7/6/2009
Sprint Source
Lasoski Wins the Eagle Nationals on the 4th
Eagle, NE— July 4, 2009—Danny Lasoski and his Parsons Motorsports team have one single goal when they pull into a race track and that is to win races. After a slow start to the 2009 World of Outlaws season they are not worried about points, but rather adding more victories to the win column. The 2001 series champion was successful at this on Saturday night, as he dominated the A-Feature in the Eagle Nationals at Eagle Raceway in Nebraska, scoring the victory.
For Lasoski, it was his third of the season with the World of Outlaws and his second in the last three races. It was the 84th A-Feature triumph of his career the series, and he has now visited the winner’s circle at Eagle Raceway three times.
“It feels great to win here,” said Lasoski. “We’re getting better and better. Each race we continue to improve. We are getting our package where it needs to be. Paul Kistler has put in countless hours to get our engine program going and Barry Jackson (crew chief), Sumo and Sheldon my crew guys are working their tails off.”
Lasoski led from the drop of the green flag, with Sammy Swindell and Joey Saldana battling for the second position. Lasoski was in traffic by just the fourth lap of the 40-lap contest and found himself negotiating the slower machines for the majority of the race on the high-banked 1/3-mile aboard the Casey’s General Store JEI.
“The car was really good in traffic, but I was out of tear-offs when I got to the (No.) 22 car and he was running right where I wanted to be,” shared the winner. “Sometimes I just slowed down a little because I didn’t feel anyone pressuring me and I was out of tear-offs so I could only do what I could do.”
The only caution of the night flew on the 13th lap when three-time and defending series champion and current point leader Donny Schatz came to a stop on the front straightaway with engines troubles that ended his night. The remainder of the race would go non-stop with Lasoski pacing the field for the remainder.
“It was really surprising,” Lasoski stated of just the one caution. “I figured there would be more cautions that that. When you have the caliber of drivers that we have here, though it’s not surprising at the same time, especially when you are able to run wide open.”
Early in the race, Swindell and Saldana battled for the second spot, with the latter taking the position on the 10th go-around. He quickly gained ground on Lasoski and looked low entering the second turn on the 12th lap for the lead. Swindell had another opening, when he used the high side of turn two on the 24th lap and nearly inched ahead of Lasoski.
“I think we were maybe a touch quicker, but there just wasn’t any place to go,” said Swindell. “Our car was good right on the bottom and then when he (Danny Lasoski) moved down a little bit lower that kind of took the line away really. I tried to go up and it just wasn’t as quick.”
Swindell, who began the night by setting a new track record in time trials, wound up second in the Tom Rolfe Trucking Maxim as he continues to chase his first win of the 2009 season. The three-time series champion kept pace with Lasoski in lapped traffic and nearly took the top spot in the 20th lap when the pair split a lapped machine in turn one. Late in the race he was able to gain ground on the leader, but was held up by a couple of lapped cars, allowing Lasoski to open the gap just enough to pull away the last couple of laps.
“I was hoping we’d get a few breaks with the lapped cars,” he noted. “We got the one that we split, he went under it and I went around. It just didn’t exactly work out. Track position made a big difference tonight. We’re happy we were able to run with how our luck has been this past month or so. We have a good car the circumstances just haven’t showed it.”
Saldana, who ran second early in the race wound up third in the Budweiser Maxim. He closed in on Swindell late in the going, but was not able to get a run on him to make any moves to try and take the second spot.
“It was a pretty good night,” said Saldana. “We just couldn’t really get a handle on this track. It was pretty tight and we did the best we could. We got caught up with a lapped car and that cost me a spot and I rode around in third after that.”
Saldana tried to use a couple of different lines on a track that was very fast and tough to pass on due to the vast amount of rain it received in the days leading up to the race. For Saldana, who is second in the championship standings, he gained 22 points on Donny Schatz and now trails him by 44 markers.
“I moved to the top and kind of got back to him, but passing him is another story,” he shared. “I just couldn’t roll as good as those two could. They were both really good. We just struggled most of the night. It was just one of those nights.”
Craig Dollansky started eighth and wound up fourth in the DirecTV Maxim on Saturday night. The 2008 winner of the Eagle Nationals got around Jason Sides and Sam Hafertepe Jr. on the first lap to move into sixth. He then worked on Jac Haudenschild for a number of laps before moving into the Top-Five. He spent the whole second half of the race working on Lucas Wolfe and got him on the last lap to take the fourth spot.
“It seemed like our car was getting better as the race wore on,” said Dollansky. “I was trying to conserve my tear-offs, I was going through quite a few out there. I had a few more left at the end of the race than I thought I would have left. I would have liked to have seen it stay green. We didn’t need the caution at that point. We would have been pretty good if that thing would have gone green to checker.”
Wolfe wound up fifth in the Allebach Racing Maxim, with Sam Hafertepe Jr. in the G.H. Plumbing machine in sixth. Jac Haudenschild was seventh in the Owens-Corning Fiberglass Maxim, with Tim Kaeding eighth aboard the DTR Transport KPC. Jason Sides was ninth in the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim and Jason Meyers rounded out the Top-10 in the GLR Investments KPC.
The World of Outlaws return to action on Wednesday, July 8 at 34 Raceway in Burlington, Iowa.
