From Lonnie Wheatley
KILGORE, Texas (October 14, 2011) – Daryn Pittman and Jason Johnson waged an epic battle in Friday night’s 30-lap Inaugural LoneStar Sprint Nationals preliminary main event at Lone Star Speedway with Pittman surging to the front in the final circuits to snare his first Lucas Oil ASCS presented by K&N Filters triumph of the year.
Pittman, an Owasso, OK, native who cut his Sprint Car racing teeth in ASCS competition from 1996 to 1998, put the T-Mac Racing No. 24 entry in victory lane for his sixth career ASCS National victory and the first since a Lawton Speedway win over 13 years ago on September 12, 1998.
“A race that much fun to drive in had to be a fun race to watch, what a hell of a race,” Pittman explained in victory lane.
While Pittman started from the pole position, reigning Lucas Oil ASCS National champion Johnson wasted little time climbing from the fifth starting position and the battle was soon on with the pair swapping the point several times along the way before Pittman put it away in the final rounds.
“The Ragin’ Cajun” settled for runner-up honors, while 16th-starter and current Lucas Oil Sprint Car points leader Shane Stewart rallied through the field to take the show position away from front row outside starter Gary Wright in the final rounds. Pittman, Johnson, Stewart and Wright locked into Saturday night’s $12,000-to-win LoneStar Sprint Nationals finale along with Thursday night’s top four finishers which included Johnny Herrera, Seth Bergman, Matt Covington and Tim Crawley.
Danny Wood was fifth in Friday night’s feature, with Jack Dover, Brian Brown, Mike Goodman, Aaron Reutzel and Jeff Swindell completing the top ten.
Goodman, Dover, Pittman, Brown and Wright topped heat race action for Friday night’s 47-car field, with Kyle Bellm and Canada’s Thomas Kennedy winning the “B” Mains.
Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters
Inaugural LoneStar Sprint Nationals
Lone Star Speedway (Kilgore, TX)
Heat Races:
Heat One (10 Laps): 1. 11g-Mike Goodman, 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 3. 2d-Bryan Dobesh, 4. 5h-Mason Moore, 5. 74e-Claud Estes, 6. 20k-Thomas Kennedy, 7. 51-Beau Smith, 8. 17-Bruce Griffith, Jr., 9. 14b-Robert Byrom, 10. 31-Brandon Berryman.
Heat Two (10 Laps): 1. 53-Jack Dover, 2. 81-Danny Wood, 3. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 4. 57-Shane Stewart, 5. 27-Andy Shouse, 6. 2dm-Dustin Morgan, 7. 5-Kyle McCutcheon, 8. 36-John Pate, 9. 15-Curtis Wayne Brown (DNS), 10. 11-Justin Melton (DNS).
Heat Three (10 Laps): 1. 24-Daryn Pittman, 2. 44w-Austen Wheatley, 3. 21k-Lou Kennedy, Jr., 4. 23j-Junior Jenkins, 5. 8-John Carney II, 6. 76-John Ricketts, 7. 17b-Josh Baughman, 8. 33-Mark Huddleston, 9. 0-Zach Chappell.
Heat Four (10 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown, 2. 41-Jason Johnson, 3. 14k-Kyle Bellm, 4. 20-Chad Wilson, 5. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 6. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 7. 30-Brandon Corn, 8. 17w-Brad Welborn, 9. 45k-Kolt Walker (DNS).
Heat Five (10 Laps): 1. 9-Gary Wright, 2. 28-Jeff Swindell, 3. 21T-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 4. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 5. 71-Channin Tankersley, 6. 90-Lance Norick, 7. 69h-Larry Howery, 8. 58-Gary Floyd, 9. 45-Martin Edwards.
“B” Mains:
First “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 14k-Kyle Bellm, 2. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 3. 2dm-Dustin Morgan, 4. 8-John Carney II, 5. 76-John Ricketts, 6. 69h-Larry Howery, 7. 14b-Robert Byrom, 8. 23j-Junior Jenkins, 9. 17w-Brad Welborn, 10. 27-Andy Shouse, 11. 11-Justin Melton, 12. 51-Beau Smith (DNS), 13. 17b-Josh Baughman (DNS), 14. 36-John Pate (DNS), 15. 0-Zach Chappell (DNS), 16. 45-Martin Edwards (DNS).
Second “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 20k-Thomas Kennedy, 2. 5h-Mason Moore, 3. 71-Channin Tankersley, 4. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 5. 74e-Claud Estes, 6. 30-Brandon Corn, 7. 5-Kyle McCutcheon, 8. 31-Brandon Berryman, 9. 90-Lance Norick, 10. 20-Chad Wilson, 11. 58-Gary Floyd, 12. 17-Bruce Griffith, Jr., 13. 33-Mark Huddleston, 14. 15b-Curtis Wayne Brown (DNS), 15. 45k-Kolt Walker (DNS).
Lone Star Speedway “A” Main:
“A” Feature (30 Laps): 1. 24-Daryn Pittman, 2. 41-Jason Johnson, 3. 57-Shane Stewart, 4. 9-Gary Wright, 5. 81-Danny Wood, 6. 53-Jack Dover, 7. 21-Brian Brown, 8. 11g-Mike Goodman, 9. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 10. 28-Jeff Swindell, 11. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 12. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 13. 2dm-Dustin Morgan, 14. 20k-Thomas Kennedy, 15. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 16. 2d-Bryan Dobesh, 17. 14k-Kyle Bellm, 18. 8-John Carney II, 19. 21T-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 20. 5h-Mason Moore, 21. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 22. 71-Channin Tankersley, 23. 21k-Lou Kennedy, Jr., 24. 44w-Austen Wheatley (DNS).