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Lasoski Steals Winter Heat Sprint Car Showdown Thriller With Last-Lap Pass

(Photo by Tim Aylwin)

Inside Line Promotions – SOMERTON, Ariz. (Jan. 9, 2015) – Danny Lasoski’s smile couldn’t have been scrubbed off his face Friday night at Cocopah Speedway, where he executed a last-lap pass to score the $12,000 top prize during Round 4 of the Winter Heat Sprint Car Showdown.

Lasoski marked the fourth different driver to win a feature during the inaugural event, which wraps up on Saturday with a $12,000-to-win feature and a $4,000 bonus to the overall champion of the five-race event.

“We’ve got a really good team,” he said. “It may be a bunch of buddies together, but we have a really good team.”

Dale Blaney, who started on the outside of the front row for the 30-lap main event, took the lead exiting turn four on the opening lap after racing side by side with polesitter Paul McMahan.

Blaney built a sizeable advantage during the first half of the race despite entering traffic on Lap 8. Meanwhile, Lasoski, who started fifth, began to advance in the running order near the midpoint of the feature.

“When you see the leader and you’re not gaining on him the first thing a driver does is start searching,” he said. “I started searching and just basically went where they weren’t and found something that made my car work.”

Lasoski passed Joey Saldana for third place exiting turn two on Lap 15 and he repeated the move in the same spot on McMahan during the ensuing lap. Heavy traffic with approximately 10 laps remaining played to Lasoski’s favor.

While Blaney struggled to put NASCAR star Kasey Kahne down a lap, Lasoski inched closer to the lead every lap. He was within striking distance on Lap 23, but Blaney was able to create some breathing room during the following few laps.

Lasoski remained a couple of car lengths out of the lead when the white flag was waved. However, Blaney was slowed while trying to lap a car in turn one on the final lap.

“I went down into (turn) one and he kinda took the middle,” Blaney said. “I thought he was going to leave a little bit of the bottom open for me to plug it, but he turned down left and I was going to have to get on the bank. I should have just stayed to his inside and probably blocked that line. I kinda lost the nose of it and had to run around him.”

Lasoski took advantage and the cars exited turn two three wide with Lasoski on the bottom, the lapped car in the middle and Blaney on the outside. Lasoski was first to the bottom groove entering turn three and he slid up to the cushion exiting turn four. Blaney drove off the bottom leaving the final turn, but Lasoski’s momentum gave him a car-length advantage across the finish line.

“That was luck,” he said. “(Blaney) just got hung up. Whenever I’d get within a car length of him I’d get tight. I had to move around, move around. He was setting a good pace and he just got held up, but sometimes it’s better to be running second.”

McMahan finished third, which marked his third podium result of the event. He leads the championship standings by 24 points entering Saturday’s final round.

“We were good early and just kinda got real free toward the end,” he said. “I might have heated the tires up a little too much. It’s another solid night for us. We had a good race car; just not good enough to win.”

Roger Crockett earned a fourth-place result with Saldana, who is second in the championship standings, rounding out the top five. Henry Van Dam scored a sixth-place finish, Brian Brown was seventh, Kraig Kinser ended eighth, Stevie Smith placed ninth and Christopher Bell capped the top 10.

Mason Moore recorded a $1,000 bonus as the Hard Charger thanks to an anonymous donation by a fan from the Northwest.

Bell, Crockett, McMahan and Saldana powered to heat race wins with Brown, Van Dam, Ryan Smith and David Gravel claiming qualifiers. Steve Kinser, who was victorious during Tuesday’s Winter Heat Sprint Car Showdown, won the B Main.

The Winter Heat Sprint Car Showdown wraps up on Saturday with Opening Ceremonies at 7 p.m. Fans can order live Pay-Per-View video by visiting http://www.SPEEDSPORT.tv/live.

JAN. 9 RESULTS –

Heat Race 1 (8 laps): 1. 31b-Christopher Bell (2); 2. 57-Dale Blaney (1); 3. 87-Aaron Reutzel (6); 4. 88n-D.J. Netto (4); 5. 33v-Henry Van Dam (3); 6. 2l-Logan Forler (8); 7. 1a-Jacob Allen (7); 8. 88-Brandon Rahmer (5).

Heat Race 2 (8 laps): 1. 11c-Roger Crockett (1); 2. 74x-Josh Hodges (4); 3. 1s-Logan Schuchart (3); 4. 51s-Stevie Smith (6); 5. 11k-Kraig Kinser (7); 6. 83-David Gravel (5); 7. 9-Kasey Kahne (8); 8. 5h-Dakota Hendrickson (2).

