Lasoski, Tatnell, Garner and Mather all win feature events at Knoxville
Saturday, July 5, 2008
By Bob Wilson
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (July 5) – The annual Twin Features Night at Knoxville Raceway saw Danny Lasoski and Brooke Tatnell win features in the 410 division while Clint Garner and Bret Mather did likewise in the 360 division Saturday night at the Marion County fairgrounds.
For Lasoski it was career feature win number 91 at this historical half mile. “The Dude” took the lead from Justin Henderson on lap four and was never headed in the 16 lapper as he found the bottom in turns one and two as a way to gain on Henderson. Then, on the fourth circuit he slid Henderson in turn three and had the lead for good.
The battle for second came down to a Henderson and Brian Brown affair with Brown taking that spot with a slider on lap ten. Excitement grew when Brown began to catch Lasoski in the fleeting laps while both men were in lap traffic. Lap 14 saw Lasoski stalled behind a lap car on the bottom as Brown reeled him in fast while flying on the cushion.
It was not to be for Brown on this night as Lasoski again pulled away once he made work of the car in front of him.
In a race which went non-stop, it was Lasoski, Brown, Henderson, Dusty Zomer and Alley forming the top five at the finish.
As is custom, the second feature was completely inverted by the finish of the first. That race looked like pole sitter Tony Shilling would run away with the sixteen lapper. Justin Zimmerman began to reel in Shilling in this one on a track that was nearly worn out. Just as Zimmerman made the pass on lap ten, Shilling tried to gain it back with a failed slider in turn three. He ended up spinning the car and hitting the fence in the attempt bringing out the red flag.
On the restart, Brooke Tatnell took the lead coming out of turn four with a big slider. Mark Dobmeier and Bronson Maeschen also made passes as Zimmerman began to slide backward. All the while, Lasoski was picking his way through the field of twenty starters and running the same line as he had run in the first feature.
At the finish line it was Tatnell, Dobmeier, Lasoski, Maeschen and Don Droud, Jr. forming the top five finishers.
The first 360 feature saw Clint Garner run away with the twelve lapper as the battle was for the runner-up spot. Jesse Giannetto finally settled that issue when he used his bottom line to get by Dustin Selvage on the eighth go around. Once Giannetto had the spot he tried the high cushion in order to run down the leader but Garner had already checked out. Selvage stayed for third, Ryan Roberts took fourth and David Hall was fifth
In the completely inverted second feature, it was a runaway for rookie R.J. Johnson. In technical inspection afterward, track officials declared his engine to be illegal and he was relegated to last place. Thus, the win was awarded to Brett Mather. Nate Mosher, Larry Pinegar and Gregg Bakker rounded out the top five finishers.
|