Somerton, AZ — (January 8, 2016) — Shane Stewart became the first back-to-back feature winner in Winter Heat Sprint Car Showdown history on Friday at Cocopah Speedway.
Stewart passed defending event champion Danny Lasoski for the lead in turns three and four with five laps remaining to claim the $12,000 top prize as well as the lead in the championship standings heading into Saturday’s event finale, which is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. (Mountain).
“I told myself to be patient getting into (turn) three because that was where I was going to pass him,” said Stewart, who has earned three straight top-two finishes at the marquee event. “He was a little bit better than I was in (turns) one and two. I just needed him to get bottled up behind a lapped car, which is kind of what happened. We were able to get a good run going into (turn) three and get by him coming off of (turn) four.”
The 30-lap feature began with a caution on the opening lap for D.J. Netto, who broke a front end and spun into the infield. Lasoski, who garnered the pole position after earning the most combined points during heat race and qualifier competition, rocketed into the lead on the complete restart and he built a sizeable advantage by the time he entered traffic on Lap 8.
Stewart powered into fourth place on that lap and into third on Lap 12. He drove into the runner-up position on Lap 13 and began to chase Lasoski, who owned nearly a straightaway advantage. While Lasoski and most of the drivers favored the bottom lane, Stewart hustled to the top groove and reeled in Lasoski, who struggled for several circuits to lap Tasker Phillips.
Lasoski and Stewart were nose to tail on Lap 19, but it took several laps for Stewart’s lane to propel him into the top spot. With five laps remaining Stewart made the race-winning pass by driving around Lasoski in turns three and four.
“We plain and simple got beat,” Lasoski said. “That No. 2 car has been rolling all week and they just caught me in lapped traffic. I couldn’t get by a lapped car and he did what he had to do. He drove by me.”
The final caution came with four laps remaining as Bud Kaeding, who was running 10th, stopped in turn three. Stewart got a clean restart and cruised to his second triumph in the past three nights.
“We have a great race car,” he said. “We’ve got a great team. It’s just a pleasure to drive this thing. You just can’t ever count us out. For us to pass the teams that we did and the drivers that we did and pick up another win is really special for me, special for my guys and makes all their hard work worth all the effort.”
Dale Blaney, who ranks second in the event standings – 18 points behind Stewart – rounded out the podium after maneuvering from fifth to third place on the frontstretch with 10 laps remaining.
“You could move around a little bit,” he said. “I looked up and there set Shane and there set Danny right in front of me. We were pretty good. We weren’t balanced the best. To come out of here with a third is awesome.”
Brian Brown posted a fourth-place result with Greg Hodnett ending fifth.
Chirstopher Bell, Daryn Pittman, Ryan Smith, Joey Saldana and Paul McMahan rounded out the top 10, respectively.
Danny Wood, Bell, Smith, Pittman and Lasoski each won a heat race with Saldana, Terry McCarl, Tanner Thorson, Kaeding and Logan Schuchart each capturing a qualifier. Aaron Reutzel and Rico Abreu claimed the B Mains.
NOTES : Shane Stewart was awarded a $250 gift card from SpeedMart and a $75 certificate from TiLUBE Motorsport Lubricants for being the Hard Charger Award winner. … Parker Price-Miller received $150 from Ron’s Lawn Service in Sharpsville, Pa., for being the first non-qualifier in the first B Main. … Craig Dollansky and Logan Forler captured $100 each from Carlile Transportation Heavy Haul Division in Anchorage, Alaska, for placing sixth in a B Main. … Henry Van Dam earned a $50 certificate from TiLUBE Motorsport Lubricants for being the first non-qualifier in the second B Main.
JAN. 8 RESULTS –
Heat Race 1 (8 laps): 1. 81w-Danny Wood (2); 2. 7t-Tasker Phillips (1); 3. 7-Paul McMahan (5); 4. 18-Jason Solwold (6); 5. 49-Tanner Thorson (3); 6. 41s-Dominic Scelzi (8); 7. 17a-Austin McCarl (7); 8. 99-Skylar Gee (9); 9. 4-Kasey Kahne (DQ).
