Lasoski Edges Maier for First ASCoT Win in OKC Opener

[rebelracewriter]

Lasoski Edges Maier for First ASCoT Win in OKC Opener

 

 

Lonnie Wheatley, OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (March 21, 2008) – Danny Lasoski emerged from a wild scramble through lapped traffic in the closing laps to win Friday night's 25-lap O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National series feature event on the opening night of State Fair Speedway's Spring Nationals.

 

 

 

In the process, he denied Garry Lee Maier his 38th career ASCS National Tour feature win after the series' initial champion battled into the lead with just three laps to go, only to get bottled up behind a lapped car with the white flag in sight.

 

 

 

Lasoski took quick advantage and recaptured the point to secure his first career ASCS National Tour feature win aboard the Kistler-powered American Compressed Steel No. 5 JEI. Maier settled for second, with Daryn Pittman in third. Jason Johnson rallied from the tail of the field to snare the fourth and final transfer to Saturday night's Spring Nationals finale.

 

 

 

Friday's 25-lap feature distance ran in non-stop fashion once it finally got under way. It just took a couple of extra tries to get things going.

 

 

 

On the initial start, Chris Lloyd looped his machine harmlessly in turn one. But as the leaders raced into turn three at the same time, polesitter Dustin Morgan hooked the cushion and flipped wildly. Maier assumed the pole position and outgunned fellow front row starter Lasoski for the lead on the restart, only to have the caution fly when Jamie Passmore spun to a stop in turn three.

 

 

 

The next try went red as well when Sam Hafertepe, Jr., got upside down entering turn one. There were no injuries, with only Morgan and Hafertepe done for the night.

 

 

 

With the initial carnage out of the way, Lasoski gunned into the lead and paced the early rounds in front of Maier and Jack Dover, with Pittman battling past Eric Baldaccini and Brian Brown to take over fourth by the fifth lap.

 

 

 

Lapped traffic came into play in short order, as Lasoski reached the tail of the field by the sixth lap. Maier kept "The Dude" in sight all the way and closed in on Lasoski's tailtank at the halfway point.

 

 

 

Lasoski never could break away from Maier by more than a few car-lengths and when a gaggle of lapped cars appeared before the leaders in the final handful of laps, Maier moved in on his prey and found the opening he needed when Lasoski bicycled in turn three on the 22nd lap.

 

 

 

Maier motored to the low side and beat Lasoski into turn one to take command aboard the ASI-powered Lubbock Wrecker Service/Max Jantz Excavating No. 11x Maxim. But a lapped car would prove costly for the Kansas shoe, as Maier's command lasted only a lap and a half before he ran afoul of Eric Badaccini entering turn three as the leaders approached the white flag.

 

 

 

A solid tap of Baldaccini's tailtank from Maier's front bumper slowed the leader's progress just enough to allow Lasoski to sneak back by. Lasoski then held off Maier over the final round to secure the win as Maier settled for runner-up honors.

 

 

 

Dover, the 18-year-old from Nebraska, held down the third position for 15 laps until losing three positions in the final rounds. Pittman took over third on the 16th lap and held the position the rest of the way aboard the Titan Racing No. 21 Maxim.

 

 

 

After winning the night's second "B" Main, Jason Johnson gridded the field fourth aboard Lanny Row's The Shop Motorsports/Custom Equipment Design No. 41 Eagle. But after making a trip to the work area after one of the waved off starts, "The Ragin' Cajun" tagged the field and proceeded to turn in the drive of the night.

 

 

 

Johnson was ninth by the tenth lap and then sixth by the 15th round. When Dover nearly dumped it in turn three on the 20th lap, Johnson scooted by both Gary Wright and Dover to take over the fourth and final lock-in to Saturday night's feature.

 

 

 

Wright picked off a handful of positions to round out the top five aboard the Wright-Cooper Motorsports Wesmar-powered Richwood Construction No. 9 Maxim, extending his record streak of top-five finishes in ASCS National Tour action to 19 in a row.

 

 

 

Dover settled for sixth, with 20th-starter Wayne Johnson, Brian Brown, Andy Shouse and Eric Baldaccini completing the top ten.

 

 

 

Baldaccini, Pittman, Brown, Lasoski, Dover and Morgan topped heat race action for the 52-car field, with Robert Sellers, Jason Johnson and Sam Hafertepe, Jr., winning the "B" Mains.

 

 

 

Eric VanderPloeg flipped in turn one on the opening lap of the sixth heat and was able to return for "B" Main competition.

 

 

 

O’Reilly ASCoT State Fair Speedway Spring Nationals Preliminary Event Results:

 

 

 

Heat Races (Top 14 in passing points to “A” Main; Balance to 3 "B" Mains)

 

 

 

Brodix Heat One (8 Laps): 1. b4-Eric Baldaccini, 2. 86-Josh Fisher, 3. 5*-Gary Taylor, 4. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 5. 94-Wayne Johnson, 6. 29-Travis Rilat, 7. 51-Foster Landon, 8. 95-Matt Covington, 9. 13-Kathryne Minter.

