NANCY K. FELDNER / SPECIAL TO THE PVTTony Stewart celebrates his victory in the Prelude to the Dream, a charity race contested Wednesday night at Eldora Speedway at Rossburg, Ohio. Victory Junction Gang, which helps ailing children, benefitted from funds raised at the race, viewed by 28,000 fans and a national HBO Pay-Per-View audience. Advertisement

ROSSBURG, Ohio -- For the second time in three years, a packed Eldora Speedway crowd -- more than 28,000 -- watched Eldora Speedway owner and NASCAR Sprint Cup standout Tony Stewart win his own creation, the Prelude to the Dream.

Twenty-five of the best drivers from NASCAR and the NHRA took to the one-half-mile high-banked clay oval to raise money for the Victory Junction Gang.

A driver who raced open-wheel sprint, midget and Silver Crown cars at Eldora and other major short tracks across the country before moving into the NASCAR ranks, Stewart dominated right from the start.

Despite seven caution flags, Stewart took the lead on the first lap and never looked back as he started third in the field.

With Kevin Harvick on the pole and Matt Kenseth staring to his right, Stewart pulled off a text book slide job coming out of turn two and there was no catching him.

When the checkered flag fell, Stewart stood on his dirt late model, fist in the air in victory.

"This was another great night," said Stewart. "I can not thank the fans enough for coming out and supporting this great cause. It was a night of rim running and we had some rim runners out there."

It was obvious right from the end of qualifying that Stewart had one of the best cars on the track.

After Dave Blaney, who began his racing career driving sprint cars, set a track record with a one lap time of 15.436 seconds (117 miles per hour) on the half mile, Stewart came in with a 15.595 (115 mph) for second quick time of the night.

In the end, Blaney would be no match for Stewart as he would not finish the race, being eliminated from competition on lap 11 after getting into the wall on the backstretch.

"The real winners tonight are the kids that will benefit from this," Stewart said. "They are kids with life threatening diseases that will never be cured. It was money raised for them so they can to go to camp."

While Stewart was more than happy with the turnout of the crowd, he also showed his gratitude to some very important people.

"I want to give a big thank you to all the guys that were here to race tonight," Stewart pointed out. "Without you, this night would not be possible and the fact that you are here really means a lot to me."

The race was a pay-for-view event on HBO television.

With the Prelude now in the books, Eldora will be back in action Friday and Saturday night with the 14th running of The Dream, a late model race which pays $100,000 to the winner. Steve Casebolt Jr., will look to defend his 2007 title.

"I am really looking forward to this week-end with The Dream and the race at Pocono," Stewart said.

Qualifying for the 100 lap, Dream will get underway tonight, with all heats and features to be contested Saturday.