By Lonnie Wheatley
LITTLE ROCK, AR - As 82 of the nation’s top Sprint Car drivers descended upon Little Rock’s I-30 Speedway for the opening night of the 18th Annual Team Affiliated Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires, it was Owasso, Oklahoma’s Daryn Pittman emerging as the cream of the crop in Thursday night’s 25-lap qualifying feature.
Pittman needed just nine laps to race from the eighth starting slot into the lead, then held off a fast-closing Jason Johnson over the final rounds to lock himself into Saturday night’s $15,000-to-win, $1,800-to-start STN finale. Runner-up Johnson and third-place finisher Gary Wright also earned starting berths in Saturday’s championship feature.
“I could hear somebody coming the last few laps, I just wasn’t sure who it was,” Pittman commented after his victory drive aboard the Titan Garages & Carports/Hop & Sack Convenience Stores No. 21 Maxim. “The best thing is, we’re locked in now so we don’t have to try to fight through this again tomorrow night.”
While Pittman gridded the feature field outside the fourth row, it was Missouri’s Tim Montgomery and Oklahoma native Wayne Johnson leading the way to the green flag after accumulating the most points through heat and qualifying race action.
Montgomery gunned into the early lead, setting the pace in front of Wayne Johnson and fourth-starter Jesse Hockett, with Pittman advancing to fourth by the time the caution flew after four rounds for Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., who high-centered his mount atop the turn two embankment.
Hockett blasted past W. Johnson for second on the restart only to jump the turn four cushion a lap later while challenging Montgomery for the point, losing a half dozen positions in the process. Pittman battled past Johnson moments later and set his sights on Montgomery. W. Johnson would retire soon after with brake failure.
Pittman quickly reeled Montgomery in and utilized the low line to make what proved to be the race winning pass through turns three and four on the ninth round. With Pittman leading the way, four-time and defending STN champion Wright began making his way toward the front, climbing from his fifth running position on the tenth lap to second by the fifteenth circuit.
With Wright, Jason Johnson and Montgomery embroiled in a tight battle for second in Pittman’s wake, the race’s final caution flew with 16 laps in the books for Steven Tiner’s disabled mount off of turn one.
Pittman led Wright and J. Johnson on the restart, with Johnson riding the rim around Wright for second on the 17th round. Johnson put the pressure on Pittman over the final rounds, only to have a lapped car on the final round give Pittman the opening he needed to secure the victory.
Johnson settled for second aboard Lanny Row’s Wesmar-powered The Shop Diesel Service No. 41 Eagle. Former STN winner Tim Crawley briefly battled past Wright for third on the final round, only to have Wright battle back to secure the show position aboard the Wesmar-powered Southwest Express/The Shop/Richwood Construction No. 9 Maxim.
Crawley settled for fourth, with Hockett recovering to round out the top five. Montgomery crossed the stripe sixth, while 18th-starter Brian Brown rebounded from a lap five tangle to snare seventh. Darren Stewart claimed eighth, with Marshall Skinner and Travis Rilat completing the top ten.
Sam Hafertepe, Jr., Jan Howard, Tim Moss, Kevin Ramey, Stewart, Nick Smith, Wright, Kevin Swindell and Stenhouse each scored Heat Race victories, with Brown, Eric Sandage, Jason Johnson and Ronny Howard claiming Last Chance race wins.
Dusty Ballenger wired the field in the first 15-lap Qualifying Race, with Montgomery making a lap 14 pass of Hunter Schuerenberg to win the second Qualifying Race. After swapping the lead in the latter stages, Pittman edged Jason Johnson to win the third Qualifying Race, with Crawley acing the fourth Qualifying Race.
Josh Lofton, Eric Lutz and Sean Jones each flipped in heat race action. Lofton took another tumble in Last Chance action, as did Shane Stewart. Claud Estes was a flip victim as well in Qualifying Race competition. There were no injuries.
The 18th Annual Team Affiliated Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires continues at I-30 Speedway with qualifying night number two on Friday night at 7:30 p.m.
RESULTS
Heat Races – Top 40 in Finishing/Passing Points to Four Qualifying Races; Balance of Field to Four Last Chance Races.
