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June 7, 2000 Results

A Dude and a Young Lady Win at Open Wheel Wednesday Tony Stewart Blows Right Rear Tire While Leading Midget Feature Pevely, Mo. (June 7) -- Danny "The Dude" Lasoski won the winged sprint car feature at I-55 Raceway in the fifth version of the track's annual "Open Wheel Wednesday" event. Tony Stewart, who won the NASCAR Winston Cup race just four days earlier, led 21 laps of the 25-lap companion MARA Midget feature before his right rear tire blew. That turned the race-long, second-place battle between Sarah McCune and Steve Knepper into a four-lap dash for the victory. McCune held off Knepper, one of the country's best midget drivers, to become the first woman to win a main event on the oval at I-55 Raceway since the track opened in 1977. The 22-year-old, who lives in Toledo, Ohio, was greeted by a standing ovation from the big audience attending the race as she climbed from her car on the front straight. She signed a number of autographs for young girls who flocked to her car after the race. Lasoski drove Tony Stewart's Home Depot sprint car at I-55 Wednesday and finished second in his heat to Danny Smith. The other sprint heats were won by Bobby Hawks, Terry McCarl, Steve Short and Jim Moughan. Blake Feese won the semi for the sprints. Craig Kinser spun during the race, but executed a 360-degree loop and kept going without causing a yellow. He did not transfer to the feature. Lasoski started on the outside of the front row in the feature and jumped into the lead in the first turn. He pulled from the field on the start and the next two restarts, but was caught in lapped traffic on lap 19 by Danny Smith. Smith hounded Lasoski as the two weaved through lapped cars, but coasted to a stop on the 22nd lap when his right rear tire shredded. Lasoski easily stayed in front on the restart and led the final three laps. Tim Montgomery and Moughan were second and third. Tony Stewart signed autographs before the show with fellow NASCAR driver Ken Schrader, co-promoter of I-55 Raceway. After the session was over, Schrader rushed Stewart to the pit area in a golf cart so he could hot-lap a sprint car and midget, two rides he had lined up for the event. Stewart finished third, behind Lasoski, in his sprint car heat before relinquishing that ride. Stewart then won one of the four midget heats. Steve Knepper, A.J. Fike and Critter Malone won the other heats. McCune finished second in her heat. Fike won the midget dash as Stewart finished fourth. Stewart drew the second starting spot for the feature and repeatedly moved away from the field in a 25-lap race slowed by four yellows. A red flag came out when Mike Hess, trying to dive under Stewart for the lead on lap two, got sideways, tumbled high in the air and landed hard and upside down in the third turn of the 3/8-mile Pevely oval. The car was shortened considerably, and one if its front wheels continued came to rest in the middle of the front straight. Hess was sore but walked from the wreckage. As Stewart cruised in front of the field, McCune and Knepper exchanged the second spot a couple of times. As the laps wound down, Knepper ran inches from the back of McCune's car but appeared to be running the same line in the turns as she was and could not pass. Stewart's hot pace finally took its toll on his right rear tire, which popped as he rode the cushion in turn four on what would have been lap 22. After his car was towed from the track, McCune held off Knepper to win the feature. What was on McCune's mind as she coasted around the track waiting for the green to fly for those last four laps? "All I was thinking was ?keep it straight!'" she said. Dude Donates Prize Money in honor of "Awesome" Following his victory, Lasoski signed his $2,000 first-place check over to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in memory of Steve "Awesome" Bradley, who died two years ago. Bradley was befriended by