Lou Cicconi Jr. couldn’t wait to celebrate. So he yanked the steering wheel, stomped the throttle and began a dizzying series of 360-degree spins — right there in the middle of the second turn, no more than two seconds after the checkered flag waved, with traffic bearing down on him. The 44-year-old East Coast standout reached a personal goal Saturday by beating NASCAR star Tony Stewart to win the 60-lap midget feature that capped the final night of the 11th annual “Rumble in Fort Wayne.” Forget champagne. Cicconi wanted donuts. “I was so excited,” the driver known as Liquid Lou said, still effervescent a half-hour later. “I’ve been thinking about this for a year — beating Tony Stewart.” Stewart, the winner here on Friday, finished nearly a third of a lap behind in a race that went green all the way after a caution on lap 12. Jon Stanbrough finished third, giving Rick Daugherty the Rumble Series car owner championship, with Mike Fedorcak and Dave Darland completing the top five on the 1/6-mile indoor track at the Memorial Coliseum Expo Center. Stewart, whose resume includes two NASCAR titles and another in the Indy Racing League, had won six of the past nine races here and a record seven overall. Stewart, now owner of his NASCAR Sprint Cup team, confirmed that this was his only indoor racing appearance of the winter. He said he will attend the Chili Bowl Nationals next month in Tulsa, Okla., but won’t race due to other commitments.(Fort Wayne News Sentinel)(12-28-2008)