First Heat (10 Laps): 1. #15h Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 2. #47h Dale Howard, 3. #55 Lyle Howey III, 4. #12x Robbie Standridge, 5. #40g Clint Garner, 6. #13m John Carney, Jr., 7. #44r Ronny Howard, 8. #14x Shane Stewart, 9. #77 Andy Goin, 10. #4am Travis Jenkins.
Second Heat (10 Laps): 1. #46 Jan Howard, 2. #50 Jerrod Hull, 3. #65 Skip Wilson, 4. #86 Eric Schrock, 5. #21p Daryn Pittman, 6. #21T Kent Lewis, Jr., 7. #33h Mark Huddleston, 8. #11T Bennie Chesteen, 9. #4x Josh Lofton.
Third Heat (10 Laps): 1. #29m Tim Moss, 2. #75 Jesse Hockett, 3. #1s Chris Shirek, 4. #87JR Steven Tiner, 5. #42s Josh Baker, 6. #47x Louie Carufel, 7. #42 Nathan Benson, 8. #5L Eric Lutz, 9. #17w Brad Welborn.
Fourth Heat (10 Laps): 1. #7m Kevin Ramey, 2. #33c Jon Corbin, 3. #26 Marshall Skinner, 4. #11p Preston Peebles II, 5. #87 Tim Crawley, 6. #4T Justin Sturch, 7. #88 Mike Ward, 8. #66 Kenny Taylor, 9. #7s Jason Sides.
Fifth Heat (10 Laps): 1. #91 Darren Stewart, 2. #11x Garry Lee Maier, 3. #1x Sean McClelland, 4. #57x Jake Peters, 5. #35 Hunter Schuerenberg, 6. #11J Paul Sides, 7. #0w Wade Oliver, 8. #11y Don Young, 9. #5J Sean Jones.
Sixth Heat (10 Laps): 1. #15s Nick Smith, 2. #01 Tim Montgomery, 3. #1* Kent Buckley, 4. #2L Dusty Ballenger, 5. #61a Toby Brown, 6. #21b Brian Brown, 7. #41 Jason Johnson, 8. #9x Wade Nygaard, 9. #28 Mitch Runge.
Seventh Heat (10 Laps): 1. #9w Gary Wright, 2. #4h Jimmy Hurley, 3. #94c Stephen Chevallier, 4. #1J Lewis Jenkins, Jr., 5. #00 Bill Brian, Jr., 6. #60 Eric Sandage, 7. #29h Pete Butler, 8. #18b Tony Bruce, Jr., 9. #94a Ernie Ainsworth.
Eighth Heat (10 Laps): 1. #1k Kevin Swindell, 2. #14aj Wayne Johnson, 3. #3 A.G. Rains, 4. #18c Scott Bolden, 5. #8h Joey Moughan, 6. #2m Bryce Vowan, 7. #R19 Scott Winters, 8. #21c Joey Montgomery. Disqualified: #44d Donny Howard.
Ninth Heat (10 Laps): 1. #40r Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 2. #29T Travis Rilat, 3. #45 Josh Howard, 4. #1g Cody Gardner, 5. #32 Garry Bell, 6. #12T Joe Young, 7. #74e Claud Estes, 8. #71 Robert Bell, 9. #15b Jim Bowden.
Last Chance Races – Top 4 Finishers to tail of the Four Qualifying Races.
First Last Chance Race (12 Laps): 1. #21b Brian Brown, 2. #29h Pete Butler, 3. #42s Josh Baker, 4. #12T Joe Young, 5. #47x Louie Carufel, 6. #11T Bennie Chesteen, 7. #9x Wade Nygaard, 8. #77 Andy Goin, 9. #33h Mark Huddleston, 10. #4am Travis Jenkins. DNS: #5J Sean Jones.
Second Last Chance Race (12 Laps): 1. #60 Eric Sandage, 2. #11J Paul Sides, 3. #18b Tony Bruce, Jr., 4. #4T Justin Sturch, 5. #5L Eric Lutz, 6. #28 Mitch Runge, 7. #00 Bill Brian, Jr., 8. #42 Nathan Benson, 9. #R19 Scott Winters, 10. #4x Josh Lofton.
