KNOXVILLE RACEWAY, Knoxville, IA, August 2, 2012 – With 56 drivers in the house on the Thursday night opening of the 22nd Annual Arnold Motor Supply 360 Nationals, it was a trio of “Show Me State” drivers who stole the show. Danny Lasoski registered his second career 360 win (his previous one was a 360 Nationals championship in 1996) on night #1. The win followed a racelong duel with fellow Missouri driver Jonathan Cornell. Brian Brown, from Grain Valley, Missouri charged from 19th to 2nd in a hotly contested event.
Cornell, from Sedalia, led at the outset from the pole position with Lasoski in tow. The pair pulled away from the field, before Lasoski made a pass on the bottom to lead lap five. A seventh place running Randy Hannagan suffered mechanical problems and stopped on the next circuit, setting up a restart that saw Lasoski leading Cornell, Ryan Anderson, Jack Dover and Kevin Swindell back to green.
Dover moved into the top three by lap seven, but the lead pair left the field behind again. With the bottom going away slightly, Cornell gained on Lasoski and took the point on laps twelve and thirteen in some outstanding action. Lasoski got back to the front on lap 14 in the Mark Burch Motorsports #1m. B main winner, Terry McCarl, brought out the final caution with 16 laps in the books setting up a four lap dash to the finish.
While Cornell continued to hound Lasoski, Swindell moved into third and Brown into the top five. On the white flag lap, Cornell looked to have the momentum in turns three and four and made a run at the leader. Unfortunately for him, his left rear tire shredded and he coasted home fifth. Brown shot by for second with a strong finish, followed by Swindell and Dover. Brad Sweet, Brady Bacon, Paul McMahan, Anderson and Kyle Larson rounded out the top ten.
“I want to thank Mark Burch for giving me the opportunity to drive his racecar,” said Lasoski in Victory Lane. “The guy does a heck of a job. He builds his own cars and engines. Jonathan and I had a heck of a race. He got to searching around and found the middle. Once I found it, we were pretty good. He did a good job.”
Clint Garner set quick time over the field. Larson, Tony Shilling, Danny Jennings, Jesse Giannetto and Hannagan won the heats. Ryan Roberts won the C main.
Bacon and Swindell emerged with high point honors, with each scoring 480, followed by Lasoski (479), Dover (471), McMahan (467), Garner (464), Cornell (462), Anderson (459), Sweet (451) and Hannagan (448).
The Arnold Motor Supply 360 Nationals continue Friday night! For more information, visit www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!
- Admin Account on Aug 03, 2012
- Article Date: 8/2/2012 by Bill Wright