CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS FROM THE BATTLE AT THE CENTER AT THE DUQUOIN STATE FAIRGROUNDS!

DUQUOIN, Ill. (Dec. 15, 2012)—Tony Stewart returned to his short-track roots Saturday, winning the feature in the third annual Battle at the Center on the one-sixth mile indoor Mini Magic Mile at the Southern Illinois Center.

The 41-year-old from Columbus, Ind., led all 40 laps in the non-points event organized and sanctioned by the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series. It had 67 entries and brought together many of the best drivers in Midget racing and several more major short-track series

Andrew Felker of Carl Junction, Mo., this season’s POWRi National Midget champion, finished second and POWRi veteran Tim Siner of Dupo, Ill., was third.

Stewart won USAC Midget championships in 1994 and 1995 and was USAC’s Triple Crown (also taking the national Sprint Car and Silver Crown) champion in 1995 before moving on to win titles in the IZOD IndyCar title in 1997 and NASCAR Sprint Cup in 2002, 2005 and 2011.

“It was a lot of fun,” Stewart said. “I was happy with it. We heard this was a good event last year and decided to run it to get ready for the Chili Bowl (run in Tulsa, Okla., Jan. 8-12). We didn’t run very good in the Chili Bowl last year. We built the car to the same design that I drove in John Godfrey’s Stealth in 1995.”

Stewart also won his heat and qualifying races and started on the outside of the front row next to Bryan Clauson, the three-time National Midget Driver of the Year and the USAC National champion the past three years.

Stewart’s Chevrolet-powered Midget, took the lead at the start and held it against Clauson through seven restarts.

“The only time I got concerned was on the restarts with Clauson,” Stewart said. “They don’t get any tougher than Clauson. He could get close coming on the inside, but after two or three laps, we were all right.”

Clauson, of Noblesville, Ind., ran second until contact from behind by Brad Loyet of Sunset Hills, Mo., on a 34th lap restart spun him in Turn Two.

“I tried to beat Tony to the center of the track and got over the cushion,” Clauson said.

Loyet, a three-time champion in POWRi National Midgets who raced in the national Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series this season, had been charging hard from his seventh starting position and tried to take advantage of Clauson’s loss of momentum.

Felker’s Spike-Fontana passed Loyet for second in the ensuing restart. He had started 11th.

“I found the top before anybody and ran it most of the race,” Felker said. “It would have been nice to have had a couple of more laps, but you can’t be disappointed finishing second to Tony Stewart. He’s no slouch.”

Stewart faced one final restart with four to go in the 40-lap feature and darted away from Felker to win by three car lengths.

Simer wasn’t far behind. He’d started 20th in the 21-car field and ran the inside line.

“I actually thought I had a chance to win going down the back straight,” Siner said. “I pretty much ran the bottom the entire race. The car responded to the changes I made, mostly the shocks, and I had a radius rod fall off on the right rear suspension that helped us get traction out of the corners. It allowed our car (Spike-Esslinger) to roll a little better and helped it turn.

“The quality of this field is tough and to come from 20th and run third, it was a really good night for us.”

POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series feature results for the Battle at the Center (40 laps): 1. Tony Stewart, 2. Andrew Felker, 3. Tim Siner, 4. Dereck King, 5. Jon Stanbrough, 6. Casey Shuman, 7. AJ Hopkins, 8. Bryan Clauson, 9. Alex Sewell, 10. Brad Loyet, 11. Brian Shirley, 12. Garrett Aitken, 13. Chris Bell, 14. Colten Cottle, 15. Jayme Barnes, 16. Matt Westfall, 17. Tyler Thomas, 18. Levi Jones, 19. Austin Brown, 20. Ross Rankin, 21. Daniel Robinson.