 

 

 

Wesmar-Shaver Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 21T-Daryn Pittman, 2. 9-Gary Wright, 3. 41-Jason Johnson, 4. 24-Terry McCarl, 5. 91-Don Droud, Jr., 6. 50z-Zach Chappell, 7. 92-Mike Sitzmann, Jr., 8. 2x-Josh Higday, 9. 81au-Gavin Punch.

 

 

 

Brodix Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown, 2. 27-Andy Shouse, 3. 15-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 4. 94s-Natalie Sather, 5. 22-Billy Alley, 6. 20s-Sheldon Barksdale, 7. 77-Colt Treharn, 8. 15s-Nick Smith, 9. 71-Chris Tarrant.

 

 

 

Wesmar-Shaver Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 5-Danny Lasoski, 2. 2-Kenneth Walker, 3. 5$-Danny Smith, 4. 4J-Jamie Passmore, 5. 45x-C.J. Johnson, 6. 7s-Jason Sides, 7. 97-Aaron Berryhill, 8. 17b-Ryan Bickett, 9. 26-Dalton Steed.

 

 

 

Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 53-Jack Dover, 2. 61J-Danny Jennings, 3. 28-Chris Lloyd, 4. 25-Robert Sellers, 5. 43x-Brent Swift, 6. 59-Dex Eaton, 7. 11F-Darrell Fletcher, 8. 01-Brandon Jennings.

 

 

 

Heat Six (8 Laps): 1. 8h-Dustin Morgan, 2. 87-Brian McClelland, 3. 11x-Garry Lee Maier, 4. 1-Derek Drown, 5. 43-A.J. Selenke, 6. 15k-Kerry McAlister, 7. 23F-Matt Fox, 8. 10-Eric VanderPloeg.

 

 

"B" Mains – Top 2 From Each Advance to “A” Main

 

 

First "B" Feature (10 Laps): 1. 25-Robert Sellers, 2. 28-Chris Lloyd, 3. 22-Billy Alley, 4. 91-Don Droud, Jr., 5. 15k-Kerry McAlister, 6. 97-Aaron Berryhill, 7. 43-A.J. Selenke, 8. 10-Eric VanderPloeg, 9. 92-Mike Sitzmann, Jr., 10. 2x-Josh Higday, 11. 71-Chris Tarrant. DNS: 5*-Gary Taylor, 23F-Matt Fox.

 

 

 

Second "B" Feature (10 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson, 2. 24-Terry McCarl, 3. 29-Travis Rilat, 4. 94s-Natalie Sather, 5. 1-Derek Drown, 6. 95-Matt Covington, 7. 17b-Ryan Bickett, 8. 59-Dex Eaton, 9. 77-Colt Treharn, 10. 13-Kathryne Minter, 11. 45x-C.J. Johnson, 12. 50z-Zach Chappell. DNS: 26-Dalton Steed.

 

 

 

Third "B" Feature (10 Laps): 1. 15-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 2. 94-Wayne Johnson, 3. 7s-Jason Sides, 4. 51-Foster Landon, 5. 81au-Gavin Punch, 6. 5$-Danny Smith, 7. 15s-Nick Smith, 8. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 9. 43x-Brent Swift, 10. 20s-Sheldon Barksdale, 11. 01-Brandon Jennings. DNS: 11F-Darrell Fletcher.

 

 

 

O’Reilly ASCoT "A" Main Event:

 

 

 

“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 5-Danny Lasoski, 2. 11x-Garry Lee Maier, 3. 21T-Daryn Pittman, 4. 41-Jason Johnson, 5. 9-Gary Wright, 6. 53-Jack Dover, 7. 94-Wayne Johnson, 8. 21-Brian Brown, 9. 27-Andy Shouse, 10. b4-Eric Baldaccini, 11. 7s-Jason Sides, 12. 50z-Zach Chappell, 13. 2-Kenneth Walker, 14. 86-Josh Fisher, 15. 28-Chris Lloyd, 16. 4J-Jamie Passmore, 17. 61J-Danny Jennings, 18. 87-Brian McClelland, 19. 24-Terry McCarl, 20. 25-Robert Sellers, 21. 8h-Dustin Morgan, 22. 15-Sam Hafertepe, Jr.

 

 

 

Lap Leaders: Danny Lasoski 1-21, Garry Lee Maier 22-23, Danny Lasoski 24-25.

 

 

 

Note: Jason Sides and Zach Chappell utilized provisionals to start the "A" Main.

 

 

 

O’Reilly ASCoT Points (Top Fifteen): 1. Gary Wright 579, 2. Wayne Johnson 547, 3. Jason Johnson 495, 4. Jason Sides 474, 5. Garry Lee Maier 457, 6. Zach Chappell 451, 7. Eric Baldaccini 448, 8. Travis Rilat 420, 9. Don Droud, Jr. 382, 10. Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 380, 11. Jack Dover 347, 12. Nick Smith 341, 13. Kenneth Walker 333, 14. Brian Brown 319, 15. Tony Bruce, Jr. 296.