KNOXVILLE, Iowa – Shane Stewart just wanted to run in the top-five in his return to sprint car racing two weeks ago at I-70 Motorsports Park in Odessa, Mo., with the All Star Circuit of Champions.
“Of course, you’re leading the darn thing and the laps are winding down,” Stewart said in a phone interview Wednesday afternoon. “You want to finish the job … and we weren’t able to do that, so that was disappointing. Still, a great effort by everybody [on] the Indy Race Parts car to lead into this week.”
The 45-year-old who ended his full-time racing career last year after acquiring Port City Raceway in Tulsa, Okla., couldn’t start life as a part-time racer in style. That’s alright because he’s enjoying this week’s 60th Knoxville Nationals at Knoxville Raceway the best way imaginable.
Racing in Bernie Stuebgen’s often fast No. 71 machine, Stewart is set for another attempt at the Knoxville Nationals and will make his qualifying attempt Thursday evening.
It’s one of the few events he’s yet to win in his 37-year sprint car career, but gone are the days Stewart racks his brain to fill voids on a resume, much less provide for his family as a race car driver.
He doesn’t have any races planned after this week, so what is there to stress about?
“It’s somewhat more relaxed than it has been for me in years past,” Stewart said. “Maybe that will turn into a good, solid finish for us. We’ll see.”
Stewart is also using the biggest week in sprint car racing to grow as a businessman, having settled into his ownership position at Port City, one of the most fervent micro sprint scenes in the country.
“It’s all about networking,” Stewart said. “A track doesn’t work without having sponsors. Anytime you can get around racing people in general and talk about your businesses, your business-to-business stuff, and be in front of people … they ask how the track is going and sometimes that leads into other conversations with other people.
“My track doesn’t run sprint cars, but we have race fans, and a lot of those fans are here this week,” he added.
His relationship with business whiz Justin Marks, whose Trackhouse Entertainment Group sponsors Stewart’s No. 71 this week, has sharpened Stewart’s understanding of how to successfully run an operation.
Marks and Stewart’s relationship is a longstanding one. Stewart drove a sprint car co-owned by Marks and Kyle Larson on the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Sprint Car Series tour from 2014 to ‘17.
Now Marks is funding Stewart’s Knoxville Nationals effort and Stewart is trying to weave Marks into the fabric of Port City Raceway.
“We’re trying to get Justin involved at Port City,” Stewart said. “Justin is a machine when it comes to organizing things. … Everything he touches seems to do really well. We’re hoping we have a really strong showing for all those people.”
Outside his runner-up at I-70, Stewart also finished 13th in the Capitani Classic on Sunday at Knoxville Raceway and seventh on Monday at Southern Iowa Speedway. It’s enough of a sample size to have some sort of direction entering the most cutthroat race of the year.
“I felt like my car was really good in the A-Main [on Sunday], but, man, when you start in the back, it’s hard to pass cars, especially nowadays,” Stewart said. “Everybody is just so equal. We had a decent showing at Oskaloosa. So, yeah, we’ll see.
“We have to have some things work in our favor,” he added. “As long as we get qualified well and get through our heat race, we should be in a good position come Saturday.”