Lasoski gets jump with Open victory

Danny Lasoski still has never won the Short Track Nationals, but his performance Wednesday night put him on a short list of favorites.

Lasoski, of Dover, Mo., won Wednesday night’s inaugural running of the Short Track Nationals Open at Little Rock’s I-30 Speedway, which kicked off the 26th annual Comp Cams Short Track Nationals.

“It’s fun to drive when the car is working that good,” Lasoski said after the race.

Lasoski won the 2001 World of Outlaws title and was the WoO runner-up in 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2004. He also won the National Sprint Tour title in 2006, claimed sprint car racing’s premier event, the Knoxville Nationals, four times and even won an IROC event at Texas Motor Speedway in 2004.

But he has never won the Short Track Nationals, his best finish being a fourth in 2001.

But on Wednesday night, he quickly moved from his fifth-place starting position and passed Johnny Herrera of Albuquerque, N.M., for the lead on the 15th lap and pulled away for the victory.

“I knew right away we were good,” Lasoski said. “I could see those guys spinning their tires. I knew I just had to be smooth and we’d be faster as the race went on”

Herrera was second and Christopher Bell of Norman, Okla., last year’s STN runner-up in his first start, was third. Polesitter Tim Crawley of Benton, the 1998 winner was fourth and Kevin Swindell of Germantown, Tenn., the winner of the past four Chili Bowl midget titles, took fifth.

I-30 Speedway officials had earlier indicated they expected 50-60 drivers to compete at the STN Open, which has little, if any, bearing on the lineup for Saturday night’s $15,000-to-win Short Track Nationals main event. But 95 drivers competed Wednesday, virtually every driver pre-entered for the Nationals and likely the largest field ever for a $2,500-to-win event.

If any of the top four finishers from Wednesday night fail to make the STN main event field during the preliminaries on Thursday, tonight or Saturday night, the highest finisher of that group will receive a provisional starting spot. Lasoski stands to earn a $2,500 bonus if he wins Saturday night’s 40-lap main event.

Racing continues tonight at the event with a full preliminary card. The top three finishers from the preliminary features Thursday night and tonight will advance to Saturday night’s finale.