9/30/2014
Pifer Runs Strong, Bad Luck Strikes Again
(Photo by Jessica Gomola)
PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. – Back in action at Mercer Raceway Park on Friday and Saturday, Darren Pifer aimed for a solid finish to atone for the problems he has encountered all season long. Mercer’s “Little Guy Nationals” put 305 RaceSaver sprints as one of the premier classes for the weekend, with 24 and 23 cars in the division each night, respectively.
In heat race action, Pifer started outside of the front row of the first heat, and took off on the start, leading each of the first seven laps. Down the backstretch on the eighth and final lap, the second-place car peeked under Pifer, and the two raced side-by-side off of four and to the line. Pifer crossed in the runner-up spot, just .014 seconds behind the leader.
Regardless, second place qualified him for the feature lineup redraw, where he picked the number 8. On lap number one, he fell to 9th, and dropped to 12th by lap 3. With five laps complete, the car running in front of him flipped dramatically, halting the race while medical personnel attended to that driver. Pifer moved back into the top ten upon the restart, running solid laps for the remaining 15 laps, but falling to 13th in the final running order.
In Saturday’s pill draw, Pifer didn’t fare as well, and had to start on the inside of row four in his heat race, where he finished seventh.
Due to the heat finishing position, the #23 car was facing a bad starting spot in the A-main event: 18th on the grid. However, Pifer got a good start, picking off one car on each of the first two laps. After a yellow on lap 6, he restarted 15th, and when another caution had come and gone, by lap 11, he had made it to 13th place. Two more positions over the next two circuits, then another pass on lap 16 put him up into the top ten. When the final caution emerged on lap 23, Pifer looked to be set to restart in the seventh spot, which would be his best career sprint car finish. There were just two laps left in the main event, scheduled for 25 trips around the 3/8 mile speedway. The unusually long caution period, combined with the several others throughout the race, left the J&J/RaceSaver #23 sputtering and starving for fuel, and Pifer was forced to pull off the track with just two laps left. When all was said and done, he was scored in his starting position, in 18th.
Pifer would like to thank Jeane Pifer Photography, Betram Motorsports, Simpson Race Products, Hinchman Indy, and ButlerBuilt, as well as his family and fans for their continued support.
Pifer is next scheduled to compete on October 10 and 11 at Port Royal Speedway in Port Royal, PA for their “Blue Collar Classic Weekend” featuring the Keystone RaceSaver 305 Sprint Challenge in the #23 305ci Sprint entry.
Season Stats
Super Heavy Kart: 1 race, 0 wins, 1 top five, 1 top ten, 0 DNFs
305ci Sprint: 9 races, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 2 top tens, 3 DNFs
Social Media
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/pifer23
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/darrenpifermotorsports
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/dpifer23
Website: http://www.darrenpifermotorsports.weebly.com
Article Credit: Redbeard Promotions
