Concord, NC— November 26, 2008—Daryn Pittman and his team encountered more than their fair share of bad luck in 2008, but they kept working hard and finally good fortune shined upon them in July, as they hit their stride and rattled off five wins in a four week period, including a triumph in one of sprint racing’s biggest events.
Pittman won four times with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series during that stretch, including the $50,000 Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway. It was his second career big win at the famed half-mile, as he was a past winner of the former Historic Big One at Eldora.
“That was the highlight for sure, and winning that race should be the highlight of any year,” he noted. “That part of it was good. The rest, there was not a lot to be memorable of. That would be a good highlight to have for a good and consistent season, but we feel it wasn’t a consistent year. Luckily we were able to pull that one off and that gives us some sort of building points. We’ll come back next year and hopefully be better.”
Pittman also was victorious in the opener of the Summer Nationals at the legendary Williams Grove Speedway in July, using a slide job on Donny Schatz late in the race in turns one and two on a restart to take the lead and ultimately the win. He also won at Wilmot Speedway in Wisconsin, making up for a near miss at the 1/3-mile in the series previous visit to the track in 2006, and he also picked up a triumph at the blazing fast Red River Valley Speedway in North Dakota, to bring his career win total with the World of Outlaws to 29, which is 14th-best all-time.
Pittman and his team led by veteran crew chief Glenno Inglis searched for the right combination for most of the season as they shuffled crew members in and out. For a period of time, it was just Inglis and Pittman working on the race car themselves, before they found a couple of crew members who fit the mold of exactly what they were looking for.
“We had a crew member leave at the end of last year and I don’t think any of us gave it the credit of how hard he would be to replace,” shared the native of Owasso, Oklahoma. “It took us a long time to do that, but luckily I think we did. Right now I feel like I have the best team I have ever had underneath me. We had to replace one guy with two.”
The crew that Pittman finished the 2008 campaign with, will stay intact for next season, with Inglis calling the shots, along with crew members Dave Nisbet and Eric Prutzman. They are currently working hard in preparation for the 2009 season which begins in less than 80 days in Florida.
“I have a great bunch of guys with me now and they are both here for next year,” Pittman noted. “That gives me a lot of confidence for next year. We were a lot faster later in the year than we were at the beginning of the year. We know that we can only get better. I’m definitely looking forward to that, and you can’t out a price tag on good help. You are only as good as your crew and right now we have a pretty good one.”
Pittman wrapped up the 2008 season 10th in points aboard the Titan Garages Maxim for Australian car owner Reeve Kruck. It was the sixth consecutive season that he has finished in the Top-10 in the World of Outlaws championship standings.
The veteran driver picked up 31 Top-10 finishes, with 10 of those being Top-Five runs. The former Gumout Series champion was one of just six drivers that led more than 100 laps of feature racing competition this season. He won the Crane Came Dash four times to earn pole positions in A-Feature events.
“It’s tough to win and be in the Top-Three any year, no matter how many cars there are,” explained Pittman. “The top two and three cars are always hard to beat. You know that no matter if there are 18 cars or 10 cars, that the top three will be a big chore to beat night in and night out. It’s always competitive and to advance yourself from a fourth, fifth or sixth-place year to a winning season is a lot harder than going from a 12th-place year to a fifth-place year. It’s hard to win these and fourth is as close as we have ever gotten and we need to improve on that next year.”
Pittman, who has competed in Australia for six consecutive years in the off-season, will continue that trend this season. He has 19 career wins Down Under and will compete against a number of fellow World of Outlaws competitors as he looks to stay sharp for the open of the 2009 season.
“I’ll definitely be racing there this season,” he said with a smile. “I’m going to do a couple of midget shows in the winter, which I am looking forward to and will then run the Speedweek in Australia. I’ll run about 10 races in a three-week period there. It’s always good to go there in the off-season and try to get a few more wins if we can.”
The 2009 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series seasons kicks off February 6-8 at Volusia Speedway Park in Florida with the 38th Annual Alltel DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH.
Pittman won four times with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series during that stretch, including the $50,000 Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway. It was his second career big win at the famed half-mile, as he was a past winner of the former Historic Big One at Eldora.
“That was the highlight for sure, and winning that race should be the highlight of any year,” he noted. “That part of it was good. The rest, there was not a lot to be memorable of. That would be a good highlight to have for a good and consistent season, but we feel it wasn’t a consistent year. Luckily we were able to pull that one off and that gives us some sort of building points. We’ll come back next year and hopefully be better.”
Pittman also was victorious in the opener of the Summer Nationals at the legendary Williams Grove Speedway in July, using a slide job on Donny Schatz late in the race in turns one and two on a restart to take the lead and ultimately the win. He also won at Wilmot Speedway in Wisconsin, making up for a near miss at the 1/3-mile in the series previous visit to the track in 2006, and he also picked up a triumph at the blazing fast Red River Valley Speedway in North Dakota, to bring his career win total with the World of Outlaws to 29, which is 14th-best all-time.
Pittman and his team led by veteran crew chief Glenno Inglis searched for the right combination for most of the season as they shuffled crew members in and out. For a period of time, it was just Inglis and Pittman working on the race car themselves, before they found a couple of crew members who fit the mold of exactly what they were looking for.
“We had a crew member leave at the end of last year and I don’t think any of us gave it the credit of how hard he would be to replace,” shared the native of Owasso, Oklahoma. “It took us a long time to do that, but luckily I think we did. Right now I feel like I have the best team I have ever had underneath me. We had to replace one guy with two.”
The crew that Pittman finished the 2008 campaign with, will stay intact for next season, with Inglis calling the shots, along with crew members Dave Nisbet and Eric Prutzman. They are currently working hard in preparation for the 2009 season which begins in less than 80 days in Florida.
“I have a great bunch of guys with me now and they are both here for next year,” Pittman noted. “That gives me a lot of confidence for next year. We were a lot faster later in the year than we were at the beginning of the year. We know that we can only get better. I’m definitely looking forward to that, and you can’t out a price tag on good help. You are only as good as your crew and right now we have a pretty good one.”
Pittman wrapped up the 2008 season 10th in points aboard the Titan Garages Maxim for Australian car owner Reeve Kruck. It was the sixth consecutive season that he has finished in the Top-10 in the World of Outlaws championship standings.
The veteran driver picked up 31 Top-10 finishes, with 10 of those being Top-Five runs. The former Gumout Series champion was one of just six drivers that led more than 100 laps of feature racing competition this season. He won the Crane Came Dash four times to earn pole positions in A-Feature events.
“It’s tough to win and be in the Top-Three any year, no matter how many cars there are,” explained Pittman. “The top two and three cars are always hard to beat. You know that no matter if there are 18 cars or 10 cars, that the top three will be a big chore to beat night in and night out. It’s always competitive and to advance yourself from a fourth, fifth or sixth-place year to a winning season is a lot harder than going from a 12th-place year to a fifth-place year. It’s hard to win these and fourth is as close as we have ever gotten and we need to improve on that next year.”
Pittman, who has competed in Australia for six consecutive years in the off-season, will continue that trend this season. He has 19 career wins Down Under and will compete against a number of fellow World of Outlaws competitors as he looks to stay sharp for the open of the 2009 season.
“I’ll definitely be racing there this season,” he said with a smile. “I’m going to do a couple of midget shows in the winter, which I am looking forward to and will then run the Speedweek in Australia. I’ll run about 10 races in a three-week period there. It’s always good to go there in the off-season and try to get a few more wins if we can.”
The 2009 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series seasons kicks off February 6-8 at Volusia Speedway Park in Florida with the 38th Annual Alltel DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH.
