Contact: Nick Graziano
World of Outlaws PR
ngraziano@dirtcar.com

Please click here for the original World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series article

SOLID GOLD: Daryn Pittman wins second Gold Cup with dominating performance
Pittman brings California’s Roth Motorsports to Victory Lane at Silver Dollar Speedway

CHICO, CA – Sept. 7,2019 – Daryn Pittman’s hope of winning a second Gold Cup at Silver Dollar Speedway Saturday night manifested into reality every 12 seconds.

Even with Friday night’s winner Brad Sweet breathing down his neck, the Oklahoma driver continued to be the first car across the start/finish line every lap.

However, with two laps to go, that manifestation was put on halt. A caution came out, putting Sweet on his bumper. Flashbacks of a previous Gold up loss projected in his head.

“I was having flashbacks of, I don’t know, [2014] or something and we led the whole race,” Pittman said. “It laid rubber on the bottom of (turns) one and two and I found that. It didn’t lay rubber in (turns) three and four until the last couple of laps and Johnathon Allard snuck by me coming to the checkered. That one still stings.”

Uninterested in repeating that pain, Pittman closed the deal this time. Leading every lap, he won his second Gold Cup and fourth World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series victory of the year.

“Hats off to this whole Roth Motorsports team to get a win here in California, the Gold Cup, the biggest race in California,” Pittman said about giving his California-based team a home state win. “To win it for Dennis and Teresa (Roth) is just awesome.”

While Pittman led every lap of the 40-lap Feature, his path to victory was not immediately paved with gold.

After a 17th-place finish Friday night, Pittman and his Roth Motorsports crew needed a new approach. And a little bit of luck.

They showed speed at the start of the night by Qualifying fourth. That placed Pittman on the outside pole for his Drydene Heat race where he took the lead from Sweet at the start and went on to win.

Then luck helped out. He drew the pole of the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash, and went on to win that, too.

He pulled away to about a straightaway lead in the first six laps of the Feature, with David Gravel in second and Sweet fighting his way past Brent Marks for third. Pittman found himself in lap traffic by that point, too, until a caution on Lap 10 for Kraig Kinser going off track in turn four.

On the restart, Gravel stayed close to Pittman and launched in front of him for the lead in turn one. However, before the field could complete another lap, the yellow lights around the speedway turned back on for Ian Madsen in the turn four wall. The lap was not completed and Pittman remained the leader.

Sweet, looking for his first Gold Cup victory in his home state, had fallen back to fourth-place. However, on a restart with 26 laps to go, after a red flag for Jacob Allen flipping, Sweet powered his way by Marks for third down the front stretch and then rode the high side to take second away from Gravel before completing the lap.

While the “Big Cat” tried to track Pittman down, Gravel, Marks, Logan Schuchart and Tim Kaeding traded slide jobs and crossover maneuvers for countless laps, arguing over who would be third. Schuchart silenced the argument by taking third with six laps to go and the leaders in his sight.

“I love working out, I love being in shape for this deal and I’ve tried doing that in the past and sometimes I don’t feel like it makes a difference, but tonight it did,” Schuchart said. “The guys in front were starting to slow down a little bit and I was able to still race it hard and jump across the spots I needed to and make a lot of ground up.”

Pittman found himself caught in heavy lap traffic, unable to always make a quick pass. Sweet and Schuchart fed off that, inching closer to the Roth Enterprises No. 83 car. Sweet even got close enough in the closing laps to dive underneath Pittman – slowed by lap cars – and take the lead.

Pushing the handling of his car to its limits, Pittman charged back around Sweet for the led the next corner, never allowing the Kasey Kahne Racing driver to officially lead a lap.

Then with a late caution, he had to hold on to that mentality for two more laps. He was not going to allow a repeat of 2014’s race. Mastering his restarts all night, Pittman put about a three-car length lead on Sweet into the first corner and kept it that way to the finish. The hope of winning was now a reality.

“My thought process was run as hard as you can on the top, because that’s what I thought it was going to take to win,” Pittman said. “I feel like at the green-white-checkered I went has hard as I had. The hard part about that is when you run hard against that tricky of a cushion, you’re putting yourself at risk to make a mistake and take yourself out. But I was more OK with trying too hard and losing than going too slow and trying to be safe.”

Sweet’s thought process was “attack, attack, attack,” he said. However, Pittman was just too strong.

“He had a good enough of a lead there, no matter how good, he would’ve had to mess up,” Sweet said. “He drove a great last two laps. We gave it all we had with the NAPA Auto Parts car. I was trying to move around and got my wing back a little too far I think at one point and got myself tight. I was a great race. We gave it all we had.”

While Sweet missed out on winning another Gold Cup, his runner-up finish was his third podium finish in-a-row. In those three races he's also cut 10-time Series champion Donny Schatz’s points lead over him down from 36 points to six.

