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Daryn Pittman Returns To The Chili Bowl
By Bob Jones
It's that time of year again. Winter is here and for most people that means freezing cold weather and miserable driving conditions. But for us race fans in simply means we must be getting closer to our annual migration to Tulsa, Oklahoma for the O'Reilly Chili Bowl Midget Nationals. This year will be the 21st running of the now five-day event held at Tulsa's Expo Center and the entry list is a virtual "who's who" in racing.
One familiar name on the swelling entry list is World of Outlaws regular Daryn Pittman, from nearby Owasso, OK. Pittman has become accustomed to spending his winter months in Australia racing for Reeve Kruck's Titan Racing team. This year will be an exception as Pittman is making a return visit to the Chili Bowl for the first time since 2001. "I always enjoyed racing at the Chili Bowl and I've really missed it. One great thing for me is that it is so close to where I grew up. It is a homecoming of sorts for me, as we don't get to race around home as much as we like and this is a chance for a lot of my friends and family to come out and watch me race. I think it will be a lot of fun and we'll have a great time. The Chili Bowl is just one of those really special racing events, not to mention the show is ran by Emmett Hahn and Lanny Edwards, two guys who were really influential to me earlier in my career. They gave me support when I ran with the ASCS and this is a small way I can help to support them now," said Pittman.
"The past five years I've raced for Titan Racing in Australia and my schedule always conflicted with the Chili Bowl. Reeve and I made some changes this year regarding that. I am still going over there to race but not until after the Chili Bowl. Once I knew my schedule was open, I bought a midget and here we are. I've spent a lot of time on this car, probably too much, getting it just the way I want it. I'm looking forward to getting it out on the track to see what it can do," said Pittman. "You can tell how much the drivers think of the race by the amount of guys that show up to compete. This is one show everybody wants to win, we all want a Golden Driller in our trophy room."
Pittman will pilot a Stealth Chassis with an Esslinger power plant under the hood with wrenching help from Joey Martin of Stealth. Sponsors on the car include Bob Hurley Ford, Danny's Auto Salvage, Business Planning Group, Hop n' Sack Convenience Stores and Titan Racing USA, Inc.
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