Jul 26, 2017 3 min read

IMPERIAL – Tony Stewart raced in the 30-lap Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway Monday night.

The NASCAR icon won the $5,000 prize in the event, which was rescheduled to Monday after being knocked out by weather on Saturday.

Also picking up victories were John Mollick from Toronto, Ohio, in the Precise Racing Products RUSH Late Models, and Jessica Kriegisch of Ellwood City in the RUSH Modifieds.

With 27 All-Star entries, the fastest qualifier was Carson Macedo at 17.502. Three qualifying heats were won by Tony Stewart, Caleb Armstrong, and Chad Kemenah. Carl Bowser won the B-Main. Carson Macedo and Tim Shaffer finished in the first two positions in the Dash, and led the 30 lap feature to the green flag.

Shaffer used the outside lane to lead from the start, over Macedo, Holtgraver, Kemenah, and Stewart. Holtgraver passed Macedo for second on lap 2, as Shaffer pulled away in front. Third was hotly contested as Stewart took fourth from Kemenah, before the first caution period came with 5 laps in for Jordan Mackison after he got into the outside wall in turn four.

Back to green, Shaffer continued to lead on the single file restart, but Stewart moved to second with a strong run in turn two. Shaffer was unable to pull away this time, as Stewart, Holtgraver, Macedo, and Lee Jacobs closed in. On lap 12 in race traffic, Stewart drove by Shaffer in turn two, but Shaffer got back by off the corner. Stewart and Holtgraver made contact in turn two the next time by, with Holtgraver making contact with the wall to bring out the next caution with 13 laps in. Stewart later called this his “mistake.”

Shaffer inched away when racing resumed, with Stewart in second ahead of a three way battle for third. Jacobs then got fast on the inside lane, taking third and closing on Stewart for second. Race traffic became an issue at lap 20, as Shaffer had his hands full with Stewart and the traffic. On lap 22 while racing for the lead, Shaffer got caught up with traffic and ended up spinning to a stop to bring out the yellow flag.

Stewart inherited the lead for the restart over Kemenah, Macedo, Jacobs, and Ryan Smith. Back to green for what would be the final time, Stewart blasted away from the field leaving the competition to race for second. On lap 25, Macedo made a wild slide job to squeeze past Kemenah for second. But Stewart would have no problem over the remaining laps, taking the win by 2.862 seconds over Macedo. Jacobs had a strong run for third over Kemenah, who slowed at very end. Ryan Smith had a solid run for fifth. Carl Bowser advanced from 19th starting spot to get sixth, with Max Stambaugh, Brandon Matus, Justin Barger, and Caleb Armstrong rounding out the top 10.