NASCAR Hall of Famer Stewart won the inaugural Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) Series championship last year but got off to a rough start in last weekend’s 2022 season opener in Pensacola, Fla.
He turned that around Saturday night, holding off Greg Biffle to win the 100-lap main event, which featured several on-track incidents and hot tempers.
Stewart himself was involved in run-ins with both Marco Andretti and Ernie Francis Jr. over the course of the evening’s heat races and main event.
“I was worried we would get a caution late, so I just tried to take care of it there, but I think backing my pace off actually hurt me versus helping me. I thought I was trying to take care of it and I think I was making some problems a little bit worse by not running as hard as earlier,” Stewart said.
“This car was really good. When we practiced, it rolled the corner really nice, it was a little loose off. I was worried about it. I haven’t been to South Boston since I ran a midget clear back in 2000, 2001, 2002 or something like that.
“Didn’t know, couldn’t remember the characteristics of what this track does when it cools off. I was hoping it would tighten up and it did a little, just not as much as we needed.”
Bobby Labonte finished third, Ryan Newman fourth and last week’s winner, Helio Castroneves rounded out the top-five.
The six-race series now heads to Stafford Motor Speedway in Connecticut on Saturday. Local ringer Matt Hirschman will join Stewart, Andretti, Biffle, Hailie Deegan, Bill Elliott, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Labonte, Newman, Paul Tracy, Michael Waltrip and NASCAR Cup Series team owner Justin Marks.
The action kicks off at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and will stream live on Paramount+.
Main Event Results at South Boston Speedway:
1. Tony Stewart
2. Greg Biffle
3. Bobby Labonte
4. Ryan Newman
5. Helio Castroneves
6. Tony Kanaan
7. Ernie Francis Jr.
8. Marco Andretti
9. Ryan Hunter-Reay
10. Payton Sellers
11. Michael Waltrip
12. Paul Tracy
