In his first regular season appearance in the NASCAR Camping World Series East, 2006 NASCAR Division IV Regional Champion Woody Pitkat scored a sixth place finish in the Carquest Fall Final 150, the season-ending race for NASCAR’s top developmental series. Pitkat drove a Fadden Racing entry in the event.
“Going into the race I just wanted to finish in the top-10. Anything better than that is a bonus. I wish I could have been a little free’r but the schedule was so tight in the morning that you didn’t really have much of a chance to work on the car. I had a lot of people come up to me after the race and congratulate me,” he said.
Pitkat impressed early on by posting a qualifying lap of 19.664 seconds (91.538 mph) behind the wheel of the #61 Davidson Co./ECI Cliff Nelson Chevrolet. The speed was fast enough to earn a fifth place starting position in the 28-car field.
“I was actually tickled to death. That was the fastest we went all day. I didn’t know where we were going to find 3/10th’s. I moved my line down a little lower and obviously it worked,” said Pitkat.
Caution was out after only five laps around Stafford’s ½ mile oval and Pitkat had dropped back to ninth for the restart at lap nine. Pitkat maintained a position in the top-10 as a long green flag run developed that lasted over 60
Woody was all smiles after putting his Fadden Racing #61 CWSE car in the top-five after qualifying at Stafford. (Kate Claffie/EastSeries.com Photo)
Fenders or Not, Pitkat Impresses at Stafford
Woody Finishes Sixth in CWSE Fall Final Feature and Wins SK Mod Show
circuits. During that time, Pitkat had gone up as high as sixth before dropping back to tenth.
“Going into the race I knew some of those guys were a little bit more racier than I was so I decided to let those guys go and 50 or 60 laps into the race it would come to me. I was just in ride mode,” explained Pitkat. “The long run helped me because I got my mind focused on a rhythm. I would just hit my marks. I wanted to get some seat time and move around to see what I could do. The longer I could run the better. Once the tires cooled down it took a while to get the car going again so I was happy to see the race go green for that long.”
When caution did fly at lap 103, Pitkat opted to keep his track position and not pit when nearly a dozen other cars did come down pit road. He was ninth in the lineup when green flag racing resumed at lap 108. As the laps ticked off, Pitkat got in a battle with Matt Kobyluck for position that lasted over most of the remaining laps.
“I think I was a little bit cautious around him. Obviously you want to race hard but I wanted to give the champion as much respect as I could,” said Pitkat. “I got into him a little bit after Ted (Christopher) spun, but I didn’t know he was up there. I talked to his spotter at the end of the day and he thanked me for running him clean. It’s huge to be able to run with the champion my first time out.”
Pitkat pulled triple-duty during the Fall Final weekend, and after running the NASCAR Camping World Series East race, went on to victory lane behind the wheel of an SK Modified. He also finished 24th behind the wheel of a Late Model in their 30-lap feature.
Woody had to hold off some stout competition to win the SK Modified Feature during Fall Final weekend. (Ken Spring Photo)
"We won the last two SK races, so that shows we’re back on our game," added Pitkat. "You always want to go out on top. We’re still a force to be reckoned with. I didn’t think we’d have the car to win, though. I got into something early on and that popped the thing into neutral and wound the motor up to about 8,000 on the tach. After that, it didn’t seem to run right. But I figured a top-five was all we were going to get.
"It was pretty cool that Keith Rocco and I were able to work as a team at the end of the race there to get past Ted (Christopher). We had a couple of run-ins earlier this year, but ever since then we’ve just done our thing and they did theirs and we never really had a problem. So I definitely have to congratulate him on winning the title. Winning a championship at Stafford is hard. I think he grew up fast this year. I definitely give him credit because I’ve been trying to do it.
"Then in the Late Model race, when I got into the car, the water temperature was already really high. The car must've been left with the fan not running or something for it to be that hot. So I went out there and ran like five or six laps and there was something wrong with the radiator or something. It’s definitely a disappointment because the guys worked hard and we were fast in Friday after trying a bunch of stuff. We won the heat race by half a straight-away, so I was pretty pumped about going to get the first win for those guys. I hated it had to end on a bad note like that."
Pitkat will be back out to show what he can do in the NASCAR touring levels when he makes his final points-season start for Don King's #28 team in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour this Sunday, October 19th at Thompson International Speedway (CT).
"I think we’ll be good. It’s another home track and we were pretty fast there the last time we went with the Tour car. Don wants another top-10, but I wouldn’t mind a top five to start building on some stuff for next year either with him or with someone else and get ready to run the (North-South) Shootout."
