7/12/2009
Sprint Source
Four Score: Lasoski Wins at Charter Raceway Park
Beaver Dam, WI— July 11, 2009—Danny Lasoski has won at countless tracks from coast-to-coast with the World of Outlaws in his career, but one track missing from that list was Charter Raceway Park in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. That all changed on Saturday night, as the 2001 World of Outlaws champion took the $10,000 victory at the high-banked 1/3-mile over Joey Saldana with a very large crowd in attendance.
For Lasoski, it was his seventh career win in the state of Wisconsin and the 85th of his World of Outlaws career. He led the race early after battling Saldana tooth and nail. He was then running second on the 20th lap when Donny Schatz who was leading stopped on the track with a broken rear end, handing the lead back to him. He would pace the field the rest of the way to pick up his fourth win of the 2009 season.
“It feels really good,” said Lasoski. “This goes to my crew. They have worked endless hours to make this thing better. We didn’t qualify that well and weren’t that good in the heat race and they continued to work on it. I’m just lucky I get to drive this thing.”
Lasoski led at the drop of the green in the Casey’s General Store JEI, though the caution flew on the opening circuit, leading to a complete restart. Lasoski led again on the second green with Joey Saldana quickly moving into second and battling Lasoski down the back straightaway and taking the lead heading into turn three. The pair continued to battle for the first five laps of the event, with Saldana leading each of those.
Lasoski dove under Saldana exiting turns three and four on the sixth lap to take the lead, with Saldana immediately battling back and retaking the top spot in turn two on the next lap. On the eighth lap, Lasoski retook the lead on the back straightaway from Saldana.
At the same time, Donny Schatz had charged from the 12 starting spot into the Top-Five. He gained six spots on the opening two laps.
Lasoski continued to lead when a red flag flew on the ninth lap after Sammy Swindell tipped over after contact with Jason Meyers while battling for the fourth spot. The restart saw Lasoski and Saldana resume their battle and within a few laps were back in traffic.
Lasoski pulled away a bit as Saldana had his hands full with Schatz who had got around Steve Kinser for third. On the 18th lap, Schatz split two lapped cars as he tracked down Lasoski. The next go-around saw him use a lapped car as a pick coming off turn four and taking the lead from Lasoski. That lead was short lived as a caution flew on the next lap and during the caution, Schatz came to a stop in turn one with a broken rear end putting an end to his night. He would wind up 20th.
“I got by Joey (Saldana) and I got into lapped cars and I boiled the brakes and had I had no brakes and (Donny) Schatz got by me,” explained Lasoski. “I thought, how am I ever going to get by the (No.) 15 and I don’t know what happened to him, but he showed me there was middle there. Sometimes it’s better to be running second. He was the guy to beat tonight.”
The second half of the race saw Lasoski continue to lead, mainly using the low side of the track, with Saldana up top. Just five laps after the lap-21 restart, the lead pair was back in traffic, with Lasoski maintaining his advantage. Around the 30th lap he extended his lead a bit on Saldana as they continue to negotiate the slower machines.
With five laps to go, Lasoski was held up a bit in traffic, allowing Saldana to gain some ground. He cleared a couple of lapped cars with two laps remaining to have a clear shot at Lasoski, but could not close in enough to get a run on him in the final two circuits.
For Lasoski, it was his second win of the season with his car owner Lonnie Parsons in attendance. He also won at Nodak Speedway a couple of weeks ago with the longtime sprint car owner and ambassador on hand.
“It’s pretty nice to have my car owner here tonight,” Lasoski said. “He told me over the winter that he was thinking of retiring and I called him and begged him for the ride. He and Don (Lamberti) let me have it and I thank God they did.”
Saldana wound up second after leading the first five laps of the event and battling Lasoski for most of the race. Coupled with Schatz’s bad luck, he gained 35 points in the World of Outlaws championship standings and now is just five points out of the lead aboard the Budweiser Maxim.
“We were pretty decent, I just couldn’t roll the bottom like those guys could,” said Saldana. “I either needed more gear or something. We made it close at the end.”
Saldana kept pace with Lasoski most of the race as the pair worked their way through the heavy traffic on the high-banked bullring. He continually used the extreme high side of the track, especially coming out of turn four as he looked to use that momentum to gain ground on the leader.
“Traffic helped me get him back, but everything I gained in (turns) one and two, I would lose in the three and four,” he noted. “I was just trying to get a good run on him and get in front of him. I didn’t quite have a good enough car tonight, but it was a good solid finish for us.”
Steve Kinser, who was victorious at Charter Raceway Park last season, wound up third in the Quaker State Maxim, after starting on the front row. He battled early in the race for the second spot and then had his hands full with Lucas Wolfe for a number of laps in the middle portion of the race, before settling into the third spot.
“We couldn’t get started on the top and got into third right off the bat,” Kinser said. “I was a little too tight and was fighting the top. I couldn’t run the bottom. I would get down there and plow the front end. We were a little better than we have been the last few nights, so we’ll keep working on it and try to get to the front.”
Craig Dollansky wound up fourth in the DirecTV Maxim, with Lucas Wolfe rounding out the Top-Five in the Allebach Racing Maxim. Jason Meyers was sixth in the GLR Investments KPC, with Jac Haudenschild seventh aboard the Owens-Corning Fiberglass Maxim. Jason Sides was eighth piloting the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim, with Brian Ellenberger ninth in the Ti-22 Performance J&J. Kraig Kinser rounded out the Top-10 in the Bass Pro Shops Maxim.
The World of Outlaws return to action on Sunday, July 12 at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wisconsin.
