By Aaron Fiedler
DODGE CITY, Kan. – July 4, 2014 – The fireworks flew early Friday night at Dodge City Raceway Park where contact on the first turn of the first lap between Paul McMahan and Sammy Swindell left Swindell on his roof and out of the race, and set the stage for Daryn Pittman’s eighth World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series win of the season at the Boothill Showdown presented by Roto-Mix.
As the green flag fell on the race, three-time champion Swindell led the field to the start-finish line. He jumped out to the lead as the three cars behind him, McMahan, Pittman and Sides jockeyed for position. McMahan drove low into turns one and two, looking for the lead.
“[Swindell] opened the corner up and I tried to dive in on the bottom and it’s a little greasy,” McMahan said. “And as soon as I got down there, the car took off and I got into him.”
Swindell climbed from his damaged racecar with his night ended prematurely. McMahan, who finished the night in second in his CJB Motorsports car, apologized to Swindell following the race.
“I know it doesn’t make him feel any better,” McMahan said. “It wasn’t intentional – it’s not the way I race. We’ve run all year long with Sam and never had a problem. I hate it for him and all the Big Game guys.”
Pittman, who went on to lead all 30 laps in his Great Clips car, holding off challenges from McMahan, said in victory lane he was not sure what happened, but that the first lap incident between McMahan and Swindell was a big break for he and his team.
“You know what they say, I’d rather be lucky than good any day,” Pittman said.
“This is a good win. This is too good of a team for us to run the way we have the last couple of races and nobody got down.”
Pittman, who won four in a row during the month of May but went winless in June, said he struggled to give his crew chief Kale Kahne the information Kahne needed to make changes to the car
“We just looked at everything we could do better and [crew members] Kale [Kahne] and Kolten [Gouse] and [Mike] Carber, they did a great job. They just came back and just gave us a good car all night and put ourselves in position to win, and got some breaks. It feels great to get a win – it’s been a long time.”
Notably, it was a good night for Kasey Kahne Racing. According to Pittman, his win was the 106th for the organization while team owner Kasey Kahne won his race in Daytona Beach, Fla. earlier Friday.
This was Pittman’s eighth win of the season, tying him for most wins on the year with Donny Schatz.
Kerry Madsen, who came into Dodge City after a third-place finish with his American Racing Custom Wheels team at Huset’s Speedway two nights earlier, said it was frustrating not having opportunities to get around McMahan.
“I thought I was a little quicker than Paul,” Madsen said. “He was running a line and trying to capitalize on what Pittman was doing, and I could get a lot more aggressive line. I was trying hard and I thought I had a couple runs but I got into one too high, too hard and got her on two wheels, up and down, and thought maybe we just need to finish this one tonight.”
Madsen said he is looking forward to taking on Dodge City again Saturday night.
This was Madsen’s 20th top-five finish of the season.
After a seventh place finish Friday night, Donny Schatz’s championship points lead shrank slightly to 95 over Pittman. McMahan remains in the third, 106 points out of the lead, while Joey Saldana is in fourth, 162 points out of the lead.
The World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series returns Saturday night to Dodge City Raceway Park for night two of the Boothill Showdown presented by Roto-Mix. On July 9, the Outlaws head to Limaland Motorsports Park for the Brad Doty Classic.
DODGE CITY RACEWAY PARK NOTES: Daryn Pittman won his eighth race of the season, tying him with Donny Schatz for most on the season… Joey Saldana scored his 16th fast time of the season… This was the second event in a row that Sammy Swindell won the Dash and sat on the A main pole… Paul McMahan, Sammy Swindell and Daryn Pittman all won their heat races tonight.
