O'Reilly ASCoT Stats…
Lonnie Wheatley, TULSA, Okla. (May 8, 2008) – With the O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National series set to put the wraps on four consecutive weekends of racing action with this weekend's Red River Shootout at Oklahoma City's State Fair Speedway on Friday night and then Devil's Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, TX, on Saturday night, a look at the season's driver stats through 11 nights of action is in order.
Nine different drivers have already reached O'Reilly ASCoT victory lane through the series initial eleven features of 2008, with 49 different drivers taking at least one checkered flag in some form of heat or feature action.
A total of 171 drivers have competed in at least one O'Reilly ASCoT National event thus far in 2008, with the series averaging 46.4 cars per night.
O’Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour 2008 Stats:
Heat Race Winners (41 winners in 62 Heat Races): Jack Dover 5, Zach Chappell 3, Garry Lee Maier 3, Kenny Adams 2, Eric Baldaccini 2, Brian Brown 2, Dave Calaman 2, Tim Crawley 2, Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 2, Jason Johnson 2, Wayne Johnson 2, Danny Lasoski 2, Dustin Morgan 2, Jason Sides 2, Nick Smith 2, Don Young 2, Koby Barksdale 1, Aaron Berryhill 1, Tony Bruce, Jr. 1, Matt Covington 1, Don Droud, Jr. 1, Terry Gray 1, Josh Higday 1, J. Kinder 1, Greg Leonard 1, Eric Lutz 1, Danny Martin, Jr. 1, Kathryne Minter 1, Daryn Pittman 1, Kevin Ramey 1, Travis Rilat 1, Trey Robb 1, Ryan Roberts 1, Joey Saldana 1, Brian Smith 1, Danny (IN) Smith 1, Gary Taylor 1, Kenneth Walker 1, Scott Winters 1, Gary Wright 1, Joe Young 1.
B Feature Winners (22 Winners in 26 "B" Mains): Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 2, Jason Johnson 2, Wayne Johnson 2, Greg Leonard 2, Aaron Berryhill 1, Brian Brown 1, Zach Chappell 1, Don Droud, Jr. 1, Lewis Jenkins, Jr. 1, Randy Martin 1, Dustin Morgan 1, Daryn Pittman 1, Kevin Ramey 1, Travis Rilat 1, Robert Sellers 1, Tim Shaffer 1, Jason Sides 1, Marshall Skinner 1, Chuck Swenson 1, Scott Winters 1, Gary Wright 1, Don Young 1.
A Feature Winners (9 Winners in 11 "A" Mains): Jason Johnson 3, Kenny Adams 1, Aaron Berryhill 1, Tony Bruce, Jr. 1, Danny Lasoski 1, Terry McCarl 1, Nick Smith 1, Skip Wilson 1, Gary Wright 1
A Feature Lap Leaders (300 Feature Laps Completed): Jason Johnson 108, Tony Bruce Jr. 41, Gary Wright 29, Skip Wilson 25, Danny Lasoski 23, Nick Smith 23, Terry McCarl 18, Brian Brown 11, Kenneth Walker 7, Kenny Adams 4, Aaron Berryhill 3, Daryn Pittman 3, Trey Robb 3, Garry Lee Maier 2.
A Feature Positions Gained (Top 20): Wayne Johnson 78, Jason Johnson 63, Zach Chappell 47, Gary Wright 41, Travis Rilat 37, Don Droud, Jr. 36, Jason Sides 33, Garry Lee Maier 30, Terry McCarl 26, Eric Baldaccini 21, Kenneth Walker 20, Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 18, Greg Leonard 18, Daryn Pittman 18, Aaron Berryhill 13, Andy Shouse 13, Sport Allen 12, Tim Montgomery 12, Nick Smith 12, Tim Shaffer 11.
