Auto racing: Bires steals spotlight from Kenseth, Stewart

TOWN OF RUTLAND - The situation didn't spook Kelly Bires.

With a restart looming with nine laps to go in Tuesday night's First Supply All-Star Challenge, Bires, the race leader, had a rearview mirror full of NASCAR Nextel Cup star Matt Kenseth.

"I wasn't too worried," Bires said. "We were pulling away there before the cautions. I just didn't like the restarts, but as long as they didn't get underneath me, we were good to go once our tires got good again."

Bires, who pulled away from Kenseth and the rest of the field on a restart with 19 laps to go, held off the Cambridge native and 2003 Cup champion for the second time en route to victory in front of an estimated crowd of 10,000 at Madison International Speedway.

"There isn't many times when you can run against Matt and be able to beat him," Bires said.

Bires, who was the second-fastest qualifier, started eighth after a nine-car inversion and moved into the top five by Lap 10. He was fourth going into the mid-race break of the 100-lap event.

"Once we came in at that halfway break (at 50 laps), I knew we had a good car," said Bires, a 21-year-old Mauston native. "It was just a matter of getting to the front. We took our time and we got there, and then we just cruised around."

Bires, who won an American Speed Association Challenge Series race at MIS earlier this season, needed 14 laps to move from fourth to first when the race resumed. He passed Orfordville's Bobby Wilberg for the lead on Lap 64 and was well ahead until the final pair of cautions bunched the field back together.

Kenseth, who started on the pole, tried to make an inside move on the final restart, but didn't have enough to make a serious run at Bires.

"We were just never fast enough," said Kenseth, who was making his fifth appearance at the track since 2003. "I just couldn't get him. We fought (with) turning the whole time and never could quite get it right. Real close, but we never could get it exactly perfect."

Eighth place wasn't perfect, but it also wasn't bad for defending Nextel Cup champion Tony Stewart, who made his first appearance at MIS.

"I'll take that," said Stewart, who started 19th. "Considering I haven't run late models on pavement, I'll definitely take that as a good night."

Earlier in the day, during a VIP question-and-answer session, Stewart comically downplayed a pair of much-publicized run-ins with Kenseth on the Nextel Cup circuit, saying that Kenseth has "got a couple of mulligans coming." Stewart, who generated laughs on a number of other topics during the session, also regularly interacted with fans in the pits, and was greeted warmly by the crowd before the race.

"The whole time was fun," Stewart said. "It's a blast to come out here and race where there's no pressure as far as worrying about points or point standings and all the stuff that goes along with the Cup Series.

"And it's nice to come out here on a night where Matt and I get to have fun and race with a bunch of guys that we don't get a chance to race with very often."