SELINSGROVE, Pa. — Daryn Pittman returned to Selinsgrove Speedway and his former Heffner Racing Enterprises No. 27 ride to score the win in Friday night’s 25-lap National Open preliminary race for 410 sprint cars.
Pittman’s fourth career 410 sprint car win at the track, his first since 2012, was worth $6,000 and a spot in Saturday night’s redraw for the 40-lap 40th National Open.
Anthony Macri, who will be seeking his third straight win in the Jim Nace Memorial National Open, was the night’s Fast Tees Fast Qualifier with a lap time of 15.803.
The National Open preliminary event, sponsored by Heister House Millworks & Cabinetry, was a first at the track since 1992.
Dylan Yoder closed out the late model racing season with his third win of the year in the 25-lap main event. Yoder was the only driver this season to visit victory lane three times.
Bryan Bernheisel clinched his second career Selinsgrove Ford super late model track championship worth $5,000.
Pittman started the feature race in the second position and pulled into the lead over polesitter Brian Brown. The caution flag slowed the field on lap two when Mark Smith’s car rolled to a stop in turn.
When the race resumed, Pittman continued to set a blistering pace in front of Brown and third-place starter Anthony Macri. At the completion of lap three, Macri powered into the second position and set his sights on Pittman. A lap later, fifth-place starter Brent Marks also passed Brown to take over third.
By the halfway point, the top three drivers broke away in a close race at the front of the pack. On the 14th circuit, Marks passed Macri for the second spot at the start/finish line and began to reel in Pittman.
On lap 15, Marks pulled a thrilling slider in turn four, only to have Pittman make a dive back underneath him to reclaim the lead. The race was slowed for the second time on lap 17 when Gio Scelzi’s car came to a stop in turn one.
On the final restart, Pittman held off Marks as fourth-place starter Cory Eliason showed some speed by passing Macri for the third position.
At the checkered flag, Pittman was victorious by 2.5 seconds over Marks, Eliason, Macri and seventh-place starter Devon Borden.
Polesitter Jeff Rine powered into the lead at the start of the super late model feature with second-place starter Mike Lupfer in pursuit. On the third circuit, fifth-place starter Rick Eckert drove by Lupfer for the runner-up spot and quickly gained on Rine.
By lap 10, Eckert was in striking distance of Rine for the lead, and on lap 12 they raced side-by-side. At the halfway point, the leaders encountered traffic with Eckert taking evasive action in turn three and tagging the outside guardrail. The incident caused Eckert to lose the second position to third-place starter Dylan Yoder.
Yoder quickly caught Rine and made the winning pass using the inside lane off turn four on lap 17. Two laps later Eckert was back into second only to have his car develop a flat tire on lap 21.
For the final four laps, Yoder held the rest of the field at bay and posted a 1.9-second margin of victory over seventh-place starter Bryan Bernheisel, who made a late-race charged into second. Rine, Brett Schadel, and Coleby Frye rounded out the top five.