Pittman Parks It in Thrilling WoO Opener!
BARBERVILLE, Fla. (February 13, 2015) – The World of Outlaws season opened in thrilling fashion with Daryn Pittman taking quick advantage of a rare Donny Schatz miscue to snare a last-lap victory in Friday night’s 30-lap DIRTcar Nationals main event at Volusia Speedway Park.
It marked Pittman’s second win in as many nights aboard Kasey Kahne’s Great Clips No. 9 after edging Schatz in Thursday’s All Star feature, and it seemed a highly unlikely triumph most of the way after chasing Joey Saldana and then Schatz in the closing laps.
“Last night felt good, this one feels that much better,” Pittman said in victory lane.
After pole starter Greg Hodnett got Posse hopes up prematurely by leading the initial handful of laps, Saldana slid by in turns three and four in the Motter No. 71m on the sixth round and had the scene under control until the final one-third of the race.
Pittman and Schatz, who had moved to second and third by the ten-lap mark, began to gobble away at the leader’s advantage and the race was on as the final rounds clicked off.
Schatz worked the low side to perfection in the Bad Boy Buggies No. 15, racing past Pittman for second on the 22nd lap and then disposing of Saldana for the point on the 25th lap. Schatz brought company though, with Pittman and Hodnett both charging past Saldana moments later as the waning laps reached a fever pitch.
Pittman moved in to challenge over the final several circuits and when the reigning World of Outlaws champion hung himself in the middle of the track exiting turn four with the white flag in sight, Pittman pounced and made it pay off to the tune of $10,000.
The Owasso, OK, native edged ahead just past the stripe as the white flag flew and then held off Schatz over the final lap to capture the win.
“When I saw him slide I just thought, wow, that guy doesn’t make mistakes,” Pittman commented. “You have to take advantage.”
Schatz settled for runner-up honors for the second night in a row, explaining that, “I thought I broke going into three but I didn’t, I’m not really sure what happened.”
Hodnett claimed third in the Heffner Racing Lelands.com No. 27 after winning Wednesday’s DIRTcar Nationals lidlifter. “These guys are the best in the world and they prove it every night, we just got beat tonight but it feels good to know we’re this close.”
Saldana settled for fourth after pacing the field for 20 laps with Brad Sweet advancing a handful of positions to round out the top five.
Paul McMahan was sixth with Dale Blaney moving from 12th to seventh. After winning the “B” Main, Shane Stewart rallied from 17th to eighth only to be edged for Hard Charger honors by David Gravel, who raced from 19th to ninth. Kerry Madsen completed the top ten after setting a quick time of 12.792 seconds earlier in the night, only to have to make it through “B” Main action to make the feature cut.
After Lucas Wolfe came to a stop seven laps in the feature, the night’s only red flag flew when Craig Dollansky flipped in turn two on the restart with Steve Kinser also involved. Both were done for the night.
After Madsen topped the 32-car field in qualifying, Hodnett, Wolfe, Dollansky and Schatz topped heat race action before Stewart won the “B” Main.
World of Outlaws – Friday, February 13, 2015 Results:
Qualifying: 1. 29-Kerry Madsen 12.792, 2. 51-Paul McMahan 12.805, 3. 7s-Jason Sides 12.806, 4. 71m-Joey Saldana 12.861, 5. 77x-Wayne Johnson 12.913, 6. 9-Daryn Pittman 12.929, 7. 49-Brad Sweet 12.931, 8. 41-Jason Johnson 12.948, 9. 27-Greg Hodnett 12.958, 10. 1z-Lucas Wolfe 12.967, 11. 14k-Dale Blaney 12.974, 12. 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 12.974, 13. 98h-Dave Blaney 12.980, 14. 24-Terry McCarl 12.992, 15. 7-Craig Dollansky 13.004, 16. 15-Donny Schatz 13.017, 17. 2L-Danny Lasoski 13.058, 18. 59-Danny Holtgraver 13.089, 19. 2-Shane Stewart 13.129, 20. 1s-Logan Schuchart 13.130, 21. 83-David Gravel 13.144, 22. 11k-Kraig Kinser 13.147, 23. 11-Steve Kinser 13.163, 24. 4-Cody Darrah 13.182, 25. 1a-Jacob Allen 13.189, 26. 12-Robbie Stillwaggon 13.250, 27. 45-Tim Shaffer 13.262, 28. 10h-Chad Kemenah 13.300, 29. 4s-Danny Smith 13.300, 30. 07-Steve Buckwalter 13.443, 31. 71mx-Paul May 13.518, 32. 63-Kody Swanson NT.