Heat Race 2 (8 laps): 1. 1g-Christopher Bell (3); 2. 33v-Henry Van Dam (4); 3. 1a-Jacob Allen (6); 4. 21-Robbie Price (2): 5. 55t-Trey Starks (7); 6. 26-Bud Kaeding (8); 7. 1m-Jim Moughan Jr. (5); 8. 68-Chase Johnson (9); 9. 15h-Sam Hafertepe Jr. (1).
Heat Race 3 (8 laps): 1. 9-Ryan Smith (1); 2. 21b-Brian Brown (5); 3. 24-Rico Abreu (4); 4. 1b-Dale Blaney (9); 5. 11c-Roger Crockett (8); 6. 2l-Logan Forler (6); 7. 2c-Wayne Johnson (7); 8. 45x-Johnny Herrera (2); 9. 11-Steve Kinser (DNS).
Heat Race 4 (8 laps): 1. 9k-Daryn Pittman (2); 2. 121-Greg Hodnett (3); 3. 2-Shane Stewart (5); 4. 17b-Bill Balog (1); 5. 24-Terry McCarl (4); 6. 83-Joey Saldana (9); 7. 88n-D.J. Netto (7); 8. 4s-Michael Kofoid (6); 9. 41-Jason Johnson (8).
Heat Race 5 (8 laps): 1. 33-Danny Lasoski (3); 2. 5h-Willie Croft (2); 3. 55-Aaron Reutzel (4); 4. 17w-Bryan Clauson (5); 5. 97-Parker Price-Miller (1); 6. 1s-Logan Schuchart (8); 7. 3c-Craig Dollansky (7); 8. 6g-Bryan Gossel (6).
Qualifier 1 (10 laps): 1. 83-Joey Saldana (2); 2. 7-Paul McMahan (4); 3. 1b-Dale Blaney (5); 4. 17b-Bill Balog (1); 5. 55-Aaron Reutzel (3); 6. 1g-Christopher Bell (6); 7. 17a-Austin McCarl (7); 8. 68-Chase Johnson (8); 9. 45x-Johnny Herrera (DNS).
Qualifier 2 (10 laps): 1. 24-Terry McCarl (1); 2. 2-Shane Stewart (4); 3. 33-Danny Lasoski (6); 4. 21-Robbie Price (2); 5. 2c-Wayne Johnson (7); 6. 4-Kasey Kahne (9); 7. 1m-Jim Moughan Jr. (8); 8. 33v-Henry Van Dam (5); 9. 18-Jason Solwold (3).
Qualifier 3 (10 laps): 1. 49-Tanner Thorson (1); 2. 11c-Roger Crockett (3); 3. 21b-Brian Brown (6); 4. 5h-Willie Croft (4); 5. 88n-D.J. Netto (7); 6. 4s-Michael Kofoid (8); 7. 1a-Jacob Allen (5); 8. 11-Steve Kinser (9); 9. 41s-Dominic Scelzi (2).
Qualifier 4 (10 laps): 1. 26-Bud Kaeding (2); 2. 9-Ryan Smith (5); 3. 97-Parker Price-Miller (1); 4. 17w-Bryan Clauson (3); 5. 3c-Craig Dollansky (7); 6. 7t-Tasker Phillips (4); 7. 6g-Bryan Gossel (8); 8. 81w-Danny Wood (DNS). 9. 15h-Sam Hafertepe Jr. (DNS).
Qualifier 5 (10 laps): 1. 1s-Logan Schuchart (2); 2. 121-Greg Hodnett (5); 3. 2l-Logan Forler (1); 4. 55t-Trey Starks (3); 5. 9k-Daryn Pittman (6); 6. 24r-Rico Abreu (4); 7. 41-Jason Johnson (8); 8. 99-Skylar Gee (7).
B Main 1 (15 laps/4 transfer): 1. 55-Aaron Reutzel (1); 2. 7t-Tasker Phillips (3); 3. 55t-Trey Starks (2); 4. 21-Robbie Price (4); 5. 97-Parker Price-Miller (5); 6. 3c-Craig Dollansky (7); 7. 2c-Wayne Johnson (6); 8. 41-Jason Johnson (12); 9. 68-Chase Johnson (9); 10. 4-Kasey Kahne (10); 11. 41s-Dominic Scelzi (11); 12. 11-Steve Kinser (13); 13. 18-Jason Solwold (DNS).