Schatz was on track to potentially lose the points lead after taking the final transfer spot in the Last Chance Showdown to start last in the Feature. He came close to getting lapped in the first half of the race, but was able to fight his way to an eighth-place finish in the final half – earning him the Hard Charger award for the race.

For Pittman, he earned himself his 85th career World of Outlaws victory, moving him past his hero, Stevie Smith, to be the ninth winningest driver on the all-time Series wins list. He also earned himself $15,000 and another glistening golden cup trophy – his first Gold Cup was earned 13 years ago.

“There’s not many drivers that can say they were here 13 years ago,” Pittman said with a smile. “Part of that dates me. It makes me feel old. But I feel like I’ve got a lot of good years left in me. I’m having a lot of fun, especially when you get good cars like this to drive.”

UP NEXT:

The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series on Wednesday, Sept. 11, will be at Placerville Speedway in Placerville. Calif. for the 49er Gold Rush Classic presented by Riebes NAPA Auto Parts.

As always, if you can’t make it to the race, you can catch all of the action LIVE on www.DIRTVision.com.

Race Results: 9/7/19 – Silver Dollar Speedway

NOS Energy Drink Feature (40 Laps) – 1. 83-Daryn Pittman [1][$15,000]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet [4][$5,700]; 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart [12][$3,500]; 4. 41-David Gravel [2][$3,000]; 5. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [13][$2,600]; 6. 7S-Tim Kaeding [9][$2,400]; 7. 2-Carson Macedo [5][$2,300]; 8. 15-Donny Schatz [24][$2,200]; 9. 18-Ian Madsen [10][$2,150]; 10. 19-Brent Marks [3][$2,100]; 11. O-Bud Kaeding [21][$1,600]; 12. 24-Rico Abreu [18][$1,350]; 13. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [20][$1,300]; 14. 17W-Shane Golobic [8][$1,200]; 15. 5-Shane Stewart [16][$1,100]; 16. 7Y-Geoff Ensign [11][$1,000]; 17. 88-Jonathan Allard [15][$900]; 18. 44W-Austen Wheatley [17][$850]; 19. 121-Justin Sanders [6][$800]; 20. 11K-Kraig Kinser [22][$800]; 21. 5C-Colby Copeland [7][$800]; 22. 93-Stephan Ingraham [23][$800]; 23. 1A-Jacob Allen [19][$800]; 24. 29-Willie Croft [14][$800];
Lap Leaders: Daryn Pittman 1-40;
KSE Hard Charger Award: 15-Donny Schatz[+16]

Qualifying – 1. 49-Brad Sweet, 12.177; 2. 19-Brent Marks, 12.222; 3. 121-Justin Sanders, 12.255; 4. 83-Daryn Pittman, 12.256; 5. 41-David Gravel, 12.274; 6. 2-Carson Macedo, 12.357; 7. 18-Ian Madsen, 12.372; 8. 17W-Shane Golobic, 12.375; 9. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 12.39; 10. 5C-Colby Copeland, 12.411; 11. 7Y-Geoff Ensign, 12.418; 12. 7S-Tim Kaeding, 12.418; 13. 5-Shane Stewart, 12.431; 14. 44W-Austen Wheatley, 12.436; 15. 88-Jonathan Allard, 12.44; 16. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 12.474; 17. 93-Stephan Ingraham, 12.477; 18. 1A-Jacob Allen, 12.499; 19. 41S-Dominic Scelzi, 12.518; 20. 29-Willie Croft, 12.553; 21. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 12.58; 22. O-Bud Kaeding, 12.602; 23. 92-Andy Forsberg, 12.639; 24. 24-Rico Abreu, 12.787; 25. 2X-Chase Majdic, 12.792; 26. 53-Jessie Attard, 12.804; 27. 7-Jason Sides, 12.875; 28. 15-Donny Schatz, 12.882; 29. 21-Michael Ing, 13.069

DRYDENE Heat #1 (10 Laps) – 1. 83-Daryn Pittman [2]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet [1]; 3. 5C-Colby Copeland [4]; 4. 18-Ian Madsen [3]; 5. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [6]; 6. 5-Shane Stewart [5]; 7. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [7]; 8. O-Bud Kaeding [8]; 9. 15-Donny Schatz [10]; 10. 2X-Chase Majdic [9]

DRYDENE Heat #2 (10 Laps) – 1. 19-Brent Marks [1]; 2. 41-David Gravel [2]; 3. 17W-Shane Golobic [3]; 4. 7Y-Geoff Ensign [4]; 5. 29-Willie Croft [7]; 6. 44W-Austen Wheatley [5]; 7. 92-Andy Forsberg [8]; 8. 53-Jessie Attard [9]; 9. 21-Michael Ing [10]; 10. 93-Stephan Ingraham [6]

