Pittman Wins at Red River Valley Speedway

West Fargo, ND - It took Daryn Pittman 13 starts over the course of five seasons to earn his first Top-10 finish at Red River Valley Speedway, but since that event in 2002, he has picked up a total of 10 Top-10 finishes at track located in West Fargo, North Dakota and had been inching his way closer to a win.

He broke through at the high-banked half-mile on Tuesday night, leading all 30 laps to earn his fourth Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature win of the season and his first at Red River Valley Speedway. He now has two career wins in the state of North Dakota.

The $10,000 victory for Pittman was the 29th of his career with the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series and his third this season on a half-mile track. The race served as the finale of the Duel in the Dakotas as well as the second event of the Gerdau Ameristeel Northern Tour which encompasses all four events this season in the state of North Dakota.

“It was a great team effort,” Pittman said. “Anytime in the last two months that we have qualified for the dash, I feel like we have been tough to beat. That’s what we did tonight. Our biggest problem is still qualifying and we are inconsistent there. If we can get in the inversion, then we have been awfully good. Maxim built me a few new cars before we won the Kings Royal and they are awesome. These cars have been fast and Don Ott is building us great engines and they are running well. I have a great crew behind me. I’m not doing anything different, so obviously the crew has stepped up their game and it makes me look better.”

Pittman started on the pole in the Titan Garages Maxim after winning the Crane Cams Dash. He won a drag race with Shane Stewart on the start, though a red flag followed for an accident that took out  Paul McMahan, Kraig Kinser, Kerry Madsen and Lucas Wolfe, who was in his first race back after suffering a back injury in June, before a full lap was complete.

Pittman again led the field into the first turn on the complete restart, with Joey Saldana working his way past Stewart for the runner-up spot. Craig Dollansky also gained a spot on the opening lap, moving into third, while Jac Haudenschild who started sixth found himself in fourth after just one lap.

Pittman quickly opened a sizeable lead and just eight laps into the race was already in lapped traffic on the blazing fast half-mile. That lead evaporated on the 10th lap when the caution flag flew. On the ensuing restart, Saldana kept pace with Pittman for a couple of laps, before the latter began again to pull away.

“I felt like we were getting through traffic pretty good,” noted Pittman who is a native of Owasso, Oklahoma. “It’s always easier to run in clean track. The track was actually getting faster and stickier. I was getting pretty tight when I was behind some of the lapped cars. I’m glad we didn’t catch any of the really fast lapped cars, because they would have gotten very hard to pass and made the race car very tight.”

The red flag flew again on the 15th lap as Tony Bruce Jr. had a vicious wreck in which his car went up and over the turn two wall. The second-year driver was transported to a local hospital for precautionary measures.

Pittman used another strong restart when the race got back underway, to quickly jump out to a comfortable lead. He encountered lapped traffic with a handful of laps remaining and wound up picking up the win by nearly two seconds over Saldana.

After heavy overnight rains left the track and pit area soaked on Monday night, officials from SLS Promotions and Red River Valley Speedway worked feverously all day on Tuesday to prepare the racing surface and pit area for the event, which was originally postponed by rain and high winds at the end of June.

“For as much rain as they had here, this place was in great shape,” Pittman said. “Everything else was flooded around the track, and this may have been the smoothest track we have ever had in Fargo. Everyone was concerned about it getting rough and they did a great job. The track was as good as it could be for as much rain as they got yesterday.”

Saldana, who finished second, earned his 24th Top-Five finish of the season aboard the Budweiser/Open Joist Mopar-powered JEI. He held off Jac Haudenschild who made a late charge for the runner-up position. Saldana began the night by winning the second heat race to earn a spot in the Crane Cams Dash.

“We were able to start up front in the heat and redraw for the dash and that played a big part in where everyone finished,” shared Saldana. “On the first start, I was fourth and we had that red and on the second start, I came out second. The first red definitely helped me and I got a good second start.”

Haudenschild, who won at Red River Valley Speedway in 2007, finished third to earn his 30th Top-10 finish of the season. He powered his way past Jason Meyers and Shane Stewart on the opening lap. He then chased Craig Dollansky for a number of laps, before moving into third at the halfway point of the race, piloting the Owens-Corning Fiberglass Maxim.

“The car felt real good tonight and we got up there,” said Haudenschild. “Leonard (Lee) had the car working really well. I think we started sixth tonight and ended up third. The track was pretty tough to pass on tonight. It was pretty fast and tacky.”

Craig Dollansky aboard the Aggressive Hydraulics Maxim finished fourth on Tuesday night, which coupled with a runner-up finish at River Cities Speedway back in June in the opener of the Duel in the Dakotas, earned him the overall title for the two race mini-series.

“To win the overall title is great for our race team,” said Dollansky. “I’m glad they put that on and SLS (Promotions) did a great job getting this race in and did a great job up at Grand Forks (River Cities) in the first race of the Duel (in the Dakotas) as well.”

Jason Meyers, who began the night by setting a new track record in time trials finished fifth in the GLR Investments KPC to earn his 32nd Top-Five finish of the season as he continues to chase his first career World of Outlaws title.

Sam Hafertepe Jr. finished sixth aboard the G.H. Plumbing J&J to earn his 12th Top-10 of the season. Steve Kinser was seventh in the Q Oil Maxim, with Shane Stewart in eighth in the Roth Motorsports machine. Jason Sides picked up his fifth consecutive Top-10 finish with a ninth-place performance in the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim. Donny Schatz rounded out the Top-10 in the Armor All J&J at his home track and remains the only driver that has finished in the Top-10 in every World of Outlaws event this season.

Pittman consistently turned the fastest laps during the 30-lap A-Feature event, and recorded the fastest lap of the entire contest at the halfway point of the race. Saldana kept pace with him a couple of times on restarts, but once a couple of laps were in the books, Pittman would steadily pull away each and every time.

“I pretty much had nothing for (Daryn) Pittman,” said Saldana. “He was gone and we held our own. They said the guys behind me were racing pretty good. It was just one of those races that was wide open and you couldn’t really do much. We got a second and we’ll go to the next track and try to do better.”

For Haudenschild, the second start of the race was very beneficial as he gained two spots. He also used the restart at the halfway point of the race to work his way around Craig Dollansky. Late in the race, Haudenschild gained ground on Saldana, but also was doing his best to fight off Dollansky who was running fourth.

“The restarts are a lot on these big tracks before everyone gets spread out,” noted Haudenschild. “We did pretty good on the restarts and the car felt good all night.”

Dollansky lined up fourth for the 40-lap event and got by Shane Stewart on the opening lap to move into third, where he would run for the first half of the race. Prior to the final red flag of the night on the 15th lap, Dollansky had gained some ground on Saldana, but never had an opportunity to try to attempt a pass.

“It was tough to pass tonight,” said the native of Elk River, Minnesota. “We were just kind of cruising there in the third spot and gave it up on a restart trying to keep going. It was a good run to come home fourth for this Larry Woodward team tonight. It’s another Top-Five and we’ll keep on working hard.”

The Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series returns to action on Thursday, August 14 with an inaugural event at Gillette Thunder Speedway in Gillette, Wyoming.

Donny Schatz Returns Home to Race

INDIANAPOLIS (TSR) – The ability to handle pressure can sometimes be the difference between winning and losing. Tony Stewart Racing’s (TSR) Donny Schatz thrives under pressure and his consecutive Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws (WoO) Sprint Series championships are proof.

Returning home to compete for most athletes typically escalates the pressure. And for Schatz, this week’s WoO Series slate is a homecoming, of sorts, with three events in familiar territory beginning Friday night at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D., followed by Saturday’s race at Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo, N.D., and concluding Sunday at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis.

The two-time defending WoO champion continues to set a blistering pace in the 2008 campaign. Last Saturday night, he won his 10th feature event of the season at Dodge City (Kan.) Raceway Park (DCRP) behind the wheel of the TSR No. 15 Armor All/Chevy/ParkerStore J&J. The pressure to win comes from within the North Dakota resident, who grew up in Minot and now resides in Fargo. And the 30-year-old racer admits that once you win something, the drive to do it again is even greater.

