Tony Stewart enters Knoxville Nationals

Tony Stewart has again entered the Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals. Stewart, the NASCAR star and former dirt-track ace, will be among a capped field of 70 for the three-day event, which begins with Thursday's 6:45 p.m. first night of qualifying.

"Finally getting a chance to go there and be a driver and get to run on that black dirt, even though it may not be in a 410-winged sprint car, just the fact that you get to run at Knoxville, that's something that I didn't get to experience at places like Langhorne, Pennsylvania, and Ascot in California," Stewart told The Des Moines Register in an e-mail interview.

Stewart has raced in the event three times, posting a top finish of second in 2006. Obligations to Joe Gibbs Racing, which he is leaving after 2008 to field his own NASCAR team, prevented him from racing at Knoxville in 2007.

"It's just legendary, and anytime that you've got a shot to race at that track, it's huge."