Third Last Chance Race (12 Laps): 1. #41 Jason Johnson, 2. #13m John Carney, Jr., 3. #66 Kenny Taylor, 4. #74e Claud Estes, 5. #88 Mike Ward, 6. #94a Ernie Ainsworth, 7. #17w Brad Welborn, 8. #21c Joey Montgomery, 9. #40g Clint Garner. DNS: #8h Joey Moughan.
Fourth Last Chance Race (12 Laps): 1. #44r Ronny Howard, 2. #0w Wade Oliver, 3. #21T Kent Lewis, Jr., 4. #71 Robert Bell, 5. #44d Donny Howard, 6. #11y Don Young, 7. #14x Shane Stewart, 8. #15b Jim Bowden, 9. #2m Bryce Vowan. Disqualified: #61 Toby Brown (failed to meet minimum weight after finishing first). DNS: #7s Jason Sides.
Qualifying Races – Top 20 in Combined Points from Heats & Qualifiers to “A” Feature
First Qualifier (15 Laps): 1. #2L Dusty Ballenger, 2. #91 Darren Stewart, 3. #87JR Steven Tiner, 4. #15h Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 5. #21b Brian Brown, 6. #29h Pete Butler, 7. #57x Jake Peters, 8. #1x Sean McClelland, 9. #46 Jan Howard, 10. #65 Skip Wilson, 11. #15s Nick Smith, 12. #55 Lyle Howey III, 13. #42s Josh Baker, 14. #12T Joe Young.
Second Qualifier (15 Laps): 1. #01 Tim Montgomery, 2. #35 Hunter Schuerenberg, 3. #26 Marshall Skinner, 4. #9w Gary Wright, 5. #86 Eric Schrock, 6. #11p Preston Peebles II, 7. #29T Travis Rilat, 8. #18b Tony Bruce, Jr., 9. #4T Justin Sturch, 10. #94c Stephen Chevallier, 11. #4h Jimmy Hurley, 12. #29m Tim Moss, 13. #11J Paul Sides, 14. #60 Eric Sandage.
Third Qualifier (15 Laps): 1. #21p Daryn Pittman, 2. #41 Jason Johnson, 3. #75 Jesse Hockett, 4. #40r Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 5. #3 A.G. Rains, 6. #1J Lewis Jenkins, Jr., 7. #1* Kent Buckley, 8. #11x Garry Lee Maier, 9. #13m John Carney, Jr., 10. #1k Kevin Swindell, 11. #47h Dale Howard, 12. #66 Kenny Taylor, 13. #18c Scott Bolden, 14. #74e Claud Estes.
Fourth Qualifier (15 Laps): 1. #87 Tim Crawley, 2. #14aj Wayne Johnson, 3. #45 Josh Howard, 4. #32 Garry Bell, 5. #1g Cody Gardner, 6. #50 Jerrod Hull, 7. #7m Kevin Ramey, 8. #12x Robbie Standridge, 9. #44r Ronny Howard, 10. #1s Chris Shirek, 11. #0w Wade Oliver, 12. #71 Robert Bell, 13. #33 Jon Corbin, 14. #21T Kent Lewis, Jr.
“A” Feature – Top 3 Finishers Locked into Saturday night’s $15,000 to win STN Finale.
A Feature (25 Laps – Starting position in parentheses): 1. #21p Daryn Pittman (8), 2. #41 Jason Johnson (6), 3. #9 Gary Wright (7), 4. #87 Tim Crawley (10), 5. #75 Jesse Hockett (4), 6. #01 Tim Montgomery (1), 7. #21b Brian Brown (18), 8. #91 Darren Stewart (3), 9. #26 Marshall Skinner (15), 10. #29T Travis Rilat (11), 11. #46 Jan Howard (17), 12. #2L Dusty Ballenger (12), 13. #50 Jerrod Hull (20), 14. #15h Sam Hafertepe, Jr. (5), 15. #11x Garry Lee Maier (19), 16. #35 Hunter Schuerenberg (14), 17. #87JR Steven Tiner (13), 18. #14AJ Wayne Johnson (2), 19. #45 Josh Howard (16), 20. #40r Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (9).
