PORT ROYAL, Pa. – For the first time in more than six seasons, Daryn Pittman earned himself a trip to All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 victory lane, securing $10,000 in the process during Port Royal Speedway’s Night Before the Tuscarora 50 on Friday night.
Pittman, aboard the Swindell Speedlab/Shipley Energy No. 39 sprint car, led all 30 circuits in the Night Before program, forced to fend off early and mid-race charges by Rudeen Racing’s Cory Eliason, as well as a brief, late surge by Lucas Wolfe.
Pittman is now the proud owner of 10 All Star Circuit of Champions victories during the course of his career, with the Night Before the Tuscarora 50 triumph being his first series victory at the Juniata County oval. In addition, the victory locked Pittman into Saturday’s $54,000-to-win Tuscarora 50 finale.
Wolfe held on to finish second Friday night, followed by KCP Racing’s Gio Scelzi, Port Royal Speedway track champion Logan Wagner and former Knoxville Raceway track champion Brian Brown.
“I just have to thank Kevin (Swindell). This car has been so fun to drive,” Pittman said in Port Royal Speedway victory lane. “I’m happy with what we’ve been able to do. I don’t think we met our expectations early in the season, but to get a win tonight…a big win at Port Royal Speedway during Tuscarora 50 weekend…says a lot. Our goal is to come back here tomorrow night and do this again.”
Although a wire-to-wire effort for the former World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series champion, Pittman did face some challenges. For example, as the frontrunners were approaching traffic for the first time on lap eight, dirty air came into play creating a noticeable momentum change in Pittman. The momentum shift allowed Cory Eliason, Anthony Macri, and Rico Abreu to build a brief four-car battle for the top-three positions. Unfortunately for Macri and Abreu, contact between the two in turn one on lap 10 ultimately led to a caution; they both would restart at the tail.
In his quest to get around Pittman, Eliason would also find some back luck, actually ending his night on the hook after getting upside-down in turn four on lap 22; he walked away unharmed. From that point forward, it was all Daryn Pittman at the top of the leaderboard. Wolfe showed his nose during the lap 22 restart, but Pittman’s momentum proved too strong in clean air.
“I think cautions played into our favor tonight, for sure,” Pittman continued. “After watching the B-Main, I really thought that the top was going to give out and the middle would come in, because it normally does here. Not getting into traffic helped me stay in clean air…honestly, I felt that my car wasn’t that great when I did have some time in dirty air.”
The finish:
1. 39-Daryn Pittman [1]; 2. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [3]; 3. 18-Gio Scelzi [7]; 4. 1-Logan Wagner [4]; 5. 21-Brian Brown [10]; 6. 69K-Lance Dewease [22]; 7. 13-Justin Peck [15]; 8. 42-Sye Lynch [11]; 9. 11-Spencer Bayston [19]; 10. 19-Brent Marks [17]; 11. 17B-Bill Balog [13]; 12. 5C-Dylan Cisney [8]; 13. 39M-Anthony Macri [6]; 14. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [25]; 15. 51-Freddie Rahmer [16]; 16. 55W-Mike Wagner [18]; 17. 5-Ian Madsen [14]; 18. 33-Gerard McIntyre [26]; 19. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [9]; 20. 11T-TJ Stutts [23]; 21. 98-Jared Esh [28]; 22. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [27]; 23. 0J-Lynton Jeffrey [24]; 24. 24-Rico Abreu [5]; 25. 26-Cory Eliason [2]; 26. 2-AJ Flick [12]; 27. 67-Justin Whittall [21]; 28. 6-Ryan Smith [20]