Stewart bumps way to Rumble victory

By RON WARE, Classic Motorsports

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — The last thing Tony Stewart wanted was to begin his celebration with an apology.

But that’s what the two-time NASCAR champion found himself doing after
bumping his way past Lou Cicconi Jr. to capture the 60-lap midget
feature Friday on the opening night of the 11th annual “Rumble in Fort
Wayne.”

Stewart won for a record-extending seventh time on the 1/6-mile indoor
track at the Memorial Coliseum Expo Center, bolting into the lead after
tapping Cicconi in turn four on lap 21. Cicconi spun 360 degrees and
continued, but Stewart narrowly squeezed by on the inside and dominated
the rest of the race, beating Tim Jedrzejek, Mike Fedorcak, Charlie
Schultz and Tom Schnabel to the finish. Cicconi later dropped out,
placing 12th.

“I didn’t have enough patience tonight,” said the 37-year-old Stewart,
who was a standout in midgets and sprints before moving on to IndyCars
and NASCAR. “I got into Lou too hard. I wasn’t trying to move him. I
was just trying to let him know I was there — to get in his head a
little.”

Stewart hung his head, then continued.

“I screwed up,” he said. “I tried to give him his position back, but
another car was coming through and I couldn’t. Lou and I have been
friends for a long time. The first year I went to Florida (to race, in
1991), he let me sleep on the floor of his motel room. We’ve been
friends for years.”

A frustrated but gracious Cicconi said Stewart didn’t need to apologize.

“No big deal,” said Cicconi, who has qualified in the top three at each
of the four Rumble Series indoor races but has yet to finish better
than 10th. “I know I didn’t have the car tonight to beat him. But
tomorrow (Saturday) … I’m not making any guarantees, but I’m going to
do my best.”

Stewart, who had to run a last-chance race to make the feature, started
seventh in the 14-car field but quickly asserted himself. Pole-sitter
Dave Darland led the first 17 laps before tangling with Fedorcak, then
Cicconi took over for the next three. But Stewart, driving his black
No. 2 Munchkin, caught Cicconi in the fourth turn and nudged his left
rear just hard enough to send him spinning. From there, Stewart romped,
winning in Fort Wayne for the fifth year in a row and for the seventh
time since 2001.

“I thought it was a lot later in the race,” Stewart said.

Cicconi’s disappointment was rivaled by Billy Wease’s. The winner a
week earlier at Toledo, Ohio, Wease qualified for the feature but was
unable to start because of an oil pump failure. That dropped his team
owner, Randy Burrow, from first into a tie for third in the Rumble
Series championship. The top 15 owners will share in a $7,020 point
fund following Saturday’s finale here.

“Just a 50-cent seal in the front of the oil pump,” Burrow said.

H/T to Gwyn for the story.