LITTLE ROCK, AR - As 82 of the nation’s top Sprint Car drivers descended upon Little Rock’s I-30 Speedway for the opening night of the 18th Annual Team Affiliated Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires, it was Owasso, Oklahoma’s Daryn Pittman emerging as the cream of the crop in Thursday night’s 25-lap qualifying feature.
Pittman needed just nine laps to race from the eighth starting slot into the lead, then held off a fast-closing Jason Johnson over the final rounds to lock himself into Saturday night’s $15,000-to-win, $1,800-to-start STN finale. Runner-up Johnson and third-place finisher Gary Wright also earned starting berths in Saturday’s championship feature.
“I could hear somebody coming the last few laps, I just wasn’t sure who it was,” Pittman commented after his victory drive aboard the Titan Garages & Carports/Hop & Sack Convenience Stores No. 21 Maxim. “The best thing is, we’re locked in now so we don’t have to try to fight through this again tomorrow night.”
While Pittman gridded the feature field outside the fourth row, it was Missouri’s Tim Montgomery and Oklahoma native Wayne Johnson leading the way to the green flag after accumulating the most points through heat and qualifying race action.
Montgomery gunned into the early lead, setting the pace in front of Wayne Johnson and fourth-starter Jesse Hockett, with Pittman advancing to fourth by the time the caution flew after four rounds for Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., who high-centered his mount atop the turn two embankment.
Hockett blasted past W. Johnson for second on the restart only to jump the turn four cushion a lap later while challenging Montgomery for the point, losing a half dozen positions in the process. Pittman battled past Johnson moments later and set his sights on Montgomery. W. Johnson would retire soon after with brake failure.
Pittman quickly reeled Montgomery in and utilized the low line to make what proved to be the race winning pass through turns three and four on the ninth round. With Pittman leading the way, four-time and defending STN champion Wright began making his way toward the front, climbing from his fifth running position on the tenth lap to second by the fifteenth circuit.
With Wright, Jason Johnson and Montgomery embroiled in a tight battle for second in Pittman’s wake, the race’s final caution flew with 16 laps in the books for Steven Tiner’s disabled mount off of turn one.
Pittman led Wright and J. Johnson on the restart, with Johnson riding the rim around Wright for second on the 17th round. Johnson put the pressure on Pittman over the final rounds, only to have a lapped car on the final round give Pittman the opening he needed to secure the victory.
Johnson settled for second aboard Lanny Row’s Wesmar-powered The Shop Diesel Service No. 41 Eagle. Former STN winner Tim Crawley briefly battled past Wright for third on the final round, only to have Wright battle back to secure the show position aboard the Wesmar-powered Southwest Express/The Shop/Richwood Construction No. 9 Maxim.
Crawley settled for fourth, with Hockett recovering to round out the top five. Montgomery crossed the stripe sixth, while 18th-starter Brian Brown rebounded from a lap five tangle to snare seventh. Darren Stewart claimed eighth, with Marshall Skinner and Travis Rilat completing the top ten.
Sam Hafertepe, Jr., Jan Howard, Tim Moss, Kevin Ramey, Stewart, Nick Smith, Wright, Kevin Swindell and Stenhouse each scored Heat Race victories, with Brown, Eric Sandage, Jason Johnson and Ronny Howard claiming Last Chance race wins.
Dusty Ballenger wired the field in the first 15-lap Qualifying Race, with Montgomery making a lap 14 pass of Hunter Schuerenberg to win the second Qualifying Race. After swapping the lead in the latter stages, Pittman edged Jason Johnson to win the third Qualifying Race, with Crawley acing the fourth Qualifying Race.
Josh Lofton, Eric Lutz and Sean Jones each flipped in heat race action. Lofton took another tumble in Last Chance action, as did Shane Stewart. Claud Estes was a flip victim as well in Qualifying Race competition. There were no injuries.
The 18th Annual Team Affiliated Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires continues at I-30 Speedway with qualifying night number two on Friday night at 7:30 p.m.
RESULTS
Heat Races – Top 40 in Finishing/Passing Points to Four Qualifying Races; Balance of Field to Four Last Chance Races.
