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Pittman Goes Two-for-Two at Volusia Speedway Park’s DIRTcar Nationals

Daryn Pittman Victory Lane Volusia Feb. 8, 2019
Daryn Pittman Victory Lane Volusia Feb. 8, 2019

BARBERVILLE, FL – One of Daryn Pittman’s favorite drivers growing up was Stevie Smith. By capturing his 83rd win – in the 83 car – during the second night of World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series action at the DIRTcar Nationals he is now just one win away from tying his childhood hero.

“Just that number (83 wins) to me is pretty staggering,” Pittman said after winning his second race in a row at Volusia Speedway Park. To him, it’s surreal he would ever get close to Smith’s record.

He cruised to win number 82 Friday night, making each pass with ease on the bottom of the track. Win 83 wasn’t as easy. NASCAR Xfinity Series star Christopher Bell made sure of it.

Bell pulled to the lead at the start of the race and held it until lap 18 when Pittman’s quest for the top spot finally reached the No. 39 Swindell SpeedLab car. The two traded the lead five times – three times in the last five laps.

By the time Bell and Pittman began battling for the lead, lapped traffic came into play. The slower cars worked in Pittman’s favor Friday night, as leader Shane Stewart got hung up behind one, allowing Pittman to shoot by.

They weren’t an issue for Bell, maneuvering around them like an obstacle course he designed. If Pittman wanted the win, he had to outpower Bell without help.

Pittman was able to make the bottom of the track work for him early, clearing Bell on lap 19. But Bell fought back, reclaiming the lead just a lap later. Pittman was forced to regroup and try another method of catching Bell and getting back by him.

It took six laps to do so, using the high side and middle of the track as his path back to Bell’s bumper. Pittman was able to again clear him for the lead, but Bell was resilient, throwing his car to the bottom of turn one and again reclaiming the lead.

After trading slide jobs in the last five laps of the race, by lap 28 the No. 83 Roth Motorsports car finally found enough grip on the high side of turns one and two to clear Bell and pull away. However, he didn’t know he created gap between himself and Bell.

“As a driver I felt like once I got the lead that should have been the end of it, because I felt like my car was better, so once I gave it back, I thought I might be in trouble,” Pittman said. “Honestly I thought he passed me back on the last lap. I thought I gave the race away because I completely missed the bottom on the white flag lap, and I guess it was a lapped car.”

While Bell is happy with the speed he’s shown this week, finishing third in Friday’s Feature and winning Saturday night’s DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash, he’s left wondering what he could have done better.

“Most of the time, I feel like in winged cars, especially on half miles, you get beat in lapped traffic,” Bell said. “In this scenario, I didn’t really get beat in lap traffic. He (Pittman) was obviously better than me, somehow, some way, so just go back and watch what he was doing to make up time on me. It sucks because most of the time you don’t get beat in an open track like that.”

Pittman credits some of the early success his team has shown to the ideas his Crew Chief Brent Ventura has provided, and that he has more say with adjustments than he did with the No. 9 Kasey Kahne Racing car. While he is coming off two wins in a row, Pittman is not taking his latest wins for granted.

“Every win is special,” Pittman said. “Eighty-two is great. Eighty-three is awesome. You never know when your last one is going to be. We’ll enjoy this one, and hopefully we have a lot more left in us.”

If he wins the Series’ finale to the DIRTcar Nationals Sunday, not only will he claim his third DIRTcar Nationals championship, he’ll tie his childhood hero, Stevie Smith.

The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will wrap up its DIRTcar Nationals championship tomorrow at Volusia Speedway Park. For more information and tickets visit DIRTcarNationals.com. As always, you can catch all the action from the DIRTcar Nationals and the World of Outlaws on DIRTVision.com.

DIRTcar Nationals Race Report; Volusia Speedway Park; Feb. 9, 2019

World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series (30 laps): 1. Daryn Pittman ($10,000), 2. Christopher Bell, 3. Donny Schatz, 4. Brad Sweet, 5. Brian Brown, 6. David Gravel, 7. Aaron Reutzel, 8. Logan Schuchart, 9. Jason Sides, 10. Carson Macedo, 11. Lucas Wolfe, 12. Tim Shaffer, 13. Sheldon Haudenschild, 14. Cory Eliason, 15. Kraig Kinser, 16. Parker Price-Miller, 17. Paul McMahan, 18. Spencer Bayston, 19. Shane Stewart, 20. Kasey Kahne, 21. Cale Conley, 22. Brent Marks, 23. Brock Zearfoss, 24. Shane Golobic, 25. Ian Madsen, 26. Jacob Allen; Lap Leaders: Christopher Bell 1-18, 20-25, 27; Daryn Pittman19, 26, 28-30; KSE Hard Charger Award: 1S-Logan Schuchart[+11]

