Daryn Pittman Picks Up ‘The Night Before the 50’ at Port Royal Speedway while Logan Wagner and Dylan Yoder Lock Up Track Championships

By- Justin Snyder

Daryn Pittman Picks Up ‘The Night Before the 50’ at Port Royal Speedway while Logan Wagner and Dylan Yoder Lock Up Track Championships

Port Royal Speedway – PORT ROYAL, Pa. (Sept 11, 2021) – Daryn Pittman scored his third career Port Royal Speedway victory Friday night during the FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions Night Befiore the 50 presented by Tedd Reitz.

The win was Pittman’s 10th career All Star triumph and was his first aboard the Swindell SpeedLab No. 39 in a part-time role. He now has 10 career All Star victories and with the win he secured a locked-in spot for Saturday’s $54,000 to win Tuscarora 50 presented by Ramsey’s Car Wash and Garage and Packer’s Concessions, LLC..

“To get a win during Tuscarora 50 weekend and on this stage against this field is pretty special,” said Pittman. “Obviously our goal is to be here tomorrow, but it’s been a good weekend and we’ll definitely savor this one a little bit.”

Pittman and series regular Cory Eliason led the field of 28 cars to the green flagstand it was Pittman getting the early jump on the field. The top three drivers all settled into their positions, while sixth-place starter Anthony Macri moved into fourth on lap one.

The first caution of the event flew on lap two when Ryan Smith came to a slow on the frontstretch. Macri continued his march forward as he moved into third on the start, while fifth-place starter Rico Abreu followed suit into fourth.

By lap eight, the leaders were already in lapped traffic and Eliason took his first shot at the lead with a slide job attempt, but Pittman crossed back under to the lead, Meanwhile, Abreu also attempted a slider on Macri for third and Macri too pulled back ahead to hold the spot.

Things were starting to get dicey and it showed as Abreu and Macri got together entering turn one, with Abreu spinning and blowing a tire. Macri too did a 360 and both drivers were forced to the rear of the field as a result and would continue on. Eighth-place running Hunter Schuerenberg went to the pits as well with a flat tire.

Eliason again threw his very best slide job attempt at Pittman at the return to green-flag action, but again Pittman was too strong off the top. Two laps later, third-place running Lucas Wolfe was challenging for the runner-up spot as well and proving his $500 Packer’s Concessions Fast Time Award earlier in the night was no fluke.

However, the second caution of the night flew on lap 13 for a slowing Justin Whittall to slow all momentum.

Eliason gave it the old college try on the restart, but it was Wolfe who was able to capitalize as he moved into the runner-up spot as a result. Seventh-place starter Gio Scezi moved into fourth on the following lap and two laps later just past the halfway mark 22nd-place starter Lance Dewease cracked the top-ten for the first time of the night.

After a bit of a slip up to start the race, fourth-place starter Logan Wagner found his footing and showed he’d be a contender as he moved into a podium on the same lap. Wagner was earlier crowned track champion for the fourth consecutive season after only needing to take the green.

On lap 19, Pittman was again marred in heavy lapped traffic and Wolfe and Wagner were starting to put the pressure on him for the lead. However, the red flag flew when fourth-place running Eliason made contact with the turn three guardrail and flipped upside down and over the fence. He was ok and a brief stoppage occurred to get the car un-lodged from the fence.

With clean air ahead of him, Pittman got a great restart and second through fourth settled into position. 10th-place starter Brian Brown cracked the top-five one lap later and Scelzi got by Wagner for a podium spot on lap 23.

However, the race was Pittman’s to lose. With two laps to go, he closed in on the tail of the field, but Wolfe would not ever mount another comeback as he ultimately took the checkered flag by a margin of for the first time of the year.

Wolfe, Scelzi, Wagner and Brown rounded out the top five. Dewease, Justin Peck, Sye Lynch, Spencer Bayston and night one winner Brent Marks completed the top ten. Dewease earned the $200 Valley Supply Hard Charger by advancing 16 positions in the A-main and TJ Stutts earned the $1000 J&S Fabrication Warrior Award with a random number draw of 20.