DRYDENE Heat #3 (10 Laps) – 1. 121-Justin Sanders [1]; 2. 2-Carson Macedo [2]; 3. 7S-Tim Kaeding [4]; 4. 1S-Logan Schuchart [3]; 5. 88-Jonathan Allard [5]; 6. 24-Rico Abreu [8]; 7. 1A-Jacob Allen [6]; 8. 7-Jason Sides [9]; 9. 11K-Kraig Kinser [7]

DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash (8 Laps) – 1. 83-Daryn Pittman [1]; 2. 41-David Gravel [3]; 3. 19-Brent Marks [2]; 4. 49-Brad Sweet [4]; 5. 2-Carson Macedo [5]; 6. 121-Justin Sanders [6]

Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps) – 1. 1A-Jacob Allen [2][-]; 2. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [3][-]; 3. O-Bud Kaeding [5][-]; 4. 11K-Kraig Kinser [4][-]; 5. 93-Stephan Ingraham [1][-]; 6. 15-Donny Schatz [10][-]; 7. 2X-Chase Majdic [7][$300]; 8. 7-Jason Sides [9][$250]; 9. 53-Jessie Attard [8][$225]; 10. 92-Andy Forsberg [6][$200]; 11. 21-Michael Ing [11][$200]

Contact: Nick Graziano
World of Outlaws PR
ngraziano@dirtcar.com

Please click here for the original World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series article

ONE MORE SILVER DOLLAR: Brad Sweet gets second Silver Dollar Speedway victory

Sweet wins opening night of the Gold Cup for the second year in-a-row

CHICO, CA – Sept. 6 – The clamor of 24 Sprint Cars in a gladiatorial battle at Silver Dollar Speedway faded into the calm Northern California night. Several minutes later a new clamor slowly elevated outside the quarter-mile track.

“Brad Sweet. Brad Sweet. Brad Sweet! Brad Sweet! Brad Sweet!” Fans chanted the California-native’s name like a posse honoring a warrior’s victory.

Sweet out dueled fellow Californians, Tim Kaeding and Shane Golobic, to claim his second Silver Dollar Speedway win Friday night, and 14th World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series win of the year – 48th career win overall.

“We’re happy tonight,” said Sweet, of Grass Valley, Calif. “Tough racing out there. It’s treacherous. You never know which way the car is going to bounce or if you’re going to make a good corner or a bad corner. I just tried to stay up on the wheel. We pushed hard all night.”

His opening night had a sour start qualifying 14th of 30 cars. He rebounded in his Drydene Heat race by charging from fifth-place to second. That put Sweet in the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash where he finished fourth.

The last three races at Silver Dollar Speedway had been won by a California native. The preamble to the Feature suggested that streak would see forth. Kaeding, of San Jose, and Golobic, of Fremont, occupied the front row for the Feature. Both won their Heat race. Golobic drew the pole for the Dash and ended up second to Kaeding.

In last year's two Gold Cup races at the speedway, Kaeding finished second both nights – once to Sweet. He wanted one spot better this year.

On the initial start, Kaeding jumped to the lead but Golobic was able to find grip on the bottom and keep pace with Kaeding running the preferred line on the high side. Sweet powered around Donny Schatz for third and begin his trek to the front.

To get to Kaeding, Sweet had to go through Golobic first. And the young Californian forced Sweet to exert all of his talent to do so.

After restarting the race for a caution on Lap two, Sweet snuck underneath Golobic and passed him for second down the backstretch. Sweet cleared the NOS Energy Drink No. 17w car off turn four. With Golobic gaining momentum around the high side, Sweet also tried to block Golobic’s run off the corner but failed. Golobic turned underneath the NAPA Auto Parts No. 49 and charged back to second-place around the bottom of turns one and two.

Four laps later, with 23 laps still to go, Kaeding began to pull away and Sweet took another charge at Golobic. The Kasey Kahne Racing driver charged around the outside of Golobic in turns one and two. However, Golobic, continuing to use the bottom to his advantage, powered his way back in front of Sweet off turn four. Sweet attempted to dive underneath him into turn one, but Golobic closed the door.

He hadn’t won, yet. Two laps later Sweet put together another run to charge to the outside of Golobic. The duo raced side by side, Sweet high and Golobic low, for two laps. With 18 laps to go Sweet was able to prevail, holding onto second with a firm grasp.

Kaeding had about a straightaway lead, but lap traffic was coming into play.

Sweet worked his way to Kaeding by the halfway point of the race. He got to the outside of the R&B Company No. 7s and drag raced him down the front stretch. Kaeding out powered Sweet into turns one and two, but slid his right rear off track down the back stretch, allowing Sweet to dart underneath him and officially take the lead on Lap 17.

“I stepped on my ‘you know what’ one little bit coming off of two,” Kaeding said. “Just gave Brad that opportunity to get by us.”

Sweet said he had to be aggressive on Kaeding to take the lead.

“It’s Tim Kaeding at Chico, he’s never going to be easy,” Sweet said. “I watched him my whole childhood dominate this place.”

