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Stewart celebrates with the checkered flag on Victory Lane.
ROSSBURG - To say Tony Stewart dominated Thursday night's Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) event at Eldora Speedway would be an understatement.
The man who owns both the series and track won everything on Thursday. He was the fastest driver in practice. He won both heat races which set the starting lineup and then he led all 75 laps of the main event to complete the most dominant effort in the brief history of the series.
"It's always awesome to win here," Stewart said. "She certainly made me earn it."
The "she" is Hallie Deegan. The female star started the main event in eighth position but slowly worked her way into contention, and when the race restarted with 20 laps remaining, Deegan lined up behind Stewart in the double-file restart.
Hallie Deegan chases Ryan Newman at Eldora Speedway on Thursday.
On the restart, she followed Stewart around the outside of Ryan Newman and kept Stewart in her sights.
Brad Keselowski brought out the final caution flag of the event when he spun on lap 69. Deegan again restarted behind Stewart and stayed close enough to pressure him, but could never mount a serious challenge for the lead and eventually finished in second place just over one second behind Stewart.
"People don't understand, but they will, that Hallie Deegan is one hell of a dirt driver," Stewart said. "She was fast tonight and she kept the pressure on me."
Deegan, who received cheers as loud if not louder than Stewart during her postrace interview, feels the improvement every week.
"I am just really starting to get my confidence up these last couple of weeks and have started to pick up a lot of speed," Deegan said. "I was never really comfortable after we went to the back-up car, but it was fast and I had a lot of fun."
Deegan was involved in a six-car heat race crash in the opening heat and missed the second heat race as they prepared the back-up car.
Former NASCAR star Ryan Newman finished third, ahead of former NASCAR stars Bobby Labonte and Matt Kenseth. IndyCar star Marco Andretti, veteran Ken Schrader, Keselowski and NHRA star Ron Capps completed the top nine.
Tony Stewart won both heats and the feature race on Thursday as the Superstar Racing Experience came to Eldora Speedway.
Stewart won both the SRX heat races convincingly. He started third in the first heat race and took the lead from Capps on lap eight, and he was never threatened in the opener. Labonte, Capps, Schrader and Keselowski completed the top five in the opening heat race.
The first heat race was marred by the six-car crash in turn three that started when Austin Dillon's machine lost a radiator hose, setting off a melee that also took out Deegan, Tony Kanaan, Chase Briscoe, Andretti and Kenseth. Kenseth was the only driver able to continue in his primary car, while Kanaan, Briscoe and Dillon were done for the night.
With the field totally inverted for the second heat race, Stewart had to work his way through the pack and did so methodically, taking the lead from Kenseth on lap 18 of the 25-lap event. Once out front, Stewart pulled away and won by more than a straightaway.
Completing the top five in the second heat race were Kenseth, Newman, Andretti and Labonte.
Eldora will sit quiet until Labor Day weekend when the track hosts the Baltes Classic, honoring Eldora's founder Earl Baltes, on Sunday, Sept. 3. The event kicks off World 100 Week at the track and features the American Late Model Series (ALMS), the UMP Modifieds and the Eldora Super Stocks.
