MERCER, PA (5-23-11) By Brian Liskai – Daryn Pittman is really enjoying his
move to Pennsylvania. The Oklahoma native is one of the hottest sprint car
drivers in the country as he proved Saturday, winning the O’Reilly Auto
Parts All Star Circuit of Champions event at Mercer Raceway Park.
Pittman bested the World of Outlaws last weekend at Williams Grove
Speedway, then took the checkered Friday at Lernerville Speedway aboard the
Mike Heffner owned machine.
“Right now we’re riding a pretty good high,” said Pittman beside his
Lelands.com. Pasquariello’s backed #27. “We will try to keep it going as
best we can. After the (World of Outlaw) win last weekend at Williams
Grove, you just have to pinch yourself. Winning three sprint car races in a
year is something and winning three in a row in Pennsylvania against this
competition is really difficult. There’s really no magic answer as to why
we’re so good right now. We have had good starting spots and the car has
been set up good to take advantage of that.”
Mike Lutz jumped out to an early lead over outside pole sitter Ed Lynch Jr.
at the drop of the green. Lutz, who timed seventh fastest, earned the pole
by winning the dash after fast qualifiers Dale Blaney, Danny Holtgraver and
Kyle Sauder were unable to advance to the feature through their heats.
Lutz led the first 22 laps, navigating lapped traffic in the caution-free
race. Pittman, who started fifth, would begin applying pressure to Lutz by
lap 9. A bobble by Lutz at the flag stand allowed Pittman to swoop in and
take the lead on lap 22. The former outlaw driver pulled away for his third
career All Star victory.
Lutz would come home second with David Gravel, Lynch and Danny Smith
rounding out the top five. As the highest finishing local driver, Lutz
earned a $500 bonus from McCandless Ford.
“He (Lutz) ran a great race. That car is fast. I’ve only been here twice
and both times he was pretty good. We don’t race against a lot of these
cars very often so we don’t really know what the level of competition is or
who to watch for, but that #8 has always been quick every time we’ve been
here,” said Pittman.
“I made a little boo boo there in lapped traffic and you can’t snooze when
you have guys like Daryn Pittman who beat the Outlaws right behind you. I’m
really tickled…we’ve been really fast and last couple of weeks we were
leading and crashed. To get second in an All Star show…pinch me. This shows
the people across the country the guys from Western Pennsylvania can run
with these guys that travel up and down the road,” said Lutz beside his
Centerline Boring, Chappel Welding and Excavating machine.
“This is my 25th year of racing sprint cars and we have 87 wins. It’s great
that Mercer brought the All Stars here to show people guys like Mike Lutz,
Bob Felmlee and Ed Lynch can run with these guys. We have one All Star win
but that was way back in 1997…man we were close to getting that second
one,” added Lutz .
For Gravel, a third place run was just the confidence booster he needed.
“If we didn’t have that mess up on the back stretch we might have had a
shot at it. We needed this good finish…we’ve been struggling and a lot of
bad things have been happening so I’m glad to get a top three,” said Gravel
beside his JRC Transportation, My Basement Doctor, IGA, Hometown Wheels
backed #89G.
Mercer Raceway Park - 5/21/2011
All Star Circuit of Champions
Qualifying - Kistler Engines
1. 2-Dale Blaney, 13.891; 2. D4-Danny Holtgraver, 13.921; 3. 27-Daryn
Pittman, 14.012; 4. 1Z-Jessica Zemken, 14.033; 5. 2L-Ed Lynch Jr., 14.037;
6. 7K-Kyle Sauder, 14.062; 7. 8-Mike Lutz, 14.071; 8. 89G-David Gravel,
14.074; 9. 6F-Bob Felmlee, 14.082; 10. 4-Danny Smith, 14.086; 11. 15H-Sam
Hafertepe Jr., 14.094; 12. 4G-Rod George, 14.127; 13. 5-Byron Reed, 14.131;
14. 83-Tim Shaffer, 14.163; 15. 22E-Brian Ellenberger, 14.231; 16. O-Chris
Andrews, 14.240; 17. 10-Carl Bowser, 14.241; 18. 22S-Brandon Spithaler,
14.246; 19. 24S-Brian Steinman, 14.279; 20. 22-Cole Duncan, 14.289; 21.
51-Brad Bowman, 14.332; 22. 97-Dean Jacobs, 14.334; 23. 45X-Todd Bauer,
14.366; 24. OX-Andy Mckisson, 14.379; 25. 7-Eric Williams, 14.379; 26.
83M-Broc Martin, 14.397; 27. 5K-Adam Kekich, 14.401; 28. 15-Scott Priester,
14.406; 29. 3-Pete Miller III, 14.420; 30. 6-Jac Haudenschild, 14.448; 31.
