Las Vegas II: Friday Prelim race notes

Danny Lasoski Win Opening Night Prelim of WoO Season Finale

Las Vegas, NV (November 5, 2004) Danny Lasoski kicked off the last event of the World of Outlaws 2004 season in dominating fashion, controlling all 25 laps of the preliminary feature Friday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Lasoski powered the MAD Magazine-schemed #20 JD Byrider Eagle past the #7 VMAC Maxim of Craig Dollansky on the opening lap. Shane Stewart and Steve Kinser's #11 Quaker State Maxim slipped past Dollansky shortly after. The caution flew on lap two when Rob Chaney spun in turn four and collected Kevin Huntley and the #11 Selma Shell Maxim of Paul McMahan. All except Huntley were able to restart. On the next lap Brooke Tatnell spun on the front stretch and into the infield, damaging his car and ending his night. On the restart, Kinser hit the infield tire marker while running third. He tried to repair the damage undercaution, but wouldn't return in time for the green flag. A caution flag for Terry McCarl's lap 5 stoppage with a flat tire allowed Kinser to return, however he was two laps down.

By the midway point of the race, Lasoski held a solid lead over Stewart. A battle in the top five raged. Donny Schatz's #15 Parker Store J&J took third place from Dollansky on lap 16. Dollansky's race would come to an end the following lap when he stopped in turn four with engine troubles. Racing resumed and Jason Meyers and his #14 Elite Landscaping Maxim battled with the #21 Hop & Sack J&J of Daryn Pittman for fourth place. Pittman took the spot with five laps remaining.

Lasoski won by half a straightaway over Stewart. "The cushion in turns 3&4 was a long way up there and you really had to tiptoe it through there and time the lapped traffic so you'd catch them at the right spot," Lasoski said. "But we love coming out here to Las Vegas to race. The track crew does a great job, and hopefully tomorrow they'll give us a little more on the bottom for two grooves. It'll definitely be wide open here tomorrow night."

Notes:

Mark Hurd and Nick Shirek, got together in turn 4 during warm-ups, with Hurd hitting the wall and flipping. Neither driver was injured, but both were done for the night.

Erin Crocker, Joey Saldana, and Jeff Hodgson changed engines after qualifying.

Tim Kaeding and Brian Paulus got together entering turn 1 in the first heat race. Kaeding got into the wall and upside down, while Paulus continued to the work area. Kaeding was uninjured, but done for the night.

Dale Blaney shredded a right rear tire while running 5th in heat race #2, sending the 35 car hard into the turn 3 wall and upside down. Blaney was uninjured, but was not able to restart.

Jim Nier and Jayme Barnes got together at the start of the third heat race, with Barnes spinning and collecting Kraig Kinser. Both Kinser and Barnes flipped hard down the frontstretch, with Jim Skinner getting involved at the end of the accident. All driver were okay, but both Barnes' and Kinser's cars were destroyed.

Jim Nier got into the turn 4 wall at the start of the second dash. Nier's car suffered heavy damage, but the driver was uninjured and credited with 8th in the event. Nier scratched from the A-main, allowing first alternate Brian Paulus to start the event.

Quotes

Danny Lasoski

"I know I have the best crew chief in the world with Jimmy Carr--he and Todd Splain and Mikey (Kuemper) have been working hard, and driving the JD Byrider Home Depot Mopar car has been good to me all year. We kind of struggled there for a while and let the King (Steve Kinser) get away from us, but it looks like we've got the momentum back here at the end of the year, and we're excited about having Bass Pro Shops coming on board and we're looking for bigger and better things out here next year. (The cushion in turns 3&4) was a long way up there, and you really had to tiptoe it through there and time the lapped traffic so you'd catch them at the right spot, but we love coming out here to Las Vegas to race. The track crew does a great job, and hopefully tomorrow they'll give us a little more on the bottom for two grooves. It'll definitely be wide open here tomorrow night. This is the second week we've had (the Mad Magazine paint scheme), and last week was a little tough with the flying back and forth for the IROC race, but hopefully we can get another win for them tomorrow night."

-woo-