First Heat (10 Laps): 1. #15h Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 2. #47h Dale Howard, 3. #55 Lyle Howey III, 4. #12x Robbie Standridge, 5. #40g Clint Garner, 6. #13m John Carney, Jr., 7. #44r Ronny Howard, 8. #14x Shane Stewart, 9. #77 Andy Goin, 10. #4am Travis Jenkins.
Second Heat (10 Laps): 1. #46 Jan Howard, 2. #50 Jerrod Hull, 3. #65 Skip Wilson, 4. #86 Eric Schrock, 5. #21p Daryn Pittman, 6. #21T Kent Lewis, Jr., 7. #33h Mark Huddleston, 8. #11T Bennie Chesteen, 9. #4x Josh Lofton.
Third Heat (10 Laps): 1. #29m Tim Moss, 2. #75 Jesse Hockett, 3. #1s Chris Shirek, 4. #87JR Steven Tiner, 5. #42s Josh Baker, 6. #47x Louie Carufel, 7. #42 Nathan Benson, 8. #5L Eric Lutz, 9. #17w Brad Welborn.
Fourth Heat (10 Laps): 1. #7m Kevin Ramey, 2. #33c Jon Corbin, 3. #26 Marshall Skinner, 4. #11p Preston Peebles II, 5. #87 Tim Crawley, 6. #4T Justin Sturch, 7. #88 Mike Ward, 8. #66 Kenny Taylor, 9. #7s Jason Sides.
Fifth Heat (10 Laps): 1. #91 Darren Stewart, 2. #11x Garry Lee Maier, 3. #1x Sean McClelland, 4. #57x Jake Peters, 5. #35 Hunter Schuerenberg, 6. #11J Paul Sides, 7. #0w Wade Oliver, 8. #11y Don Young, 9. #5J Sean Jones.
Sixth Heat (10 Laps): 1. #15s Nick Smith, 2. #01 Tim Montgomery, 3. #1* Kent Buckley, 4. #2L Dusty Ballenger, 5. #61a Toby Brown, 6. #21b Brian Brown, 7. #41 Jason Johnson, 8. #9x Wade Nygaard, 9. #28 Mitch Runge.
Seventh Heat (10 Laps): 1. #9w Gary Wright, 2. #4h Jimmy Hurley, 3. #94c Stephen Chevallier, 4. #1J Lewis Jenkins, Jr., 5. #00 Bill Brian, Jr., 6. #60 Eric Sandage, 7. #29h Pete Butler, 8. #18b Tony Bruce, Jr., 9. #94a Ernie Ainsworth.
Eighth Heat (10 Laps): 1. #1k Kevin Swindell, 2. #14aj Wayne Johnson, 3. #3 A.G. Rains, 4. #18c Scott Bolden, 5. #8h Joey Moughan, 6. #2m Bryce Vowan, 7. #R19 Scott Winters, 8. #21c Joey Montgomery. Disqualified: #44d Donny Howard.
Ninth Heat (10 Laps): 1. #40r Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 2. #29T Travis Rilat, 3. #45 Josh Howard, 4. #1g Cody Gardner, 5. #32 Garry Bell, 6. #12T Joe Young, 7. #74e Claud Estes, 8. #71 Robert Bell, 9. #15b Jim Bowden.
Last Chance Races – Top 4 Finishers to tail of the Four Qualifying Races.
First Last Chance Race (12 Laps): 1. #21b Brian Brown, 2. #29h Pete Butler, 3. #42s Josh Baker, 4. #12T Joe Young, 5. #47x Louie Carufel, 6. #11T Bennie Chesteen, 7. #9x Wade Nygaard, 8. #77 Andy Goin, 9. #33h Mark Huddleston, 10. #4am Travis Jenkins. DNS: #5J Sean Jones.
Second Last Chance Race (12 Laps): 1. #60 Eric Sandage, 2. #11J Paul Sides, 3. #18b Tony Bruce, Jr., 4. #4T Justin Sturch, 5. #5L Eric Lutz, 6. #28 Mitch Runge, 7. #00 Bill Brian, Jr., 8. #42 Nathan Benson, 9. #R19 Scott Winters, 10. #4x Josh Lofton.