2008 O’Reilly ASCoT National Points (Top 20 Drivers):
1. 9 / 01-Gary Wright (Hooks, TX) 1,277
2. 94-Wayne Johnson (Oklahoma City, OK) 1,221
3. 41-Jason Johnson (Eunice, LA) 1,271
4. 50z-Zach Chappell (Talala, OK) 1,131
5. 29-Travis Rilat (Forney, TX) 1,084
6. 11x-Garry Lee Maier (Cimarron, KS) 1,072
7. B4-Eric Baldaccini (Keller, TX) 980
8. 15s-Nick Smith (Broken Arrow, OK) 948
9. 2-Kenneth Walker (Sapulpa, OK) 904
10. 7s-Jason Sides (Bartlett, TN) 888
11. 91-Don Droud, Jr. (Lincoln, NE) 827
12. 53-Jack Dover (Springfield, NE) 751
13. 13-Kathryne Minter (Bedford, TX) 748
14. 5*-Gary Taylor (Sapulpa, OK) 699
15. 71-Chris Tarrant (Greenville, TX) 641
16. 21-Brian Brown (Grain Valley, MO) 593
17. 97-Aaron Berryhill (Broken Arrow, OK) 560
18. 15-Sam Hafertepe, Jr. (Sunnyvale, TX) 522
19. 75-Don Young (Bartlett, TN) 463
20. 94s-Natalie Sather (Fargo, ND) 459
2008 O’Reilly ASCoT National Points (Top 20 Car Owners):
1. Wright-Cooper Motorsports 9 / 01 – 1,277
2. Mike Hammers 94 – 1,221
3. Lanny Row 41 – 1,217
4. David Chappell 50z – 1,131
5. Travis Rilat 29 – 1,084
6. Scott Brown 11x – 1,072
7. Harry Baldaccini B4 – 980
8. Bobby Sparks 91 – 963
9. Kip Smith 15s – 948
10. Sandra Walker 2 – 904
11. Sides Motorsports 7s – 888
12. Lori Dover 53 – 751
13. Tracy Minter 13 – 748
14. Mike Eubanks 5* - 699
15. Scotty Dobbs 71 – 641
16. Aaron Berryhill 97 – 635
17. Tim & Gina Doogs 21 – 593
18. Sam Hafertepe 15 – 522
19. Cliff Young 75 – 463
20. Brad Sather 94s - 459
The O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National series is currently slated for 42 nights of racing action at 22 different tracks throughout a dozen different states, with more than $1,000,000 in purse money and point fund to be distributed during the 2008 season.
The nation's most prominent Sprint Car sanctioning body with a dozen different Regions throughout the United States in addition to the O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National series, the American Sprint Car Series' (ASCS) 17th year of activity will include approximately 250 nights of racing at more than 100 different race tracks throughout 28 different states and Canada.
Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at http://www.ascsracing.com/.
Contact: World Racing Group
Tony Veneziano, World of Outlaws PR Director
704-467-7803 • tveneziano@dirtcar.com
Returning to a Familiar Place: Tri-City Speedway a Home Track for Lasoski
Pontoon Beach, IL— May 8, 2008-- Every win is special to Danny Lasoski, but his victory at Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, Illinois last season holds extra significance and will always be near and dear to him, because it was the first Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series event that his friend Kevin Gundaker and his wife Tammy promoted at the track.
Lasoski made history as well last season becoming the first Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series driver to win at Tri-City Speedway after it was reconfigured from a half-mile to a very racy 3/8-mile. The 2001 series champion will return to the track just outside of St. Louis on Friday, May 9 in search of the fourth win of his career at the facility
“Kevin (Gundaker) and I have been good friend for quite a long time, and to win the first World of Outlaws race that he had put on was pretty special,” shared Lasoski. “I know that I will never forget it and hopefully he won’t either.”
Lasoski had a great deal of success at Tri-City over the years when it was a half-mile, winning twice and racking up 21 Top-Five finishes. In his first start at the track in 1982, he finished second, and in his last seven starts at Tri-City with the old configuration, he finished seventh or better in each race. He quickly got up to speed on the smaller design of the track last year, turning the seventh fastest lap in time trials, finishing second in the third heat race, and following that up with a fourth-place run in the Crane Cams Dash to earn a second-row starting position for the 35-lap A-Feature.
