Jimmie Johnson wins Tony Stewart’s dirt track charity race

Jimmie Johnson wins charity race

ROSSBURG, Ohio — Jimmie Johnson led from start to finish to win Tony Stewart’s dirt track charity race Wednesday.

Johnson, the four-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, survived 14 cautions with Kyle Bush on his bumper for each restart to win the sixth running of the Prelude to a Dream on Eldora Speedway’s half-mile oval owned by Stewart.

Busch finally lost track position on the final restart with two laps left and finished fourth. Clint Bowyer, who had the fastest qualifying time, finished second, and Carl Edwards was third after starting 17th.

Twenty-seven drivers, including 18 from the Sprint Cup series, competed in late-model stock cars in the 30-lap event that benefited four children’s hospitals.

Stewart started from the back, but his track knowledge and dirt-track experience helped him finish sixth. Stewart elected to start from the back because of bonus money that would have gone to the hospital designated for the winner.

“If we could’ve got some more laps I think we could’ve got a little bit further,” Stewart said. “It seemed like our car got better as we went. The last restart we got to see those guys up there and it looked like a heck of a race. I wanted to be right in the middle of it.”

Stewart’s goal for this race beyond raising money for charities is for the drivers to have fun. He said he likes how the event has grown with the largest and most diverse field he has had.

“It makes me feel good as the guy that invites them when you know they’re having a good time like that,” Stewart said.

Travis Pastrana ran out of gas on the last straightaway and lost a few spots to finish 19th, but he had as much fun as anyone. Most of the drivers left quickly after the race, but Pastrana stayed in the pits talking and signing autographs. His racing background is motocross, so he said he was just hoping not to embarrass himself.

“This was an absolute blast,” Pastrana said. “I didn’t have any expectations because I didn’t have any idea what to expect. My biggest thing was I was hoping I wasn’t going to be knocking into everybody and be five laps down at the end. I accomplished my minimum goal, but like every racer you want to be more competitive.”

Stewart wanted more competition throughout the field, so he added a team competition this year. Busch captained the winning team and won 45 percent of the proceeds for Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte, N.C.

The other hospitals benefiting from the race are Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, Cincinnati Children’s and St. Jude’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.

The race fell four days before Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Michigan International Speedway, but that didn’t matter to the 18 Sprint Cup drivers in the field. Seven of them are in the top 12 in the race to be in the Chase for the Championship. Edwards, who is ninth in the points, won this race in 2007 and was thrilled to be back.

“The coolest thing about this race is that everybody knows it’s for fun,” Edwards said before the race. “A lot of times in racing there is so much pressure. This one is just fun.”