EAGLE NATIONALS AT EAGLE RACEWAY NOTES
• FAST QUALIFIER: Sammy Swindell paced the 22 cars that took time with a record setting AMB i.t. timed lap around the high-banked 1/3-mile oval at 11.076 seconds at 108.234 mph. For his qualifying effort, Swindell earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Danny Lasoski (4), Jason Meyers (3), Sam Hafertepe Jr. (2), and Kraig Kinser (1).
• QUALIFYING WINNERS: Jac Haudenschild, Joey Saldana and Tim Kaeding won heat races. Danny Lasoski won the Crane Cams Dash.
• FEATURE WINNERS: There has been 33 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, Dodge City Raceway Park-twice and U.S. 36 Raceway), 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, Nodak Speedway and Eagle Raceway), Dale Blaney (Attica Raceway Park), Randy Hannagan (Thunderbowl Raceway), Greg Hodnett (Williams Grove Speedway), Tim Kaeding (Riverside International Speedway), Chad Kemenah (Manzanita Speedway), Steve Kinser (Tri-State Speedway) and Terry McCarl (Knoxville Raceway).
• 1/3-MILE WINNERS: Eagle Raceway is a high-banked 1/3-mile oval. The World of Outlaws have raced four times this season on a track that size. The winners include: Dale Blaney (Attica Raceway Park), Randy Hannagan (Thunderbowl Raceway), Danny Lasoski (Eagle Raceway) and Joey Saldana (Thunderbowl Raceway).
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Eagle Raceway; Eagle, NE; July, 4, 2009
Qualifying
- 10-Sammy Swindell 11.076
- 6-Danny Lasoski 11.214
- 14-Jason Meyers 11.289
- 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 11.375
- 20-Kraig Kinser 11.433
- 11-Steve Kinser 11.480
- R19-Jac Haudenschild 11.482
- 9-Joey Saldana 11.498
- 7S-Jason Sides 11.498
- 19-Craig Dollansky 11.501
- 5W-Lucas Wolfe 11.523
- 83-Tim Kaeding 11.550
- 3S-Stu Snyder 11.637
- 71R-Ryan Anderson 11.646
- 88-Mike Boston 11.677
- 22-Brian Ellenberger 11.688
- 15-Donny Schatz 11.725
- 4W-Matt Wasmund 12.000
- 27-Patrick Bourke 12.161
- 92J-JR Topper 12.224
- 21-Ryan Kitchen 12.154
- 57-Tige Jensen 12.295
Heat 1 (10 Laps)
- R19-Jac Haudenschild
- 19-Craig Dollansky
- 10-Sammy Swindell
- 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.
- 3S-Stu Snyder
- 22-Brian Ellenberger
- 27-Patrick Bourke
Heat 2 (10 Laps)
- 9-Joey Saldana
- 5W-Lucas Wolfe
- 6-Danny Lasoski
- 15-Donny Schatz
- 20-Kraig Kinser
- 71R-Ryan Anderson
- 92J-JR Topper
Heat 3 (10 Laps)
- 83-Tim Kaeding
- 7S-Jason Sides
- 11-Steve Kinser
- 88-Mike Boston
- 14-Jason Meyers
- 4W-Matt Wasmund
- 21-Ryan Kitchen
Crane Cams Dash (8 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature)
- 6-Danny Lasoski
- 9-Joey Saldana
- 10-Sammy Swindell
- 5W-Lucas Wolfe
- R19-Jac Haudenschild
- 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.
- 7S-Jason Sides
- 19-Craig Dollansky
- 83-Tim Kaeding
- 14-Jason Meyers
A-main (40 laps) - Starting Position [#]
- 6-Danny Lasoski[1] [$10,000]
- 10-Sammy Swindell[3] [$5,500]
- 9-Joey Saldana[2] [$3,200]
- 19-Craig Dollansky[8] [$2,800]
- 5W-Lucas Wolfe[4] [$2,500]
- 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[6] [$2,300]
- R19-Jac Haudenschild[5] [$2,200]
- 83-Tim Kaeding[9] [$2,100]
- 7S-Jason Sides[7] [$2,050]
- 14-Jason Meyers[10] [$2,000]
- 11-Steve Kinser[12] [$1,500]
- 3S-Stu Snyder[13] [$1,200]
- 20-Kraig Kinser[11] [$1,100]
- 22-Brian Ellenberger[16] [$1,050]
- 71R-Ryan Anderson[14] [$1,000]
- 27-Patrick Bourke[19] [$900]
- 4W-Matt Wasmund[18] [$800]
- 88-Mike Boston[15] [$800]
- 15-Donny Schatz[17] [$800]
- 21-Ryan Kitchen[21] [$800]
- 92J-JR Topper[20] [$800]
- 57-Tige Jensen[22] [$800]
Lap Leaders: Danny Lasoski 1-40
SuperClean Start of the Night Award: Craig Dollansky
Penske Power Position Award: Joey Saldana
KSE Hard Charger Award: Craig Dollansky
The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Crane Cams (Official Valvetrain), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), Fusion Energy Boost (Official Energy Boost), Quaker State (Official Motor Oil), SuperClean (Official Cleaner-Degreaser), VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel); in addition to contingency sponsors, Jake’s Custom Golf Carts, KSE Race Products, Penske Shocks, Racing Electronics, S&S Volvo; Engine Builder's Challenge participants Don Ott Racing Engines, Kistler Engines, Shaver Specialties and Speedway Engines; and Chassis Builder’s Challenge participants J&J Auto Racing, Maxim Racing and XXX Race Company.
Submitted By: Tony Veneziano
