Stock car
LMS: Travis Dassow Toledo summary
Travis Dassow Wins First Race for "New" TD Racing Development 20-Year-Old Gets First ASA Late Model Challenge Series Victory MILWAUKEE, WI (April 23, 2007) -- Veteran Crew Chief Howie Lettow has led some big-time names to glory in short track ...
Edited: Apr 24, 2007, 5:13 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Travis Dassow Wins First Race for "New" TD Racing Development
20-Year-Old Gets First ASA Late Model Challenge Series Victory
MILWAUKEE, WI (April 23, 2007) -- Veteran Crew Chief Howie Lettow has led some big-time names to glory in short track racing. Guys like Tony Raines, David Stremme, Kenny Wallace, Ted Musgrave and even defending NASCAR Nextel Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson have all won races while under the tutelage of Lettow.
Now, Lettow has a new protege and a new team, 20-year-old Wisconsin-native Travis Dassow and the TD Racing Development team. And, after just three races together, Dassow has already found Victory Lane. Dassow and Lettow won Saturday's Glassbreaker 200 at Toledo Speedway in Toledo, OH, the young driver's first-career ASA Late Model Challenge Series win after two years of trying.
"We've been working really, really hard," said Dassow, whose TD Racing team took over the reigns of the now defunct WalTom Racing team and inherited most of the crew and cars, including Lettow. "I've always been my own crew chief the last five years I've been racing Late Models. It's already been a lot less stressful on me. As a driver, it's been a lot easier on me. I don't have to come in from each practice session and have to worry about what's wrong with the car. I just tell Howie and he takes it from there. That makes it so much easier. It's nice to go to the track and know that you are going to have a good car.
"As a racecar driver, he's already helped me so much. He has really taught me patience. I know that the cars are going to last 200 laps. I just take my time, and I know things will take care of themselves. In the shop, he has taught me a ton as well. It's the little stuff that he does so well, which I think is what makes him so good."
Dassow was able to stay near the front most of the night but never made his charge to the front until the last 30 laps of the 200-lap event. With a long green-flag run, Dassow was able to make his move to the front of the field and wage a side-by-side duel with Derek Thorn.
Dassow finally cleared Thorn with four laps to go and held on to win.
"We were pretty fast all weekend," added Dassow. "I had never been there before and Howie said he hadn't been there since 2003. So we just wanted to spend a lot of time getting myself used to the track. We were good in practice, and we qualified fourth.
"The first three-quarters of the race was frustrating because we didn't have any long green-flag runs and that is where we were the best. We had a long run at the end, and I think that helped us get the win. Without that long run, we weren't going to catch the #5 car (Thorn).
"I have never driven as hard as I have in the last 30 laps of that race, trying to run down that car and trying to pass him."
The win came in Dassow's third race with Lettow as the Crew Chief. Lettow led Stephen Leicht to the ASA Late Model Championship in 2005 and then led Kelly Bires to the title in 2006, all driving for WalTom Racing. Lettow and the rest of the WalTom Racing team moved over to the newly revamped TD Racing Development team during the off season, and the pairing finally paid off.
"We were really good in the first couple of races. We just had stupid stuff happen to us in the first couple of races. During the race, I didn't think we had a car to win, but it just happened to be at the end of the race, when everyone else slowed down, we didn't slow down. That is what this team can do for you. It's nice."
Dassow will next be back on the track at Hawkeye Downs Speedway (IA) on May 12th.
-credit: 51s
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article David Meredith Carlisle summary
Next article Mid-Atlantic Susquehanna preview
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Johnson on the NASCAR business world: "It's a war"
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Jimmie Johnson on the NASCAR business world: "It's a war"
Jimmie Johnson explains why the time was right for Legacy to add a third car full time
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Jimmie Johnson explains why the time was right for Legacy to add a third car full time
Why the 2027 Daytona 500 is the end of a road for Jimmie Johnson
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Daytona 500
Why the 2027 Daytona 500 is the end of a road for Jimmie Johnson
Latest news
The mistakes that cost Lewis Hamilton a podium at F1’s US GP
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
37 min
The mistakes that cost Lewis Hamilton a podium at F1’s US GP
HMD Motorsports confirms Leonardo Escorpioni to 2027 Indy NXT roster
Indy NXT
IndL Indy NXT 49 min
HMD Motorsports confirms Leonardo Escorpioni to 2027 Indy NXT roster
“I couldn’t disappear” – Oliver Bearman rues “crazy” penalty for Pierre Gasly clash
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
1 h
“I couldn’t disappear” – Oliver Bearman rues “crazy” penalty for Pierre Gasly clash
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe