West Memphis results 2007-05-05

Pittman Powers to Riverside Win

Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Arkansas will always be a very special place to Daryn Pittman. He met his wife (Mandy) there 10 years ago, and on Saturday got to celebrate in the winner's circle with her after claiming a very emotional win in the World of Outlaws return to the ¼-mile for the first time in 26 years, before a capacity crowd.

Racing near his wife's hometown in an event that featured side-by-side heat race action with his father-in-law Mike Ward, Pittman took his second checkered flag of the season in the 40-lap main event to earn the $10,000 payday, with much of his wife's family and many friends in attendance.

"This is a huge to win in front of my wife and her whole family," said Pittman, driver of the Titan Garages & Carports Maxim. "With all the tradition of her and me at this race track, this is pretty special. There are so many things that make this so meaningful. Her stepfather is really sick and he was able to be here and watch it. I'm really happy to get a win for them."

Pittman took the lead from Jason Solwold on the 10th lap, as he charged to the high side of the track entering the first turn. He started fourth in the event and gained two spots on the opening lap as he rode the high side of the track. After winning the finale of the Florida DIRTcar Nationals in early February, Pittman had racked up 12 Top-10 finishes as he sat third in championship points heading into Saturday night's event.

"Our team really needed another win," he said. "We got off to such a good start this season, and we have been steady and right there each night. Our car has definitely been good enough to win. This is for my crew. They work so hard and it is good to get another win. We'll try to go out next week and get win number three."

Solwold began the night by shattering the track record by nearly a second. He followed that up by winning the first heat, as well as the Crane Cams Dash, to earn his first pole position of the season. He shot to the early lead as he dove low in turn one with Steve Kinser in-toe on the opening lap. The native of Mt. Vernon, Washington was able to make up ground in traffic late in the race, as he earned his ninth Top-10 finish of the year, with his second-place effort.

"Anytime you can lead laps and finish in the Top-Three it is a good night," said Solwold, driver of the City Wide Insulation Maxim. "We had never been here and Daryn (Pittman) had been here a few times, and he had a good car. I felt like we had the fastest car and it's too bad we didn?t have more lapped traffic there towards the end. The crew has been doing a great job all year. We've had good cars here and there, and we just have to get a little more consistent."

Kinser battled Solwold early in the race for the lead, and then had an entertaining duel with Paul McMahan for the third spot in the late going. McMahan got around the 20-time World of Outlaws Champion, but Kinser powered back around him to finish in the third position. The native of Bloomington, Indiana won in the World of Outlaws second visit to Riverside International Speedway in 1979. He also won in 1981 to become the only repeat winner with the series at the ¼-mile.

"We had a pretty good car," said Kinser, driver of the Q Oil Maxim. "I just getting tighter and tighter. I probably should have changed some air pressures (on the tires) on the first red (flag), but didn't do it. With all the rain they had here and with how rough the track was, you have to be happy with a Top-Five finish."

Pittman found himself in traffic a number of times on the quarter-mile, and was able to masterfully weave his way through it each time. After taking the lead, he had to endure two red flags along with two yellow flags. Strong restarts each time helped propel him to a healthy advantage as Solwold and Kinser chased him.

"Our car was so good that I was not really worried about the yellows," explained Pittman. "Once I got into lapped traffic I wanted it to stay green because, it seemed like we were getting through traffic good enough that (Jason) Solwold would not be right behind us, but he was. Our car was so good that I could go anywhere I wanted. It shows how good our car was and how easy my crew made my job."

The fans, who were on their feet for most of the feature cheering Pittman on, began lining up for tickets in the late morning and a steady stream of spectators continued to file through the gates well into the heat races.

"It was great to be back here," Pittman said. "West Memphis, as well as the Tennessee area and Arkansas are such sprint car hotbeds. The fans are diehards around this area. It's a shame we only get down here once a year, because if they had 10,000 seats they would fill every one of them."

Paul McMahan had a very solid night in the Bass Pro Shops Eagle, as he lined up sixth for the A-Feature and quickly worked his way into the Top-Five. He made it up to third before contact he received from another car forced him up the track and back to the fourth spot. The native of Nashville now has six Top-10 finishes on the season.

