, but I think tonight was a little bit trying for him. It was probably the hookiest and wettest track that he'd raced on in his life in a winged sprint car and pretty trying for both of us to get him comfortable in the car.
“Tony came forward a long ways, learned a lot here tonight, had a lot of fun and got to see a lot of people out here.”
Next up for the two-time Cup champion Stewart is the Hogs Breath Sprint Car International on Tuesday.
Stewart, Schatz and All-Star Series Champion Tim Shaffer will later be joined by fellow American Jason Johnson and the regular Australian drivers to battle for the $50,000 prize in the Scott Darley race the first weekend in January.
Stewart is driving a car fielded by Australian Sprint Car champion Garry Rush in each of the events.