Kaeding was then subjected to the same war with Golobic that Sweet had to battle through. The two California’s battled hard, swapping second-place several times. Justin Sanders, of Watsonville, Calif., even joined in on the battle for a few laps. However, Kaeding and Golobic were able to best Sanders in the closing laps and duel for second amongst themselves.

Before Sweet could run away with his second win in-a-row – having won Wednesday’s race at Willamette Speedway – a caution with eight laps to go gave Kaeding and Golobic their final shot at taking down the “Big Cat.”

When the race restarted, Sweet wiped away any hope they had of doing so. He pulled away with the lead, leaving Kaeding and Golobic to make their last few swings at each other for second. Kaeding won that battle, while Golobic maintained a podium finish in third.

“I had a really good battle with Brad toward the middle of the race and there at the end me and TK (Kaeding) were going at,” Golobic said. “There were two different lines. I felt like I could run the top or bottom, make speed. I just really enjoyed racing with those guys. We’re kind of hanging our head a little bit about a third-place run, but in the big picture racing with these guys and finishing top-three is nothing to hang our head about.”

While Kaeding had to settle for second for the third time in-a-row, during the Gold Cup Race of Champions event at the speedway, he still left with a smile.

“This R and B Company 7s, Jason Sides Motorsports, this thing hauls ass,” Kaeding said. “Hopefully we can move up one more spot tomorrow night.”

For the second race in-a-row, Sweet left with the biggest smile, the trophy and $8,000 check. He and his team are building momentum again and chipping away at Schatz’s championship points lead. In the past two races, Sweet has cut the reigning champion’s lead in half – now 18 points behind the 10-time Series champion.

His focus is on Saturday night at Silver Dollar Speedway, though, where fans clamoring his name would mark a victory he’s been in search of for a long time.

“Now we’ve got to get the damn Gold Cup,” Sweet said. “I haven’t been able to get Saturday night. I grew up at this place. I don’t think I’ve missed one Gold Cup my whole life. It’s a great event.”

UP NEXT:

The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series on Saturday, Sept. 7, will return to Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico. Calif. for the Gold Cup Race of Champions.

As always, if you can’t make it to the race, you can watch all of the action LIVE on www.DIRTVision.com.

Race Results: 9/6/19 – Silver Dollar Speedway

NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps) – 1. 49-Brad Sweet [4][$8,000]; 2. 7S-Tim Kaeding [1][$4,000]; 3. 17W-Shane Golobic [2][$2,500]; 4. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [13][$2,200]; 5. 15-Donny Schatz [3][$2,100]; 6. 1S-Logan Schuchart [8][$2,000]; 7. 121-Justin Sanders [9][$1,800]; 8. 5-Shane Stewart [11][$1,600]; 9. O-Bud Kaeding [10][$1,500]; 10. 18-Ian Madsen [5][$1,300]; 11. 26-Billy Aton [6][$1,200]; 12. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [17][$1,100]; 13. 92-Andy Forsberg [12][$1,000]; 14. 41-David Gravel [16][$700]; 15. 19-Brent Marks [20][$600]; 16. 5C-Colby Copeland [21][$600]; 17. 83-Daryn Pittman [19][$600]; 18. 24-Rico Abreu [22][$600]; 19. 44W-Austen Wheatley [15][$600]; 20. 2-Carson Macedo [18][$600]; 21. 2X-Chase Majdic [24][$600]; 22. 11K-Kraig Kinser [14][$600]; 23. 88-Jonathan Allard [7][$600]; 24. 1A-Jacob Allen [23][$600];
Lap Leaders: Tim Kaeding 1-16, Brad Sweet 17-30;
KSE Hard Charger Award: 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[+9]

Qualifying – 1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 12.117; 2. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 12.231; 3. 7S-Tim Kaeding, 12.234; 4. 18-Ian Madsen, 12.272; 5. 17W-Shane Golobic, 12.279; 6. 44W-Austen Wheatley, 12.308; 7. 88-Jonathan Allard, 12.377; 8. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 12.379; 9. 83-Daryn Pittman, 12.449; 10. 15-Donny Schatz, 12.482; 11. 5C-Colby Copeland, 12.492; 12. 26-Billy Aton, 12.494; 13. 1A-Jacob Allen, 12.519; 14. 49-Brad Sweet, 12.538; 15. 7Y-Geoff Ensign, 12.542; 16. O-Bud Kaeding, 12.545; 17. 5-Shane Stewart, 12.551; 18. 92-Andy Forsberg, 12.561; 19. 19-Brent Marks, 12.609; 20. 24-Rico Abreu, 12.634; 21. 121-Justin Sanders, 12.636; 22. 41-David Gravel, 12.661; 23. 2X-Chase Majdic, 12.715; 24. 21-Michael Ing, 12.724; 25. 7-Jason Sides, 12.796; 26. 41S-Dominic Scelzi, 12.828; 27. 93-Stephan Ingraham, 12.839; 28. 29-Willie Croft, 12.939; 29. 53-Jessie Attard, 13.189; 30. 2-Carson Macedo, NT

