Inside Line Promotions
– KNOXVILLE, Iowa (Aug. 16) – It was easily one of the most frustrating and disappointing weekends for Danny Lasoski.
With expectations soaring, the veteran from Dover, Mo., entered last weekend’s 51st annual Knoxville Nationals as a favorite. Two damaged engines later, Lasoski finished in the D Main.
“Just one of the worst weeks of my racing career,” he said. “We definitely went in there with high expectations, high hopes and a lot of confidence. It doesn’t take long to have that blown out. It’s really hard to get to the top and really easy to fall off the edge.”
Lasoski, the winningest driver at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa, and the current 410 points leader at the famed ½-mile dirt oval, entered the weekend with four Knoxville Nationals championships. However, Lasoski noticed an engine issue after the hot-lap session during his qualifying night last Thursday.
“We knew something was wrong,” he said. “We didn’t have time to change it. Something internally happened.”
Lasoski qualified 26th and he lined up third in his heat race after making the invert. He maintained that position until a restart with a couple of laps remaining. When the field bunched up and took off under green, Lasoski didn’t have the same power and two cars passed him in the closing laps. Lasoski missed automatically advancing to the feature by only one position.
Because many of the top qualifiers didn’t advance to the feature through their heat races, Lasoski was relegated to start 15th in the B Main. He finished 11th with the struggling engine, which dramatically worsened as the race went on.
The team swapped engines for Friday night, when Lasoski had to run a non-qualifying semi-feature. He drove from ninth to fourth to advance to the feature, which would determine the starting lineups from the middle of Saturday’s C Main on back.
Lasoski started seventh and was competing in the top 10 for the first half of the race until his second engine of the weekend expired midway through the feature. He finished 22nd, which lined him up 12th in the D Main on Saturday.
“The bottom line is that parts break,” Lasoski said. “It’s nothing that Paul could have done. I wouldn’t have any other engine builder.”
The shining moment of the night came after that race, when the team changed cars for the Race of Champions – a feature made up of former Knoxville Nationals winners and various “big” event champions. A “revenge” draw – where the drivers picked an envelope and gave that number to another driver for their starting position – saw Lasoski be given the 15th spot by Kraig Kinser. Lasoski finished 10th in the race.
He then drove from 12th to fifth in the D Main on Saturday and missed a transfer by three positions to wrap up the weekend.
“That was frustrating to say the least,” Lasoski said.
QUICK RESULTS –
Aug. 11 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – Qualifying: 26; Heat race: 5 (3); B Main: 11 (15).
Aug. 12 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – Semi-feature: 4 (9); Feature: 22 (7); Race of Champions: 10 (15).
Aug. 13 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – D Main: 5 (12).
SEASON STATS –
43 races, 40 features, 8 wins, 26 top fives, 32 top 10s, 35 top 15s, 37 top 20s
FAVORITE NUMBER –
10: Lasoski’s finish in the inaugural Race of Champions last Friday, featuring various track champions and past Knoxville Nationals winners.
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS –
Website: www.dannylasoski.com
ON THE AIR –
Lasoski was a featured guest on the ASCS Show by Racinboys on April 12. Click on the link below to listen to Lasoski’s interview, which begins around the 22-minute mark.
http://www.meridix.com/mbp/general/index.php?liveid=Racinboys&recordid=18548
Here is video of Lasoski’s 96th career feature victory at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa, on July 16:
Here are a couple of highlight videos of Lasoski’s win at the inaugural event for the Midwest Open Wheel Association – on April 23 at 34 Raceway in Burlington, Iowa.
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – The Michael Ross Foundation
The Michael Ross Foundation is operated by Tony and Kathy Ross, longtime friends of Lasoski. The Foundation was established in honor of the Ross’ son, Michael, who passed away in 1990 at age 5 from a rare genetic disorder known as Tay-Sachs disease. For more information, visit www.michaelrossfoundation.com.
“Tony Ross is more of my family,” Lasoski said. “He made it possible through Ditzfeld Transfer to get a truck to get me up and down the road. Tony has stuck with me and has been a part of my racing the past 20 years.”
Lasoski would also like to thank Creason Pipeline Services, Eagle Motorsports, Hoosier, Wertz Designs, Kistler Engines and Ditzfeld Transfer, Inc. for their continued support.