Saturday’s triumph at DCRP was Schatz’ first career WoO triumph at the track. This weekend, he’ll be looking for his first WoO victory at River Cities Speedway (RCS) and Cedar Lake Speedway. He won feature events at both tracks early in his career, picking up his first win at RCS on July 14, 1995, and at Cedar Lake Speedway on September 9, 1995. Schatz scored four wins at Cedar Lake in 1996, including two on May 25 that year.

Last year’s thriller at RCS was the first time the WoO held an event at the one-third-mile high-banked dirt oval, and Schatz raced from his sixth starting position and made several attempts at the lead before ultimately finishing third.

Schatz started his racing career competing regularly at the Red River Valley Speedway (RRVS), and the highlight each summer was competing with the Outlaws on the half-mile track. In 2002, he finally conquered the traveling Sprint car stars at his home track, picking up the $20,000 prize. He swept the two-day Duel in the Dakotas in 2006 and has 35 career WoO starts at RRVS, finishing in the top-five on 11 occasions and scoring 23 top-10 finishes.

The 2008 WoO campaign is now in full swing after early season struggles with Mother Nature. Through 22 nights of action, Schatz continues to lead the way posting seven victories, 16 top-fives, and 22 consecutive top-10 finishes. He remains on top of the WoO standings with 3,205 points, 55 ahead of Jason Meyers entering this week’s action.

The Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Duel in the Dakotas will be the first of four WoO stops in North Dakota this season. RCS is located on U.S. 2 at the Greater Grand Forks Fairgrounds. RRVS is located just off I-94 at exit 343. Sunday’s event at Cedar Lake, located northeast of New Richmond on CR CC, is the first of three series events in Wisconsin in 2008.

Friday night at RCS, pit gates will open at 2 p.m. CDT and the grandstand gates will open at 4 p.m. Hot laps are tentatively scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. The pit gates will open at 2 p.m. CDT Saturday at RRVS with grandstand gates opening at 4 p.m. Hot laps are tentatively scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. For Sunday’s program at Cedar Lake, pit gates will open at 2 p.m. CDT and the grandstand gates will open at 4 p.m. Hot laps are tentatively scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m.

Two-day tickets for the Duel in the Dakotas at River Cities Speedway and Red River Valley Speedway can be purchased by calling (815) 344-2023, or by visiting the track’s Web site, www.slspromotions.com. Tickets for Sunday’s event at Cedar Lake Speedway can be purchased by calling (866) 425-7386 or visiting the track’s Web site, www.cedarlakespeedway.com.

Race fans can also listen to all the action this weekend on the DIRTVision.com cybercast, as well as on the DIRT Radio Network. Visit www.DIRTVision.com for more information on all the features, including updated results from each night of racing, as well as a chat room to interact with other fans listening to the action.

Donny Schatz, driver of the No. 15 TSR/Armor All/Chevy/ParkerStore J&J:

Racing at home can mean a lot of different things. What does it mean to you?

“On the track, it’s no different. We go out every night with the same goal and that is putting the Armor All, Chevy, ParkerStore car in victory lane. Maybe we’ll have a better plan of attack because these are all race tracks that I’ve spent a great deal of time at. There are a lot of guys out here who have just as much experience at them, so you’re still starting at the same place as they are. Each track does have different tendencies and we’ll keep an eye on things as the nights go on.

“Away from the track, it certainly is different. When you’ve got friends and family around, you’re at the shop all week and then to see all those familiar faces at the track, it really makes you appreciate where you are at. We’ve been doing this a long time and have a pretty good plan of attack on trying to make sure we take care of everything we need to before it’s time to start racing.”

You’ve won multiple races three out of the last four weeks. Do you feel like you and your team are starting to click?

“I never had any doubt that I have the best group of guys out on the road. Ricky Warner, Shane Bowers, Kyle Sundby and Evan Funk have busted their tails all season to give me a great race car. Early on, we were trying quite a few things that would help us now, but at the time it was hard not winning regularly. You can see the proof of their labor as this Armor All car we’ve been racing has been pretty awesome to drive. Then throw in the information we get from Jimmy (Carr) and the Bass Pro Shops team and you can really see the difference.

“I know Kraig (Kinser) and the (TSR No.) 20 are getting better every race, and it won’t be long until we’re battling them for wins.”