Lasoski wins second Nationals qualifier
Saturday, August 11, 2007
by Stacy Ervin - Four-time Knoxville Nationals champion Danny Lasoski of Dover, Missouri, won the second qualifying night of the 47th Annual Knoxville Nationals in convincing fashion. The event was originally scheduled to run on Wednesday night but heavy rains forced its postponement until Friday, August 10. The event is sponsored by Super Clean and presented by Factory Value Parts. The second night of racing was courtesy of Nos Energy Drink.
Lasoski started on the pole of the 25-lap main event and led every lap in a race which went green to checkered to earn the $12,000 payday. Defending Nationals champion Donny Schatz came from seventh spot to finish second and garner $10,000. Third starter Jason Solwold finished in third.
Lasoski used the slicked-over track to his advantage, driving the high side until he came to lapped traffic on the fifth circuit. From there, he put on a masterful drive through traffic using all the race track he could. By the 16th lap, Lasoski had built a straightaway lead as Schatz began to challenge Solwold for the runner-up spot.
Smoking machines threatened to bring out a caution late in the race, but that never materialized. Shane Stewart was the first to go as he had to surrender the fourth spot on lap 21 and pull to the pit area. Two laps later, Lucas Wolfe’s car began to show smoke as he ran in the sixth spot, but he managed to stay in the race and finish seventh. Then as the white flag flew, Randy Hannagan’s machine went up in a huge puff of smoke.
The feature event saw only 23 cars take the green flag as Jonathan Allard suffered mechanical problems on the pace laps and could not start.
Tim Shaffer set the fastest time trial of the night at 15.000. Heat races were won by Chad Blonde, Jonathan Allard, Bob Weuve, Danny Lasoski and Donny Schatz. The C-Main was won by Dean Jacobs, who transferred to the B-Main along with Mike Deavers. The B-Main was won by Tim Shaffer, who transferred to the A-Main along with Randy Hannagan, Brandon Wimmer and Jason Martin.
Nationals favorite Fred Rahmer, who won preliminary night features the past two years, suffered great misfortune in hot laps when he flipped over in turn one. He had to scratch for the rest of the night.
The beginning of the fifth heat race saw Craig Dollansky and TJ Stutts get together and suffer damage. Many crew members came from different corners of the pit area to get Dollansky back out and he was able to transfer to the feature, where he finished fifth.
The B-Main was a rough race to get started, as the first attempt saw a multi-car pileup in turn one with Skip Jackson going over. On the next attempt, Mark Smith tipped over in turn four. One lap got in the books before Matt Wasmund tagged a slowing car and tipped over.
The Factory Value Parts World Challenge, a special event for drivers who qualify through various international events, accompanied this night’s qualifying program. The 16-lap event was won by Ohio's Dean Jacobs.
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