Daryn Pittman’s one-off Eldora Million ride with Alex Bowman Racing embodies more than just two sides coming together to do business for a few days at Eldora Speedway.

Yes, the former World of Outlaws champion makes an ideal and popular substitute driver aboard the Bowman-owned No. 55 Sprint Car for the sport’s biggest event in history. But Pittman’s pedigree alone isn’t the reason he’s lured out of his driving idleness.

“Truthfully, I told myself I wasn’t going and wasn’t planning on racing, especially not running that event because I wasn’t planning on doing a lot of racing; not sure how competitive I’d be,” said the 44-year-old Pittman, who will also compete in July 11’s Doty Classic at Attica Raceway Park and July 14-15’s Kings Royal at Eldora. “When (Alex Bowman Racing crew chief) Joe (Gaerte) called, I was really intrigued.”

The week-long ride revolves around Pittman’s relationship with Gaerte, who’s played an instrumental role in the Owasso, Okla., driver’s career as its known today. Gaerte and Pittman worked together in 2003 and most of ’02 as part of the Donnie Woodburn No. 21 team.

In 2002, Pittman and Gaerte won six WoO races, the third-most on tour behind only Steve Kinser and Danny Lasoski. But it was 2003 the two vividly remember, the season that delivered a Historical Big One victory at Eldora Speedway, which forever connects them to the legendary Rossburg, Ohio, oval.

“I think people forget we worked together back in 2002 and ’03 and that we had a lot of success together,” Pittman said. “I’ve known for Joe for a long time, but haven’t worked with him for quite a while. When he called, I was pretty intrigued to get the chance to work with him again.”

“It’s pretty cool,” he added. "We both went in different directions between now and then. So we’ll see how it all meshes, if we can get back to knowing what we want to do together. It was always fun to work with him before.”

PHOTO: Daryn Pittman 2003 ride that he took to victory lane with Joe Gaerte on the wrenches.

Pittman is a businessman first and foremost these days. Two years into ownership of Ultra Race Shield Products — a racing parts store in Flint, Texas — Pittman can say he’s successfully transitioned from professional Sprint Car driver to his encore career as a trusted and essential supplier of dirt-track racing safety equipment.

“It’s going really good. I love it. It’s a challenge,” Pittman said. “It’s a different challenge, and honestly the main reason I’m not racing. That’s where our focus is at 100 percent. It just keeps us really busy.”

That said, there’s no need — or time — for Pittman to return to the all-consuming lifestyle of full-time race car driver. Pittman was actually unsure if he’d even return in a limited capacity this year.

“This year, I’ve really cut back on the weekends I was going to race,” Pittman said. “I didn’t honestly know if I was going to race at all.”

Last year, Pittman overdid himself with his eventual 17-race schedule, not because he doesn’t want to race as much as he can, but that his mind is “preoccupied thinking about work,” even in his limited time at the racetrack. He hasn’t raced a Sprint Car since last October’s rescheduled National Open at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa., which is Pittman’s longest layoff between races in more than two decades.

When Gaerte offered him Bowman’s Sprint Car ride for Eldora Million week, Pittman wasn’t sure if he was right guy for the job. He needed convincing.

“First thing he said to me when we called and talked about driving, he was like, ‘I’m not sure I’m the guy to run the wall anymore,’ ” Gaerte said. “I’m like, ‘Well, we’ve all gotten older. That doesn’t have to be the case now.’ Back then he could run the wall as good as anybody. The racetrack has changed a lot now form what it was then. You had to be right on the wall, where that’s not the case now.”

Pittman first told Gaerte he’d “think about it,” but then “enough time went by and I realized (the Eldora Million) was an event I probably would have regretted if I didn’t participate.”

“I definitely want to be part of this event. I don’t want to use the word obligated, but I feel like as a fan of Sprint Car racing — as somebody’s who’s done it so long and has been fortunate enough to make a living racing a Sprint Car — I definitely feel like I need to be involved in an event like this.”

PHOTO: Daryn Pittman celebrates his $100,000 win in the 2003 Historical Big One at Eldora Speedway

Pittman was an up-and-coming 22-year-old when Dirt Late Models first raced for $1 million in 2001. The idea that Sprint Cars could eventually do the same wasn’t even a thought to Pittman then.

“Obviously I knew they had that event and raced for $1 million, but I never put a lot of thought to the fact of that ever being a possibility in a Sprint Car,” Pittman said. “At that time, the Historical Big One was $100,000. That was ridiculous money at the time. The Knoxville Nationals, I’m not even sure that paid that at the time. I’m not sure it crossed my mind then. When they brought it back last year for the Late Models, it was the first time in my mind that they may do this for the Sprint Cars. There’s a lot of factors that go into it.

