Pittman Breaks Out of WoO Funk with Ditch Win

The Wheatley Chronicles – Volume VI, No. 4

Lonnie Wheatley, WEST MEMPHIS, Ark. (April 20, 2018) – It certainly hasn’t been the start to the 2018 Craftsman World of Outlaws Sprint Car series that Daryn Pittman had been hoping for.

The struggle has been real for the 2013 series champion, as he had yet to crack the top five through the opening nine events of the year with a sixth-place finish at Tulare’s Thunderbowl Raceway his best run thus far.

Pittman put a quick stop to that when the World of Outlaws returned to the fabled Riverside International Speedway affectionately referred to as “The Ditch” on Friday night, working the low side of the ¼-mile gumbo clay oval before a capacity crowd to lead all but one of 40 laps for his 73rd career series win and first since a triumph at Skagit Raceway last September.

The Owasso, OK, native fended off Sheldon Haudenschild’s high side charges over the first half of the year and then denied Kasey Kahne Racing teammate Brad Sweet’s closing lap bids for the point to secure the win aboard the ionomy No. 9.

“I’m not done yet,” Pittman proclaimed.  “When you start a season like that, you can’t help but question yourself and your ability.”

Pittman found himself along pole starting Haudenschild in the feature after original front row outside starter Sammy Swindell was docked a row for allegedly jumping the initial start.

The duo of Pittman and Haudenschild swapped lines and slugged it out in the early going, with Haudenschild edging ahead only momentarily to lead the eighth lap until the race’s original caution flew for Swindell, whose right rear tire departed the rim.

The action resumed with Pittman working the bottom and Haudenschild testing the treacherous topside until finally meeting the turn two wall and getting upside down to bring out a red flag just one lap shy of midway and ending the young racer’s bid to make it an All-Haud kind of night after his father Jac earned All Star honors in Ohio.

Up to third behind from the ninth starting position by the lap 19 open red, Sweet battled past Paul McMahan for second on the 33rd round and tried to mount a charge aboard the KKR NAPA Auto Parts No. 49 in the closing laps only to come up just over a half-second short at the stripe.

“The top was a little better in four, but I didn’t want to show Daryn my nose,” Sweet said afterward.

Among the fierce lead battle as well through traffic over the closing portion of the race, McMahan settled for the show position.  “Everyone had me washed up a couple years ago, so to be up front and on the podium with these guys is a lot of fun,” McMahan explained.

Rico Abreu was fourth with David Gravel slicing through the field from 21st to round out the top five.

The Vitals

Series:  Craftsman World of Outlaws Sprint Cars

Track:  Riverside International Speedway (West Memphis, AR)

Car Count:  32

Heat Winners (starting position in parentheses): Pittman (2), Schuerenberg (2), Abreu (1), Swindell (2).

Dash Winner:  Haudenschild (5).

“B” Main Winner (starting position in parentheses):  Gravel (1).

“A” Main Cautions:  Five

9 Laps – After scoring a convincing and popular hometown victory in heat race action, Sammy Swindell has a right rear tire escape the rim going into turn three.

12 Laps – Jacob Allen does a quick 360 in turn three and sends an infield tire on the move to precipitate yellow conditions.

Lap 13 Restart – Carson Short turns it around in turn four with all restarts single-file the rest of the way.

19 Laps – The caution turns open red when the inevitable meeting between Haudenschild and wall takes place.  Haudenschild makes a return to action with dented top wing after a quick trip to the work area.

34 Laps – Kerry Madsen loops it in turn two.

“A” Main Hard Charger:  David Gravel was a man on the move, picking off 16 positions to round out the top five from 21st.

The Box Score…

Qualifying: 1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 11.746; 2. 2-Shane Stewart, 11.838; 3. 24-Rico Abreu, 12.016; 4. 45-Paul McMahan, 12.033; 5. 9-Daryn Pittman, 12.147; 6. 20N-Hunter Schuerenberg, 12.199; 7. 1A-Jacob Allen, 12.208; 8. 3-Sammy Swindell, 12.21; 9. 49-Brad Sweet, 12.21; 10. 5-David Gravel, 12.212; 11. 41-Jason Johnson, 12.22; 12. 18-Ian Madsen, 12.271; 13. 26-Joey Saldana, 12.274; 14. 91-Cale Thomas, 12.278; 15. 21-Carson Short, 12.31; 16. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 12.364; 17. 83-Cory Eliason, 12.373; 18. 9JR-Derek Hagar, 12.439; 19. 40-Howard Moore, 12.502; 20. 15-Donny Schatz, 12.534; 21. 7S-Jason Sides, 12.558; 22. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 12.577; 23. 19-Brent Marks, 12.612; 24. 91A-Ernie Ainsworth, 12.628; 25. 47-Dale Howard, 12.635; 26. 13-Clyde Knipp, 12.725; 27. O-Andy McElhannon, 12.738; 28. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 12.812; 29. W20-Greg Wilson, 12.997; 30. OO-Dane Lorenc, 13.082; 31. 84-Brandon Hanks, 13.224; 32. 10P-Jim Perricone, 13.806