DRYDENE Heat #1 (10 Laps) – 1. 18-Ian Madsen [2]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz [4]; 3. 88-Jonathan Allard [3]; 4. O-Bud Kaeding [6]; 5. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [1]; 6. 41-David Gravel [8]; 7. 19-Brent Marks [7]; 8. 1A-Jacob Allen [5]; 9. 7-Jason Sides [9]; 10. 29-Willie Croft [10]

DRYDENE Heat #2 (10 Laps) – 1. 17W-Shane Golobic [2]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet [5]; 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart [3]; 4. 5-Shane Stewart [6]; 5. 11K-Kraig Kinser [1]; 6. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [9]; 7. 24-Rico Abreu [7]; 8. 5C-Colby Copeland [4]; 9. 2X-Chase Majdic [8]; 10. 53-Jessie Attard [10]

DRYDENE Heat #3 (10 Laps) – 1. 7S-Tim Kaeding [1]; 2. 26-Billy Aton [4]; 3. 121-Justin Sanders [7]; 4. 92-Andy Forsberg [6]; 5. 44W-Austen Wheatley [2]; 6. 2-Carson Macedo [10]; 7. 83-Daryn Pittman [3]; 8. 7Y-Geoff Ensign [5]; 9. 21-Michael Ing [8]; 10. 93-Stephan Ingraham [9]

DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash (8 Laps) – 1. 7S-Tim Kaeding [2]; 2. 17W-Shane Golobic [1]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz [4]; 4. 49-Brad Sweet [3]; 5. 18-Ian Madsen [5]; 6. 26-Billy Aton [6]

Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps) – 1. 83-Daryn Pittman [1][-]; 2. 19-Brent Marks [5][-]; 3. 5C-Colby Copeland [2][-]; 4. 24-Rico Abreu [6][-]; 5. 1A-Jacob Allen [3][$300]; 6. 2X-Chase Majdic [7][$250]; 7. 7Y-Geoff Ensign [4][$225]; 8. 7-Jason Sides [9][$200]; 9. 21-Michael Ing [8][$200]; 10. 53-Jessie Attard [12][$200]; 11. 93-Stephan Ingraham [10][$200]; 12. 29-Willie Croft [11][$200]

Contact: Nick Graziano
World of Outlaws PR
ngraziano@dirtcar.com

Please click here for the original World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series article

OREGON VICTORY TRAIL: Brad Sweet slides to thrilling victory at Willamette Speedway
Sweets gets first Willamette Speedway win with late race slider on David Gravel

LEBANON, OR – Sept. 4, 2019 – Brad Sweet saw the collapse of a fruitful performance in less than a second during Wednesday night’s World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series Feature at Willamette Speedway.

With lap cars slowing the Grass Valley, Calif.-native’s progress, David Gravel threw a slide job underneath them all into turn one and exited the corner with the lead. After leading 25 of the 30 laps, Sweet was forced to watch defeat drive away from him.

He wasn't willing to settle for second, though. Not now. Not this late in the season.

The next time into turn one Sweet wasn’t forgiving with the throttle. Or his car. He dove to the bottom of the corner and slid the NAPA Auto Parts No. 49 car up across the track, directly in front of Gravel, nearly making contact with the Jason Johnson Racing No. 41 car.

But it was the winning move. Sweet led to the end, picking up his first Willamette Speedway victory and 13th World of Outlaws win of the year – 47th career victory overall.

“I’m just glad I led the last one,” Sweet said. “I about gave it away in lap traffic. It’s nice to get this NAPA Auto Parts car back in Victory Lane. We’ve had a great season. When you have a great season and you go on a little winless streak it kind of feels like the world is ending.”

The winless streak was eight races – about a month’s time. Many drivers are on longer winless droughts, but in those eight races Sweet lost the points lead to 10-time Series champion Donny Schatz and struggled to find the podium at times – an uncommon characteristic for he and his Kasey Kahne Racing team.

The pairing looked back in traditional form at the Oregon track. Sweet started the night by setting Quick Time – five hundredths of a second off the track record he set in 2016. He then finished second in his Drydene Heat race and won the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash.

Sweet jolted to the lead at the start of the 30-lap Feature, but Gravel never let the “Big Cat” out of his sight. The Watertown, Conn.-native stayed within a second to half of a second gap behind Sweet throughout the race.

Lap traffic came into play on Lap seven, but every time a slower car would obstruct Sweet’s run around the high side of the track – allowing Gravel to close on him – Gravel would also face the same issue once having to deal with the lap car himself.

However, with five laps to go, Sweet found himself stuck behind the slower cars of Brent Marks and Jessie Attard going into turn one. The two cars blocked the top lane, forcing Sweet to hammer the brakes and kill his momentum into the turn. That allowed Gravel to dive into the turn and exit off the bottom with the lead.

