Stewart Wins Sprint race but hurt in Midget race: Tony Stewart won the 40-lap Sprint car Turkey Night Grand Prix race before a sellout crowd of 6,500 at Irwindale Speedway on Thanksgiving, but was involved in a fiery Turn 3 crash in the Midget car race, won by Michael Lewis. Lewis, from Noblesville, Ind., held off a desperate challenge from Kasey Kahne, who finished second in the race for the second time in three years. Kahne tried going outside of Lewis on the last five laps of the 100-lap race, but to no avail. Stewart crashed when the throttle of Aaron Fike’s car, running one spot behind Stewart, was stuck and he plowed into the rear of Stewart’s car, sending both into the Turn 3 wall. Both were shaken up with Stewart sitting in his car the one he brought from his museum for the race for a long time before finally emerging. Both refused transport to an area hospital. Stewart was complaining of a sore ankle. Stewart, who won the Winston Cup title last week in Miami, dominated the Sprint car race. “I came out and won on Turkey Night again,” Stewart said of his half-lap victory in the 40-lap main event. “It’s great to be back in a real race car and out of those taxi cabs for a little bit,” he said. “You guys are the real race fans. It’s not about a signature. You want real racing. Everyone tells me to change. I won’t change if you won’t change. You’ve come here to see real racing.” Stewart, who won in his last appearance at Irwindale, in the 2000 Turkey Night Grand Prix, is the first driver to win in three different cars on Turkey Night. It was only his second time in a Sprint car this year; he won at Tracy. His Sprint car bore the number 20 and was orange, the same as his Cup car.(in part from the San Gabriel Valley Tribune), Stewart did not require hospitalization. AND Tony Stewart returned to his midget racing roots for the USAC Turkey Night race at Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway and had Craftsman Truck Series regular Terry Cook serving as his crew chief. “Basically they put me in charge of the car to make sure everything’s running properly and to make sure Tony has what he needs to race with,” said Cook, whose father-in-law, Bob East, is a prominent Indiana-based midget builder. “Crew chief is really an overrated title for me because I’m just there to help out.” The two teamed to win the event in 2000.(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel), see many photoss of the event and accident at www.wideopenphoto.com(11-29-2002)
