(Oskaloosa, IA) by Bill Wright – Daryn Pittman pulled away from the field and won the 13th Annual Musco Lighting Front Row Challenge after early leader, Mark Dobmeier, was involved in a tangle with ten laps to go. The win was Pittman’s first at the Annual August event held at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa.
There was plenty of drama throughout the night. Dobmeier won the King of the Hill challenge, featuring one-on-one match races amongst the top eight qualifiers through the heat races. In the final, he bested Joey Saldana. After Dobmeier deferred the $50,000 challenge to win from the back after the contest for the pole position, Saldana took it and started 24th on the field.
Dobmeier got the jump on fellow front row starter Roger Crockett at the outset of the 25 lapper, but a caution for debris slowed things. Seven laps were in the books and Dobmeier was leaving the field behind, when Jason Johnson slowed to a stop in turn three. Dobmeier led Crockett, Pittman, Tyler Walker and Rager Phillips back to green flag racing, while Saldana had moved up to 11th.
Dobmeier was in control of the race, when on lap 15, Toni Lutar and Mike Moore flipped in front of him. The leader, with nowhere to go, struck the pair and ended his dominating run. Right before the red flag was thrown, debris entered the cockpit of Saldana’s car, and he was taken in for precautionary measures complaining of leg pain.
Pittman, who had moved by Crockett, assumed the lead, and held off Walker the rest of the way. Tim Kaeding made a charge late to take third, ahead of Crockett and Jason Solwold. Phillips, Jesse Hockett (who received a KSE Steering Pump for his hard-charger efforts), defending race champ Rob Chaney, Sam Hafertepe Jr. and Chad Hillier rounded out the top ten.
Pittman started things by setting quick time with a lap of 15.863 seconds. Solwold, Hockett and Tony Bruce Jr. received Weld Wheels and ButlerBuilt steering wheels for winning the three heats. The top two finishers in each heat were given a chance to run a 50 yard foot race with the winner receiving a free set of All Pro Heads ($5,000 value). The winner of that event was Walker.
Front Row Challenge Results (started): 1. Daryn Pittman 21 (3) 2. Tyler Walker 24T (6) 3. Tim Kaeding 83JR (9) 4. Roger Crockett 7N (2) 5. Jason Solwold 39c (12) 6. Rager Phillips 9 (7) 7. Jesse Hockett 13x (16) 8. Rob Chaney 24H (14) 9. Sam Hafertepe Jr. 15H (11) 10. Chad Hillier 5c (10) 11. Jonathan Allard 0 (13) 12. Wayne Johnson 14AJ (20) 13. Bronson Maeschen 96 (8) 14. Tony Bruce Jr. 18 (17) 15. Brock Mayes 11B (19) 16. Jake Peters 57x (23) 17. Greg Wilson w20 (4) 18. Justin Zimmerman 7K (21) 19. Tony Shilling 47T (22) 20. Mark Dobmeier 13 (1) 21. Joey Saldana 9E (24) 22. Toni Lutar 4x (15) 23. Mike Moore 69 (18) 24. Jason Johnson 19E (5)
B Main (started): 1. Bronson Maeschen (1) 2. Brock Mayes (3) 3. Mike Moore (2) 4. Justin Zimmerman (6) 5. Tony Shilling (4) 6. Jake Peters (5) / 7. Chad Meyer 4 (10) 8. Ryan Anderson 71R (8) 9. Corey Haigh 45NZ (7) 10. JT Imperial 1 (9) DNS – Eric Baldaccini B4, Bruce White 96au
Quick Time: Daryn Pittman, 15.863
King of the Hill Winner: Mark Dobmeier
All Pro Heads Foot Race Winner: Tyler Walker
Heat one (started): 1. Jason Solwold (2) 2. Tyler Walker (4) 3. Tim Kaeding (3) 4. Toni Lutar (1) 5. Daryn Pittman (6) 6. Greg Wilson (5) / 7. Jake Peters (8) 8. Mike Moore (7) 9. Chad Meyer (10) 10. Eric Baldaccini (9)
Heat two (started): 1. Jesse Hockett (1) 2. Joey Saldana (6) 3. Jonathan Allard (2) 4. Mark Dobmeier (5) 5. Wayne Johnson (8) 6. Chad Hillier (3) / 7. Bronson Maeschen (4) 8. Brock Mayes (7) 9. Ryan Anderson (9) 10. JT Imperial (10)
Heat three (started): 1. Tony Bruce Jr. (1) 2. Rob Chaney (2) 3. Jason Johnson (6) 4. Rager Phillips (4) 5. Roger Crockett (5) 6. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (3) / 7. Tony Shilling (7) 8. Justin Zimmerman (8) 9. Corey Haigh (9) DNS – Bruce White