Profile On: Danny Lasoski and Guy Forbrook!
Thursday, November 27, 2008
410 Point Champions Danny Lasoski and Guy Forbrook
(Joanne Cram): When it was announced that Danny Lasoski and Guy Forbrook would yet again be teaming up to run weekly at Knoxville, no one was surprised to see the success the team began having throughout the season. The Lasoski-Forbrook pairing has proved successful numerous times in the past, so why not again?
For Lasoski, the 49 year old of Dover, Missouri, coming back to run a weekly program at Knoxville was “like coming back to his second home”. Lasoski states that Knoxville is one of the nicest, most well run, raciest tracks, that it is always nice to come back and race here.
Guy Forbrook is no stranger to the half mile oval either. He has won championships here nine times, including years with Lasoski, Jac Haudenschield, Johnny Herrera, and Terry McCarl.
The full-time sprint car driver of nearly 25 years has a full resume of racing history to go with his name. Danny Lasoski grew up in a racing family- his dad, George, raced around the local tracks, and his uncle, Tom Corbin, raced all over the country- running 3rd in the Knoxville Nationals back in 1980. So Lasoski spent his time wor king on either car, and traveling some as well. It was enough for him to know that was where he wanted to spend his career- behind the wheel of a sprint car.
With George Lasoski, nothing is ever given to you. You have to earn it or prove it. So, in 1984, Danny sold everything to buy a sprint car. He had been dabbling in sprint cars since 1980, but was ready to give it everything he had four years later. George has been by Danny’s side ever since, either on the road, or taking care of business at Lasoski’s shop in Dover. In 1988, Lasoski approached Forbrook to drive Forbrook’s number 5. The two had known each other for quite a while, with the both of them driving sprints against each other.
By 1989, it was time for Lasoski to move on to full time racing, so he quit his job working at an ammunition manufacturing facility to hit the road with Forbrook, as true outlaws.
Over the next nine years, Lasoski crisscrossed the country, hitting as many race tracks as his schedule would allow, in and out of many of the country‘s most well known cars- some of which included the Gil Sonner Casey’s #47, the Hamilton #77, and of course, the notorious Forbrook Motorsports- #5, which Lasoski and Forbrook ran together from 1988 through 1993, again in 1996, and of course this past season. Those were Lasoski’s years of reign at Knoxville as well, as the car had to be at Knoxville Raceway each Saturday night. Th ere were some weeks when Lasoski would be travling up to 12 hours away to hit a race, only to turn right around and get back to Knoxville to run the Saturday night show. Over those years of weekly racing at Knoxville, Lasoski racked up 92 feature wins and eight points championships before he took his racing National.
After the 1997 season, Lasoski paired up with the Dennis Roth Beef Packers #83 to hit the World of Outlaws circuit. Highlights of his 3 seasons with the 83 car include the Nationals win in 1998 and 2nd in World of Outlaws points two out of three years. Then in 2001, Tony Stewart called Danny asking if he would drive for his TSR program. Stewart wanted to get a sprint car out on the World of Outlaws, so was born the TSR #20 car. Lasoski teamed up with Jimmy Car, who would crew chief for TSR’s program. The Lasoski-TSR pairing raced for 4 seasons, until 2005. Over those 4 seasons, Lasoski won 3 Nationals, won a World of Outlaws points championship, and won numerous races with the TSR team.
At the conclusion of the 2005 season, Lasoski again teamed up with Dennis Roth to drive his 83 car. The 2006 season found the Beef Packers team running with the National Sprint Tour, where they won the championship that season. And in 2007, they ran 3rd with the World of Outlaws.
The 2008 season was undecided until the first of the year, when Lasoski and Forbrook put the #5 team together. They were unsure of the exact dynamics of their team, but knew a lot of racing would be done at Knoxville. As the season drew nearer, the decision was made for the dynamic duo to run weekly for the points championship. They won just two races this past season at Knoxville, but everyone knows that championships are not won on race wins alone. Lasoski-Forbrook were consistently in the top 3 most weeks. The 5 car had clinched the points championship the week before the Nationals, where Lasoski decided to bring out his own #33 sponsored by Arctic Cat to do some testing for the coming season’s end, and possible future racing. He ran 4th in the Nationals, and finished the season at Knoxville running 2nd both weeks in his #33 car.
Some of Lasoski’s most memorable racing moments have been at Knoxville Raceway. He and Forbrook won the Ethanol Classic several times together, and won the 1998 Nationals with Dennis Roth. Lasoski also has some pretty astonishing stats at Knoxville Raceway. He is the all time feature wins holder with 92 features. He has won a total of 8 points championships, and has won the Knoxville Nationals 4 times in his career.
The future of racing for Lasoski isn’t solid at this point. He knows he will be racing over the winter in Australia for the Carnahnan R19, but as for next season, there are still things in the works. Forbrook is also unsure of plans for next season at this point, but where ever each of the champions race next=2 0season, they will be forces to contend with.
Sponsors for the #5 car this past 2008 season included Loucks and Associates, Gardener Farms, MS Motorsports, Mopar, Gaerte Engines, Maxim, and Weld Wheels. Crew include Wayne and Candy Parker, and Nate Steinhouse.
(Pictured): Danny Lasoski and Guy Forbrook teamed up on another track championship in 2008
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