SEASON WINNERS: Daryn Pittman – 8 (Thunderbowl Raceway on March 14, Calistoga Speedway on April 6, 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 and Dodge City Raceway Park on July 4); Donny Schatz – 8 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 15, The Dirt Track at Las Vegas on March 6, Devil’s Bowl Speedway on April 19, Lawrenceburg Speedway on May 27, I-96 Speedway on May 31, River Cities Speedway on June 20, 34 Raceway on June 27 and Cedar Lake Speedway on June 29); Joey Saldana – 5(Perris Auto Speedway on April 12, Salina Highbanks on April 25, The Dirt Track at Charlotte on May 23, I-80 Speedway on June 6 and Jackson Speedway on June 13); Brad Sweet – 5 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 14, Tucson International Raceway on March 8, Calistoga Speedway on April 5, Knoxville Raceway on June 14 and Beaver Dam Raceway on June 28); David Gravel – 3(Merced Speedway on March 28, Eldora Speedway on May 3, and Wilmot Raceway on May 9); Kerry Madsen – 3(Stockton Dirt track on March 22, El Paso Speedway Park on April 15 and Lakeside Speedway on June 7); Paul McMahan – 2(The Dirt Track at Las Vegas on March 5, Tri-State Speedway on May 10); Rico Abreu – 1(Thunderbowl Raceway on March 15); Dale Blaney – 1 (Attica Raceway Park on May 30); Christopher Bell – 1(Jacksonville Speedway on May 7); Roger Crockett – 1(I-94 Speedway on June 21); Cody Darrah – 1(Kings Speedway on April 11);Mark Dobmeier – 1 (Huset’s Speedway on July 2); 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).
World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Dodge City Raceway Park; Dodge City, Kan.; July 3, 2014
A-Main – (30 Laps) – 1. 9-Daryn Pittman [3] [$10,000]; 2. 51-Paul McMahan [2] [$5,000]; 3. 29-Kerry Madsen [5] [$3,000]; 4. 71M-Joey Saldana [7] [$2,700]; 5. 7S-Jason Sides [4] [$2,500]; 6. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr [9] [$2,200]; 7. 15-Donny Schatz [6] [$2,000]; 8. 4-Cody Darrah [11] [$1,800]; 9. 49-Brad Sweet [10] [$1,600]; 10. 1s-Logan Schuchart [13] [$1,450]; 11. 11-Steve Kinser [15] [$1,300]; 12. 77X-Wayne Johnson [12] [$1,200]; 13. 41-Jason Johnson [16] [$1,100]; 14. 45X-Johnny Herrera [17] [$1,000]; 15. 83-David Gravel [8] [$950]; 16. 74X-Josh Hodges [19] [$900]; 17. 1X-Tony Bruce Jr [18] [$850]; 18. 11K-Kraig Kinser [14] [$750]; 19. 33-Kris Miller [23] [$725]; 20. 97-Brian Herbert [20] [$700]; 21. 1W-Jordan Weaver [24] [$700]; 22. 1-Sammy Swindell [1] [$700]; 23. 6G-Bryan Gossel [21] [$700]; 24. 1J-Danny Jennings [22] [$700]. Lap Leaders: Daryn Pittman 1-30. KSE Hard Charger Award: 11-Steve Kinser [+4]
Qualifying – 71M-Joey Saldana, 12.659; 2. 83-David Gravel, 12.744; 3. 15-Donny Schatz, 12.761; 4. 29-Kerry Madsen, 12.798; 5. 7S-Jason Sides, 12.859; 6. 9-Daryn Pittman, 12.895; 7. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, 12.899; 8. 1-Sammy Swindell, 12.940; 9. 49-Brad Sweet, 12.950; 10. 51-Paul McMahan, 12.950; 11. 4-Cody Darrah, 13.012; 12. 77X-Wayne Johnson, 13.094; 13. 1s-Logan Schuchart, 13.111; 14. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 13.117; 15. 11-Steve Kinser, 13.123; 16. 41-Jason Johnson, 13.133; 17. 45X-Johnny Herrera, 13.227; 18. 1X-Tony Bruce Jr, 13.271; 19. 74X-Josh Hodges, 13.328; 20. 1A-Jacob Allen, 13.391; 21. 97-Brian Herbert, 14.032; 22. 6G-Bryan Gossel, 14.047; 23. 1J-Danny Jennings, 14.179; 24. 2J-Zach Blurton, 14.217; 25. 72-Ray Seemann, 14.328; 26. 33-Kris Miller, 14.411; 27. 1W-Jordan Weaver, 14.513
Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 51-Paul McMahan [1]; 2. 71M-Joey Saldana [4]; 3. 29-Kerry Madsen [3]; 4. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr [2]; 5. 41-Jason Johnson [6]; 6. 1s-Logan Schuchart [5]; 7. 74X-Josh Hodges [7]; 8. 6G-Bryan Gossel [8]; 9. 72-Ray Seemann [9]
Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 1-Sammy Swindell [2]; 2. 4-Cody Darrah [1]; 3. 7S-Jason Sides [3]; 4. 45X-Johnny Herrera [6]; 5. 11K-Kraig Kinser [5]; 6. 83-David Gravel [4]; 7. 1J-Danny Jennings [8]; 8. 1A-Jacob Allen [7]; 9. 33-Kris Miller [9]
Heat 3 – (8 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 9-Daryn Pittman [3]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet [2]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz [4]; 4. 1X-Tony Bruce Jr [6]; 5. 77X-Wayne Johnson [1]; 6. 11-Steve Kinser [5]; 7. 2J-Zach Blurton [8]; 8. 97-Brian Herbert [7]; 9. 1W-Jordan Weaver [9]
Dash – (6 Laps, finishing order determined first 8 starting positions of A-feature) – 1. 1-Sammy Swindell [2]; 2. 51-Paul McMahan [1]; 3. 9-Daryn Pittman [3]; 4. 7S-Jason Sides [4]; 5. 29-Kerry Madsen [5]; 6. 15-Donny Schatz [6]; 7. 71M-Joey Saldana [8]; 8. 83-David Gravel [7]
Last Chance Showdown – (10 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 74X-Josh Hodges [1] [-]; 2. 6G-Bryan Gossel [4] [-]; 3. 1J-Danny Jennings [5] [-]; 4. 97-Brian Herbert [3] [-]; 5. 33-Kris Miller [8] [-]; 6. 1W-Jordan Weaver [9] [-]; 7. 72-Ray Seemann [7] [$200]; 8. 2J-Zach Blurton [6] [$180]; 9. 1A-Jacob Allen [2] [$175]
World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series Championship Standings
| Pos. |
Car |
Driver |
Total |
Diff |
Wins |
Top 5’s |
Top 10’s |
QT |
| 1 |
15 |
Donny Schatz |
6269 |
0 |
8 |
29 |
39 |
4 |
| 2 |
9 |
Daryn Pittman |
6174 |
-95 |
8 |
23 |
37 |
2 |
| 3 |
51 |
Paul McMahan |
6163 |
-106 |
2 |
25 |
39 |
8 |
| 4 |
71M |
Joey Saldana |
6107 |
-162 |
5 |
24 |
31 |
16 |
| 5 |
29 |
Kerry Madsen |
6012 |
-257 |
3 |
20 |
36 |
2 |
| 6 |
49 |
Brad Sweet |
5910 |
-359 |
5 |
17 |
30 |
1 |
| 7 |
4 |
Cody Darrah |
5713 |
-556 |
1 |
10 |
27 |
2 |
| 8 |
11 |
Steve Kinser |
5664 |
-605 |
1 |
7 |
23 |
0 |
| 9 |
11k |
Kraig Kinser |
5489 |
-780 |
0 |
2 |
16 |
0 |
| 10 |
1 |
Sammy Swindell |
5431 |
-838 |
1 |
10 |
17 |
1 |
| 11 |
7s |
Jason Sides |
5045 |
-1224 |
0 |
2 |
7 |
0 |
| 12 |
83 |
David Gravel |
4972 |
-1297 |
3 |
9 |
24 |
4 |
| 13 |
1S |
Logan Schuchart |
4639 |
-1630 |
0 |
2 |
7 |
0 |
| 14 |
1A |
Jacob Allen |
3987 |
-2282 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| 15 |
59 |
Tim Kaeding |
2874 |
-3395 |
0 |
3 |
13 |
0 |
| 16 |
21 |
Brian Brown |
2417 |
-3852 |
0 |
2 |
7 |
0 |
| 17 |
1Z |
Lucas Wolfe |
2231 |
-4038 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
0 |
| 18 |
77X |
Wayne Johnson |
2193 |
-4076 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 19 |
W20 |
Greg Wilson |
1898 |
-4371 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| 20 |
24 |
Terry McCarl |
1825 |
-4444 |
0 |
4 |
9 |
1 |