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Pittman dominates Front Row Challenge for UNOH All Star win |
 OSKALOOSA, Iowa – It’s been a tough year for Daryn Pittman. But the Front Row Challenge at Southern Iowa Speedway provided just the rest medicine for him and his team.
The Owasso, Oklahoma native led all 25 laps to earn his 7th career University of Northwestern Ohio All Star Circuit of Champions victory and second series win of 2012. Pittman leads the UNOH All Star’s Eastern Region points,
“This belt just saved my job. My car owner (Mike Heffner) is adamant about trophies and after the year we’ve had I really wanted to get this for him,” said Pittman of his Lelands.com, Pasquariello’s, Danny’s Auto Salvage backed #27. “I pulled probably the biggest bone head moves of the season at the 360 nationals and killed a brand new car. But, my crew worked their butts off to build this car. They have worked hard all year and this is the best medicine for this team.”
Grain Valley, Missouri’s Brian Brown tried to hunt down Pittman the entire race, but just couldn’t catch him.
“Congratulations to Daryn, his team made the right changes and he was just better than us. I thought I would be better at the beginning of the race, but he was just too strong,” said Brown beside his Casey’s General Store, FVP, Searsboro Telephone Co. backed #21. “After the bangs and bruises that team has had this week…they deserved that.”
It was a very good night for Elk Grove, California’s Kyle Larson. He won the USAC non-wing preliminary feature and then charged from his 12th starting spot to finish third in the Front Row Challenge.
“The top was so fast and once we got to traffic I was able to pick off some guys. I was hoping for a caution late…that could have made it interesting, but we didn’t get it. This is a big momentum boost for us heading into the (Knoxville) Nationals,” said Larson beside his Abreau Vineyards, Stadelhofer Construction backed #1k.
Pittman and Brown would bring the field to the green for the 25-lap UNOH All Star feature by virtue of topping the “King of the Hill” match races. Both would also turn down the chance to go to the tail to try and claim the $50,000 bonus.
Pittman would lead the first lap with Brown, Mark Dobmeier, Jonathan Allard, Ryan Bunton, Bryan Sebetto and Tim Kaeding in tow. The caution would fly for a crash in turn two involving Brad Sweet, Sheldon Haudenschild and Jason Meyers, with Sweet going pit side. On the ensuing restart, Caleb Helms would spin. When the green came back out, something would break on Dobmeier’s car, as he made contact with the turn three fence.
When the green flew again, the race would go the remaining 24 laps caution-free.
Pittman would pull away from Brown, as Allard, Bunton, Kaeding and Larson battled for third. Pittman would catch lapped traffic by the fifth circuit, but Brown could not close. Allard would exit the track on lap seven, moving Bunton into third with Kaeding, Larson and David Gravel in pursuit. As Pittman and Brown ran away, Kaeding would take third on lap 15 with Larson into fourth. Larson would take third on lap 16, and started to close the game on the two front runners.
Once clear of traffic, Pittman would pull away for the win with Brown, Larson, Kaeding and Bunton rounding out the top five.
Click here for full Results . . .
Southern Iowa Speedway
Kear’s Speed Shop Heat 1: 1. 89G-David Gravel; 2. 1k-Kyle Larson; 3. 45-Paul McMahan; 4. 13-Mark Dobmeier; 5. 21m-Jason Meyers; 6. 0-Jonathan Allard; 7. 10-Sheldon Haudenschild; 8. 55t-Trey Starks; 9. 54-Cap Henry
All Pro Aluminum Heads Heat 2: 1. 21-Brian Brown; 2. 6R-Ryan Bunton; 3. 40-Caleb Helms; 4. 19-Lee Grosz; 5. 1s-Logan Schuchart; 6. 7k-Jeff Swindell; 7. 2-Dale Blaney; 8. w20-Greg Wilson
Dragon Race Fuels Heat 3: 1. 49-Brad Sweet; 2. 83jr-Tim Kaeding; 3. 7taz-Tasker Phillips; 4. 55xm-James McFadden; 5. 24h-Bryan Sebetto; 6. 27-Daryn Pittman; 7. 6x-Kaley Gharst; 8. 7-Critter Malone.
King of the Hill (determines front row of feature)
1st round
13-Mark Dobmeier verses 40-Caleb Helms – Dobmeier wins
45-Paul McMahan verses Ryan Bunton – Bunton wins
24h-Bryan Sebetto verses 27-Daryn Pittman – Pittman wins
0-Jonathan Allard verses 21-Brian Brown – Brown wins
2nd round
27-Daryn Pittman verses 6r-Ryan Bunton – Pittman wins
13-Mark Dobmeier verses 21-Brian Brown – Brown wins
3rd round
27-Daryn Pittman verses 21-Brian Brown – Pittman wins
A-main (25 laps, starting spot [x]
1. 27-Daryn Pittman [1]; 2. 21-Brian Brown [2]; 3. 1k-Kyle Larson [12]; 4. 83jr.-Tim Kaeding [9]; 5. 6r-Ryan Bunton [4]; 6. 89g-David Gravel [13]; 7. 6x-Kaley Gharst [17]; 8. 55xm-James McFadden [11]; 9. 7taz-Tasker Phillips [15]; 10. 45-Paul McMahan [7]; 11. 55t-Trey Starks [22]; 12. 10-Sheldon Haudenschild [18]; 13. 40-Caleb Helms [8]; 14. 7-Critter Malone [21]; 15. 21m-Jason Meyers [10]; 16. w20-Greg Wilson [20]; 17. 54-Cap Henry [19]; 18. 1s-Logan Schuchart [16]; 19. 0-Jonathan Allard [5]; 20. 19-Lee Grosz [23]; 21. 24h-Bryan Sebetto [6]; 22. 13-Mark Dobmeier [3]; 23. 49-Brad Sweet [14] |
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The All Stars are one of the premier sprint car sanctioning bodies in the USA. It is owned by an Illinois businessman, and now in their 30th year of operation, the All Stars take pride in their reputation of providing highly competitive, fair, exciting racing for outlaw sprint cars with many different winners in a year. About 400 drivers participate in All Star races yearly in front of an average of 5,000 spectators per event. Currently 40+ races are scheduled in numerous states, such as Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Michigan, Tennessee, Nebraska, West Virginia, and Kansas. 
Ohio Sprint Speedweek proves to be one of the most competitive weeks in racing during the 2010 All Star season. Tough battles happened in the 2010 Ohio Sprint Speedweek season, as it included nine straight nights of racing action in the buckeye state, it challenged the best of the best, but young David Gravel- DDR Motorsports was crowned the 2010 champion.