Tony Stewart and his sprint car series will race before limited crowds in S.D.

By May 21, 2020, 3:15 PM EDT
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Tony Stewart will be racing in front of a limited crowd with his All Star Circuit of Champions next weekend in South Dakota.

The three-time NASCAR Cup champion will be competing May 29-30 at Park Jefferson International Speedway in the winged sprint car series that he purchased in January 2015.

In a Thursday release, the All Star Circuit of Champions announced the races will be held at the Jefferson, South Dakota, short track with a limited general admission crowd. Fans will be socially distanced according to CDC recommendations because of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Tickets will be sold online for admittance to the 0.4-mile dirt track.

Here’s the release from the series:

BROWNSBURG, Ind. (May 21, 2020) – Eager to battle for a pair of $6,600 top prizes, three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and recent NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee, Tony Stewart, will accompany the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 during their first full-point weekend of the season and visit Jefferson, South Dakota’s Park Jefferson International Speedway on Friday and Saturday, May 29-30. Originally slated to award a pair of $5,000 pay days, the weekend now carries a total winner’s share equaling $13,200, with credit due to Kevin Rudeen of Rudeen Racing.

Tony Stewart is a five-time winner with the traveling All Stars over the course of his storied career, most recently claiming $26,000 during the Rayce Rudeen Foundation event at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa, on Sunday, July 28, 2019. The 2020 Rayce Rudeen Foundation race, once again awarding a $26,000 top prize, will be contested at the Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wisconsin, on Thursday, July 30.

Always finding ways to contribute to sprint car racing, Kevin Rudeen decided to beef up the payouts at Park Jefferson International Speedway by adding a $3,000 kick to each night’s feature purse, ultimately bumping the top prizes from $5,000 to $6,500. In addition, the runner-up and third-place finishers on each evening will receive an extra $500, with the fourth and fifth-place finishers on each evening receiving an extra $250.

“I’m just looking forward to seeing sprint cars back on the track on a consistent basis,” said Kevin Rudeen. “I hope to be able to get to South Dakota next weekend to watch in person, but if not, I’ll be tuned into FloRacing. I appreciate the efforts of Tony and his team to get the season started.”

Earlier this week, the world-renown Trunk Bar headquartered in Knoxville, Iowa, posted $100 per night bumping the total to $6,600-to-win on Friday and Saturday.

As an added bonus, Kevin Rudeen will also award $250 to each heat race winner at Park Jefferson International Speedway.

“Kevin (Rudeen) has been nothing but supportive of the All Stars for the last two years and the sprint car industry on the whole for many more years,” said Tony Stewart. “It was pretty cool winning the inaugural Rayce Rudeen Foundation race last year at 34 Raceway and I look forward to defending the title this year at one of my favorite tracks – Plymouth, WI. I’m really excited that we are getting the season started next weekend with the All Stars. Ten races over a 17-day period beginning with two at Park Jefferson. It’s been a long while since I’ve raced in South Dakota.”

Online registration is now open for all teams entering action with the All Stars and IRA during the two-day visit to Park Jefferson International Speedway on Friday and Saturday, May 29-30. Registration and pit passes for the two-day program can be filled out and purchased by clicking here. Sprint car teams are encouraged to complete the online registration process at their earliest convenience. IRA member teams please contact Steve Sinclair at siraprez@sbcglobal.net before registering.

The IMCA SportMods and IMCA Stock Cars will also register through the same link here. The IMCA SportMods, featured on Friday, and IMCA Stock Cars, featured on Saturday, will each compete for a $400 top prize. Drivers will be competing for state, regional and national points.

General admission tickets for each night of the first-ever All Star invasion of Park Jefferson International Speedway are now available for $29. Children 5 and under will be admitted at a discounted price of $5. To comply with the social distancing recommendations upheld by the CDC, ticket purchases will be available online with only a limited number of tickets available. Those wanting to purchase tickets can do so by visiting here. No reserved seating is available and any remaining tickets will be sold on the day of the respective events.