Heat #1 (10 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer: 1. 9-Daryn Pittman [2]; 2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [1]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet [3]; 4. 26-Joey Saldana [4]; 5. 7S-Jason Sides [6]; 6. 83-Cory Eliason [5]; 7. 47-Dale Howard [7]; 8. W20-Greg Wilson [8]

Heat #2 (10 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer: 1. 20N-Hunter Schuerenberg [2]; 2. 9JR-Derek Hagar [5]; 3. 91-Cale Thomas [4]; 4. 2M-Kerry Madsen [6]; 5. 2-Shane Stewart [1]; 6. OO-Dane Lorenc [8]; 7. 13-Clyde Knipp [7]; 8. 5-David Gravel [3]

Heat #3 (10 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer: 1. 24-Rico Abreu [1]; 2. 1A-Jacob Allen [2]; 3. 41-Jason Johnson [3]; 4. 21-Carson Short [4]; 5. 40-Howard Moore [5]; 6. 19-Brent Marks [6]; 7. O-Andy McElhannon [7]; 8. 84-Brandon Hanks [8]

Heat #4 (10 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer: 1. 3-Sammy Swindell [2]; 2. 45-Paul McMahan [1]; 3. 11K-Kraig Kinser [4]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz [5]; 5. 91A-Ernie Ainsworth [6]; 6. 18-Ian Madsen [3]; 7. 1S-Logan Schuchart [7]; 8. 10P-Jim Perricone [8]

Craftsman Club Dash (6 Laps): 1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [5]; 2. 3-Sammy Swindell [1]; 3. 24-Rico Abreu [4]; 4. 9-Daryn Pittman [6]; 5. 20N-Hunter Schuerenberg [2]; 6. 1A-Jacob Allen [8]; 7. 45-Paul McMahan [7]; 8. 9JR-Derek Hagar [3]

Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer: 1. 5-David Gravel [1][-]; 2. 83-Cory Eliason [3][-]; 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart [8][-]; 4. 18-Ian Madsen [2][-]; 5. 19-Brent Marks [4][$300]; 6. W20-Greg Wilson [9][$250]; 7. 84-Brandon Hanks [11][$225]; 8. OO-Dane Lorenc [10][$200]; 9. 10P-Jim Perricone [12][$200]; 10. 47-Dale Howard [5][$200]; 11. 13-Clyde Knipp [6][$200]; 12. O-Andy McElhannon [7][$200]

Feature (40 Laps): 1. 9-Daryn Pittman [4][$10,000]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet [9][$5,500]; 3. 45-Paul McMahan [7][$3,200]; 4. 24-Rico Abreu [3][$2,800]; 5. 5-David Gravel [21][$2,500]; 6. 26-Joey Saldana [13][$2,300]; 7. 20N-Hunter Schuerenberg [5][$2,200]; 8. 15-Donny Schatz [16][$2,100]; 9. 41-Jason Johnson [11][$2,050]; 10. 11K-Kraig Kinser [12][$2,000]; 11. 9JR-Derek Hagar [8][$1,500]; 12. 7S-Jason Sides [17][$1,200]; 13. 1S-Logan Schuchart [23][$1,100]; 14. 2M-Kerry Madsen [14][$1,050]; 15. 83-Cory Eliason [22][$1,000]; 16. 2-Shane Stewart [18][$900]; 17. 19-Brent Marks [25][$]; 18. 21-Carson Short [15][$800]; 19. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [1][$800]; 20. 40-Howard Moore [19][$800]; 21. 91-Cale Thomas [10][$800]; 22. 18-Ian Madsen [24][$800]; 23. 1A-Jacob Allen [6][$800]; 24. 3-Sammy Swindell [2][$800]; 25. 91A-Ernie Ainsworth [20][$800] Lap Leaders: Daryn Pittman 1-7, 9-40; Sheldon Haudenschild 8; KSE Hard Charger Award: 5-David Gravel[+16]

 

A part of the recurring “The Wheatley Chronicles” series of articles on www.sprintcarmania.com, the Open Wheel Power Rankings are determined by cumulative points based on a sliding scale dependent upon car count at Sprint Car and Midget events across all sanctions and non-sanctions throughout North America.

The Wheatley Chronicles brings insight and highlights from all variety of racing series throughout the nation in 2018 and beyond along with the Open Wheel Power Rankings.  Please send any comments, questions or advertising inquiries regarding The Wheatley Chronicles at www.sprintcarmania.com to Lonnie Wheatley at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.