Third Last Chance Race (12 Laps): 1. #41 Jason Johnson, 2. #13m John Carney, Jr., 3. #66 Kenny Taylor, 4. #74e Claud Estes, 5. #88 Mike Ward, 6. #94a Ernie Ainsworth, 7. #17w Brad Welborn, 8. #21c Joey Montgomery, 9. #40g Clint Garner. DNS: #8h Joey Moughan.
Fourth Last Chance Race (12 Laps): 1. #44r Ronny Howard, 2. #0w Wade Oliver, 3. #21T Kent Lewis, Jr., 4. #71 Robert Bell, 5. #44d Donny Howard, 6. #11y Don Young, 7. #14x Shane Stewart, 8. #15b Jim Bowden, 9. #2m Bryce Vowan. Disqualified: #61 Toby Brown (failed to meet minimum weight after finishing first). DNS: #7s Jason Sides.
Qualifying Races – Top 20 in Combined Points from Heats & Qualifiers to “A” Feature
First Qualifier (15 Laps): 1. #2L Dusty Ballenger, 2. #91 Darren Stewart, 3. #87JR Steven Tiner, 4. #15h Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 5. #21b Brian Brown, 6. #29h Pete Butler, 7. #57x Jake Peters, 8. #1x Sean McClelland, 9. #46 Jan Howard, 10. #65 Skip Wilson, 11. #15s Nick Smith, 12. #55 Lyle Howey III, 13. #42s Josh Baker, 14. #12T Joe Young.
Second Qualifier (15 Laps): 1. #01 Tim Montgomery, 2. #35 Hunter Schuerenberg, 3. #26 Marshall Skinner, 4. #9w Gary Wright, 5. #86 Eric Schrock, 6. #11p Preston Peebles II, 7. #29T Travis Rilat, 8. #18b Tony Bruce, Jr., 9. #4T Justin Sturch, 10. #94c Stephen Chevallier, 11. #4h Jimmy Hurley, 12. #29m Tim Moss, 13. #11J Paul Sides, 14. #60 Eric Sandage.
Third Qualifier (15 Laps): 1. #21p Daryn Pittman, 2. #41 Jason Johnson, 3. #75 Jesse Hockett, 4. #40r Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 5. #3 A.G. Rains, 6. #1J Lewis Jenkins, Jr., 7. #1* Kent Buckley, 8. #11x Garry Lee Maier, 9. #13m John Carney, Jr., 10. #1k Kevin Swindell, 11. #47h Dale Howard, 12. #66 Kenny Taylor, 13. #18c Scott Bolden, 14. #74e Claud Estes.
Fourth Qualifier (15 Laps): 1. #87 Tim Crawley, 2. #14aj Wayne Johnson, 3. #45 Josh Howard, 4. #32 Garry Bell, 5. #1g Cody Gardner, 6. #50 Jerrod Hull, 7. #7m Kevin Ramey, 8. #12x Robbie Standridge, 9. #44r Ronny Howard, 10. #1s Chris Shirek, 11. #0w Wade Oliver, 12. #71 Robert Bell, 13. #33 Jon Corbin, 14. #21T Kent Lewis, Jr.
“A” Feature – Top 3 Finishers Locked into Saturday night’s $15,000 to win STN Finale.
A Feature (25 Laps – Starting position in parentheses): 1. #21p Daryn Pittman (8), 2. #41 Jason Johnson (6), 3. #9 Gary Wright (7), 4. #87 Tim Crawley (10), 5. #75 Jesse Hockett (4), 6. #01 Tim Montgomery (1), 7. #21b Brian Brown (18), 8. #91 Darren Stewart (3), 9. #26 Marshall Skinner (15), 10. #29T Travis Rilat (11), 11. #46 Jan Howard (17), 12. #2L Dusty Ballenger (12), 13. #50 Jerrod Hull (20), 14. #15h Sam Hafertepe, Jr. (5), 15. #11x Garry Lee Maier (19), 16. #35 Hunter Schuerenberg (14), 17. #87JR Steven Tiner (13), 18. #14AJ Wayne Johnson (2), 19. #45 Josh Howard (16), 20. #40r Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (9).