12-Jared Ridge, 14.455; 32. 45-Rob Chaney, 14.455; 33. 23-Jimmy Light,
14.501; 34. W20-Greg Wilson, 14.561; 35. 97S-Aaron Shaffer, 14.687; 36.
93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 14.716; 37. 3J-Kevin Lee, 14.747; 38. O8-Dan
Kuriger, 14.814; 39. 17T-Jeff Taylor, 14.968; 40. 11-Chris Shuttleworth,
14.983; 41. 33-Brent Matus, 14.996; 42. 1-Gale Ruth Jr., 15.099; 43.
6Z-Zach Ames, 15.208; 44. 13-Brandon Matus, 15.237; 45. 96-Lindsey Enscoe,
16.021; 46. O4-Cap Henry, 99.998
Heat 1 - Kear's Speed Shop (8 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
1. 51-Brad Bowman; 2. 10-Carl Bowser; 3. 6F-Bob Felmlee; 4. 5-Byron Reed;
5. 2L-Ed Lynch Jr.; 6. 2-Dale Blaney; 7. 23-Jimmy Light; 8. 7-Eric
Williams; 9. 3-Pete Miller III; 10. 3J-Kevin Lee; 11. 96-Lindsey Enscoe;
12. 33-Brent Matus
Heat 2 - All Pro Heads (8 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
1. 97-Dean Jacobs; 2. 83-Tim Shaffer; 3. 22S-Brandon Spithaler; 4. 4-Danny
Smith; 5. 6-Jac Haudenschild; 6. 7K-Kyle Sauder; 7. W20-Greg Wilson; 8.
83M-Broc Martin; 9. O8-Dan Kuriger; 10. 1-Gale Ruth Jr.; 11. D4-Danny
Holtgraver; 12. O4-Cap Henry
Heat 3 - MSD Ignition (8 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
1. 22E-Brian Ellenberger; 2. 45X-Todd Bauer; 3. 27-Daryn Pittman; 4.
15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.; 5. 8-Mike Lutz; 6. 5K-Adam Kekich; 7. 12-Jared
Ridge; 8. 24S-Brian Steinman; 9. 97S-Aaron Shaffer; 10. 6Z-Zach Ames; 11.
17T-Jeff Taylor
Heat 4 - Kinsler Fuel Injection (8 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
1. 4G-Rod George; 2. OX-Andy Mckisson; 3. 89G-David Gravel; 4. 22-Cole
Duncan; 5. 1Z-Jessica Zemken; 6. 45-Rob Chaney; 7. 11-Chris Shuttleworth;
8. O-Chris Andrews; 9. 15-Scott Priester; 10. 13-Brandon Matus; 11.
93-Sheldon Haudenschild
B-Main - University of Northwestern Ohio (12 Laps - Top 4 Transfer)
1. 2-Dale Blaney; 2. D4-Danny Holtgraver; 3. 7-Eric Williams; 4. O-Chris
Andrews; 5. 83M-Broc Martin; 6. W20-Greg Wilson; 7. 7K-Kyle Sauder; 8.
23-Jimmy Light; 9. 5K-Adam Kekich; 10. 3-Pete Miller III; 11. 33-Brent
Matus; 12. 12-Jared Ridge; 13. 24S-Brian Steinman; 14. O8-Dan Kuriger; 15.
97S-Aaron Shaffer; 16. 15-Scott Priester; 17. 45-Rob Chaney; 18. 3J-Kevin
Lee; 19. 17T-Jeff Taylor; 20. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild ;
C-Main
1. 33-Brent Matus; 2. 17T-Jeff Taylor; 3. 1-Gale Ruth Jr.; 4. 13-Brandon
Matus; 5. 6Z-Zach Ames; 6. 96-Lindsey Enscoe; 7. 11-Chris Shuttleworth; 8.
O4-Cap Henry
A-Main - O’Reilly Auto Parts (30 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 27-Daryn Pittman[5]; 2. 8-Mike Lutz[1]; 3. 89G-David Gravel[4]; 4. 2L-Ed
Lynch Jr.[2]; 5. 4-Danny Smith[7]; 6. 22E-Brian Ellenberger[14]; 7. 15H-Sam
Hafertepe Jr.[8]; 8. D4-Danny Holtgraver[12]; 9. 83-Tim Shaffer[13]; 10.
2-Dale Blaney[11]; 11. 6F-Bob Felmlee[3]; 12. 5-Byron Reed[10]; 13. 4G-Rod
George[9]; 14. 22S-Brandon Spithaler[17]; 15. 22-Cole Duncan[18]; 16.
7-Eric Williams[23]; 17. 1Z-Jessica Zemken[6]; 18. 97-Dean Jacobs[20]; 19.
O-Chris Andrews[15]; 20. OX-Andy Mckisson[22]; 21. 10-Carl Bowser[16]; 22.
51-Brad Bowman[19]; 23. 45X-Todd Bauer[21]; 24. 6-Jac Haudenschild[24]
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