Shane Stewart Dirt Cup Skagit notes

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (June 23, 2004) - Lady Luck can be a fickle creature. She can derail the surest of victories, or she can present victory on a silver platter when least expected.

Just ask Bixby, Oklahoma's Shane Stewart. After several weeks of abuse from dame fortune, Shane was rewarded this past Saturday night, June 19, in the most remote of locales.

Shane has been consistently fast aboard Scott Chilcutt's Oklahoma City-based Ol' Glory Energy Drink No. 4m Maxim in recent weeks. On several occasions, the team has appeared to be the class of the field in heady competition, only to have Lady Luck intervene.

This past weekend, Shane, along with crew chief Rob Hart and Brendan Telfer made the long trip to the state of Washington for the 33rd Annual Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup at Skagit Speedway in Alger.

In a cooperative agreement between Rudeen Racing and mIn Motorsports Management, Shane piloted the Wesmar-powered No. 26 Sander Engineering Maxim for the prestigious $125,000-total purse three-day event. Shane quickly found the 3/10-mile clay oval to his liking, setting second quick time among the 66-car field in Thursday night's opener.

After two nights of intense qualifying action, Shane found himself ranked sixth in points entering Saturday night's $20,000-to-win finale. With the top six in points drawing for feature starting position, Shane's luck appeared to be on the upswing when he drew the number "2" pill, giving him the front row outside starting position.

Then came time for hot laps. And the car sputtered. Had Lady Luck stepped in to derail yet another promising night for Shane, Rob and company once again?

Rob, Brendan and the crew from Rudeen Racing thrashed on the car in an effort to diagnose what ailed the machine. With little time to find a sure cure and no hot laps, Shane slid into his spot in the "A" Main grid unsure of whether his ride would run full song for 40 laps or if he would be forced pitside soon after the green.

The former proved to be the case on this occasion, as Shane broke into the lead at the drop of the green. Hart and Telfer's work had the desired effect, with the Wesmar powerplant purring perfectly. Shane raced away from the field, sliced through lapped traffic, then stormed away from his rivals once again following a late caution to cash in on the biggest payday of his career.

With the Dirt Cup trophy on the mantel in Bixby, OK, Shane and the Ol' Glory No. 4m team will get back to business this weekend, taking on the World of Outlaws at Knoxville Raceway.

The team will stay on the Outlaw trail next Tuesday, Thursday and Friday with stops at Joplin, MO, Batesville, AR, and Sedalia, MO, before celebrating the Fourth of July weekend close to home with the O'Reilly Sprint Bandits at Oklahoma City's State Fair Speedway on Sunday, July 4, and Tulsa Speedway on Monday, July 5.

More information regarding Shane Stewart and the No. 4m Ol' Glory Sprint car team, including the team's schedule and subsequent results, is available at www.min-motorsports.com.

-mm-