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Shane Stewart Class of the Field in Gold Cup Win Friday Night

Outpowers Joey Saldana to score his ninth World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series victory of the season

CHICO, Calif. - Sept. 11, 2015 - Shane Stewart was the class of the field during Friday night's Gold Cup Race of Champions feature at Silver Dollar Speedway. He outpowered Joey Saldana to score his ninth World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series victory of the season.

The win was also Stewart's first at Silver Dollar Speedway.

"I generally drive really, really bad here. I've had some really good cars here and screwed up and lost a couple of big races here," Stewart said. "To finally get a win here, with these guys, with the amount of competition that's in the pit area, it just says a lot about my (No. 2 GoPro/Eneos team)."

Stewart led the field to the green flag after winning the Dash with a big slider. After a mechanical problem, Andy Gregg, who started on Stewart's outside, spun just after the start collecting Daryn Pittman off of turn two. Back to green, Saldana moved into second with Stewart leading. The two drivers battled side-by-side through turns 1 and 2, down the back straight, through turns 3 and 4 and across the line it was Stewart barely ahead. Saldana tried to fight back, but Stewart built a lead.

A caution flag and red flag waved through the first ten laps as Bobby McMahan powered forward into fourth and challenged Kerry Madsen, who was running third at the time, for position.

When the final restart of the night came out on lap eight, D.J. Netto took advantage. From sixth, he got around David Gravel and McMahan to take over fourth and then set his sights on Kerry Madsen in third.

Stewart, still in the lead, caught traffic by lap 11 and began working his way through. Saldana closed the gap several times but by halfway had not found a way around.

"In the middle of this race this track got really tricky," Stewart said. "When you're leading you always judge yourself off of lap cars and try to judge yourself off of their speed. I got caught up by (Jason Johnson) on a couple of them and I was like I can't get overzealous here because if I do, I'm going to spin out or hit the curb wrong and the cushion just kept getting bigger and bigger."

Netto meanwhile used the traffic to his advantage, closing the gap on Madsen. Netto took over third on lap 22 and quickly ran down Saldana in second. On lap 24, Netto threw a slider on Saldana's No. 71m Motter Equipment car in turns one and two, but Saldana held.

"Netto had a good car and he was coming," Saldana said. "He over drove four there, which is easy to do here. This track is slick to the curb."

As the final five laps ticked by, both drivers tried to find a path to Stewart, but at the finishline, the Larson Marks Racing driver had a nearly two second lead.

"We got to (Jason Johnson) and he was actually running my pace I knew something was going to have to bottle him up to let me get by him," Stewart said. "The good thing about these guys is that generally when you show them your nose they let you go by and that's true sportsmanship. Track position was everything."

For Saldana, the second place run was the 33rd top-five of the season for him. He also picked up his 16th quick time of the year earlier in the night. He said open track was what he really needed to run down Stewart.

"We got to some lap cars there and it was brutal," Saldana said. "You don't want to make a mistake and give up a spot so you actually slow your pace down. And when you slow your pace down it makes it really interesting… We had a good car and we just came up a little bit short. We'll keep digging and hopefully we come out tomorrow and win this thing."

With his third place run, Hanford, California-native Netto, who sits fourth in the King of the West Series championship points standings with his No. 88N Netto Ag/Penny Newman Grain car, scored his best ever World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series finish. He was the fastest driver in the first flight of qualifying tonight.

"This team didn't quit. It just came together two weeks ago," Netto said. "I can't say anything more about them. They gave me a great car and we've just been learning together and clicking. We needed a yellow, we maybe would have had a shot but I can't thank (my team) enough."

The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series returns to action tomorrow night at Silver Dollar Speedway for the conclusion of the 62nd annual Gold Cup Race of Champions. To find out more information and to learn how to buy tickets, visit http://woosprint.com/gold-cup-race-of-champions.

Follow the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series on Twitter at www.twitter.com/WorldofOutlaws, like it on Facebook at www.facebook.com/WorldofOutlaws, or check out the latest videos on YouTube at www.youtube.com/WorldofOutlaws.