B Main 2 (15 laps/4 transfer): 1. 24r-Rico Abreu (3); 2. 1a-Jacob Allen (2); 3. 17w-Bryan Clauson (1); 4. 88n-D.J. Netto (6); 5. 33v-Henry Van Dam (4); 6. 2l-Logan Forler (5); 7. 17a-Austin McCarl (7); 8. 4s-Michael Kofoid (8); 9. 99-Skylar Gee (11); 10. 1m-Jim Moughan Jr. (9); 11. 17b-Bill Balog (DNS); 12. 6g-Bryan Gossel (DNS); 13. 15h-Sam Hafertepe Jr. (DNS).
A Main (30 laps): 1. 2-Shane Stewart (7); 2. 33-Danny Lasoski (1); 3. 1b-Dale Blaney (5); 4. 21b-Brian Brown (2); 5. 121-Greg Hodnett (4); 6. 1g-Christopher Bell (8); 7. 9k-Daryn Pittman (11); 8. 9-Ryan Smith (3); 9. 83-Joey Saldana (9); 10. 7-Paul McMahan (6); 11. 49-Tanner Thorson (16); 12. 24-Terry McCarl (15); 13. 11c-Roger Crockett (10); 14. 1s-Logan Schuchart (11); 15. 5h-Willie Croft (14); 16. 17w-Bryan Clauson (22); 17. 24r-Rico Abreu (18); 18. 55t-Trey Starks (21); 19. 7t-Tasker Phillips (19); 20. 21-Robbie Price (23); 21. 55-Aaron Reutzel (17); 22. 26-Bud Kaeding (12); 23. 1a-Jacob Allen (20); 24. 88n-D.J. Netto (24).
(Top 30 in passing and finishing points in the heat races were inverted in the qualifiers. The top 16 in passing and finishing points following the qualifiers locked into the A Main.)
UNOFFICIAL POINTS AFTER NIGHT 4 –
.1. 2-Shane Stewart 747; 2. 1b-Dale Blaney 729; 3. 9k-Daryn Pittman 695; 4. 83-Joey Saldana 688; 5. 121-Greg Hodnett 678; 6. 33-Danny Lasoski 667; 7. 24-Terry McCarl 643; 8. 88n-D.J. Netto 629; 9. 1g-Christopher Bell 615; 10. 3c-Craig Dollansky 611; 11. 7-Paul McMahan 594; 12. 9-Ryan Smith 588; 13. 21b-Brian Brown 584; 14. 11-Steve Kinser 573; 15. 24r-Rico Abreu 569; 16. 7t-Tasker Phillips 564; 17. 41-Jason Johnson 563; 18. 57-Kyle Larson 561; 19. 49-Tanner Thorson 545; 20. 18-Jason Solwold 540; 21. 2l-Logan Forler 534; 22. 17a-Austin McCarl 516; 23. 11c-Roger Crockett 501; 24. 21-Robbie Price 496; 25. 68-Chase Johnson 490; 26. 2c-Wayne Johnson 489; 27. 55-Aaron Reutzel 480; 28. 33v-Henry Van Dam 467; 29. 4s-Michael Kofoid 457; 30. 99-Skylar Gee 443; 31. 1a-Jacob Allen 435; 32. 5h-Willie Croft 422; 33. 23-Seth Bergman 420; 34. 17b-Bill Balog 411; 35. 15h-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 392; 36. 81w-Danny Wood 385; 37. 55t-Trey Starks 380; 38. 97-Parker Price-Miller 375; 39. 41s-Dominic Scelzi 370; 40. 45x-Johnny Herrera 346; 41. 6g-Bryan Gossel 345; 42. 26-Bud Kaeding 325; 43. 1s-Logan Schuchart 323; 44. 17w-Bryan Clauson 321; 45. 1m-Jim Moughan Jr. 247; 46. 1-Justin Henderson 202; 47. 4-Kasey Kahne 112; 48. 9r-Reece Goetz 2.