NEW EGYPT, N.J. — May 20, 2014 — A late lap battle through lapped traffic gave Daryn Pittman the opportunity he needed to win the NAPA Outlaws Classic at New Egypt Speedway Tuesday night and capture his fourth World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series win in a row.
Pittman, who swept the three previous Outlaws races in his Great Clips car, came into tonight’s NAPA Outlaws Classic as the most immediate winner at New Egypt. The 7/16-mile oval challenged Pittman as he looked for the best line and worked to keep Madsen in his sights.
“Yeah, we had to earn this one,” Pittman said. “That was a lot of fun. I love this race track – it’s been awfully good to me. Heck, I wish they would schedule a lot more races here.”
On the week and the four wins, Pittman said he has been left speechless. He thanked his crew chief and crew members for all the hard work they have done to put him in position to win every race.
“I can’t believe this has happened, this has been an awesome week,” Pittman said. “One that I’ll never forget, that’s for sure.”
Pittman’s four-race winning streak is the longest since Jason Meyers won five in a row during the 2011 Outlaws season.
Pittman’s championship lead has been extended to 19 points over second place Joey Saldana.
Madsen, driving the American Racing Custom Wheels car, led the field to the green flag with Pittman in second, and Ryan Smith and Saldana in row two.
Two yellow flags in the early laps of the race slowed the action on track. On the lap three restart, Pittman looked for an opportunity to take over first place but Madsen held him off and built a strong lead. Just as Madsen began catching lapped traffic on lap 12, 20-time World of Outlaws STP Sprint Cars Series champion Steve Kinser had a problem that caused him to spin into a barrier at the entry of the turn three exit gate. Kinser left the car on his own power.
When the green flag again flew, Madsen built another strong lead that would ultimately prove fleeting. As he caught lapped traffic with 10 to go, Pittman caught him.
“I don’t really know what [Madsen] did but he did it on the top and I hit the bottom and got a good run,” Pittman said. “I was kind of afraid the lapped car was going to block my run but I was just able to sneak underneath him and we just kind of drag raced down the backstretch and he left me enough room.”
Pittman took the lead from Madsen.
As Madsen fell to second, David Gravel, who started on the inside of row four, was surging forward. In the final laps, Gravel muscled his Roth Motorsports car around Madsen.
“Late in the race the lapped cars were going just as fast as us,” Gravel said. “I rolled the bottom one time and got side-by-side with Kerry and slid him in one and two and got the pass. Starting seventh and finishing second is awesome.”
Madsen said he was disappointed by the day. He said he lost the race fighting his way through lapped traffic.
“I kind of feel like I gave it away,” Madsen said. “I just didn’t make the right moves in traffic and got caught out of position and that’s how Daryn got by me. Great result for the team. The car was great, it was a good run. Sometimes that’s all you can ask for and sometimes it’s not your night. We’ve got a very fast race car this year so it’s quite fun to drive. Obviously disappointed by not getting it done tonight but it should be a fun rest of the year for us.”
The World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series races into the Dirt Track at Charlotte in Concord, N.C. on Friday night, May 24, before heading to Lawrenceburg Speedway the following Monday, May 26.
NEW EGYPT SPEEDWAY NOTES: Race winner Daryn Pittman led 10 of 20 laps during tonight’s race… Pittman’s winning streak is the longest since Jason Meyers’ five race streak during the 2011 season… Sammy Swindell, David Gravel and Kerry Madsen all won their respective Heat races tonight.
World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; New Egypt Speedway; New Egypt, N.J.; May 20, 2014
SEASON WINNERS: Daryn Pittman – 7 (Thunderbowl Raceway on March 14, Calistoga Speedway on April 6 and Devil’s Bowl Speedway on April 19, Williams Grove Speedway on May 16 and May 17, Orange County Fair Speedway, May 18, New Egypt Speedway, May 20); David Gravel – 3 (Merced Speedway on March 28, Eldora Speedway on May 3, and Wilmot Raceway on May 9);Donny Schatz – 3 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 15, The Dirt Track at Las Vegas on March 6 and Devil’s Bowl Speedway on April 19); Brad Sweet – 3 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 14, Tucson International Raceway on March 8 and Calistoga Speedway on April 5); Kerry Madsen – 2 (Stockton Dirt track on March 22 and El Paso Speedway Park on April 15); Paul McMahan – 2 (The Dirt Track at Las Vegas on March 5, Tri-State Speedway on May 10); Joey Saldana – 2 (Perris Auto Speedway on April 12 and Salina Highbanks on April 25); Rico Abreu – 1 (Thunderbowl Raceway on March 15);Christopher Bell – 1 (Jacksonville Speedway on May 7); Cody Darrah – 1 (Kings Speedway on April 11);Steve Kinser – 1 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 16); Stevie Smith – 1 (Lincoln Speedway on May 14); Shane Stewart – 1 (Eldora Speedway on May 2); Sammy Swindell – 1 (Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 on April 26).