Silver Dollar Speedway Notebook

RACE NOTES: Shane Stewart's win tonight was his ninth World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series victory of the season… The win was Shane Stewart's first win at Silver Dollar Speedway… D.J. Netto picked up his best ever World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series finish Friday night after finishing in third… Joey Saldana scored his 16th quick time of the season after a qualifying lap of 11.958… Jason Johnson was the night's KSE Racing Hard Charger, advancing eight positions to finish in 15th.

CONTINGENCY WINNERS - MSD Ignitions ($25 cash): Bud Kaeding; MSD Ignitions ($50 cash): Shane Stewart; Sweet Manufacturing ($50 cash): Joey Saldana; Penske Shocks ($50 cash): Donny Schatz; Mobil 1 ($50 cash): Donny Schatz; JE Pistons ($50 cash): Kerry Madsen; Lincoln Welders ($50 cash): Brad Sweet; VP Racing Fuels ($50 cash): Paul McMahan; Edelbrock ($50 cash): Paul McMahan; Comp Cams ($50 cash): Paul McMahan; Cometic Gasket ($50 cash): Daryn Pittman;Super Flow ($50 cash): Sean Becker; Sweet Manufacturing ($50 product certificate): Shane Stewart;KSE Racing Products ($100 product certificate): Jason Johnson; Comp Cams ($50 product certificate): Shane Stewart;Mobil 1 (20% off Mobil1RacingStore.com): Bud Kaeding; JE Pistons (Set of Rings): Logan Schuchart; JE Pistons (Set of Rings): Bud Kaeding.

SEASON WINNERS: Donny Schatz - 28 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 14, Stockton Dirt Track on March 21, Silver Dollar Speedway on March 28, Placerville Speedway on April 8, Calistoga Speedway on April 12, Devil's Bowl Speedway on April 26, Eldora Speedway on May 8, Eldora Speedway on May 9, Williams Grove Speedway on May 15, Weedsport Speedway on May 17, The Dirt Track at Charlotte on May 22, Knoxville Raceway on June 13, Huset's Speedway on June 14, Granite City Speedway on June 17, River Cities Speedway on June 19, Dakota State Fair Speedway on June 20, Beaver Dam Raceway on June 27, Lakeside Speedway on July 1, Dodge City Raceway Park on July 4, Cedar Lake Speedway on July 11, Lebanon Valley Speedway on July 26, Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 on Aug. 8, Knoxville Raceway on Aug. 15, River Cities Speedway on Aug. 21, Nodak Speedway on Aug. 23, Castrol Raceway on Aug. 28, Grays Harbor Raceway on Sept. 7, Cottage Grove Speedway on Sept. 9); Shane Stewart - 9 (The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 5, Keller Auto Speedway on April 17, Salina Highbanks Speedway on May 1, Crawford County Speedway on June 12, Eldora Speedway on July 17, Eldora Speedway on July 18, Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 on Aug. 8, Skagit Speedway on Sept. 5, Silver Dollar Speedway on Sept. 11); Daryn Pittman - 4 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 13, Antioch Speedway on March 29, New Egypt Speedway on May 19, Castrol Raceway on Aug. 29); Brad Sweet - 3 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 15, Calistoga Speedway on April 11, I-96 Speedway on June 25); Rico Abreu - 2 (Thunderbowl Raceway on March 14, Stockton Dirt Track on March 22); Dale Blaney - 2 (Attica Raceway Park on May 29, Lernerville Speedway on July 21); Paul McMahan - 2 (Perris Auto Speedway on April 18, Tri-State Speedway on May 3); Joey Saldana - 2 (Kokomo Speedway on June 3, Cedar Lake Speedway on July 12); Christopher Bell - 1 (Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 on May 2); Brian Brown - 1 (USA Raceway on March 7); Cody Darrah - 1 (Lernerville Speedway on July 21); Danny Dietrich - 1 (Williams Grove Speedway on July 25); Stewart Friesen - 1 (Ohsweken Speedway on July 28); Greg Hodnett - 1 (Lincoln Speedway on May 13); Tim Kaeding - 1 (Thunderbowl Raceway on March 13); Danny Lasoski - 1 (I-80 Speedway on June 5); Kerry Madsen - 1 (Junction Motor Speedway on Aug. 18); Terry McCarl - 1 (The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 5); Jason Sides - 1 (Dodge City Raceway Park on July 3); Stevie Smith - 1 (Williams Grove Speedway on July 25).

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