QUALIFIERS

Qualifer 1
1. 39 Bryan Clauson
2. 21 Chris Bell
3. 05 Brad Loyet
4. 17 Ross Rankin
5. 8 Alex Sewell
6. 32 Garrett Aitken
7. 57 Daniel Robinson
8. 7AD Dalton Armstrong
9. 9P Parker Price Miller
10. 49 Trvor Kobylarz
11. 50 Daniel Adler
12. 2B Tyler Reddick
13. 5H Matt Ponder
14. T4 Adam Tischhauser
15. 29 David Hair

Qualifier 2
1. 14s Tony Stewart
2. 6R Casey Shuman
3. 14W Matt Westfall
4. 11A Andrew Felker
5. 3B Jayme Barnes
6. 4 John Stanbrough
7. 15 Tim Siner
8. 55 Nick Knepper
9. 70 Terry Babb
10. 11C Chett Gehrke
11. 52C Isaac Chapple
12. 1T Tony Roney
13. 5B Tommy Brown
14. 52 Mike Gass
15. 16 David Camfield

Qualifier 3
1. 56 Levi Jones
2. 91 Dereck King
3. 55x Brian Shirley
4. 21D A J Hopkins
5. 7 Colten Cottle
6. 91T Tyler Thomas
7. 5C Colten Cottle
8. 39X Dillon Welch
9. 37 Cameron Hagin
10. 5M Sean Murphy
11. 14E Eric Fenton
12. 51B Joe B. Miller
13. 5 Danny Frye III
14. 14C Shane Cockrum
15. Cameron King

NON-QUALIFIERS

Non-Qualifier 1
1. 32 Garrett Aitken
2. 51B Joe Miller
3. 58 Tommy Brown
4. 07 Jimmy Glenn
5. 7JR JD Black
6. 27 Kyle O’Gara
7. 6X Dalton Camfield
8. 5L Mike Larrison
9. 31 David Budres
10. 14R Jody Rosenboom
11. 94 Katlynn Leer
12. 2s Danny Stratton
13. 19 John Campbell
14. 4B Chris Schirek

Qualifier 2
1. 70 Terry Babb
2. 57 Daniel Robinson
3. 5M Sean Murphy
4. 87R Danny Smith
5. 7A Mike Anderson
6. 54 Jason Allen
7. 35 Tyler Robbins
8. 14 Tommy Casson
9. 0 Bobby Oilerman
10. 57X Kalley Engstrom
11. 53 Aaron Schuck
12. 2A Jason Howell
13. 91H Mike Hudson
14. 57A Hannah Adair

HEAT RACES

Heat 1
1. 14W Matt Westfall
2. 17 Ross Rankin
3. 29 Davi Hair
4. 16 David Camfield
5. 5M Sean Murphy
6. 54 Jason Allen
7. 14 Tommy Casson

Heat 2
1. 15 Tim Siner
2. 14C Shane Cockrum
3. 5 Danny Frye III
4. 5H Matt Ponder
5. 52 Mike Gass
6. 7A Mike Anderson
7. 27 Kyle O’Gara

Heat 3
1. 39 Bryan Clauson
2. 05 Brad Loyet
3. 37 Cameron Hagin
4. 4 John Stanbrough
5. 91H Mike Hudson
6. 6x Dalton Camfield
7. 48 Chris Schirek

Heat 4
1. 7AD Dalton Armstrong
2. 8 Alex Sewell
3. 3B Jayme Barnes
4. 52C Isaac Chapple
5. 7JR J D Black
6. 5L Mike Larrison
7. 53 Aaron Schuck

Heat 5
1. 14s Tony Stewart
2. 9p Parker Price Miller
3. 14E Eric Fenton
4. 39x Dillon Welch
5. 58 Tommy Brown
6. 94 Katlynn Leer
7. 57 Daniel Robinson

Heat 6
1. 56 Levi Jones
2. 11A Andrew Felker
3. 1T Tony Roney
4. 5C Colten Cottle
5. 19 John Campbell
6. 35 Tyler Robbins
7. 87R Danny Smith

Heat 7
1. 91 Dereck King
2. 11C Chet Gehrke
3. 91t Tyler Thomas
4. 28 Tyler Redick
5. 2A Jason Howell
6. 07 Jimmy Glenn
7. 14R Jody Rosenboom

Heat 8
1. 7 Austin Brown
2. 6R Casey Shuman
3. 50 Daniel Adler
4. 55K Cameron King
5. 70 Terry Babb
6. 57A Hannah Adair

Heat 9
1. 21D A J Hopkins
2. 55x Brian Shirley
3. T4 Adam Tischhauser
4. 57X Kalley Engstrom
5. 51B Joe B Miller
6. 0 Bobby Oilerman

Heat 10
1. 49 Trevor Kobylarz
2. 55 Nick Knepper
3. 21 Chris Bell
4. 25 Danny Stratton
5. 32 Garrett Aitken
6. 31 David Budres

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