OFF-ROAD GRAN PRIX : Stewart, Evans Win Heats at Coliseum

Sports truck drivers Ivan Stewart and Walker Evans played like a couple of little boys in the dirt at the Mickey Thompson Off-Road Championship Gran Prix in the Coliseum.

Stewart, 45, won the opening heat race in his Toyota, moving up from the third row on the starting line to take the lead on the third lap. He staged a tight duel with Evans, 51, for the lead for four laps before claiming the eight-lap race.

Evans, 51, won the second heat race in his Jeep as Stewart desperately tried to find a way to get around him. The crowd of 46,347 roared with every move that Stewart attempted, but he had to settle for second place.

Stewart said he made the right decision in taking the inside line up the peristyle jump in holding off Evans in the first heat. “The inside track is definitely faster,” Stewart said. “It took me a while to figure it out.

“I had to try a different racing line to get around Walker in the second heat, but he figured out the fastest way after the first heat.”

ROger Mears, who has won only tow main events in the past three years, was competitive in his Nissan despite mechanical problems. Mears finished fourth in the first heat despite losing his brakes and then was third in the second heat, passing Danny Thompson at the checkered flag.