Tim Shaffer earned his sixth Top-Five finish of the season as he finished in the fifth spot on Saturday night in his first visit to Riverside. The 1999 World of Outlaws Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year won the fourth heat to earn a spot in the Crane Cams Dash.

Jason Meyers finished sixth in the Primerica Financial Maxim, with Terry McCarl in the Big Game Treestands Eagle in seventh. Chad Kemenah was eight in the Arizonatools.com Maxim. Craig Dollansky passed more cars than anyone on the track as he lined up 27th after taking a provisional, due to engine trouble earlier in the night. He cane home ninth in the Karavan Trailers Maxim. Tim Kaeding finished a very solid 10th as he filled in for Brooke Tatnell in the Volcano Joes Coffee Schnee.

Donny Schatz the current World of Outlaws championship point leader overcame a flip in the second heat and a flat tire in the A-Feature to finish 14th in the ParkerStore J&J. He raced his way into the 40-lap contest by virtue of winning the B-Main.

Joey Saldana who is currently second in points, driving the Open Joist Mopar-powered JEI used a provisional to start the A-Feature and finished one spot behind Schatz in 15th.

The World of Outlaws return to action on Friday, May 11 at US 36 Raceway in Osborn, Missouri for the Second Annual Missouri High Banked Nationals. On Saturday, May 12 the series travels to Lake Ozark Speedway in Eldon, Missouri.

RIVERSIDE INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY NOTEBOOK

* FAST QUALIFIER: Jason Solwold paced the 38 cars that took time with a record setting AMB i.t. timed lap around the semi-banked 1/4-mile oval in 11.060 seconds at 81.374 mph. For his qualifying effort, Solwold eared five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Danny Lasoski (4), Chad Kemenah (3), Jason Meyers (2), and Justin Henderson (1).

* QUALIFYING WINNERS: Jason Solwold, Jason Sides, Steve Kinser and Tim Shaffer won heat races. Joey Saldana won the C-Main. Donny Schatz won the B-Main. Jason Solwold won the Crane Cams dash.

* UP NEXT: A pair of events in the Show-Me State of Missouri dot the schedule on Friday, May 11 and Saturday, May 12. First up is a visit to US 36 Raceway for the Second Annual Missouri High Banked Nationals, followed by a visit to Lake Ozark Speedway.

World of Outlaws Sprint Series Statistical Report; Riverside International Speedway; May 5, 2007

Qualifying
1) R19-Jason Solwold 11.060 (New Track Record)
2) 83-Danny Lasoski 11.064
3) 3X-Chad Kemenah 11.065
4) 14-Jason Meyers 11.102
5) D1-Justin Henderson 11.176
6) 20-Paul McMahan 11.177
7) 24-Terry McCarl 11.185
8) 6-Tim Shaffer 11.218
9) 51-Lee Sowell 11.240
10) 7S-Jason Sides 11.242
11) 11-Steve Kinser 11.272
12) 21-Daryn Pittman 11.277
13) 8K-Zach Chappell 11.303
14) 40R-Tim Crawley 11.309
15) 18T-Tony Bruce Jr. 11.322
16) 88-Mike Ward 11.330
17) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 11.330
18) 15-Donny Schatz 11.330
19) 4X-Jan Howard 11.339
20) 2-Tim Kaeding 11.391
21) 18-Brian Carlson 11.403
22) 11D-Dion Hindi 11.417
23) 9JR-Derek Hager 11.418
24) 35-Jac Haudenschild 11.420
25) 11T-Tyler Thompson 11.437
26) 1X Randy Hannagan 11.456
27) 36-Jason Martin 11.463
28) 47-Dale Howard 11.467
29) 26-Marshall Skinner 11.484
30) 5C-Chad Hillier 11.488
31) 11H-Kerry Madsen 11.545
32) 9-Joey Saldana 11.601
33) 10C-Jeremy Campbell 11.607
34) 12M-Greg Mettitt 11.678
35) 44-Ronny Howard 11.783
36) D12-Doc Sloan 11.843
37) 78-Henry Gustavus 11.946
38) 24W-Kenny Coke 12.004
39) 7-Craig Dollansky -.---

Heat 1 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) R19-Jason Solwold
2) D1-Justin Henderson
3) 51-Lee Sowell
4) 18-Brian Carlson
5) 8K-Zach Chappell
6) 26-Marshall Skinner
7) 10C-Jeremy Campbell
8) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.
9) 78-Henry Gustavus
10) 11T-Tyler Thompson

