By BOB VORES For Public Opinion

Excerpts:

The Pennsylvania Sprint Car Speedweek events have concluded and in the end, Daryn Pittman won the battle but Greg Hodnett won the war.

Pittman, of Owasso, Okla., was the only driver to win twice all week, taking Friday's Mitch Smith Memorial at Williams Grove Speedway for the second consecutive time and also Sunday's Selinsgrove finale to amass a total of 1,087 points. That was 35 points short of Greg Hodnett of Thomasville. Hodnett won Saturday at Port Royal which helped with the overall speedweek points. He won for the second consecutive and third overall time in his career. In last year's events, Hodnett won over Pittman by 239 points.

WILLIAMS GROVE: Race six, the Mitch Smith Memorial, found Stevie Smith taking the lead but Pittman got by him on the third circuit while fifth starter Hodnett took the runner-up spot two laps later. Donnie Kreitz Jr. then entered the picture and finally got the spot from Hodnett on the 14th lap.

During the battle for second, Pittman opened a sizeable lead, but Kreitz began to close in until a lap-22 red flag.

On the restart, Pittman pulled away while Hodnett regained second on lap 26, but was unable to reel in Pittman, who went on to win the $10,000 event by 1.56 seconds. Kreitz ended third while Hagerstown winner and fast-timer Alan Krimes was fourth with Lance Dewease coming from 12th to finish fifth.

"We haven't been great this week, we've been solid," Pittman said. "I'm glad to win when the money is on theline. Any time ten-grand is on the line, it makes you step up in the seat. It's good to get these guys back to victory lane."

...

SELINSGROVE: Pittman out-dueled Dewease on the second lap to come away with the lead and later, a slim victory in Sunday's finale, the Jan Opperman Memorial.

Dewease began on the pole with Pittman outside, but Pittman used the inside line to grab the lead.

On a lap 12 restart, Dewease pulled alongside and dragged Pittman down the backstretch and reclaimed the top spot off turn four.

Pittman continued his quest to regain the top spot and did so with three laps remaining as Dewease came up a mere .44 seconds short of becoming the eighth different winner in the eight events.

"We aren't dead until the checkered flag falls -- that's what I keep telling myself," Pittman said. "We keep plugging away until the end of the race. Hats off to this whole team. We got off to a slow start, but we picked it up as the week went on."

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