Pittman Spins Way to Victory

Rookie driver Daryn Pittman scored his first victory in the Pennzoil World of Outlaws series by barely holding off Steve Kinser at the finish line of the 30-lap main event Saturday in front of a capacity crowd of 4,565 at Perris Auto Speedway.

Pittman won despite spinning out on lap eight. Kinser finished second by a matter of inches, with Sammy Swindell in third. Mark Kinser and Donny Schatz rounded out the top five.

Defending champion Danny Lasoski, who broke the track lap record with a qualifying time of 13.875 seconds, was unable to get any closer than sixth.

On lap eight, Pittman’s right wheels caught the edge of the dirt cushion along turn one and his J & J chassis flipped over. He landed upright, however, and was able to continue on with the race, although seemingly falling to sixth place.

However, as Pittman was accelerating back into the race, Joey Saldana suddenly spun out in the same area of turn one and ended up in the side of the wall, bringing out the yellow flag.

Under the World of Outlaws rulebook, because the leader of that lap, Steve Kinser, did not reach the start-finish line before the flag came out, Pittman was allowed to return to his place at the head of the pack.

On the restart, Pittman started to pull away form the pack, but thanks to two more cautions, Kinser stayed in the hunt until the final lap, where he finally caught up to Pittman on the final turn.

But, in a dash to the finish line, Pittman’s Chevy engine pushed him ahead just enough to take the checkered flag.

In the other main event of the night, Santa Ana’s Chris Rahe won the 20-lap California Lightning Sprint race, holding off Visalia’s Greg Bragg.