“The cautions really played into our favor tonight and not getting into traffic much and clean air helped a ton,” said Pittman. “I’d feel good for about three laps after each caution and then the car would kind of go away. I got to thank all my guys for getting me here and this is pretty cool.”

For Wolfe he believes that he had a car capable of contending if not for multiple yellow flags. As a result of his win during last season’s non qualifier feature victory, he’s already locked into the Tuscarora 50 starting lineup.

“We never really got into traffic, so it was really clear sailing for the leader.” said Wolfe. “This is a challenging track and challenging field, but we’re pretty happy with a second and what we did tonight. We’re already in the show, but I think you  want to be near the front tomorrow and set ourselves up for 50 strong laps against a ton of strong cars. So we’re definitely not resting on that spot.”

410 Sprint Car Feature Results- (30 Laps): 1. Daryn Pittman; 2. Lucas Wolfe; 3. Gio Scelzi; 4. Logan Wagner; 5. Brian Brown; 6. Lance Dewease; 7. Justin Peck; 8. Sye Lynch; 9. Spencer Bayston; 10. Brent Marks; 11. Bill Balog; 12. Dylan Cisney; 13. Anthony Macri; 14. Tyler Courtney; 15. Freddie Rahmer; 16. Mike Wagner; 17. Ian Madsen; 18. Gerard McIntyre Jr.; 19. Hunter Schuerenberg; 20. T.J. Stutts; 21. Jared Esh; 22. Kyle Reinhardt; 23. Lynton Jeffrey; 24. Rico Abreu; 25. Cory Eliason; 26. A.J. Flick; 27. Justin Whittall; 28. Ryan Smith.

Jason Covert picked up the River Valley Builders Super Late Model feature victory from the fifth starting position after Trevor Feathers blew a tire while leading late in the 25-lap event. The win was worth $3500 courtesy of Lauver’s Concessions.

A late caution threatened to provide opportunity for multiple drivers, however Covert was able to pull away with ease over the final two laps to take the checkered flag by a margin of 2.027 seconds.

Dylan Yoder, Andy Huas, Gary Stuhler and Jeff Rine completed the top-five, while Colton Flinner, Chad Myers, Tim Smith Jr., Jim Yoder and Andrew Wylie completed the top-ten.

While Covert scored the win, all eyes were on Yoder and Stuhler as the two entered the night only 10-points apart for the River Valley Builder Super Late Model championship. Stuhler entered the night as the leader, but with various scenarios giving the title to either him or Yoder, the race was on to the front of the field.

Both drivers stayed glued to each other throughout the race and whenever one passed a car, it seemed the other would come back with a pass themselves. With two laps to go, Yoder sat in third and Stuhler in fourth. Yoder needed to get to second to clinch his second title with the division, while Stuhler was in position to clinch his first title at the track.

Yoder tried a move on Haus for second on the white flag lap, but couldn’t make the move stick. Exiting turn two on the final lap, Yoder smacked his tail off the guardrail and got a run down the backstretch on Haus, while all Stuhler could do was watch. Haus and Yoder entered turn three and Yoder threw a hellacious slider at Haus. The move paid off and Yoder came to the checkered flag as the 2021 champion, while Stuhler’s storybook season came up short by only five markers.

Super Late Model Feature Results- (25 laps)- 1.Jason Covert 2. Dylan Yoder 3. Andy Haus 4. Gary Stuhler 5. Jeff Rine 6. Colton Flinner 7. Chad Myers 8. Tim Smith Jr. 9. Jim Yoder 10. Andrew Wylie 11. Mike Lupfer 12. Hayes Mattern 13. Brett Schadel 14. Trevor Feathers 15. Marvin Winters 16. Dillan Stake 17. Nathan Long 18. Roy Deese 19. Scott Flickinger 20. Andrew Yoder 21. Jeff Miller 22. Jason Shmidt 23. Randy Croop 24. Kody Lyter