ROSSBURG, Ohio — For the second time this year, a blown tire cost Joey Saldana a victory at Eldora Speedway. But Sunday night’s misfortune on the 27th lap handed a $50,000 paycheck to Daryn Pittman for winning the prestigious 25th-annual Kings Royal sprint-car race.
Pittman, almost speechless in victory circle, believed he would have been unable to catch Saldana without the early leader suffering some type of mechanical problem. After taking the lead, Pittman concentrated on keeping the car straight until the checkered flag.
“I knew the 14 car (Jason Meyers) was definitely there and probably had a faster race car,” said Pittman.
Saldana was quicker than Pittman on an open track. When they first encountered lapped traffic, Saldana lost some speed trying to work around the slower cars.
“I got real excited,” said Pittman. “I thought I was going to slide him for the lead as the red came out.”
When the race restarted, Saldana did not allow Pittman another opportunity to pass. After inheriting the lead, Pittman hoped for a late-race yellow to bunch the field and deny Meyers an opportunity to pull the same move he himself tried earlier on Saldana.
“I didn’t think that in open traffic he would have the speed to try to slide me,” said Pittman.
Instead, Pittman found himself behind the slower cars of Rob Chaney and Brian Paulus, and facing one of his biggest decisions of the race. If he tried to pull off a slide job, it would kill his momentum. If he maintained his line, it could give Meyers the chance to snatch away the victory.
On the white-flag lap, Pittman put a slider on the slower cars. It worked, though he did see the nose of Meyers’s car before pulling away.
“Luckily, it was the right decision,” said Pittman.
Though Pittman collected a $50,035 check and a new four-wheeler from Artic Cat, he said a dollar value could not be placed on joining the list of winners, which includes some of the top sprint-car racers of the last 25 years.
“To be able to put my name along with those is way better than money, way better than the four-wheeler and way better than the trophy,” said Pittman.
The victory gives Pittman’s Titan Racing team momentum heading into next month’s Knoxville Nationals in Iowa. Reeve Kruck, the team owner, joined Pittman in victory lane wearing a crown on his racing cap. The Kings Royal winner is crowned during a ceremony initiated by track founder Earl Baltes when the event was created 25 years ago.
“It was a huge accomplishment for our whole team,” said Pittman. “To say we were underdogs coming into the weekend would be a major, major understatement.”
The race was originally scheduled for Saturday night, but thunderstorms forced a postponement until Sunday.