“I miss judged how slow that fifty-three (car) was going,” Sweet said. “Brent got kind of tangled up with him and I basically had to stop. I was stopped up by the cushion and I knew I was in a bad spot. It wasn’t surprising to see David go by there.”

With the hunger and determination to win again, Sweet said Gravel left the door open the next time around and he threw the power slider at him to take back the lead. Gravel tried to throw another slide job at Sweet with three laps to go but couldn’t slide up in front of the No. 49 car in time. Sweet went on to claim the victory.

Looking back on the race, Gravel has an idea of what he could have done differently.

“Maybe just throw a bomb on him like he gave me back there,” Gravel said. “It’s just one of those things that you’ve got to put moves on guys to win these races. I was just a little nice. He put a big boy move on me and I should’ve done the same back.”

While Gravel and Sweet dueled for the lead, Ian Madsen found his way back to a podium finish – finishing third – and picked up the KSE Hard Charger award by racing from his sixth-place starting position.

“It’s been quite frustrating as of late because we’ve had a lot of car speed, just not luck on our side,” Madsen said. “Just to get on the podium is awesome, especially starting a couple of rows back like we did.”

Schatz finished fourth, allowing Sweet to gain eight points on the reigning champion and continue to keep the battle for the championship tight – now 28 points separating them with 21 races to go this season.

The win couldn’t have come at a better time for Sweet, too, with the Series spending the next five races in his home state of California.

“It’s a good win for us,” Sweet said. “We needed a little confidence booster. These races aren’t easy to win. Even though sometimes they’re easier than others. Tonight was no easy task, even though we started on the pole. The track wasn't super conducive to passing. But it all comes down to lap traffic and I think years of experience has helped me figure out how to finish these things off.”

UP NEXT:

The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series on Friday, Sept. 6, and Saturday, Sept. 7, will be at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif. for the Gold Cup Race of Champions.

As always, if you can’t make it to the race, you can watch all of the action LIVE on www.DIRTVision.com.

Race Results: 9/4/19 – Willamette Speedway

NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps) – 1. 49-Brad Sweet [1][$8,000]; 2. 41-David Gravel [2][$4,000]; 3. 18-Ian Madsen [6][$2,500]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz [3][$2,200]; 5. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [7][$2,100]; 6. 5-Shane Stewart [4][$2,000]; 7. 83-Daryn Pittman [5][$1,800]; 8. 1S-Logan Schuchart [10][$1,600]; 9. 11K-Kraig Kinser [12][$1,500]; 10. 19-Brent Marks [8][$1,300]; 11. 2-Carson Macedo [11][$1,200]; 12. 44W-Austen Wheatley [15][$1,100]; 13. 53-Jessie Attard [14][$1,000]; 14. 7S-Jason Sides [13][$700]; 15. 1A-Jacob Allen [9][$600]; 16. 75-Brian Boswell [16][$600]; 17. 7-Gravy Fairfield [17][$600];
Lap Leaders: Brad Sweet 1-25, 27-30; David Gravel 26;
KSE Hard Charger Award: 18-Ian Madsen[+3]

Qualifying – 1. 49-Brad Sweet, 11.563; 2. 41-David Gravel, 11.597; 3. 5-Shane Stewart, 11.63; 4. 18-Ian Madsen, 11.672; 5. 83-Daryn Pittman, 11.698; 6. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 11.816; 7. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 11.832; 8. 15-Donny Schatz, 11.833; 9. 1A-Jacob Allen, 11.845; 10. 7S-Jason Sides, 11.888; 11. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 11.889; 12. 19-Brent Marks, 11.891; 13. 2-Carson Macedo, 11.914; 14. 44W-Austen Wheatley, 11.994; 15. 53-Jessie Attard, 12.283; 16. 75-Brian Boswell, 13.218; 17. 7-Gravy Fairfield, 14.127

DRYDENE Heat #1 (8 Laps) – 1. 5-Shane Stewart [2]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet [1]; 3. 83-Daryn Pittman [3]; 4. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [4]; 5. 1A-Jacob Allen [5]; 6. 1S-Logan Schuchart [6]; 7. 2-Carson Macedo [7]; 8. 53-Jessie Attard [8]; 9. 7-Gravy Fairfield [9]

DRYDENE Heat #2 (8 Laps) – 1. 41-David Gravel [1]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz [4]; 3. 18-Ian Madsen [2]; 4. 19-Brent Marks [6]; 5. 11K-Kraig Kinser [3]; 6. 7S-Jason Sides [5]; 7. 44W-Austen Wheatley [7]; 8. 75-Brian Boswell [8]

DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash (6 Laps) – 1. 49-Brad Sweet [1]; 2. 41-David Gravel [3]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz [4]; 4. 5-Shane Stewart [2]; 5. 83-Daryn Pittman [5]; 6. 18-Ian Madsen [6]

