By Shawn Brouse
Mechanicsburg – It had been eight months since Daryn Pittman last sat in a sprint car, at Williams Grove Speedway, and it was eight years since he last visited victory lane at Williams Grove but that didn’t stop him from walking off with the $8,000 top prize in the Lawrence Chevrolet 410 sprint car feature at the track on Friday night.
In fact, the 45-year old Oklahoman scored a clean sweep of the night aboard the Don Kreitz No. 69K, earning $300 for quick time in time trials before going on to win his heat and then the main event.
And he did it all on a momentous day for his Hall of Fame Mechanic Dave Brown Sr. as the win came on Brown’s milestone 90th birthday.
In the Dirty Deeds 25 for HJ Towing & Recovery 358 sprint cars, Matt Findley scored his first ever checkers after years of trying to the tune of $2,500.
Pittman started third in the 25-lap 410 sprint Hoosier Diamond Series race and watched as Troy Wagaman Jr. and Dylan Cisney took the green from the front row.
Wagaman was in control over Pittman on the third lap when the first yellow flag of the race unfurled with three laps down for a spun Danny Dietrich who was running fourth.
The restart saw only one more lap get completed before Tony Jackson rode the first turn rail and turned over.
Pittman chased Wagaman for the next eight laps before squeezing to Wagaman’s inside in the second corner to get command.
Wagaman was hard to shake however as the Hanover pilot stuck close to Pittman for the next several laps as the pair worked through traffic.
However as the laps wore on Pittman began sneaking away only to see another yellow flag bunch the field with four laps to go.
The caution was for a slowing Freddie Rahmer who had been racing with Dylan Cisney for third when the pair made contact, causing both of their mounts to suffer damage.
Pittman pulled away on the restart to a 3.413 second lead at the finish for the 18th Williams Grove sprint car win of his career.
Wagaman was second followed by Lance Dewease, TJ Stutts and Australian Ryan Newton.
Newton’s run was a career-best at the oval and earned him the PA Dyno Hard Charger Award after starting 12th in the field.
Sixth through 10th went to Lucas Wolfe, Devon Borden, Jeff Halligan, Danny Dietrich and Ryan Taylor.
Heats went to Pittman, Dietrich and Stutts.
Pittman’s fast time clocked in at 17.428 seconds.
Chad Criswell initially started third in the Dirty Deeds 25 but ended up on the pole thanks to a pair of false starts that saw the second row become the first.
Criswell seemed to have the field covered, pulling away to a straightaway advantage at one point before traffic entered the picture.
And in that traffic Criswell got fouled up behind a suddenly slowing lapped car, seemingly getting trapped as the field sped by, led by Matt Findley.
Findley went on to score the first win of his career ever at Williams Grove Speedway.
The Dillsburg veteran took the win by .510 seconds over Steve Owings who closed to within car lengths at the finish.
Derek Locke, Chris Frank and Cody Fletcher completed the top five.
Sixth through 10th went to Logan Rumsey, Adam Carberry, Doug Hammaker, Criswell and Preston Lattomus.
Heats went to Jude Siegel, Tyler Ulrich and Criswell with Hammaker taking the consolation.
Hammaker was the PA Dyno and Dirty Deeds Hard Charger while Cameron Merriman earned the Dirty Deeds Hard Luck Award.
Feature Finishes:
5/31/24
410 sprints, 25 laps: 1. Daryn Pittman, 2. Troy Wagaman Jr., 3. Lance Dewease, 4. TJ Stutts, 5. Ryan Newton, 6. Lucas Wolfe, 7. Devon Borden, 8. Jeff Halligan, 9. Danny Dietrich, 10. Ryan Taylor, 11. Chad Trout, 12. Kyle Moody, 13. Freddie Rahmer, 14. Austin Bishop, 15. Dylan Cisney, 16. Aaron Bollinger, 17. Kody Hartlaub, 18. Kyle Spence, 19. Rick Lafferty, 20. Kyle Keen, 21. Matt Miller, 22. Tony Jackson
DNS: Chase Dietz, Robbie Kendall
DNQ: Kody Lehman
358 sprints, 25 laps: 1. Matt Findley, 2. Steve Owings, 3. Derek Locke, 4. Chris Frank, 5. Cody Fletcher, 6. Logan Rumsey, 7. Adam Carberry, 8. Doug Hammaker, 9. Chad Criswell, 10. Preston Lattomus, 11. Wyatt Hinkle, 12. Zach Newlin, 13. Cole Young, 14. Bryn Gohn, 15. Frankie Herr, 16. Jake Galloway, 17. Tyler Ulrich, 18. Bradley Howard,19. Dwight Leppo, 20. Nick Yinger, 21. Samuel Miller, 22. Andy Best, 23. Nat Tuckey, 24. Jude Siegel
DNQ: Justin Foster, Jay Galloway, Cameron Merriman, Chase Gutshall, Tyler Rutherford