Lonnie Wheatley, LA MONTE, Mo. (April 9, 2011) – Danny Lasoski left little room for doubt by wiring the field to win Saturday night’s inaugural Warrior feature event under the ASCS banner atop the 3/8-mile LA Raceway clay oval.
After a convincing heat race win, “The Dude” pulled the one pill in the redraw. That was all the help he needed, as he gunned into the lead at the outset and paced all 25 circuits to secure the season-opening Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior Region win on his son’s birthday less than an hour from his Higginsville, MO, home.
“It’s pretty cool to be here on my son’s 13th birthday and to be able to spend it with him is priceless to me,” Lasoski explained. “And winning the race with my father, it’s really special.”
Outgunning Tyler Blank for the point at the drop of the green, Lasoski kept the Kistler-powered Creason Pipeline Service/Michael Ross Foundation No. 33 Eagle out front throughout despite several cautions that interrupted the pace.
Third-starter Mark Shirshekan took second away from Blank on the opening circuit and tried to keep pace, however was unable to mount a serious challenge as Lasoski put some lapped cars in between them by the time a caution flew after twelve laps for Jeffrey Newell, who slipped off the top of turn three.
Shirshekan ultimately settled for a career-best ASCS finish of second, while midget ace Brad Loyet earned a podium finish by claiming third in his ASCS debut. Running fifth at the midway point, Loyet disposed of Blank for fourth by the time Bryan Grimes slipped off the track in turn four with 14 laps in the books and then snared third in the final circuits when third-runner Randy Martin pulled pitside with engine woes.
Blank settled for fourth, with Dustin Barks rounding out the top five. Austin Alumbaugh was sixth, with Rusty Potter, Evan Martin, Matt Covington and 19th-starter Josh Stephens completing the top ten.
The race’s first caution flew after two laps for Josh Fisher’s turn two spin after starting fourth. Following the yellow flags for Newell and Grimes, the yellow lights flickered again after 15 laps when 15th-starter Covington spun in turn two after contact while battling for eighth and collected Fisher. Fisher was done while Covington rejoined the chase. Jonathan Cornell’s top wing suffered heavy damage in the incident and shredded on the restart to bring out a final caution.
Alumbaugh, Potter, Blank, Lasoski and Shirshekan topped heat race action for the 41-car field, with Stephens and Kyle Bellm wining the “B” Mains.
Cody Baker entered the record books as the first flip victim in ASCS Warrior Region action when he got upside down entering turn one in the night’s fifth and final heat race. Baker returned for “B” Main action but was unable to make the transfer.
Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior Results from LA Raceway:
First Heat (8 Laps): 1. 33a-Austin Alumbaugh, 2. 14-Randy Martin, 3. 28-Jonathan Cornell, 4. 26-Rafe Essary, 5. 21-Eric Todd, 6. 93-Taylor Walton, 7. 24-Lanny Carpenter. DNS: 14T-Andrew Turley, 7-Lance Fassbender.
Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. 3p-Rusty Potter, 2. 22-Dustin Barks, 3. 95-Matt Covington, 4. 6-Bryan Grimes, 5. 5m-Miranda Arnold, 6. 88-J. Kinder, 7. 5-Matt Close, 8. 12c-Faron Crank.
Third Heat (8 Laps): 1. 75-Tyler Blank, 2. 72-Curtis Boyer, 3. 86x-Josh Fisher, 4. 86-Kyle Bellm, 5. 76-Jay Russell, 6. 48-Ryan Schlender, 7. 51-Terry Lindsey. DNS: 4j-Jon Corbin.
Fourth Heat (8 Laps): 1. 33L-Danny Lasoski, 2. 4-Evan Martin, 3. 17-Kyle Carpenter, 4. 29-Rusty Quick, 5. 23F-Matt Fox, 6. 09-Josh Stephens, 7. 165-Haley Arnold, 8. 7j-J.D. Black.
Fifth Heat (8 Laps): 1. 3-Mark Shirshekan, 2. 05-Brad Loyet, 3. 21h-Terry Hinck, 4. 10-Mike Trent, 5. 11-Jeffrey Newell, 6. 43-Frank Brown, 7. 9m-Cody Baker, 8. 11c-Dakota Carroll
First “B” Main (10 Laps): 1. 09-Josh Stephens, 2. 29-Rusty Quick, 3. 17-Kyle Carpenter, 4. 88-J. Kinder, 5. 21h-Terry Hinck, 6. 5m-Miranda Arnold, 7. 5-Matt Close, 8. 11c-Dakota Carroll, 9. 165-Haley Arnold, 10. 51-Terry Lindsey. DNS: 43-Frank Brown, 7-Lance Fassbender, 4j-Jon Corbin.
Second “B” Main (10 Laps): 1. 86-Kyle Bellm, 2. 11-Jeffrey Newell, 3. 21-Eric Todd, 4. 76-Jay Russell, 5. 23f-Matt Fox, 6. 24-Lanny Carpenter, 7. 9m-Cody Baker, 8. 7j-J.D. Black, 9. 93-Taylor Walton, 10. 12c-Faron Crank, 11. 48-Ryan Schlender. DNS: 14T-Andrew Turley.
"A" Feature (25 Laps): 1. 33L-Danny Lasoski, 2. 3-Mark Shirshekan, 3. 05-Brad Loyet, 4. 75-Tyler Blank, 5. 22-Dustin Barks, 6. 33a-Austin Alumbaugh, 7. 3p-Rusty Potter, 8. 4-Evan Martin, 9. 95-Matt Covington, 10. 09-Josh Stephens, 11. 86-Kyle Bellm, 12. 14-Randy Martin, 13. 72-Curtis Boyer, 14. 10-Mike Trent, 15. 26-Rafe Essary, 16. 28-Jonathan Cornell, 17. 86x-Josh Fisher, 18. 29-Rusty Quick, 19. 6-Bryan Grimes, 20. 11-Jeffrey Newell.
Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Danny Lasoski 150, 2. Mark Shirshekan 142, 3. Brad Loyet 135, 4. Tyler Blank 130, 5. Dustin Barks 125, 6. Austin Alumbaugh 122, 7. Rusty Potter 119, 8. Evan Martin 116, 9. Matt Covington 113, 10. Josh Stephens 110.
- Lonnie Wheatley on Apr 11, 2011
- Article Date: 4/9/2011