NEW EGYPT, N.J. –
A-Main – (30 Laps): 1. 9-Daryn Pittman [2] [$6,000]; 2. 83-David Gravel [7] [$3,500]; 3. 29-Kerry Madsen [1] [$2,000]; 4. 71M-Joey Saldana [4] [$1,800]; 5. 15-Donny Schatz [9] [$1,500]; 6. 51-Paul McMahan [8] [$1,400]; 7. 48-Danny Dietrich [10] [$1,350]; 8. 1S-Logan Schuchart [18] [$1,300]; 9. 94-Ryan Smith [3] [$1,250]; 10. 4-Cody Darrah [19] [$1,200]; 11. 49-Brad Sweet [12] [$900]; 12. 19M-Brent Marks [11] [$800]; 13. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [20] [$700]; 14. 1-Sammy Swindell [6] [$650]; 15. 92-Tyler Ross [24] [$600]; 16. 89-Robbie Stillwagon [13] [$550]; 17. 11K-Kraig Kinser [15] [$500]; 18. 1A-Jacob Allen [23] [$500]; 19. 747-Davey Sammons [21] [$500]; 20. 7S-Jason Sides [14] [$500]; 21. 21K-Kyle Reinhardt [22] [$500]; 22. 37-J.J. Grasso [17] [$500]; 23. 11-Steve Kinser [5] [$500]; 24. 98H-Dave Blaney [16] [$500]. Lap Leaders: Kerry Madsen 1-20, Daryn Pittman 21-30. KSE Hard Charger Award: 1S-Logan Schuchart [+10].
Qualifying: 1. 71M-Joey Saldana, 13.844; 2. 51-Paul McMahan, 13.853; 3. 94-Ryan Smith, 13.900; 4. 9-Daryn Pittman, 13.912; 5. 11-Steve Kinser, 13.925; 6. 15-Donny Schatz, 13.988; 7. 48-Danny Dietrich, 14.057; 8. 19M-Brent Marks, 14.105; 9. 29-Kerry Madsen, 14.119; 10. 1-Sammy Swindell, 14.137; 11. 83-David Gravel, 14.154; 12. 49-Brad Sweet, 14.166; 13. 89-Robbie Stillwagon, 14.188; 14. 7S-Jason Sides, 14.198; 15. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 14.209; 16. 98H-Dave Blaney, 14.225; 17. 37-J.J. Grasso, 14.295; 18. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 14.330; 19. 4-Cody Darrah, 14.351; 20. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 14.415; 21. 17B-Steve Buckwalter, 14.468; 22. 747-Davey Sammons, 14.471; 23. 4B-Jon Brennfleck, 14.501; 24. 21K-Kyle Reinhardt, 14.509; 25. 92-Tyler Ross, 14.616; 26. F5-Mark Bitner, 14.713; 27. 1A-Jacob Allen, 14.800
Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature): 1. 1-Sammy Swindell [1]; 2. 9-Daryn Pittman [3]; 3. 48-Danny Dietrich [2]; 4. 71M-Joey Saldana [4]; 5. 98H-Dave Blaney [6]; 6. 4-Cody Darrah [7]; 7. 89-Robbie Stillwagon [5]; 8. 92-Tyler Ross [9]; 9. 747-Davey Sammons [8]
Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature): 1. 83-David Gravel [1]; 2. 51-Paul McMahan [4]; 3. 19M-Brent Marks [2]; 4. 11-Steve Kinser [3]; 5. 7S-Jason Sides [5]; 6. 37-J.J. Grasso [6]; 7. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [7]; 8. 4B-Jon Brennfleck [8]; 9. F5-Mark Bitner [9]
Heat 3 – (8 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature): 1. 29-Kerry Madsen [2]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet [1]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz [3]; 4. 94-Ryan Smith [4]; 5. 1S-Logan Schuchart [6]; 6. 11K-Kraig Kinser [5]; 7. 21K-Kyle Reinhardt [8]; 8. 1A-Jacob Allen [9]; 9. 17B-Steve Buckwalter [7]
Dash – (6 Laps, finishing order determined first 8 starting positions of A-feature): 1. 29-Kerry Madsen [1]; 2. 9-Daryn Pittman [3]; 3. 94-Ryan Smith [4]; 4. 71M-Joey Saldana [6]; 5. 11-Steve Kinser [2]; 6. 1-Sammy Swindell [7]; 7. 83-David Gravel [8]; 8. 51-Paul McMahan [5]
Last Chance Showdown – (10 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature): 1. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [2] [-]; 2. 89-Robbie Stillwagon [1] [-]; 3. 21K-Kyle Reinhardt [6] [-]; 4. 747-Davey Sammons [4] [-]; 5. 1A-Jacob Allen [9] [-]; 6. 92-Tyler Ross [7] [-]; 7. 4B-Jon Brennfleck [5] [$200]; 8. 17B-Steve Buckwalter [3] [$180]; 9. F5-Mark Bitner [8] [$175]