Daryn Pittman Has Sights On Back-To-Back DIRTcar Nationals Wins In Second Season With Roth

Story By: NICK GRAZIANO / WORLD OF OUTLAWS – BARBERVILLE, FL – Daryn Pittman and his Roth Motorsports team didn’t know each other at all during last year’s DIRTcar Nationals.

That didn’t stop them from sweeping the to two season opening races for the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series and claiming the DIRTcar Nationals Big Gator championship – Pittman’s third Big Gator and Roth’s first.

Now, entering their second season together in 2020 with the same crew – plus a new addition – there’s a new level of comfort amongst the team, which they hope will translate into repeat success during the Feb. 7-9 DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park.

“I think that does ease things a little bit so we can focus on how to make our cars fast,” Pittman said. “Just a lot more comfortable situation going to the racetrack. Knowing 70% of the personalities and how each of us tick and what to expect.”

Pittman will be going for his fourth Big Gator in eight seasons this year. The half-mile Volusia Speedway Park has been one of Pittman’s better tracks throughout his career. The Owasso, OK driver has five wins at the speedway and an average finish of ninth.

“I’ve always enjoyed going to Volusia,” Pittman said. “I’ve always had pretty good success there. Obviously, there’s not guarantees with anything. I’m sure everybody else will be a little bit better. We’ve got our work cut out for us to be as good as we were last year. We’re optimistic we can get started off on the right foot and hopefully try to build our season from there.”

After sweeping the two season opening races last year, Pittman and his team went on an almost six-month winless slump before returning to Victory Lane at Grays Harbor Raceway in September and then, again, a week later at Silver Dollar Speedway for the Gold Cup. Pittman said team owner Dennis Roth joked the team shouldn’t come out of the box so strong this year.

The team’s plan for this year is no different than the last, though. They still plan on entering every race with the intention of winning. There’s tracks they know they need to improve on, but their mentality is to address each race individually. They’ll start with the DIRTcar Nationals and then go from there.

“Our goal is to try and start off as good,” Pittman said. “Hopefully we can get off to a good start and at least get one gator if we can and then be in contention for the big one at the end of the week. That’s our ultimate goal. I feel like if we’re in contention for the Big Gator at the end of the week then we’ve been very consistent and we’re off to a good start, whether we have the wins or not.”