Qualifier (8 Laps) – 1. 83-Daryn Pittman [1][-]; 2. 18-Ian Madsen [2][-]; 3. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [3][-]; 4. 19-Brent Marks [4][-]; 5. 1A-Jacob Allen [5][-]; 6. 1S-Logan Schuchart [7][-]; 7. 2-Carson Macedo [9][]; 8. 11K-Kraig Kinser [6][]; 9. 7S-Jason Sides [8][]; 10. 53-Jessie Attard [11][]; 11. 44W-Austen Wheatley [10][]; 12. 75-Brian Boswell [12][]; 13. 7-Gravy Fairfield [13][]

Contact: Nick Graziano
World of Outlaws PR
ngraziano@dirtcar.com

Please click here for the original World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series article

LABORING VICTORY: Daryn Pittman wins Labor Day race at Grays Harbor Raceway
With his 84th career victory, Pittman has tied his hero Stevie Smith on the all-time wins list

ELMA, WA – Sept. 2, 2019 – Daryn Pittman has matched his childhood hero.

With a dominating performance Monday night at Grays Harbor Raceway, Pittman earned his 84th career World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series victory – tying his idol Stevie Smith on the all-time wins list.

“That’s pretty cool,” Pittman said. “That’ll take a little while to sink in.”

Smith had two wins at Grays Harbor. Pittman’s victory was his first at the raceway, and his third win of the 2019 season with Roth Motorsports.

It took seven months – since his 83rd win in February – and 30 grueling laps around 3/8-mile raceway to get win number 84.

He put himself in position to get the victory by first winning his Drydene Heat race and then finishing second in the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash behind fellow Oklahoma driver Shane Stewart. Like Pittman, Stewart was eager for another win – having not won since June.

Their desperation to hold the checkered flag again manifested in the first three laps. They drag raced past the soaring green flag; their bumpers aligned. Sailing into turn one, Stewart went low, Pittman high. The Killer Instinct Crossbows No. 5 car edged Pittman by half a car into the corner and on exit.

Carrying more momentum off turn two, Pittman crept his way alongside Stewart down the backstretch. Before entering turn three the two almost made contact forcing Pittman to halt his run. The lead was now in Stewart's control.

Pittman had let too many victories slip through his fingers. He wasn’t going to let another opportunity drive away. He powered back to the outside of Stewart in turn one and kept alongside him down the backstretch.

Knowing Pittman was there, Stewart launched his car to the bottom of the track in turn three. Pittman stayed high, allowing himself to build momentum around the top and dive underneath Stewart on the exit of the turn. They again drag raced side by side down the front stretch. When turn one approached, Pittman stayed in the throttle, darting past Stewart for the lead on Lap 3.

The Roth Enterprises No. 83 car then began to pull away. However, a few laps later Pittman slid out of the racing groove into loose dirt in turn two, sending his car sideways. Dancing with the throttle and steering wheel, he worked his way out of the mistake. But Stewart was now back within striking distance.

On Lap 11 Stewart was side by side with Pittman due to a caution for a slowing Jason Sides. When the race restarted, Pittman accelerated back in front of the field. Stewart was no longer behind him, though. An aggressive Carson Macedo snuck his way by Jacob Allen and Stewart on the restart to move into second.

The rookie wasn't able to keep pace with the determined veteran. Pittman pulled away to a comfortable lead. On Lap 19 he was again forced to give it up. Stewart came to a stop in turn four due to power steering issues and brought out the caution.

On the restart, Macedo gave Pittman a scare. The California-native stayed with him down the front stretch and held onto his bumper down the backstretch before diving underneath the No. 83 car into turn three. The high side continued to favor Pittman, though. He used the available grip to launch ahead of Macedo and maintain his throne as the leader.

“I gave away a chance at winning forty grand at Jackson (Motorplex) by choosing the outside, and trust me that’s haunted me for a while and the next race I’m going to lose by choosing the inside, and I told myself that,” Pittman said. “Won the first restart against Shane and never saw him and Carson scared the crap out of me there on the last one.”

With Pittman pulling away to more than a second lead, Macedo had to turn his attention to fending off 10-time Series champion Donny Schatz. The reigning champion worked his way around Macedo for second on Lap 23, but the Kyle Larson Racing driver was ready for a brawl to the finish.

Macedo powered through the ruts in the track to keep pace with Schatz and capitalized on the North Dakota driver’s slip up with three laps to go to move back into second. With an 11th championship on the line and the season quickly coming to an end, Schatz is not willing to give up points. He stalked Macedo in the closing laps and snuck his way by him on the final lap to finish in the runner-up spot for the second night in-a-row.

“That’s the way it goes,” Schatz said. “We had to race our way there. At one point we were back in fifth or sixth. To get back up there is good. Consistency wins races. We’ll keep plugging away.”