CHARTER RACEWAY PARK NOTES
• FAST QUALIFIER: Lucas Wolfe paced the 34 cars that took time with an AMB i.t. timed lap around the high-banked 1/3-mile oval at 12.120 seconds at 98.911 mph. For his qualifying effort, Wolfe earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Sammy Swindell (4), Jason Meyers (3), Sam Hafertepe Jr. (2), and Donny Schatz (1).
• QUALIFYING WINNERS: Steve Kinser, Joey Saldana, Craig Dollansky and Kraig Kinser won heat races. Bill Balog won the B-Main. Danny Lasoski won the Crane Cams Dash.
• FEATURE WINNERS: There has been 35 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, U.S. 36 Raceway and 34 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), Danny Lasoski (Delaware International Speedway, Nodak Speedway, Eagle Raceway and Charter Raceway Park), Jason Meyers (Silver Dollar Speedway, Paducah International Raceway, I-96 Speedway and Red River Valley Speedway), 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: Charter Raceway Park is a high-banked 1/3-mile. The World of Outlaws have raced five times this season on a track that size. The winners include: Danny Lasoski (Eagle Raceway and Charter Raceway Park), Dale Blaney (Attica Raceway Park), Randy Hannagan (Thunderbowl Raceway), and Joey Saldana (Thunderbowl Raceway).
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Charter Raceway Park; Beaver Dam, WI; July, 11, 2009
Qualifying
5W-Lucas Wolfe 12.120
10-Sammy Swindell 12.212
14-Jason Meyers 12.348
15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 12.352
15-Donny Schatz 12.373
9-Joey Saldana 12.385
7S-Jason Sides 12.434
20-Kraig Kinser 12.479
11-Steve Kinser 12.487
R19-Jac Haudenschild 12.501
19-Craig Dollansky 12.527
2B-Billy Hafemann 12.565
6-Danny Lasoski 12.572
92-Daron Clayton 12.629
22-Brian Ellenberger 12.707
21J-John Haeni 12.717
97-Todd King 12.743
83D-Tommy Sexton 12.750
17B-Bill Balog 12.760
4K-Kris Spitz 12.826
2W-Scotty Neitzel 12.837
10V-Kurt Winker 12.888
O2-Mike Reinke 12.974
1HRP-Todd Hepfner 13.050
24M-Adam Miller 13.272
14AJ-Brad Kuhn 13.274
8A-Nick Alden 13.299
95-Bill Warren 13.329
36-Todd Daun 13.402
3K-Scott Uttech 13.607
52B-Craig Lager 13.775
94-Brandon Thone 14.397
2BX-Jimmy Sivia 14.745
14V-Daniel Vandervere 17.905
Heat 1 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
11-Steve Kinser
6-Danny Lasoski
5W-Lucas Wolfe
15-Donny Schatz
2W-Scotty Neitzel
97-Todd King
36-Todd Daun
24M-Adam Miller
14V-Daniel Vandervere
Heat 2 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
9-Joey Saldana
10-Sammy Swindell
83D-Tommy Sexton
R19-Jac Haudenschild
10V-Kurt Winker
14AJ-Brad Kuhn
52B-Craig Lager
92-Daron Clayton
Heat 3 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
19-Craig Dollansky
7S-Jason Sides
14-Jason Meyers
22-Brian Ellenberger
O2-Mike Reinke
17B-Bill Balog
8A-Nick Alden
94-Brandon Thone
Heat 4 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
20-Kraig Kinser
21J-John Haeni
15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.
1HRP-Todd Hepfner
4K-Kris Spitz
95-Bill Warren
2B-Billy Hafemann
2BX-Jimmy Sivia
Crane Cams Dash (8 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature)
6-Danny Lasoski
11-Steve Kinser
9-Joey Saldana
7S-Jason Sides
19-Craig Dollansky
14-Jason Meyers
10-Sammy Swindell
20-Kraig Kinser
5W-Lucas Wolfe
21J-John Haeni
B-main (12 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
17B-Bill Balog
97-Todd King
92-Daron Clayton
14AJ-Brad Kuhn
24M-Adam Miller [$200]
95-Bill Warren [$180]
8A-Nick Alden [$175]
52B-Craig Lager [$160]
94-Brandon Thone [$150]
14V-Daniel Vandervere [$150]
36-Todd Daun [$150]
2BX-Jimmy Sivia [$150]
2B-Billy Hafemann [$150]
3K-Scott Uttech [$150]
A-main (40 laps) - Starting Position [#]
6-Danny Lasoski[1] [$10,000]
9-Joey Saldana[3] [$5,500]
11-Steve Kinser[2] [$3,200]
19-Craig Dollansky[5] [$2,800]
5W-Lucas Wolfe[9] [$2,500]
14-Jason Meyers[6] [$2,300]
R19-Jac Haudenschild[13] [$2,200]
7S-Jason Sides[4] [$2,100]
22-Brian Ellenberger[15] [$2,050]
20-Kraig Kinser[8] [$2,000]
15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[11] [$1,500]
14AJ-Brad Kuhn[24] [$1,200]
97-Todd King[16] [$1,100]
17B-Bill Balog[18] [$1,050]
83D-Tommy Sexton[17] [$1,000]
4K-Kris Spitz[19] [$900]
10V-Kurt Winker[21] [$800]
92-Daron Clayton[14] [$800]
21J-John Haeni[10] [$800]
15-Donny Schatz[12] [$800]
2W-Scotty Neitzel[20] [$800]
10-Sammy Swindell[7] [$800]
1HRP-Todd Hepfner[23] [$800]
O2-Mike Reinke[22] [$800]
Lap Leaders: Joey Saldana 1-5, 7; Danny Lasoski 6, 8-18, 20-40; Donny Schatz 19
Penske Power Position Award: Steve Kinser
SuperClean Start of the Night Award: Donny Schatz
KSE Hard Charger Award: Brad Kuhn
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
