2009 World of Outlaws Season Review: Danny Lasoski
After the team gelled toward the end of the spring, Lasoski reached Victory Lane for the first of five times on the year, taking the checkered flag at Delaware International Speedway to score his first victory as a member of the Parsons Motorsports camp and the team’s first World of Outlaws win since 2005.
Courtesy: WoO Sprint Car Series Media Relations
Concord, NC—Danny Lasoski could not wait for the 2009 season to get underway last February. After claiming his record eighth Knoxville Raceway track championship in 2008, he teamed up with longtime car owner Lonnie Parsons to take to the road full-time with the World of Outlaws.
After the team gelled toward the end of the spring, Lasoski reached Victory Lane for the first of five times on the year, taking the checkered flag at Delaware International Speedway to score his first victory as a member of the Parsons Motorsports camp and the team’s first World of Outlaws win since 2005. Lasoski would win a four more times in 2009 which would mark a career high for the team. It also increased Lasoski’s career total with the World of Outlaws to 86 A-Feature victories which is sixth-best all-time.
“I have to really thank Lonnie Parsons and Don Lamberti for giving me the opportunity to drive this car and to get back on the World of Outlaws circuit,” said Lasoski. “Also, Barry Jackson from JEI Chassis, I can’t thank him enough. The way we ended the season, I would have liked to have started the season that way, with the way we were running at the end. We got a number of things worked out and have a rock solid, stellar team here. I’m really looking forward to 2010.”
One of the most memorable wins of the season for Lasoski came in the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup at Lernerville Speedway in Pennsylvania as he was victorious in the opener of the “Twin 30’s” and followed that up with a charge all the way from 19th to seventh in the finale after the lead lap cars from the first feature were inverted. That earned him the overall Silver Cup title, which is something he had been chasing for a number of years, having finished second at the track on four occasions including in the Silver Cup. He picked up $15,000 for the win which is one of the most coveted trophies in sprint car racing.
“We had high expectations and Lernerville (Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup) was one that I really wanted to win and we got that done,” noted the native of Dover, Missouri. “We’d like to win the Williams Grove National Open as well. You know how drivers are, they are not happy unless they are winning them all.”
Lasoski had Barry Jackson turning the wrenches for him this year and the pair debuted a number of new JEI cars this year with some experimental designs that saw Lasoski rack up 16 Top-10 finishes in a 17-race period in the early part of the summer, capped by a win at Nodak Speedway in North Dakota to solidly entrench him as a Top-Five contender. Wins also followed at Eagle Raceway in Nebraska and Charter Raceway Park in Wisconsin.
“He is such a huge part of this team,” explained Lasoski of his crew chief. “His work ethic is second to none and he is a stickler for detail. We are very proud of what he has done here and hope to continue on for many years to come.”
While Lasoski receives most of the laurels for driving the Casey’s General Store JEI No. 6,, his crew took the spotlight at Clay County Fair Speedway in September, winning the Arnold Motor Supply Pit Crew Challenge, which saw them best five other teams including now four-time defending series champion Donny Schatz’s team. Lasoski’s crew changed the front axle on their machine in a blistering one minute and 25 seconds, nearly six seconds ahead of the second-place team to earn the $700 top prize.
“It’s very good and it’s very impressive what they did,” said Lasoski, the 2001 World of Outlaws champion of his crew. “They don’t get nearly enough recognition. Barry Jackson does a phenomenal job with these race cars and Cody (Jacobs) and Pete (Stephens) work so hard. They are the guys behind the scenes that make this go. I’m the lucky guy that gets to drive the car and gets the notoriety and attention, but those guys really deserve the credit.”
Lasoski finished the year sixth in points on the strength of 42 Top-10 finishes with 24 of those being Top-Fives. It marked the 11th time in his career he has finished among the Top-10 in the final World of Outlaws rundown. He finished the season as one of just four drivers that won at least five A-Feature events and he led the sixth most laps on the season. In addition, he was quickest in time trials on five occasions, including setting a new track record at Dacotah Speedway in North Dakota and won the Crane Cams Dash four times to earn pole positions in feature events.
“It is tougher and tougher all the time,” he stated of the competition on the World of Outlaws circuit. “To win out here you have to be the best and on top of your game every night. That’s what we strive to do every night and that’s what brings us back.”
The off-season will go by quick again this year for Lasoski as he will promote and compete in a Midget race for the second consecutive year at Kemper Arena in Kansas City in December and then race in the annual Chili Bowl Midget Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma in January.
The 2010 World of Outlaws season kicks off on February 5-7 with the 39th annual Florida DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH at Volusia Speedway Park, where Lasoski was victorious in 2008.
By the Numbers Danny Lasoski 2009:
3- KSE Hard Charger Awards for Lasoski in 2009
4- Wins in the Crane Cams Dash for Lasoski to earn pole positions this past season
5- A-Feature wins for Lasoski in 2009; Times that Lasoski was fastest in time trials in 2009
7- Penske Power Positions for Lasoski this past season, which is awarded to the third-place finisher in each feature event
8.9- Average finishing position for Lasoski this past season
12.075- Track record set by Lasoski at Dacotah Speedway in time trials on August 22
24- Top-Five finishes for Lasoski this past season
39- Times that Lasoski raced his way into the Crane Cams Dash this season
42- Top-10 finishes for Lasoski in 2009
86-A-Feature wins in his career for Lasoski which is sixth-best all-time
146- Laps led by the veteran driver this past season
8431- Points earned by Lasoski in 2009 to finish sixth in points
197,230- Dollars earned by Lasoski this past season
