Class of the Field: Lasoski Wins at Nodak Speedway
For Danny Lasoski, the victory was worth $10,000 and it was the 83rd A-Feature win of his World of Outlaws career and his first triumph at Nodak Speedway in just his second start at the high-banked 3/8-mile.
Courtesy: World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Media Relations
Minot, ND— June 21, 2009—Danny Lasoski won his first race as part of the Parsons Motorsports team last month on the East Coast, and while that win was special for a number of reasons, one thing was missing for the 2001 World of Outlaws champion and that was his car owner Lonnie Parsons, who was not able to attend that event. With Parsons in attendance on Sunday night at Nodak Speedway in Minot, North Dakota, Lasoski battled Joey Saldana and came out on top to earn his second victory of the season and more importantly the first with the veteran car owner in attendance.
For Lasoski, the victory was worth $10,000 and it was the 83rd A-Feature win of his World of Outlaws career and his first triumph at Nodak Speedway in just his second start at the high-banked 3/8-mile.
“I want to thank this man standing right here, Lonnie Parsons for giving me the opportunity to drive this great car,” said Lasoski in Victory Lane, as he gave his car owner a big hug. “He certainly deserved that. Thank you Lonnie for letting me run this car. He told me to meet him out here (in Victory Lane) before the race.”
Lasoski started fourth in the 30-lap contest and got around Tony Bruce Jr. on the opening lap to move to third and then worked on Kraig Kinser for the next seven laps, taking the runner-up position from him on the eighth circuit and setting his sights on leader Joey Saldana who started on the pole and led from the outset.
Lasoski and Saldana battled through lapped traffic, for a number of laps, running side-by-side for a majority of the middle portions of the race. After a caution on the second lap, there was a long stretch of 22 consecutive green flag laps, which put the leaders in traffic for most of those laps, with Lasoski nearly taking the lead on a couple of occasions as he used both the top and bottom of the race track. Both drivers used lapped cars as picks several times as they jockeyed for the top spot.
On the 24th lap Lasoski used the high side exiting turn two aboard the Casey’s General Store JEI to power his way around Saldana as the pair charged down the back straightaway to take the lead and never looked back, enduring one caution and leading the final 11 laps of the race. He crossed the line over three seconds ahead of Saldana, as he masterfully weaved his way through lapped traffic down the stretch.
“Our car was good anywhere, the top and the bottom,” shared Lasoski. “I caught Joey (Saldana) in traffic and wherever he went, I went the opposite and it worked out for us.”
Lasoski and Saldana traded the lead unofficially a number of times, with Lasoski inching ahead with Saldana battling back and officially leading at the line each of the first 23 laps. For the third consecutive night lapped traffic came into play with the leaders working their way around the slower machines for most of the race, keeping the huge crowd on the edge of their seat.
“Thank you all for coming out tonight,” said Lasoski with a smile. “Thanks for reworking the track and giving us a place to race. I enjoyed the heck out of it.”
Saldana wound up second in the Budweiser Maxim with his engine smoking heavily down the stretch. He battled Lasoski for a couple of laps after the latter took the lead, and held on late in the race to score a strong finish, despite have an ailing race car.
“I don’t know what happened,” said Saldana. “We pumped all the oil out of it and I couldn’t see and I couldn’t pull any tear-offs, but there’s no excuses. I could sit here and make excuses all night. We just got beat.”
While Saldana was disappointed to finish second after leading so many laps, he found a silver lining to the finale of the three-race weekend which saw him finish in the Top-Five in each race with two of those runner-up performances, as he remains second in points as he chases his first career World of Outlaws title.
“We struggled really bad at Fargo, so to come here and run consistent and qualify good was what we needed to do,” said Saldana. “Tonight was a good night for that. I felt like we had a car good enough to win, but that’s racing.”
Jason Meyers came from the ninth starting spot to finish third in the GLR Investments KPC to earn the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award. He fell back to 11th on the opening lap and his machine came to life after the caution on the second lap, as he passed a couple of cars on the high side of the track on the restart and steadily worked his way back through the field. With his win on Saturday night and runner-up performance on Sunday night he moved into sole possession of the third spot in points after beginning the night tied with 20-time series champion Steve Kinser.
