Familiar with First
BUFFALO TWP — The night had an unfamiliar feel to it.
It ended with a familiar face taking home the trophy.
Donny Schatz of Fargo, N.D., won his fourth Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup in eight years Tuesday night as the World of Outlaws Sprint series came to Lernerville Speeday for the annual twin 30-lap feature event.
Schatz last won the Silver Cup in 2010, the second year of the twin-30 format. He became the first repeat champion under this format and the initial 10-feature winner on the WoO tour this season.
“This was a lot of work tonight ... hard on the crews ... I'd hate to be that engine right now. We put it through the wringer,” Schatz said.
The Silver Cup champion is determined by the highest combined finish among the two feature winners. Schatz won the first feature after starting third. He took the lead from Jac Haudenschild on a 21st-lap restart. Haudenschild has never won at Lernerville.
Schatz started the second feature 19th and wound up seventh.
“That was as far as I could go,” he said.
WoO points leader Daryn Pittman of Owasso, Okla., won the second feature after starting sixth, but only finished 14th in the first race.
“That was disappointing,” he said. “I just couldn't get anything going. My car was too tight in that first feature.
“We figured out everything we did wrong in that first trace and fixed it. The track caught us by surprise. There was a lot of grip out there. Normally, this place is like a skating rink.”
Heavy rain hit the speedway late Tuesday afternoon, forcing an hour delay to the start of the program. With a number of wrecks all night, the second feature didn't end until nearly 1 a.m.
Schatz didn't seem to mind. He took home $15,000 for his efforts, while Pittman netted $10,000.“It's a good time to win when they have a little money on it,” Schatz said, smiling.Pittman had to hold off a hard-charging Kyle Larson to win the second feature. Larson, from Elk Grove, Calif., left the speedway after just eight laps of the first feature. He started last in the nightcap and pushed Pittman for the checkered flag on the race's final lap.“I thought my car blew up in that first race, so I took it off,” Larson said. “It felt really good in the second race. At times, I was picking off four cars in a lap.“Another lap or two, I might have had that one. But I'm a terrible qualifier. If I'd qualify better and we could start up front, I'd probably win some of these races.”The best qualifier of the night was local driver Ed Lynch Jr. of Apollo, who turned a lap in 12.778 seconds — or 126 mph — during time trials.Lynch wasn't far off the track record of 12.334 seconds, set by Joey Saldana in 2002.“I've gotten fast time before at a number of tracks, Hagerstown, William Grove ... It's the first thing on the agenda this evening and it's good to get that.“I feel comfortable on this track. The track will really have to widen for us to change the car.”Lynch and other local drivers did not go on to have a good night. Danny Holtgraver of Pittsburgh had the best feature finish among the locals — taking seventh in the first race — but had to be towed off the track in the second.Lynch finished ninth and 18th, respectively. Last week's Fab Four Sprint race winner Carl Bowser of Sarver and current track points leader Brandon Spithaler of Evans City did not make it to the features after mishaps earlier in the evening.Notes: There were 42 cars in the pits. ... Sammy Swindell finished third in the second feature, his 40th career top-5 finish in WoO features at Lernerville ... Greg Hodnett had the fourth fastest qualifying time, but blew a motor and had to scratch for the night. ... Bowser, Lynch and Stevie Smith were involved in violent flips during the course of the evening, but were unhurt, though Bowser's No. 10 car suffered severe damage. ... Bowser, Butler's Brian Ellenberger, Brent and Brandon Matus of Wampum were all offered provisional spots for the features, but declined.