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 27-Greg Hodnett, 2. 98h-Dave Blaney, 3. 2L-Danny Lasoski, 4. 83-David Gravel, 5. 4s-Danny Smith, 6. 29-Kerry Madsen, 7. 77x-Wayne Johnson, 8. 1a-Jacob Allen.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 1z-Lucas Wolfe, 2. 24-Terry McCarl, 3. 9-Daryn Pittman, 4. 51-Paul McMahan, 5. 11k-Kraig Kinser, 6. 07-Steve Buckwalter, 7. 59-Danny Holtgraver, 8. 12-Robbie Stillwaggon.
Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 7-Craig Dollansky, 2. 14k-Dale Blaney, 3. 49-Brad Sweet, 4. 7s-Jason Sides, 5. 11-Steve Kinser, 6. 2-Shane Stewart, 7. 45-Tim Shaffer, 8. 71mx-Paul May.
Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 15-Donny Schatz, 2. 71m-Joey Saldana, 3. 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 4. 41-Jason Johnson, 5. 4-Cody Darrah, 6. 1s-Logan Schuchart, 7. 10h-Chad Kemenah, 8. 63-Kody Swanson.
Dash (6 Laps): 1. 27-Greg Hodnett, 2. 71m-Joey Saldana, 3. 9-Daryn Pittman, 4. 1z-Lucas Wolfe, 5. 51-Paul McMahan, 6. 15-Donny Schatz, 7. 7-Craig Dollansky, 8. 7s-Jason Sides
“B” Main (12 Laps): 1. 2-Shane Stewart, 2. 29-Kerry Madsen, 3. 1s-Logan Schuchart, 4. 45-Tim Shaffer, 5. 10h-Chad Kemenah, 6. 59-Danny Holtgraver, 7. 12-Robbie Stillwaggon, 8. 63-Kody Swanson, 9. 07-Steve Buckwalter, 10. 71mx-Paul May, 11. 1a-Jacob Allen, 12. 77x-Wayne Johnson.
“A” Main (30 Laps): 1. 9-Daryn Pittman (3), 2. 15-Donny Schatz (6), 3. 27-Greg Hodnett (1), 4. 71m-Joey Saldana (2), 5. 49-Brad Sweet (10), 6. 51-Paul McMahan (5), 7. 14k-Dale Blaney (12), 8. 2-Shane Stewart (17), 9. 83-David Gravel (19), 10. 29-Kerry Madsen (9), 11. 7s-Jason Sides (8), 12. 41-Jason Johnson (11), 13. 11k-Kraig Kinser (20), 14. 2L-Danny Lasoski (16), 15. 45-Tim Shaffer (23), 16. 4-Cody Darrah (22), 17. 24-Terry McCarl (13), 18. 98h-Dave Blaney (14), 19. 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr. (13), 20. 1s-Logan Schuchart (18), 21. 4s-Danny Smith (24), 22. 7-Craig Dollansky (7), 23. 11-Steve Kinser (21), 24. 1z-Lucas Wolfe (4).
Lap leaders: Greg Hodnett 1-5, Joey Saldana 6-25, Donny Schatz 26-29, Daryn Pittman 30.