Heat 2 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 7S-Jason Sides
2) 20-Paul McMahan
3) 5C-Chad Hillier
4) 11D-Dion Hindi
5) 1X-Randy Hannagan
6) 83-Danny Lasoski
7) 12M-Greg Mettitt
8) 24W-Kenny Coke
9) 40R-Tim Crawley
10) 15-Donny Schatz

Heat 3 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 11-Steve Kinser
2) 3X-Chad Kemenah
3) 18T-Tony Bruce Jr.
4) 24-Terry McCarl
5) 11H-Kerry Madsen
6) 7-Craig Dollansky
7) 44-Ronny Howard
8) 9JR-Derek Hager
9) 4X-Jan Howard
10) 36-Jason Martin

Heat 4 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 6-Tim Shaffer
2) 21-Daryn Pittman
3) 14-Jason Meyers
4) 88-Mike Ward
5) 2-Tim Kaeding
6) 35-Jac Haudenschild
7) 9-Joey Saldana
8) 47-Dale Howard
9) D12-Doc Sloan

Crane Cams Dash (8 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature)
1) R19-Jason Solwold
2) 11-Steve Kinser
3) D1-Justin Henderson
4) 21-Daryn Pittman
5) 6-Tim Shaffer
6) 20-Paul McMahan
7) 3X-Chad Kemenah
8) 14-Jason Meyers
9) 24-Terry McCarl
10) 7S-Jason Sides

C-main (8 laps, top 2 finishers transferred to B-main)
1) 9-Joey Saldana
2) 10C-Jeremy Campbell
3) 26-Marshall Skinner [$125]
4) 44-Ronny Howard [$125]
5) 78-Henry Gustavus [$125]
6) 12M-Greg Mettitt [$100]
7) 24W-Kenny Coke [$100]
8) D12-Doc Sloan [$100]
9) 7-Craig Dollansky [$100]

B-main (12 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 15-Donny Schatz
2) 83-Danny Lasoski
3) 35-Jac Haudenschild
4) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.
5) 10C-Jeremy Campbell [$200]
6) 9JR-Derek Hager [$180]
7) 9-Joey Saldana [$175]
8) 47-Dale Howard [$160]
9) 36-Jason Martin [$150]
10) 11T-Tyler Thompson [$150]
11) 4X-Jan Howard [$150]
12) 40R-Tim Crawley [$150]

A-main (40 laps) - Starting Position [#]
1) 21-Daryn Pittman[4] [$10,000]
2) R19-Jason Solwold[1] [$5,500]
3) 11-Steve Kinser[2] [$3,200]
4) 20-Paul McMahan[6] [$2,800]
5) 6-Tim Shaffer[5] [$2,500]
6) 14-Jason Meyers[8] [$2,300]
7) 24-Terry McCarl[9] [$2,200]
8) 3X-Chad Kemenah[7] [$2,100]
9) 7-Craig Dollansky[27] [$1,150]
10) 2-Tim Kaeding[18] [$2,000]
11) 83-Danny Lasoski[11] [$1,500]
12) 7S-Jason Sides[10] [$1,200]
13) 11D-Dion Hindi[20] [$1,100]
14) 15-Donny Schatz[17] [$1,050]
15) 9-Joey Saldana[25] [$200]
16) 5C-Chad Hillier[23] [$900]
17) D1-Justin Henderson[3] [$800]
18) 9JR-Derek Hager[26] [$0]
19) 51-Lee Sowell[12] [$800]
20) 18-Brian Carlson[19] [$800]
21) 1X-Randy Hannagan[22] [$800]
22) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[16] [$800]
23) 88-Mike Ward[15] [$800]
24) 8K-Zach Chappell[13] [$800]
25) 35-Jac Haudenschild[21] [$800]
26) 18T-Tony Bruce Jr.[14] [$800]
27) 11H-Kerry Madsen[24] [$800]

Lap Leaders: Jason Solwold, 1-9; Daryn Pittman 10-40

Note: Joey Saldana and Craig Dollansky used World of Outlaws provisionals to start the A-Feature. Derek Hagar used a track provisional to start the A-Feature.

-credit: woo