Macedo admitted he made a mistake by staying up high in the closing laps, allowing Schatz to get back by him. However, he is happy with a podium finish in his first appearance at Grays Harbor Raceway.

Mistakes have haunted Pittman since February when he lost the lead on the final lap at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas. After winning the two season opening races at Volusia Speedway Park, he expected more wins to follow soon after. Many strong runs did, including his first podium finish at the Knoxville Nationals. But no wins.

That changed in August. The weight of not winning was first lifted off his shoulders when he won a non-World of Outlaws $20,000-to-win race at Southern Iowa Speedway. He carried that momentum throughout the month and into September to finally get his 84th career World of Outlaws win.

“Winning the front row challenge (in Iowa) was big for us as a team, just that we could win and it paid good,” Pittman said. “Then to back it up here pretty shortly with an Outlaw win. I feel like we’ve been a top-five, top-three car every night since we left Knoxville. I think momentum is on our side and I don’t think we’re the best team by any means on the road right now, but I think we’re a top three-four contender and if we can do that hopefully wins will follow.”

His next win will mark another crowning achievement. Surpassing his childhood hero's record.

UP NEXT:

The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series on Wednesday, Sept. 4, will be at Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, Ore.

As always, if you can’t make it to the race, you can watch all of the action LIVE on www.DIRTVision.com.

Race Results: 9/2/19 – Grays Harbor Raceway

NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps) – 1. 83-Daryn Pittman [2][$8,000]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz [4][$4,000]; 3. 2-Carson Macedo [5][$2,500]; 4. 41-David Gravel [3][$2,200]; 5. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [9][$2,100]; 6. 11K-Kraig Kinser [7][$2,000]; 7. 49-Brad Sweet [11][$1,800]; 8. 1A-Jacob Allen [6][$1,600]; 9. 18-Ian Madsen [13][$1,500]; 10. 18S-Jason Solwold [8][$1,300]; 11. 1S-Logan Schuchart [15][$1,200]; 12. 7S-Tim Kaeding [10][$1,100]; 13. 19-Brent Marks [16][$1,000]; 14. 44W-Austen Wheatley [12][$700]; 15. 53-Jessie Attard [14][$600]; 16. 5-Shane Stewart [1][$600]; 17. 7-Jason Sides [17][$600];
Lap Leaders: Shane Stewart 1-2, Daryn Pittman 3-30;
KSE Hard Charger Award: 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[+4]

Qualifying – 1. 1A-Jacob Allen, 11.809; 2. 83-Daryn Pittman, 11.835; 3. 15-Donny Schatz, 11.862; 4. 41-David Gravel, 11.871; 5. 18S-Jason Solwold, 11.88; 6. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 11.912; 7. 5-Shane Stewart, 11.965; 8. 2-Carson Macedo, 11.978; 9. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 12; 10. 18-Ian Madsen, 11.94; 11. 7S-Tim Kaeding, 12.01; 12. 19-Brent Marks, 12.045; 13. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 12.075; 14. 49-Brad Sweet, 12.174; 15. 53-Jessie Attard, 12.241; 16. 7-Jason Sides, 12.267; 17. 44W-Austen Wheatley, 12.386

DRYDENE Heat #1 (8 Laps) – 1. 15-Donny Schatz [2]; 2. 5-Shane Stewart [4]; 3. 1A-Jacob Allen [1]; 4. 18S-Jason Solwold [3]; 5. 7S-Tim Kaeding [6]; 6. 1S-Logan Schuchart [7]; 7. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [5]; 8. 44W-Austen Wheatley [9]; 9. 53-Jessie Attard [8]

DRYDENE Heat #2 (8 Laps) – 1. 83-Daryn Pittman [1]; 2. 41-David Gravel [2]; 3. 2-Carson Macedo [4]; 4. 11K-Kraig Kinser [3]; 5. 49-Brad Sweet [7]; 6. 19-Brent Marks [6]; 7. 18-Ian Madsen [5]; 8. 7-Jason Sides [8]

DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash (6 Laps) – 1. 5-Shane Stewart [3]; 2. 83-Daryn Pittman [2]; 3. 41-David Gravel [4]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz [1]; 5. 2-Carson Macedo [5]; 6. 1A-Jacob Allen [6]

Qualifier (8 Laps) – 1. 2-Carson Macedo [2][-]; 2. 1A-Jacob Allen [1][-]; 3. 11K-Kraig Kinser [4][-]; 4. 18S-Jason Solwold [3][-]; 5. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [9][-]; 6. 7S-Tim Kaeding [5][-]; 7. 49-Brad Sweet [6][]; 8. 44W-Austen Wheatley [11][]; 9. 18-Ian Madsen [10][]; 10. 53-Jessie Attard [13][]; 11. 1S-Logan Schuchart [7][]; 12. 19-Brent Marks [8][]; 13. 7-Jason Sides [12]