Danny Lasoski: “I Was Babying The Tires Big Time at The End”

Danny Lasoski hasn’t won the most races with the World of Outlaws this season, but night in and night out he is one of the most consistent drivers and that consistency paid off to the tune of his third A-Feature win of the season on Thursday night in the series return to Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, Illinois.

For Lasoski, it was his 12th Top-10 finish in the last 13 races, a streak he began on May 12 at Lake Ozark Speedway in Missouri, a track owned by Kevin and Tammy Gundaker who also own Tri-City Speedway. His name will go in the record books as the first driver to win a sprint car race on the reconfigured 3/8-mile track, which used to be a sprawling half-mile.

“It’s pretty cool to win here at Tri-City with the new track, ” said Lasoski, after earning the $10,000 top prize. “It’s also great to win for JEI Chassis. This was our second night on this brand new car. I want to thank Barry Jackson for building this for us. We have been working to turn this team around, and so far so good. ”

Lasoski held off a hard charging Daryn Pittman at the line by 0.142 seconds, as the pair encountered heavy lapped traffic late in the race that closed the gap. In a race reminiscent to when Lasoski edged Donny Schatz at Grandview Speedway on May 23 in traffic, the pair exited the fourth turn neck-and-neck, and just inches apart, with Lasoski winning the drag race to the line.

Lasoski, who finished seventh in his last visit to Tri-City in 2005, had nothing but praise for the endless work that was put in during the off-season after the Gundaker’s purchased the facility. One of the biggest improvements was a new lighting system that illuminated the entire racing surface.

“You could see where you going out there, ” joked Lasoski. “When it was the half-mile you couldn’t see anything. I am excited to win here. Kevin (Gundaker) has done a great job with this race track. I am very proud right now. ”

The race began with pole sitter Jason Sides leading. Lasoski moved from fourth to second on the opening circuit, and began an exciting side-by-side battle with Sides, that lasted for a number of laps. Each lap Lasoski would dart to the lead in turns one and two on the low side of the track, with Sides regaining the point on the high side of the back straightaway and officially being scored the leader the line. Sides had a right rear tire going down that led to some incidental contact, after he led the first nine laps of the 35- lap race.

Lasoski inherited the lead on the restart on lap 10 and held off a number of attempts by Pittman and Donny Schatz to take the lead. He endured four cautions, including two while leading on a very hot and muggy night.

“It’s good to be in front on a night like tonight, ” explained the winner. “We just had to keep a little gap between us and the lapped cars. ”

With a couple of drivers losing tires over the course of the night, Lasoski was rightfully concerned about his right rear as the laps wound down. Late in the event, he got bottled up by a couple of lapped cars, allowing the Pittman and Schatz to gain some ground.

“I was babying the tires big time at the end, ” said Lasoski. “The guys behind me had everything to gain and I had everything to lose, so I was babying it. I want thank Dennis Roth for believing in us and Paul Kistler for building us great engines. My crew worked very hard, I can’t thank them enough. ”

After he and his crew built a brand new car this week, Pittman was fast right out of the box. He won the third heat and finished second in the Crane Cams Dash to earn the outside front row starting position in the 35-lap A-Feature. After having mechanical problems while leading at Kokomo (Ind. ) Speedway last week and then getting caught up in an accident not of his making at the Eagle Nationals last Saturday, Pittman was glad to see his luck turn around, after his first two DNF’s (Did not finish) of the season last week. His runner-up performance on Thursday night was his 11th Top-Five finish of the season.

“I hate to admit the fact that I am fairly happy to run second, because that is never our goal when we roll into any race track, but we are happy” said Pittman, driver of the Titan Garages Maxim. “We have been steady all year and we have been right there and ready to win if the conditions were right. ”

After losing a couple of position on the opening lap, Pittman had a spirited battle with Donny Schatz for the third spot. On the 19th lap he took the spot from the current series point leader and set his sights on Lasoski, as the trio entered heavy lapped traffic. With the laps winding down, Pittman was also careful to conserve his tires.

“I got really concerned about halfway and felt like I started slowing up, ” said Pittman. “I didn’t think I could pass Danny (Lasoski), because he wouldn’t make any mistakes in the rubber. We still almost got him at the line and we held on more than I thought we would. ”

Pittman also was thoroughly impressed with the improvements that had been made at Tri- City since the last time the series visited the track.

“It’s good to see a guy spend a lot of money on a race track, and this place definitely needed it, ” he said. “That is an absolutely beautiful race track. They are learning with every show. Hopefully the fans enjoyed it. ”

Donny Schatz finished third on Thursday night to earn his 28th Top-10 finish in the 31 events that have been run this season, as he continues to lead the championship standings as he chases his second straight series crown. After lining up sixth for the A-Feature, he gained three positions on the opening lap. On the ninth lap he got around Pittman for the second spot and in traffic began to reel in Lasoski.

“We had the car to beat if the track would not have laid rubber, ” said Schatz, driver of the ParkerStore J&J. “It was a little bit hard to drive once it laid rubber, but everybody has that problem. You can’t the car to turn and you really can’t move it around. We’re glad to get a good finish and move on to the next one. ”

Schatz had a couple of close calls on the night, and while he was disappointed he was not in the winner’s circle, he was glad that he brought the car home in one piece, to head to Knoxville Raceway on Saturday, where he has won three straight races dating back to the Knoxville Nationals last August.

“There were a couple of times tonight we could have cut a tire down and I am glad we didn’t, ” he stated, “You have to save your tires on a deal like that, I was saving mine from lap one. I’m glad it made it all the way. ”

Jason Meyers, who won at Tri-City in the series last visit to the track in 2005, had a very consistent night finishing in the fourth spot. He began the night by turning the second fastest lap in time trials.

“I am very proud of the team lately, ” said Meyers, driver of the Primerica Financial Maxim. “They have been doing a great job. We have been searching a little bit here lately and we keep running in the Top-Five. We can’t complain about that. ”

Jason Solwold was fifth in the City Wide Insulation Maxim. The native of Mt. Vernon, Washington earned a spot in the Crane Cams Dash which earned him a starting position on the inside of the second row in the A-Feature.

Paul McMahan was sixth in the Bass Pro Shops Eagle. Jac Haudenschild earned the KSE Race Products Hard Charger Award after lining up 22nd and finishing seventh in the Wright One Construction Maxim. Brooke Tatnell was eighth in the Volcano Joe’s Coffee Schnee. Craig Dollansky was ninth in the Karavan Trailers Maxim. Joey Saldana recovered from some early trouble that sent him to the work area, to finish 10th in the Open Joist Mopar-powered JEI.

Zach Chappell began the night by shattering the existing track record by over 2.5 seconds, as he earned his second fast time honor of the season in time trials. All 36 drivers that took time broke the track record, which was established by reigning UMP DIRTcar Late Model National Champion Randy Korte on opening night at the track.

The World of Outlaws return to action on Saturday, June 16 at Knoxville Raceway, for the first event of the “SuperClean Summer of Money” to be broadcast on ESPN2.