It will likely generate the most publicity of any Top Alcohol divisional winner, but that’s what one gets when Tony Stewart wins.

After qualifying No. 2 at the Maple Grove Raceway NHRA Eastern divisional event, Stewart went on to beat Mike Hepp, Dan Page, and teammate Matt Cummings in the final round. Stewart’s third victory of the season propelled him into the national Top Alcohol Dragster points lead. He also leads the North Central Region points standings. 

“The weekend was a polar opposite compared to what happened last race in Columbus (Ohio). The whole team made a conscious decision to try and be on the other side of it. Even though we made it to the Finals, we felt like we were a little too aggressive in Columbus, and it bit us. We came into Reading with a plan to make sure we made a solid lap in the first round of qualifying, and we could press from there. We kept it in a good, safe zone. 

“My teammate, Matt Cummings, had the fastest car. He was just a little quicker than us all weekend. I was able to have really good reaction times both days, and that was a big key to getting us here. You hate to win a race at the end against your teammate due to a mechanical failure, but unfortunately, it happens. Being able to win the race and take over the national points lead is something we’re extremely proud and happy about. 

“You don’t want to beat your teammate with misfortune like that, but it could happen to us too. I was really proud of the McPhillips Racing team. They did a great job of giving Matt and I two cars that were dominant all weekend. It came down to the two of us. We’re gelling with this team, and now that we have the points lead, the plan is to keep it. We don’t want to let it get away from us. We’ll stick to the plan and stay the course. We’ll keep executing run after run.”

The next event on the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series schedule for Stewart is the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals August 18-20 at Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minnesota.