Daryn Pittman held off the Pennsylvania Posse in Friday night's Champion Racing Oil Summer Nationals opener at Williams Grove Speedway to score his seventh World of Outlaws Craftsman® Sprint Car Series victory of the season.
Posse regulars Lance Dewease and Greg Hodnett both tried to run down the No. 9 Great Clips car, but Pittman held tough and gave the Outlaws their second win in Posse territory this season.
"I don't know if I'm more nervous with (Hodnett) behind me or (Dewease) - neither one of them you want to see on the scoreboard," Pittman said in victory lane. "Man, we won again at Williams Grove… this is a special race track to win at."
Pittman was fast all night taking a late run in the qualifying flight two that catapulted him to the top of the charts and his fifth quick time award of the season. After a second place finish in Heat three, Pittman was poised to start the Dash in sixth until the Dash inversion draw which ultimately put Pittman on the Dash pole.
When the initial green fell on the night's 25-lap feature, Pittman jumped out to a strong early lead as Hodnett battled past Aaron Ott to take over the second position. Through a series of early cautions, Jason Johnson battled into the third position and then had to deal with a challenge from Dewease who drove his No. 69K Henry R. Sharman Builders, Kreitz Racing machine into the third spot and then second following a mid-race caution.
When the field returned to green, contact between Schatz and Johnson caused Johnson to flip and brought out a red flag, the final stoppage of the night.
Through the remaining laps, Pittman built up a nearly two second lead as Dewease worked to run him. Lapped traffic on the final lap was nearly problematic for Pittman as Dewease closed the gap but Pittman escaped and earned the win at Williams Grove.
"You knew the 69K came from a ways back and I wasn't sure what (crew chief Kale Kahne) was going to tell me to do under the red. I was kind of thinking 'man, I need to change my line.' And he said, 'just keeping running the top.' And I was like, 'man. are you sure?' That 69, I guarantee he's not running the top," Pittman said. "We got hung up in some lap traffic on the last lap and I felt like I made a pretty bad corner but luckily was able to hold onto it down the backstretch and was able to slide myself through three and four."
The win gives Pittman his seventh of the season, good enough for the second-mostand propelled him to third in the championship point standings over his teammate Brad Sweet. The win is also the second for the Outlaws, who, with Schatz's victory at Lincoln Speedway earlier in the season, now have a two-to-one lead over the Pennsylvania Posse.
Dewease, who finished in second and is the owner of the other series race win at Williams Grove this season, said the unusual track conditions were a challenge for he and his team all night.
"(This track) isn't my type of deal, this (car) likes it real slick. (The car) was really nice all night. Davey does a wonderful job. This is a new car - this is only like the third race on it. Davey and Donny, they work their butts off and I couldn't be happier to drive it as hard as I can for those guys."
Hodnett, who finished in third, said his No. 27 Heffner Racing /Trone Outdoors car was not quite where it needed to be tonight.
"We were really disappointed. We just weren't good to run the cushion all night and I don't know why," Hodnett said. "We were just balled up on it and loose off of it. We just weren't good enough to to run anywhere but on it and then not very good on it. The track was pretty different than what it had been all year so we've got a little work to do. Thankful to be on the front stretch with this group of competitors we have here."
The World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series continue their battle with the Pennsylvania Posse tonight as the two close out the Champion Racing Oil Summer Nationals at Williams Grove Speedway. One driver will take home $25,000 and claim the coveted Morgan Cup Trophy for the Outlaws and Posse. For more information and to learn how to purchase tickets, visit WoOSprint.com/Summer-Nationals.
Follow the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series on Twitter at Twitter.com/WorldofOutlaws, like it on Facebook at Facebook.com/WorldofOutlaws, or check out the latest videos on YouTube at YouTube.com/WorldofOutlaws.
- administrator on Jul 25, 2016
- Article Date: 7/22/2016