Bart Hartman held off a final-lap charge from Dan Schlieper and Scott Bloomquist to win the World of Outlaws Late Model Series-sanctioned 16th annual Pittsburgher last night at Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway.

It was the second consecutive victory and the fifth of the season for Hartman, of Zanesville, Ohio. The driver of the house car for Rocket Chassis, Hartman became the 10th different winner in the history of the event.

Hartman, who started on the outside pole, grabbed the lead on the first lap, lost it to Bloomquist two laps later and cruised back into the lead for good on lap 11 of the 60-lap feature.

"We tried some stuff in the dash and it didn't work out too well but it helped us start on the [front row]," Hartman said. "When Scott got around me, I just got a little lazy. I got a little comfortable and got down in the corner too low and I had to work for it to get him back. The car's been good all weekend. I got back underneath Scott, got by him and raced lapped traffic. I just ran this place the way I've always run it, but this Pittsburgher has eluded me quite a few times."

After moving back in front, Hartman kept Bloomquist at a safe distance until lap 30 when he went too high in Turn 1 and brushed the wall. It allowed Bloomquist to close the gap as the two then tried to put John Flinner a lap down.

"We're very fortunate I just bent the bumper," Hartman said. "I was able to save it. It was more luck than anything."

Going into Turn 3 for the final time, Hartman caught the tail end of the field and went to the low side of the track. Bloomquist made an all-or-nothing move by going high, and it cost him. Bloomquist shot up toward the wall and Schlieper dove underneath him to finish second as Hartman took the checkered flag.

"We had an opportunity there if something would have happened to Bart going into Turn 3 with the lapped traffic," said Bloomquist, who was denied his fourth Pittsburgher victory. "We just wanted to be in a position in case something did happen where we might have a shot at it.

"I thought he might get a little anxious and get into the lapped car. If he gets into him, you don't want to be right behind him. I put myself in another position so that if something happened, I could possibly win the race. When you're running second in a race like that, the only one they put on the T-shirt is the winner. After that it don't mean a damn."

The top-finishing racer who competes regularly at PPMS was Steve Baker, who finished sixth after qualifying for the event for the 15th time.

Other local racers fared well during the race night, especially in the heat races. In addition to Baker, Lynn Geisler, Alex Ferree, Flinner and Lou Bradich also advanced to the 26-car main event by finishing in the top three of their heats.

The fastest qualifier was Bloomquist, who circled the wide half-mile oval in 19.130 seconds. Geisler, a six-time PPMS late model champion, was the fastest local qualifier after completing lap in 19.590 seconds. It was the 14th time Geisler has qualified for the Pittsburgher.

"I had the right line at the right time man, that's all it was," said Geisler, who made his 14th Pittsburgher field.

PPMS champion Dave Wade of Clinton qualified for his second career Pittsburgher by winning one B-main feature and three-time winner Davey Johnson of Greensburg made this event for the 15th time by taking the checkered flag in the other B-main.

There were 57 racers who attempted to qualify for the first 22 starting positions. In addition, the Outlaws and PPMS added four drivers through provisionals.

The opening event of the Pittsburgher weekend, a 40-lap feature scheduled for Friday night, was canceled when a blown fuse in a transformer knocked out power to part of the speedway.