8/8/09

TJ Hartman with Silva Motorsports - UPDATE - Close to home.                                  

Knoxville, IA - August 8, 2009...

Shane Stewart and the Silva Motorsports Team came up short at this years Knoxville 360 Nationals.  A broken front end part put the Probilt Construction, ART Chassis #57 hard in the wall with just a handful of laps remaining in the 25 lap A-main event that entailed three nights of racing and over 100 teams competing.  Shane started the race in the sixth position before working his way into third.  He was battling for second at one point midway through the race before slipping a couple of spots.  Late in the race he went into a corner and found himself unable to steer the car - hitting the wall hard and getting upside down.  It was a disappointing finish for the potent team, but they take away from it the fact that Shane walked away from the crash and they can focus on next week. 

In TJ's words:  "It's kind of weird.  It felt just like I crashed the car except I wasn't the one that was sore.  Shane is ok but really disappointed of course.  When you crash at Knoxville it pretty much destroys the car.  Shane said he went into the corner and the car wouldn't steer.  Jason Johnson was following Shane into the corner and he said he saw something break on the right front.  It feels good to work on a team that can run up front like that everywhere and I feel just like I do when something happens on my car.  Just disappointed.  We're going to get the other car ready and wait to see where Paul and Shane want to run next.  I really like that kind of schedule where you just pick someplace and show up."

Shane Stewart and Silva Motorsports will find success again - that is certain.  The amount of respect the team garners from their competitors and the media for their talents is evident at every turn.  TJ and his team at home have much appreciation for what the Silva Motorsports team is doing, and how they handle the disappointments along with the success that racing can bring.  The key is confidence, and the Silva Motorsports team is brimming with that.    

Next scheduled stop - Destination Unknown!


TJ Hartman Racing with Shane Stewart & Silva Motorsports