Qualifying – 1. 71-Parker Price-Miller, 12.849; 2. 83-Daryn Pittman, 13.011; 3. 21-Brian Brown, 13.013; 4. 2-Carson Macedo, 13.015; 5. 39-Christopher Bell, 13.065; 6. 49-Brad Sweet, 13.073; 7. 15-Donny Schatz, 13.126; 8. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 13.147; 9. 7S-Jason Sides, 13.151; 10. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 13.151; 11. 70X-Spencer Bayston, 13.162; 12. 18-Ian Madsen, 13.173; 13. 9-Kasey Kahne, 13.176; 14. 26-Cory Eliason, 13.217; 15. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.222; 16. 7K-Cale Conley, 13.24; 17. 1A-Jacob Allen, 13.248; 18. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 13.249; 19. 49X-Tim Shaffer, 13.266; 20. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 13.292; 21. 41-David Gravel, 13.319; 22. 70-Brock Zearfoss, 13.329; 23. 13-Paul McMahan, 13.347; 24. 5-Shane Stewart, 13.389; 25. 17W-Shane Golobic, 13.426; 26. 33M-Mason Daniel, 13.532; 27. 48-Danny Dietrich, 13.6; 28. K4-Chad Kemenah, 13.641; 29. 47-Brant O’Banion, 13.817; 30. 19-Brent Marks, 4.63126157407407E-03; 31. 84-Tom Harris, NT

SEE FULL RESULTS

HIGHLIGHTS

DIRTCAR NATIONALS POINTS

2019 DCN GATOR POINT ROLLUP
CAR # NAME TOTAL POINTS 2/6/19 2/7/19 2/8/19 2/9/19 2/10/19
83 Daryn Pittman 990 246 244 250 250  
49 Brad Sweet 962 228 250 242 242  
41 David Gravel 958 244 238 238 238  
15 Donny Schatz 958 242 232 240 244  
1S Logan Schuchart 946 240 246 226 234  
5 Shane Stewart 938 250 230 246 212  
87 Aaron Reutzel 918 232 222 228 236  
2 Carson Macedo 916 234 220 232 230  
13 Paul McMahan 902 230 234 222 216  
49X Tim Shaffer 900 236 240 198 226  
21 Brian Brown 894 216 202 236 240  
17 Sheldon Haudenschild 878 222 218 214 224  
71 Parker Price-Miller 874 206 226 224 218  
39 Christopher Bell 866 134 242 244 246  
18 Ian Madsen 854 226 212 216 200  
17W Shane Golobic 828 208 206 212 202  
1A Jacob Allen 820 204 216 202 198  
11K Kraig Kinser 806 142 224 220 220  
26 Cory Eliason 804 212 140 230 222  
5W Lucas Wolfe 798 126 210 234 228  
9 Kasey Kahne 780 220 208 142 210  
70 Brock Zearfoss 768 140 220 204 204  
19 Brent Marks 762 214 136 206 206  
70X Spencer Bayston 684 114 138 218 214  
7K Cale Conley 676 118 142 208 208  
7S Jason Sides 652 210   210 232  
K4 Chad Kemenah 616 218 132 130 136  
33M Mason Daniel 606 138 130 200 138  
48 Danny Dietrich 604 202 134 136 132  
84 Tom Harris 600 132 204 134 130  
1K Kyle Larson 578 238 214 126    
47 Brant O’Banion 522 128 128 132 134  
14 Tony Stewart 460 224 236      
J4 John Garvin 370 122 120 128    
97 Caleb Helms 258 136 122      
40 George Hobaugh 256 130 126      
91S Rob Siegel 124 124        
91 Sadie Siegel 124   124      
40B David Byrne 120 120        
M1 Mark Smith 116 116        

SERIES POINTS – TOP 20

Pos. Car Driver Total Diff Wins Top 5’s Top 10’s Entered Started Earnings
1 83 Daryn Pittman 300 0 2 2 2 2 2 $20,000
2 39 Christopher Bell 290 -10 0 2 2 2 2 $8,700
3 49 Brad Sweet 284 -16 0 2 2 2 2 $5,600
4 15 Donny Schatz 284 -16 0 2 2 2 2 $5,700
5 41 David Gravel 276 -24 0 0 2 2 2 $4,600
6 21 Brian Brown 276 -24 0 1 2 2 2 $4,700
7 87 Aaron Reutzel 264 -36 0 0 1 2 2 $3,700
8 5W Lucas Wolfe 262 -38 0 0 1 2 2 $3,600
9 2 Carson Macedo 262 -38 0 0 2 2 2 $4,050
10 1S Logan Schuchart 260 -40 0 0 1 2 2 $3,300
11 5 Shane Stewart 258 -42 0 1 1 2 2 $6,300
12 26 Cory Eliason 252 -48 0 0 1 2 2 $3,050
13 71 Parker Price-Miller 242 -58 0 0 0 2 2 $2,000
14 7S Jason Sides 242 -58 0 0 1 2 2 $2,850
15 11K Kraig Kinser 240 -60 0 0 0 2 2 $2,000
16 13 Paul McMahan 238 -62 0 0 0 2 2 $1,850
17 17 Sheldon Haudenschild 238 -62 0 0 0 2 2 $1,350
18 70X Spencer Bayston 232 -68 0 0 0 2 2 $1,700
19 49X Tim Shaffer 228 -72 0 0 0 2 2 $2,000
20 18 Ian Madsen 218 -82 0 0 0 2 2 $1,600

SEE ALL POINTS

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