Schrader and Lasoski years ago. Unable to work due to the complications of CF, he spent much of his life traveling to races with the two as a crew member when his health permitted. The two had team uniforms made for Bradley, and at least one carried his nickname, "Awesome" embroidered over the pocket. Bradley was buried with a die-cast model of a Lasoski sprint car. Stewart Thanks Track for Letting Him Have Fun When Stewart was interviewed over the track public address system at intermission, he was thanked for spending his evening at I-55 Raceway. "I should thank you for having me here," he said. "I'm having the time of my life. I don't get to do this very often." Sprint Car Rides with Schrader Schrader arranged to have Jack Hewitt's two-seat sprint car brought to the track. A lucky fan went for a ride with Schrader, as did two fans who bid for the rides on two St. Louis radio stations. The auctioned rides netted more than $2,600 for the Children's Miracle Network of Greater St. Louis and St. Jude's Children's Hospital. Former Champions Recognized Two of I-55 Raceway's first champions, sprint car drivers Gene "Tubby" Black and Ronnie Milton, sat beside Schrader and Stewart and signed copies of a commemorative autograph card. Sprint cars were the featured class when the I-55 Raceway oval opened in 1977. A drag strip that operated at the site previously was destroyed during the great Mississippi River flood in 1993.     M.A.R.A. Midgets Heat 1: 1.        55 Steve Knepper 2.        72 Jeff Flesher 3.        44 Phil Heavelow 4.        31 Donnie Lehmann   Heat 2: 1.        32 A.J. Fike 2.        30 Craig Carey 3.        40 Bruce Donaldson 4.        131 Aaron Fike Heat 3: 1.        17 Tony Stewart 2.        V4 Mike Hess 3.        66 Tony Beaber 4.        47 Dave Camfield, Jr. Heat 4: 1.  7 Critter Malone 2.  58 Sarah McCune 3.  17 Clay Klepper 4.  17D Marc Debeaumont Dash: 1.        32 A. J. Fike 2.        55 Steve Knepper 3.        72 Jeff Flesher 4.        17 Tony Stewart Semi #1: 43 Chad Davenport 22 Steve Apline 87 Rich Camfield 46 Michael Cox 01 Greg Fuechert 27 Jack Gerber 3 Roger Brannon 27 Jon Foster Semi #2: 1.        45 Tim Snider 2.        15 Jim Snider 3.        17 Bill Schemonia 4.        94 Dave Camfield, Sr. 5.        03 Allen 6.        7 Warrell 7.        7T Tosti 8.        77 Harty 9.        05 Zembelmen Feature: 58 Sarah McCune 55 Steve Knepper 17D Marc Debeaumont 131 Aaron Fike 72 Jeff Flesher 66 Tony Beaber 4D Bruce Donaldson 17 Clay Klepper 45 Tim Snider 31 Donnie Lehmann 15 Jim Snider 22 Steve Apline 44 Phil Heavelow 30 Craig Carey 17 Tony Stewart 7 Critter Malone 47 Dave Camfield, Jr. 43 Chad Davenport 32 A.J. Fike V4 Mike Hess   Sprints Heat 1: 1. 5H Bobby Hawks 2. 9 Shawn King 3. C21 Joey Montgomery 4. 14R Todd Rowland Heat 2: 1. 24 Terry McCarl 2. 2S Terry Babb 3. 32 Tim Montgomery 4. 51J Ryan Jamison Heat 3: 1. 4 Danny Smith 2. 20 Danny Lasoski 3. 7B Tony Stewart 4. 71M Paul May Heat 4: 1. 8 Steve Short 2. 29 Rod Crabdree 3. 7C Bob Thoman 4. 1C Rodney Combs Heat 5: 1. 1M Jim Moughan 2. 21 Bob Burke 3. 12 J.C. Sulawske 4. 34 Joe Hauck   Semi: 1. 1F Blake Feese 2. 29 Bud Kaeding 3. 3 Dean Adams 4. 20 Danny Long 5. Z34 Steve Zelch, Jr. 6. 11K Craig Kinser 7. 24B Keith Burch 8. 95D Lee Dunn 9. 97.7 Tommy Worley 10. 95R Tommy Rockwell 11. 14 Jeff Masson 12. 3 Andy Holden 13. 86 Wayne Barnes 14. 33 Billy Smith 15. 223 Lancy Gullo   Other Cars Present 29L Eddie Lynch 007 Josh Revelle Feature: 1. 20 Danny Lasoski 2. 32 Tim Montgomery 3. 1M Jim Moughan 4. 24M Terry McCarl 5. 1F Blake Feese 6. 51J Ryan Jamison 7. 29C Rod Crabdree 8. 21C Joey Montgomery 9. 12 J.C. Sulawske 10. 9 Shawn King 11. 29B Bud Kaeding 12. 4 Danny Smith 13. 7C Bob Thoman 14. 21B Bob Burke 15. 71M Paul May 16. 20 Danny Long 17. 1C Randy Combs 18. 2S Terry Babb 19. 8 Steve Short 20. 34 Joe Hauck 21. 3 Dean Adams 22. 7B Paul Patterson 23. 5H Bobby Hawks 24. 14 Todd Rowland      

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