“We had a great car again tonight and unfortunately gave up some spots in the dash or we might have been a contender,” said Meyers. “These guys kept their heads up and kept working hard. They got the car back to what I need for the main.”
Kraig Kinser picked up his sixth Top-Five finish of the season as he came home fourth in the Bass Pro Shops Maxim. It was his second consecutive Top-Five finish at Nodak Speedway.
“There’s something about this race track that agrees with me,” said the third generation driver. “We slipped back a little in the feature, but the car was really good. We got stuck behind a few lapped cars and that played a big part in the race tonight and last night.”
Donny Schatz used a fifth-place finish on Sunday night to wrap up the overall title in the Duel in the Dakotas which was comprised of all three events over the weekend in his home state of North Dakota. He won on Friday night at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks and was fourth at Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo on Saturday night. He received a custom, handmade trophy with a clock in it that was made by Charlie Nelson of Willmar, Minnesota.
“We won the war, but sometimes it’s more fun to win the battles,” said Schatz, the three-time and defending series champion. “We were just a little bit off there. It was a good weekend for us. We qualified well every night and did our jobs. When the race tracks were fast, we just weren’t fast enough.”
Tony Bruce Jr. came home sixth on Sunday night in the Racers Wholesale.com Maxim, with Craig Dollansky seventh in the Aggressive Hydraulics/DirecTV Maxim. Jac Haudenschild was eighth in the Owens-Corning Fiberglass Maxim, with Steve Kinser ninth aboard the Quaker State Maxim and Jason Sides rounded out the Top-10 in the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim.
The World of Outlaws return to action on Friday, June 26 at U.S. 36 Raceway in Osborn, Missouri.
NODAK SPEEDWAY NOTES
• FAST QUALIFIER: Jason Sides paced the 27 cars that took time with an AMB i.t. timed lap around the high-banked 3/8-mile oval at 13.999 seconds at 96.435 mph. For his qualifying effort, Sides earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Joey Saldana (4), Donny Schatz (3), Kraig Kinser (2), and Steve Kinser (1).
• QUALIFYING WINNERS: Craig Dollansky, Jason Meyers and Danny Lasoski won heat races. Joey Saldana won the Crane Cams Dash. Thomas Kennedy won the B-Main.
• FEATURE WINNERS: There has been 30 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature event held in 2009. The winners include: Joey Saldana (Volusia Speedway Park, Silver Dollar Speedway, Thunderbowl Raceway, Lone Star Speedway, Houston Raceway Park, The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Virginia Motor Speedway, Lawrenceburg Speedway and Dodge City Raceway Park-twice), Donny Schatz (Volusia Speedway Park-twice, The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Knoxville Raceway, Eldora Speedway, Canandaigua Speedway, Lawrenceburg Speedway and River Cities Speedway), Jason Meyers (Silver Dollar Speedway, Paducah International Raceway, I-96 Speedway and Red River Valley Speedway), Danny Lasoski (Delaware International Speedway and Nodak Speedway), Dale Blaney (Attica Raceway Park), Randy Hannagan (Thunderbowl Raceway), Greg Hodnett (Williams Grove Speedway), Tim Kaeding (Riverside International Speedway), Chad Kemenah (Manzanita Speedway), and Steve Kinser (Tri-State Speedway).
• 3/8-MILE WINNERS: Nodak Speedway is a high-banked 3/8-mile oval. The World of Outlaws have raced six times on a track that size this season. The winners include: Joey Saldana (Lawrenceburg Speedway and Dodge City Raceway Park-twice), Danny Lasoski (Nodak Speedway), Jason Meyers (Paducah International Raceway), and Donny Schatz (Lawrenceburg Speedway).
