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Wilmot, WI —Daryn Pittman had a score to settle at Wilmot Speedway in Wisconsin on Friday night. After leading a majority of the race in the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series inaugural visit to the track in 2006, he wound up third after a three-car battle on the last lap sent him spinning backwards across the finish line. He picked up that win which eluded him two years ago, on Friday night as he led 32 of the 40 laps to earn his third A-Feature win of the season.
The native of Owasso, Oklahoma pocketed $10,000 for the 28th win of his Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series career, holding off two-time defending series champion Donny Schatz and Jason Meyers for the victory. It was his fourth career win in the state of Wisconsin and first at Wilmot Speedway.
“Wins are tough to get and you hate to give them away and we gave that one away two years ago,” said Pittman. “We were confident coming back in here that we could do it. This is a unique race track and probably one of the flattest places we go and generally makes for some good racing. You hate to lose them, so this is a special win.”
For Pittman, the win was his third of the season, which all have come in the last three weeks, beginning with the 25th Annual Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway where he took home the $50,000 top prize. He also recently moved into the Top-10 in the series standings and is up to ninth overall.
“This is a relief and it’s a lot of fun to get behind the wheel and drive this thing now,” noted the native of Owasso, Oklahoma. “The year started off so bad and we didn’t know what to blame. The bottom line is that I have a great race team behind me, probably one of the best that I have ever had. I have confidence when I show up that the car will perform and that makes a huge difference. It proves that I didn’t forget how to drive one of these things. I am pumped.”
The race began on Friday night with Pittman leading from the pole, with Chad Kemenah pressuring him on the high side of the track. For each of the first three laps, Kemenah looked high on Pittman exiting turn four as the pair charged down the front straightaway. Pittman maintained a couple of car length lead and had pulled away a little bit, when the first caution of the night flew on the fourth lap.
On the restart, Pittman led, while Kemenah had his hands full with Donny Schatz and Joey Saldana as the pair battled for third just behind him. Schatz took the third position on the fifth lap and quickly began to pressure Kemenah. At the same time, Kemenah was able to close in on Pittman as he worked lapped traffic. The final caution of the night flew on the 10th lap, giving the leaders open race track.
On the restart, Kemenah kept pace with Pittman, again looking high off the fourth turn a couple of times for the lead. On the 13th lap, Kemenah used a strong run through turns one and two to power his way past Pittman on the backstraightaway and pull away on the high side of turns three and four.
A couple of laps later, the leaders were in traffic, allowing Pittman and Schatz to close in on Kemenah. At one point, Kemenah and Pittman were three-wide with a lapped car, with Kemenah retaining the lead.
On the 22nd lap in heavy traffic, Pittman was able to get back around Kemenah in turns three and four for the lead. He was then able to open a lead in traffic as Kemenah had his hands full with Schatz. Pittman would go on to lead the rest of the way to earn the win.
“I think it was the key move that he (Kemenah) got around me and I am glad he did, “ Pittman explained. “I knew the bottom slowed up a bit, but when you are out front it’s hard to move off the line that got you there. He basically proved to me that the top was fast and made me move up there and get up on the wheel and start driving harder. I felt like my car was better on top in (turns) one and two and the bottom in (turns) three and four. Sometimes its better to be running second and that was definitely the case tonight.”
Pittman has been running very strong the last few weeks aboard the Titan Garages Maxim and cannot wait to get back in the car on Saturday for the finale of the Badger Classic at Charter Raceway Park in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, where he has won three times in his career with the World of Outlaws. While he worked hard on the track to win the race on Friday night, he was also quick to credit his crew who put in countless hours this week on the road and at the track in the extreme summer heat.
“We added a few new crew guys and they have been awesome,” stated the winner. “You can’t put a dollar value on team effort and the team you have around you. You are only as good as the people that surround you. Right now, I think we are pretty tough to beat. We are either winning or battling for wins in the last six or seven races. “
Schatz, the two-time defending series champion lined up fifth for the 40-lap contest and was battling his teammate Kraig Kinser early in the race, before Kinser spun while running fourth. On the ensuing restart, Schatz got around Joey Saldana for third. After shadowing Chad Kemenah for a number of laps, Schatz was able to get around him for second with 11 laps to go.
“We changed a few things and actually got ourselves in a good position,” said Schatz. “It was very untypical of my race car to get slower as the race went on. It doesn’t normally doesn’t do that. We did a few things tonight and learned some things and that’s a bonus.”
Jason Meyers started seventh and finished third in the GLR Investments KPC, to earn his 30th Top-Five finish of the season. He battled Jac Haudenschild early in the race before setting his sights on Joey Saldana. He was able to snag third from Kemenah with just two laps to go.