Competitor Registration: https://sd-allstarentryform.typeform.com/to/O9ceqS 

General admission tickets: https://market.myracepass.com/store/tickets/?store=11275

Park Jefferson International Speedway pit gates will open at 2 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, May 29-30, with general admission gates opening at 4 p.m. The mandatory All Star drivers meeting will take place at the Series command center, following social distancing guidelines, at 5:30 p.m., followed by motor heat at 6, hot laps at 6:30 and time trials at 7.

A rain date of Sunday, May 31, may be utilized if weather should become a factor during the Friday or Saturday program. If both Friday and Saturday are rained out, tickets from Friday night’s program will be valid Sunday. If either Friday or Saturday night are rained out, the tickets from the respective night that was rained out will be valid Sunday. If the Sunday program is utilized, it will run without a support division and hot laps will begin at 2 pm.

For those unable to attend the Park Jefferson doubleheader, FloSports, the exclusive broadcast partner for both the All Star Circuit of Champions and IRA Outlaw Sprint Series, will broadcast the events live on its FloRacing platform. For more information, visit FloSports.tv or FloRacing.com.

The All Star Circuit of Champions are actively seeking marketing partners for the two-day visit to South Dakota. Those seeking additional information should contact pr@tonystewart.com.

Strong rebounds for Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi amid some disappointments in the Indy 500

By May 28, 2023, 10:00 PM EDT
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INDIANAPOLIS – Alex Palou had not turned a wheel wrong the entire Month of May at the Indy 500 until Rinus VeeKay turned a wheel into the Chip Ganassi Racing pole-sitter leaving pit road on Lap 94.

“There is nothing I could have done there,” Palou told NBC Sports. “It’s OK, when it is my fault or the team’s fault because everybody makes mistakes. But when there is nothing, you could have done differently there, it feels bad and feels bad for the team.”

Marcus Ericsson was a master at utilizing the “Tail of the Dragon” move that breaks the draft of the car behind him in the closing laps to win last year’s Indianapolis 500. On Sunday, however, the last of three red flags in the final 16 laps of the race had the popular driver from Sweden breathing fire after Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden beat him at his own game on the final lap to win the Indianapolis 500.

Despite the two disappointments, team owner Chip Ganassi was seen on pit road fist-bumping a member on his four-car team in this year’s Indianapolis 500 after his drivers finished second, fourth, sixth and seventh in the tightly contested race.

Those are pretty good results, but at the Indianapolis 500, there is just one winner and 32 losers.

“There is only one winner, but it was a hell of a show,” three-time Indianapolis 500 winner and Chip Ganassi Racing consultant Dario Franchitti told NBC Sports. “Alex was very fast, and he got absolutely caught out in somebody else’s wreck. There was nothing he could have done, but he and the 10 car, great recovery.

“Great recovery by all four cars because at half distance, we were not looking very good.”

After 92 laps, the first caution flew for Sting Ray Robb of Dale Coyne Racing hitting the Turn 1 wall.

During pit stops on Lap 94, Palou had left his stall when the second-place car driven by VeeKay ran into him, putting Palou’s Honda into the wall. The car sustained a damaged front wing, but the Chip Ganassi crew was able to get him back in the race on the lead lap but in 28th position.

Palou ultimately would fight his way to a fourth-place finish in a race the popular Spaniard could have won. His displeasure with VeeKay, whom he sarcastically called “a legend” on his team radio after the incident, was evident.

“The benefit of being on pole is you can drive straight and avoid crashes, and he was able to crash us on the side on pit lane, which is pretty tough to do, but he managed it,” Palou told NBC Sports. “Hopefully next year we are not beside him. Hopefully, next year we have a little better luck.”

Palou started on the pole and led 36 laps, just three fewer than race leader Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren Racing.

“We started really well, was managing the fuel as we wanted, our car was pretty good,” Palou said. “Our car wasn’t great, we dropped to P4 or P5, but we still had some good stuff.