“We are very excited to head back there,” he said. “Kevin Gundaker and his whole family have done such a great job down there. I was really partial to the big half-mile and when he told me he was going to shorten it up, I was really skeptical. He did a great job with it. We went down there last year and won and hopefully we can win again. There is a lot of competition this year, and we’ll go there and do the best that we can.”
Lasoski battled Jason Sides lap after lap in the early portions of the 35-lap contest last season, thrilling the crowd with the constant side-by-side racing. The pair continued to jockey for the lead until the 10th lap when Sides had a tire go down, and Lasoski inherited the lead. He would remain on the point for the rest of the way, fighting off a hard charging Daryn Pittman at the end to earn the $10,000 top prize by just one-tenth of a second.
“It was a welcome relief,” Lasoski said with a smile of the reconfiguration of the track. “It was actually the first time I had ever been to Granite City (Tri-City Speedway) and I could see where I was going, because the lighting was so good. They have made a really good race track and its three lanes wide. You can run on the top, middle and bottom. We are looking forward to heading back there.”
A busy month of May began last weekend for the World of Outlaws and Lasoski is ready to hit the road in the next couple weeks, including a trip to Pennsylvania next week. He has spent countless hours in the shop over the last few months, and while it has helped him to get caught up on things, he also points out that all of the time spent working on the race car can lead to unnecessary changes. Beginning this weekend at Tri-City Speedway, the series will kick off a stretch of 11 events in the next three weeks.
“It gets tough and you always think you need time off to build parts, but you catch yourself wearing bolts out, because you take stuff off so much and keep putting it back on,” he explained of the recent breaks in the schedule. “I think now the weather has changed and we should be able to race hard for the next month. When that happens, everyone will need a break with the next month of racing that we will do, especially in Pennsylvania.”
While Mother Nature has interrupted a large portion of the early season for the World of Outlaws, Lasoski found a few other races to stop at along the way, in order to stay sharp. He won an event with the American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) at State Fair Speedway in Oklahoma City at the end of March and recently competed at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri, where the World of Outlaws will make their debut in September, along with competing at Sedalia’s State Fair Speedway last Sunday night, where he earned a Top-Five finish.
“It sure helped me eat,” he deadpanned of finding races to go to during the breaks in the schedule. “I don’t make any money unless I race, so I had to find somewhere to race.”
With one of the strongest batches of cars ever assembled, following the World of Outlaws this season, time trials continue to play a very large role in determining how the night will unfold for the drivers. Last weekend at Knoxville Raceway, Lasoski was third quickest with a very strong 47-car on-hand, which helped put him in a good position all night. He wound ninth in the A-Feature to earn his third Top-10 finish of the season. He was victorious earlier this season during the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park in Florida.
“Those first two laps are essential,” said the native of Dover, Missouri. “You have to go out and a lay a lap down and you can’t have any faults.”
Lasoski will look to turn a quick lap in time trials on Friday night at Tri-City Speedway, a track he has been visiting for nearly 30 years. He has gained a loyal legion of fans at the suburban St. Louis track over the years, which is just a few hours from his home in Missouri. He looks to have another strong run at the track this weekend, as the World of Outlaws will hold their 51st race at the facility dating back to 1979.
“If I had to call a place home, along with Knoxville, Tri-City (Speedway) would be another one,” he said. “We always enjoy racing there and are looking forward to it.”
On Friday, May 9 at Tri-City Speedway, Reserved tickets in the Top-Five rows will be $32, with General Admission tickets $30. Children 12-under will be admitted free to the general admission seating area with a paying adult. The Grandstand gates will open at 12:00 p.m. Central on Friday, May 9. For tickets call 1-800-617-9077. There will be autograph session at the track featuring Craig Dollansky, Chad Hillier, Terry McCarl, Jason Sides and Shane Stewart at 5:30 p.m. prior to the event.
Headquartered in Roanoke, Va., Advance Auto Parts is the second-largest retailer of automotive aftermarket parts, accessories, batteries, and maintenance items in the United States, based on store count and sales. As of October 6, 2007, the company operated 3,228 stores in 40 states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. The company serves both the do-it-yourself and professional installer markets.