Heat Race 3 (8 laps): 1. 51-Paul McMahan (1); 2. 15h-Sam Hafertepe Jr. (3); 3. 33-Danny Lasoski (6); 4. 21-Brian Brown (4); 5. 94-Ryan Smith (2); 6. 11-Steve Kinser (7); 7. 77x-Wayne Johnson (5); 8. 9r-Reece Goetz (8).

Heat Race 4 (8 laps): 1. 26-Joey Saldana (2); 2. 3c-Willie Croft (1); 3. 7-Craig Dollansky (6); 4. 24-Rico Abreu (3); 5. 22-Mason Moore (8); 6. 82-Dusty Zomer (7); 7. 99-Skylar Gee (5); 8. 98-Matt Jensen (4).

Qualifier 1 (10 laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown (2); 2. 82-Dusty Zomer (1); 3. 33-Danny Lasoski (5); 4. 31b-Christopher Bell (6); 5. 9-Kasey Kahne (7); 6. 9r-Reece Goetz (8); 7. 15h-Sam Hafertepe Jr. (4); 8. 22-Mason Moore (DNS).

Qualifier 2 (10 laps): 1. 33v-Henry Van Dam (1); 2. 57-Dale Blaney (4); 3. 24-Rico Abreu (2); 4. 26-Joey Saldana (6); 5. 1s-Logan Schuchart (3); 6. 7-Craig Dollansky (5); 7. 1a-Jacob Allen (7); 8. 88-Brandon Rahmer (8).

Qualifier 3 (10 laps): 1. 94-Ryan Smith (1); 2. 2l-Logan Forler (2); 3. 11k-Kraig Kinser (3); 4. 3c-Willie Croft (4); 5. 11c-Roger Crockett (5); 6. 77x-Wayne Johnson (7); 7. 74x-Josh Hodges (6); 8. 98-Matt Jensen (8).

Qualifier 4 (10 laps): 1. 83-David Gravel (1); 2. 51-Paul McMahan (5); 3. 11-Steve Kinser (2); 4. 51s-Stevie Smith (4); 5. 88n-D.J. Netto (3); 6. 5h-Dakota Hendrickson (8); 7. 99-Skylar Gee (7); 8. 87-Aaron Reutzel (6).

B Main (15 laps/8 transfer): 1. 11-Steve Kinser (4); 2. 82-Dusty Zomer (1); 3. 1s-Logan Schuchart (3); 4. 9-Kasey Kahne (9); 5. 88n-D.J. Netto (7); 6. 77x-Wayne Johnson (10); 7. 22-Mason Moore (8); 8. 9r-Reece Goetz (11); 9. 1a-Jacob Allen (13); 10. 88-Brandon Rahmer (15); 11. 99-Skylar Gee (14); 12. 5h-Dakota Hendrickson (12); 13. 74x-Josh Hodges (2); 14. 98-Matt Jensen (16); 15. 15h-Sam Hafertepe Jr. (DNS); 16. 87-Aaron Reutzel (DNS).

A Main (30 laps): 1. 33-Danny Lasoski (5); 2. 57-Dale Blaney (2); 3. 51-Paul McMahan (1); 4. 11c-Roger Crockett (7); 5. 26-Joey Saldana (4); 6. 33v-Henry Van Dam (9); 7. 21-Brian Brown (6); 8. 11k-Kraig Kinser (11); 9. 51s-Stevie Smith (12); 10. 31b-Christopher Bell (3); 11. 94-Ryan Smith (13); 12. 3c-Willie Croft (8); 13. 83-David Gravel (15); 14. 11-Steve Kinser (17); 15. 82-Dusty Zomer (18); 16. 9-Kasey Kahne (20); 17. 22-Mason Moore (23); 18. 2l-Logan Forler (10); 19. 1s-Logan Schuchart (19); 20. 24-Rico Abreu (16); 21. 9r-Reece Goetz (24); 22. 88n-D.J. Netto (21); 23. 77x-Wayne Johnson (22); 24. 7-Craig Dollansky (14).

(Top 24 in passing and finishing points in the heat races were inverted in the qualifiers. The top 16 in passing and finishing points following the qualifiers locked into the A Main.)