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Nodak Speedway; Minot, ND; June 21, 2009
Qualifying
1) 7S-Jason Sides 13.999
2) 9-Joey Saldana 14.158
3) 15-Donny Schatz 14.213
4) 20-Kraig Kinser 14.433
5) 11-Steve Kinser 14.474
6) 6-Danny Lasoski 14.501
7) 19-Craig Dollansky 14.565
8) 18-Tony Bruce Jr 14.599
9) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 14.642
10) R19-Jac Haudenschild 14.702
11) 14-Jason Meyers 14.723
12) 22-Brian Ellenberger 14.749
13) 5W-Lucas Wolfe 14.760
14) 1-Chris Shirek 14.797
15) 21K-Lou Kennedy 14.922
16) 10TR-Bob Martin 15.000
17) 9K-Brent Kronfuss 15.043
18) 8-Casey Mack 15.064
19) 29-Leigh Thomas 15.218
20) 6N-Greg Nikitenko 15.224
21) 20K-Thomas Kennedy 15.338
22) 11K-Nick Shirek 15.518
23) 67X-Justin Berg 15.536
24) 91K-Kyle Fedyk 15.886
25) 99-Jordan Graham 15.931
26) 44S-Stan Mayer 16.370
27) 20J-Kevin Lawson 16.636
28) 20L-Dusty Lawson -.---
29) 17M-Todd Mickelson -.---
Heat 1 (10 Laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 19-Craig Dollansky
2) R19-Jac Haudenschild
3) 7S-Jason Sides
4) 20-Kraig Kinser
5) 5W-Lucas Wolfe
6) 10TR-Bob Martin
7) 11K-Nick Shirek
8) 29-Leigh Thomas
9) 99-Jordan Graham
10) 20L-Dusty Lawson
Heat 2 (10 Laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 14-Jason Meyers
2) 9-Joey Saldana
3) 18-Tony Bruce Jr.
4) 11-Steve Kinser
5) 9K-Brent Kronfuss
6) 1-Chris Shirek
7) 6N-Greg Nikitenko
8) 67X-Justin Berg
9) 44S-Stan Mayer
10) 17M-Todd Mickelson
Heat 3 (10 Laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 6-Danny Lasoski
2) 15-Donny Schatz
3) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.
4) 22-Brian Ellenberger
5) 21K-Lou Kennedy
6) 8-Casey Mack
7) 20K-Thomas Kennedy
8) 91K-Kyle Fedyk
9) 20J-Kevin Lawson
Crane Cams Dash (8 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature)
1) 9-Joey Saldana
2) 20-Kraig Kinser
3) 18-Tony Bruce Jr.
4) 6-Danny Lasoski
5) 19-Craig Dollansky
6) 15-Donny Schatz
7) R19-Jac Haudenschild
8) 11-Steve Kinser
9) 14-Jason Meyers
10) 7S-Jason Sides
B-main (12 laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 20K-Thomas Kennedy
2) 6N-Greg Nikitenko
3) 67X-Justin Berg
4) 11K-Nick Shirek
5) 91K-Kyle Fedyk
6) 99-Jordan Graham
7) 29-Leigh Thomas [$200]
8) 17M-Todd Mickelson [$180]
9) 44S-Stan Mayer [$175]
10) 20J-Kevin Lawson [$160]
11) 20L-Dusty Lawson [$150]
A-main (35 laps) - Starting Position [#]
1) 6-Danny Lasoski[4] [$10,000]
2) 9-Joey Saldana[1] [$5,500]
3) 14-Jason Meyers[9] [$3,200]
4) 20-Kraig Kinser[2] [$2,800]
5) 15-Donny Schatz[6] [$2,500]
6) 18-Tony Bruce Jr.[3] [$2,300]
7) 19-Craig Dollansky[5] [$2,200]
8) R19-Jac Haudenschild[7] [$2,100]
9) 11-Steve Kinser[8] [$2,050]
10) 7S-Jason Sides[10] [$2,000]
11) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[13] [$1,500]
12) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[11] [$1,200]
13) 22-Brian Ellenberger[12] [$1,100]
14) 21K-Lou Kennedy[15] [$1,050]
15) 6N-Greg Nikitenko[19] [$1,000]
16) 20K-Thomas Kennedy[20] [$900]
17) 8-Casey Mack[18] [$800]
18) 9K-Brent Kronfuss[17] [$800]
19) 1-Chris Shirek[14] [$800]
20) 91K-Kyle Fedyk[23] [$800]
21) 99-Jordan Graham[24] [$800]
22) 11K-Nick Shirek[21] [$800]
23) 10TR-Bob Martin[16] [$800]
24) 67X-Justin Berg[22] [$800]
Lap Leaders: Joey Saldana 1-23, Danny Lasoski 24-35
SuperClean Start of the Night Award: Donny Schatz
Penske Power Position Award: Jason Meyers
KSE Hard Charger Award: Jason Meyers