“It was definitely a good run,” said Meyers. “Anytime you start seventh and come up through there at a place that was not necessarily tough to pass, but hard to make up ground on anyone, is a good night. You could get two and three-wide, but it was tough to complete the pass. It was a great race tonight. They did a heck of a job with the race track and it was a great race for the fans.”
Craig Dollansky started 11th in the Snap-on Tools Maxim and worked his way into the Top-Five to earn a fourth-place finish. He got around Terry McCarl on the opening laps before passing Jason Sides on the second go-around. He got around Kemenah with just two laps remaining to take fourth.
“We started out pretty well and then the car got a little loose on me,” said Dollansky. “Even though we were loose, we got stronger as the race went on and to come from 11th is a good run. It would have been nice to have had a few more laps, but to come home fourth from where we started was a good run for the Larry Woodward team.”
Joey Saldana finished fifth in the Budweiser/Open Joist Mopar-powered JEI, with Kemenah who led eight laps and began the night by setting fast time in time trials coming home sixth in the Kantor Oil Company Maxim. Kerry Madsen was seventh in the TK Concrete Maxim, with Jac Haudenschild in the Owens-Corning Fiberglass Maxim behind him. Jason Sides picked up his third consecutive Top-10 finish coming home ninth in the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim. Steve Kinser, the 20-time series champion rounded out the Top-10 in the Q Oil Maxim, after coming from the 20th starting spot to earn the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award.
Schatz was able to make up ground on the leaders a couple of times in traffic, but once he caught them, he was not able to get even with then. Aboard the Armor All J&J, the North Dakota native remains the only driver that has finished in the Top-10 in each of the 38 A-Feature events this season.
“Lapped traffic was pretty tough tonight,” he noted. “There were a couple of guys that really got themselves reared up when they saw somebody lap them. It’s still fun to race like that, and that’s what the races are all about. Daryn (Pittman) did a little bit better job that I did in traffic tonight. That’s the way it goes. Second is not the end of the world for me at a short track like this. We typically haven’t been that good at this place and I’m glad to at least be competitive enough to be racing for a win.”
Meyers was glad to see the race end with a 30-lap green flag run on the semi-banked 3/8-mile oval that provided close racing throughout the field. His car was working very well in lapped traffic as he did everything he could to catch the lead duo.
“That’s always good for us and we are always good on the long greens,” he shared. “That plays into our part and that is what we concentrate on. Tonight it seemed like it worked.”
The Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series returns to action on Saturday night with the finale of the Badger Classic at Charter Raceway Park in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.
WILMOT SPEEDWAY NOTEBOOK
• FAST QUALIFIER: Chad Kemenah paced the 39 cars that took time with an AMB i. t. timed lap around the semi-banked 3/8-mile oval at 13.345 seconds at 101.161 mph. For his qualifying effort, Kemenah earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Paul McMahan (4), Kraig Kinser (3), Terry McCarl (2), and Craig Dollansky (1).
• QUALIFYING WINNERS: Chad Kemenah, Jason Meyers, Joey Saldana and Jason Sides won heat races… Daryn Pittman won the Crane Cams Dash… Tony Bruce Jr. won the B-Main… Kirk Fehrman won the C-Main.
• FEATURE WINNERS: There have been 38 Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature events held in 2008. The winners include: Donny Schatz (Knoxville Raceway-twice, Attica Raceway Park, Eldora Speedway, Tri-City Speedway, Sedalia’s State Fair Speedway, Dodge City Raceway Park, River Cities Speedway, Cedar Lake Speedway, Riverside International Speedway, Williams Grove Speedway and K-C Raceway), Craig Dollansky (Volusia Speedway Park, Eldora Speedway, Huset’s Speedway-twice, Eagle Raceway, Tri-State Speedway and Paducah International Raceway), Jason Meyers (Volusia Speedway Park, Manzanita Speedway, I-55 Raceway, Lernerville Speedway, Virginia Motor Speedway and Limaland Motorsports Park), Steve Kinser (Williams Grove Speedway, Rolling Wheels Raceway Park, Lernerville Speedway and I-96 Speedway), Daryn Pittman (Eldora Speedway, Williams Grove Speedway and Wilmot Speedway), Joey Saldana (Dodge City Raceway Park and Eldora Speedway), Tony Bruce Jr. (34 Raceway), Lance Dewease (The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway), Danny Lasoski (Volusia Speedway Park) and Shane Stewart (Knoxville Raceway).
• 3/8-MILE WINNERS: Wilmot Speedway is a semi-banked 3/8-mile oval. The Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series raced 10 times on a track that size this season. The winners include: Donny Schatz (Tri-City Speedway, Dodge City Raceway Park, Cedar Lake Speedway and K-C Raceway), Craig Dollansky (Huset’s Speedway-twice and Paducah International Raceway), Tony Bruce Jr. (34 Raceway), Daryn Pittman (Wilmot Speedway) and Joey Saldana (Dodge City Raceway Park).
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