Hartman Becomes 10^th Driver to Win  "The Pittsburgher"

        By Keith Koval & WoO LMS Public Relations

IMPERIAL, PA (Sept. 25, 2004) - The number 13 was lucky for Bart Hartman as the Zanesville, OH driver picked up his first victory in The Pittsburgher on his 13th attempt. Hartman and his #75 Seubert Calf Ranches / Imler's Poultry/ MCB Motorsports / Cornett Engine / Hoosier Tire / Rocket Chassis Gran Prix held off a late charge by Scott Bloomquist while battling lapped traffic to pick up the $12,000 payday.

"We tried some stuff in the dash and it didn't work out too well," said The Bartman. "But, it helped us at the start of the feature. This Pittsburgher has eluded me for a long time."

Dan Schlieper in the #9 Miller Brothers Coal / Hawkeye Trucking / Pro Power / Rayburn Chevrolet Monte Carlo started on the pole but it was Hartman who took the early lead from starting on the outside of row 1. Bloomquist settled into third with "Kid Rocket" Josh Richards in fourth and Dale McDowell in fifth.

The championship chase took a big swing on lap two when point leader Steve

Francis spun his Valvoline / Mopar / Freeport Recycle Center / Action Auto Mart / Rocket Chassis Dodge Intrepid into the turn one wall after contact with Chub Frank’s #1* Lester Buildings / Corry Rubber/Allstar Performance / Nystrom's Auto Sales / Draime Racing Engines / Rocket Chassis / Pierotti Motorsports / Slavic Custom T-Shirts / Farr MotorSports / Corry Laser Chevrolet Monte Carlo . The brush with the wall caused left rear damage to Francis' machine and he made frequent pit stops throughout the night to try to repair the damage and correct a handling problem.

Using the Delaware restart, Hartman started out front by himself while the rest of the field started double-file. Since he was running second, Schlieper had lane choice and chose to restart on the inside of row two which put Bloomquist’s Miller Brothers Coal / Hawkeye Trucking / Custom Race Engines / Allstar Performance / Hoosier Tire / Sweet Manufacturing Ford Taurus on the outside. Bloomquist benefited by Schlieper's lane choice as he used his momentum to pass both Schlieper and Hartman as they exited turn two to take over the lead. McDowell, Lynn Geisler, Clint Smith and Josh Richards followed. Billy Moyer, Steve Baker and Rick Eckert rounded out the top ten.

"I got a little lazy," said Hartman of the restart. "I got a little comfortable and got down in the corner too low."

Bloomquist held the lead and the front trio quickly pulled away and caught lapped traffic. Coming out of turn four to complete lap 10, Hartman was able to use the lapped traffic to his advantage and he passed Bloomquist to take over the lead.

The running order remained unchanged until lap twelve when the caution came out for Lou Bradich whose car had stopped along the backstretch. Bradich was done for the evening. Steve Francis went to the pits as well to make additional repairs to his machine.

Going into the restart, the top ten runners were Hartman, Bloomquist, Schlieper, McDowell, Geisler, Smith, Richards, Moyer, Baker and Eckert.

The restart again showed Hartman starting in front but this time Bloomquist had lane choice and he made the same decision as Schlieper did earlier and chose to start inside. Schlieper lined up to Bloomquist's outside.  On the restart, it was again the outside lane that moved quickest and Schlieper moved by Bloomquist into second. Bloomquist dropped back to third followed by McDowell, Richards and Geisler.

It only took two laps for the caution to fly again as the cars of Jim Zarin, John Blankenship, Dave Wade and Ben Miley got together in turn four. Wade, the 2004 PPMS Late Model track champion was finished for the evening but the others were able to continue.

On the restart, John Flinner got into Davey Johnson going into turn one and Johnson made contact with the wall. Following close behind were Tim McCreadie and Tim Hitt who also got into the accident. Johnson exited the race with left side damage to his machine while McCreadie was done for the evening with front end damage to his car. Flinner suffered front end damage but was able to fix it and return. Hitt suffered a flat tire, changed it in the pits and returned.

After all of the early cautions, the drivers were finally able to settle down and find a rhythm. The only hint of danger was on lap 29 when Hartman slid high into turn one. The leader of the race was able to regain control and continued in the lead.

At the half-way point, the top-10 running order was Hartman, Bloomquist, Schlieper, Richards, McDowell, Eckert, Baker, Geisler, Moyer and Smith.

After his close brush with the wall, Hartman was able to compose himself and started to build up a lead over Bloomquist. Schlieper was in third and the lead trio again pulled away from the field. The three car group found lapped traffic again on the 36th lap but this time it was some heavy hitters they were trying to lap including Chub Frank, Ben Miley, Darrell Lanigan, Tim Hitt and John Flinner. These were the final cars on the lead lap.

Hartman and Bloomquist were able to make their way around four of those machines without much problem. However, they came up on Flinner on lap 41 and he was not about to go down a lap without a fight. Flinner held up the leaders for the next four laps until Hartman was able to slip by. Bloomquist didn't have to fight Flinner as a caution came out the next lap for Chub Frank who had stopped in turn two. Since lapped cars go to the rear of the field under caution, Bloomquist did not have to pass Flinner under green.

On the lap 46 single file restart, Rick Eckert got around Steve Baker to make his way into the top-five. The running order at that time showed Hartman leading Bloomquist, Schlieper, Richards, Eckert, Baker, McDowell, Geisler, Moyer and Alex Ferree.

The top-six cars were able to freight train their way into a sizable lead. The seventh place car of Lynn Geisler developed handling problems and he was holding up the rest of the field. The top-six cars were able to make their way around the 1/2 mile track over the next 10-laps and actually caught up to the rest of the field.

This gave Bloomquist one last chance to make a bid for the lead. On the final lap, Bloomquist dropped back a few car lengths to make one final run. He charged hard into turn three but his car slid up the track. This not only let Hartman pull away for the victory, but it let Schlieper get by to finish second.

"Scott is always last-ditch, last-lap, whatever it takes to win," said Hartman. "I wasn't coming off of the bottom. I was going to run my line and he would have to go outside to get me."

"I figured he was going to try to pass Bart on the high side," said Schlieper. "He just missed the groove by a little bit and got into the marbles and buzzed the tires. There was no traction at all up there."

Bloomquist settled for third with Josh Richards fourth and Rick Eckert in fifth. The rest of the top-10 were Steve Baker, Dale McDowell, Alex Ferree, Lynn Geisler and Billy Moyer.

Hartman become the 10th different driver to have won The Pittsburgher. He joins the exclusive club that includes Bloomquist and Davey Johnson (3 wins each); Tim Hitt and Rick Aukland (2 wins each); and Bob Wearing, Jr., Donnie Moran, Todd Andrews, Chub Frank and Matt Urban.

"You look at the people who have won this race," a happy Bart Hartman said in victory lane. "They have had this race for many years and it was always one of the big September races that you wanted to win. It is a pleasure to win this race and be in the same company as the other drivers who have won this race."