“On the pit stop, the 21 (VeeKay) managed to clip us. Nothing we could have done there. It was not my team’s fault or my fault.

“We had to drop to the end. I’m happy we made it back to P4. We needed 50 more laps to make it happen, but it could have been a lot worse after that contact.

“I learned a lot, running up front at the beginning and in mid-pack and then the back. I learned a lot.

“It feels amazing when you win it and not so good when things go wrong. We were a bit lucky with so many restarts at the end to make it back to P4 so I’m happy with that.”

Palou said the front wing had to be changed and the toe-in was a bit off, but he still had a fast car.

In fact, his Honda was the best car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway all month. His pole-winning four lap average speed of 234.217 miles per hour around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway was a record for this fabled race.

Palou looked good throughout the race, before he had to scratch and claw and race his way back to the top-five after he restarted 28th.

In the Indianapolis 500, however, the best car doesn’t always win.

“It’s two years in a row that we were leading the race at the beginning and had to drop to last,” Palou said. “Maybe next year, we will start in the middle of the field and go on to win the race.

“I know he didn’t do it on purpose. It’s better to let that pass someday.”

Palou said the wild racing at the end was because the downforce package used in Sunday’s race means the drivers have to be aggressive. The front two cars can battle for the victory, but cars back in fourth or fifth place can’t help determine the outcome of the race.

That is when the “Tail of the Dragon” comes into the play.

Franchitti helped celebrate Ericsson’s win in 2022 with his “Tail of the Dragon” zigzag move – something he never had to do in any of his three Indianapolis 500 victories because they all finished under caution.

In 2023, however, IndyCar Race Control wants to make every attempt to finish the race under green, without going past the scheduled distance like NASCAR’s overtime rule.

Instead of extra laps, they stop the race with a red flag, to create a potential green-flag finish condition.

“You do what you have to do to win within the rules, and it’s within the rules, so you do it,” Franchitti said. “The race is 200 laps and there is a balance.

“Marcus did a great job on that restart and so did Josef. It was just the timing of who was where and that was it.

“If you knew it was going to go red, you would have hung back on the lap before.

“Brilliant job by the whole Ganassi organization because it wasn’t looking very good at half-distance.

“Full marks to Josef Newgarden and Team Penske.”

Franchitti is highly impressed by how well Ericsson works with CGR engineer Brad Goldberg and how close this combination came to winning the Indianapolis 500 two-years-in-a-row.

It would have been the first back-to-back Indy 500 winner since Helio Castroneves in 2001 and 2002.

“Oh, he’s a badass,” Franchitti said Ericsson. “He proved it last year. He is so calm all day. What more do you need? As a driver, he’s fast and so calm.”

Ericsson is typically in good spirits and jovial.

He was stern and direct on pit road after the race.

“I did everything right, I did an awesome restart, caught Josef off-guard and pulled away,” Ericsson said on pit lane. “It’s hard to pull away a full lap and he got me back.

“I’m mostly disappointed with the way he ended. I don’t think it was fair and safe to do that restart straight out of the pits on cold tires for everyone.

“To me, it was not a good way to end that race.

“Congrats to Josef. He didn’t do anything wrong. He is a worthy champion, but it shouldn’t have ended like that.”

Palou also didn’t understand the last restart, which was a one-start showdown.

“I know that we want to finish under green,” Palou said. “Maybe the last restart I did, I didn’t understand. It didn’t benefit the CGR team.

“I’m not very supportive of the last one, but anyway.”

Dixon called the red flags “a bit sketchy.”

“The Red Flags have become a theme to the end of the race, but sometimes they can catch you out,” Dixon said. “I know Marcus is frustrated with it.

“All we ask for is consistency. I think they will do better next time.

“It’s a tough race. People will do anything they can to win it and with how these reds fall, you have to be in the right place at the right time. The problem is when they throw a Red or don’t throw a Red dictates how the race will end.

“It’s a bloody hard race to win. Congrats to Josef Newgarden and to Team Penske.”

Follow Bruce Martin on Twitter at @BruceMartin_500