“I know the crowds — I’ve never been to a Dream or a World 100 — I’d assume those marquee (Late Model) events are similar to a Kings Royal from an atmosphere and fan’s standpoint. … I think the biggest thing is (Late Models) get a lot bigger car count for their events. I’m curious what the car count is for the Sprint Cars. Eldora is a unique enough track, I think that does hinder getting the type of car counts that the Late Models can bring. It’s definitely an intimidating racetrack to come to.

“It’s a difficult place to roll into and be competitive and it can be intimidating,” he added. “I don’t know if it’s that way as much for the Late Models as it is the Sprint Cars. I’ve considered that being an hindrance maybe. But once they did it for the Late Models last year, I thought, maybe they could do it for the Sprint Cars?”

Eldora “ranks really high and really low” on Pittman’s list of favorite tracks, “and it could change on any given day if you want to know the truth.” Career highlights and career lows have both occurred at the Tony Stewart-owned half-mile. But Pittman is best known for his 2008 Kings Royal crown and ’03 Historical Big One triumph, which to this day still ranks as the richest win of his career.

“When your car is good and you feel good around there, there’s nothing like it,” Pittman said. “I’ve had some of my biggest successes at Eldora. So it means a lot to me. But I can tell you, if your car isn’t good, it can be one of the most miserable places you go to. Honestly, it’s one of the main reasons I was so interested in working with Joe. And even not racing all year, I feel like he’s capable of putting a car underneath me capable of being comfortable with that it can be fun. That’s definitely the main deciding factor why I’m excited about it.”

“I think the biggest reason why I’ve struggled is probably more rules,” Pittman added. “The track does change a little bit, but I think tires and and chassis rules or whatever — wings and stuff — has really sort of been more of a hindrance for me. I feel like I used to have some decent setups to get around there. But in years past, I’ve struggled to know what to do to my car to get it to be good at Eldora.”

Gaerte said Pittman “is totally competent, whether it’s been eight months or two years (out of the seat)” and he feels “like we have a really good package” that’ll be capable of getting Pittman up to speed in no time.

“It might take a little bit to get back to it. But when you’ve done for as long as he’s done it, it’ll come right to him,” Gaerte said. “I don’t think it’s a problem. Obviously, the first thing you do is work on making the race. Then after that, you do what you have to do to win the thing.”

The last time that Gaerte and Pittman visited Eldora on the same team they left as Historical Big One champions. Like Pittman, the $100,000 victory still ranks as Gaerte’s biggest win of his career as a crew chief.

“It was a big thing then, and personal satisfaction, obviously. It’s still my biggest win,” Gaerte said. “You know you could do it all along, and that was one of the biggest-paying races at the time. It was really cool for me. Really felt good at the time.”

The thought of reuniting with Gaerte brings Pittman back to his formative years and how much Gaerte’s guidance pointed him in the right direction. His six-win season in ’02 meant just as much as the Historical Big One triumph in ’03 because that’s the year he began establishing himself.

“A lot of people wouldn’t have guessed. We won more races than some extremely established, good Sprint Car drivers,” Pittman said. “For him to come on and help me, a young kid on a team that wasn’t really known to compete at that level that consistently, he definitely gave me a lot of confidence knowing we have a car that can win races.”

And now Pittman and Gaerte converge again with a long but puncher’s shot chance at perhaps banking more than $1 million. Pittman is by no means a favorite, but he’s also not an outcast.

“At the end of the day, I honestly would not go if I didn’t think I have a chance to compete or have a chance to win. That’s the honest truth,” Pittman said. “That being said, my chances are winning are not what they used to be, for sure. Brad Sweet, David Gravel … the guys at the top of their game are at peak performance. It’d be foolish for me to think I’d be that straight out of six months of not racing. At the end of the day … anything less than not making the race, anything short of that, would be a huge disappointment to me.

“My thought process is I should be fully able to get in the race,” he added. “I feel like there’s no reason I can’t compete and that Joe can’t put together a car capable of getting in the show. And if we get in the show, we have a shot. You never know what the track conditions are going to be. But if we hit it right — and have some circumstances go our way — I feel like we can compete for the win. I do know my chances of winning from not racing are zero.

“Just a chance to see somebody win a million dollars driving a Sprint Car is something I would’ve never imagined in my wildest dreams.”