PETERSEN MEDIA
– Cody Darrah rose to the occasion with a national audience tuned in Friday night as he overcame a heat race altercation and charged to a fifth place finish Friday night with the World of Outlaws.
Darrah and his KKR team had the Scroth Racing/Sage Fruit/Team ASE No.4 early as he held the fastest time in qualifactions much of the night, until his boss, Kasey Kahne knocked him off the top late, and he ended up second.
In heat race action, Darrah held his fourth spot as he chased down Sammy Swindell, and Paul McMahan as they battled in front of him.
After McMahan brought out the caution, things heated up for young Darrah.
The ensuing restart saw Sammy Swindell let his entry slide up the racetrack and squeeze Darrah into the wall and sent him upside down a few times, ending his heat, and forcing him to run through the LCQ.
Running second to Tony Stewart in the LCQ, Darrah lined his Roth Motorsports/Factory Kahne/Weld Wheels machine up in the 11th spot on the very racy Dirt Track and Charlotte.
Biding his time early, Darrah hung around tenth much of the feature as he saved his tires on the track that was beginning to slick off for the feature.
With a few laps to go Darrah began to work towards the top five, as he raced past his KKR teammate, Brad Sweet, and Kasey Kahne, to grab the fifth spot at the stripe.
“Our car was awesome all night,” said Darrah. “If we wouldn’t of gotten taken out in the heat, we would have been in the dash and possibly would of started a little higher. It happens, but I want to congratulate Joey (Saldana) on the win- it was a strong night with all four KKR cars in the top 7.”
Saturday night, Darrah hopped into his family owned JK Salvage No.89 and took part in the Keystone Cup race at the Lincoln Speedway.
A bad qualifying effort put Darrah in the rear of the field for the feature, and after getting caught in another driver’s spin, Darrah was plagued in the back of a single file affair as drivers got in line and followed eachother around the top of the speedway.
At the stripe, Darrah would be scored in the 19th spot as the feature event set a 30 lap track record for the speedway.
Returning to action with the World of Outlaws Monday, Darrah would close out his busy Memorial Day weekend by timing in eighth fastest during time trials, and recording a third place finish in his heat race.
Starting in the 15th spot, Darrah had his work cut out for him, as he put his machine on cushion of the slicking off track.
On the 14th lap, Darrah brought out a caution as he tagged the wall, but would return.
Restarting at the back, Darrah would stay in the back until his night ended on the 30th lap as he brought out another caution, and ended his night in the 21st spot.
“We didn’t get the results we wanted, but this car has been strong the last few times we’ve hit the track,” Darrah explained. “I’m thankful that Kasey (Kahne) continues to let us come out here nightly, and hopefully we can get a win for him soon.”
ON TAP- Cody and his KKR team will now head to the Attica Raceway Park on Thursday and I96 on Friday night.
STAY CONNECTED- Check in to www.codydarrah.com or visit his facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cody-Darrah/164513250262145?ref=ts for the latest news on Cody.