UNOFFICIAL POINTS AFTER ROUND 4 –

.1. 51-Paul McMahan 750; 2. 26-Joey Saldana 726; 3. 51s-Stevie Smith 708; 4. 33-Danny Lasoski 703; 5. 11c-Roger Crockett 676; 6. 31b-Christopher Bell 660; 7. 21-Brian Brown 649; 8. 11k-Kraig Kinser 647; 9. 33v-Henry Van Dam 640; 10. 11-Steve Kinser 634; 11. 1s-Logan Schuchart 631; 12. 9-Kasey Kahne 625; 13. 83-David Gravel 624; 14. 57-Dale Blaney 611; 15. 3c-Willie Croft 610; 16. 7-Craig Dollansky 605; 17. 82-Dusty Zomer 601; 18. 9r-Reece Goetz 574; 19. 2l-Logan Forler 571; 20. 22-Mason Moore 568; 21. 94-Ryan Smith 565; 22. 87-Aaron Reutzel 560; 23. 15h-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 542; 24. 42-Kyle Larson 523; 25. 5h-Dakota Hendrickson 518; 26. 88n-D.J. Netto 516; 27. 1a-Jacob Allen 510; 28. 99-Skylar Gee 478; 29. 51r-Freddie Rahmer 450; 30. 77x-Wayne Johnson 438; 31. 98-Matt Jensen 332; 32. 23-Seth Bergman 279; 33. 74x-Josh Hodges 225; 34. 24-Rico Abreu 145; 35. 88-Brandon Rahmer 119; 36. 55-Bud Walberg 107.

WINTER HEAT SPRINT CAR SHOWDOWN –

Dates: Jan. 2-3, 6, 9-10, 2015

Track: Cocopah Speedway in Somerton, Ariz.

Prize: $12,000-to-win, $1,000-to-start each night (Jan. 2-3, 9-10); $5,000-to-win (Jan. 6); approximately $250,000 total prize money

Type: 410ci sprint cars

Times: Pit gate opens at 11 a.m.; main gates open at 2 p.m.; hot laps at 6:30 p.m.; Opening Ceremonies at 7 p.m.

TICKETS –

Fans can purchase tickets by clicking https://secure.pivotalracing.com/venues/cocopah-speedway.

PAY-PER-VIEW –

SPEED SPORT Productions will be broadcasting live Pay-Per-View video of the Winter Heat Sprint Car Showdown for $27.95 per night. Visit http://www.SPEEDSPORT.TV/live for more information. The event will also be taped for a pair of one-hour delayed television broadcasts via MAVTV.

MEDIA LINKS –

Website: http://www.CocopahSpeedway.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CocopahShowdown

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WinterHeatSprintCarShowdown

THE EVENT –

The inaugural Winter Heat Sprint Car Showdown will showcase the top sprint car drivers in the world in sunny Southwest Arizona during the first two weekends of January in 2015. The four weekend races pay $12,000 to the winner and at least $1,000 to every driver who advances to the main event with the midweek show paying $5,000 to win.

POINTS FUND –

A $10,000 points fund will be split among the top-five finishers. The champion will receive a $4,000 bonus with drivers finishing second through fifth each offered $1,500. A driver will earn points throughout heat races, qualifying races and main events during the five events. A competitor must attempt to race in all five Winter Heat Sprint Car Showdown races to be eligible for the points fund.

COCOPAH SPEEDWAY –

Cocopah Speedway is a semi-banked, 3/8-mile dirt track located in Somerton, Ariz. It has a concrete wall perimeter, television-quality lighting and the pits are located outside turns three and four. There is also dry camping free of charge on the property. For more information, visit http://www.CocopahSpeedway.com.

COMETIC GASKET –

Cometic Gasket, Inc., is a leading worldwide supplier of shelf stock, custom and short-run gaskets for the performance aftermarket, original equipment and motor sports industries. The company, which is located in Concord, Ohio, was created in 1989 and ships out more than 5,000 types of gaskets to customers worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.Cometic.com.

JE PISTONS –

JE Pistons is the leader in high performance forged pistons. Based in Irvine, Calif., the company has more than 60 years of experience and has a history of manufacturing the highest quality pistons and components that professional engine builders, race teams and high-performance enthusiasts trust and rely on. For more information, visit http://www.JEPistons.com.

K1 TECHNOLOGIES –

K1 Technologies, which is located in Mentor, Ohio, has many years in the field of designing, engineering and manufacturing connecting rods and crankshafts. For more information, visit http://www.K1Technologies.com.

INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –

Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations and media management for motor sports drivers, teams, sponsors, tracks, series, events, organizations and manufacturers. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and the return on investment for your sponsors.

To meet the media relations needs of your program and to join Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or InsideLinePromotions@gmail.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.

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