Lonnie Wheatley, LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (October 28, 2011) – Fresh off a Devil’s Bowl Winter Nationals triumph the previous weekend, Danny Lasoski battled past Jason Sides to win Friday night’s 25-lap preliminary feature at I-30 Speedway’s 24th Annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires.
After battling side-by-side for several circuits, Lasoski surged ahead and drove Mark Burch’s Engler Machine No. 1m Wolfweld to Lucas Oil ASCS presented by K&N Filters National victory lane for the second time in less than a week.
The Dover, MO, native beat Sides of Bartlett, TN, to the stripe by 3.490 seconds with fellow Tennessee shoe Sammy Swindell also locking into Saturday night’s $15,000-to-win, $2,400-to-start STN finale by finishing third.
With Lasoski gridding the feature outside the second row, Sides and Swindell led the way to the green flag with Sides racing into the lead on the opening round. After the previous preliminary feature ran off in non-stop fashion, the caution flew on the second circuit this time for a four-car tangle in turn two that sent Danny Wood pitside with Brian Brown, Kyle Bellm and defending STN champion Brad Sweet rejoining the chase at the tail.
Back under way, Lasoski battled past Swindell for second and was pressuring Sides for the point when the race’s second and final caution flew for Joe Wood, Jr., who came to a stop in turn three with a cut tire.
The battle was on when the green flag flew again, with Sides working the low side and Lasoski up top. Lasoski edged ahead momentarily on several occasions before finally gaining command on the 15th round and checking out on the field.
Lasoski rallied on to the checkered flag unchallenged, with 2001 STN champion Sides taking runner-up honors in Bobby Sparks’ No. 91 entry.
Swindell, who earned his lone STN title in 1990, earned the show position to lock into Saturday’s finale, with 1998 STN winner Tim Crawley climbing a half dozen positions from tenth to fourth in Mike Ward’s Lucas Oil/Boater Sports No. 88.
Sam Hafertepe, Jr., rounded out the top five in the Lone Star Speedway No. 15h, with California phenom Kyle Larson in seventh. Jason Johnson charged from the 16th position to seventh, with STN rookie contender Stevie Smith, Randy Hannagan and Sweet completing the top ten.
Smith was just one of two STN rookies to make a preliminary night feature cut, with Cody Darrah earning the third starting position in the Friday feature only to suffer engine woes two laps into the main event.
Smith, Wright, Sides, Danny Wood, Larson and I-30 Speedway track champion A.G. Rains topped heat race action for Friday night’s 49-car field, with Hannagan, Bellm, Darrah, Lasoski and Saldana winning the qualifying races. Saldana was forced to the infield early in the feature with suspension issues.
Brian Brown, Jason Johnson and Sweet won the “B” Mains.
A total of 100 drivers have taken part in the initial two nights of the 24th Annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires.
24th Annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires Friday Night Results:
Heat Races:
First Heat (10 Laps): 1. 3g-Stevie Smith, 2. 41-Jason Johnson, 3. 9-Joey Saldana, 4. 91d-Cody Darrah, 5. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 6. 40-Ernie Ainsworth, 7. 19k-Klint Angelette, 8. 1m-Jim Moughan. DNS: 4bx-Kevin Baugh.
Second Heat (10 Laps): 1. 9x-Gary Wright, 2. 1-Sammy Swindell, 3. 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 4. 14k-Kyle Bellm, 5. X1m-Jack Dover, 6. 38p-Rick Pringle, 7. 51x-Beau Smith, 8. 23j-Junior Jenkins.
Third Heat (10 Laps): 1. 91s-Jason Sides, 2. 28s-Jeff Swindell, 3. 15b-Sean McClelland, 4. 22h-Randy Hannagan, 5. 9s-Justin Sturch, 6. 26-Marshall Skinner, 7. X-Charlie Louden, 8. C4-Casey Rowland.
Fourth Heat (10 Laps): 1. 81-Danny Wood, 2. 05-Brad Loyet, 3. 49-Brad Sweet, 4. 87j-Justin Carver, 5. 4s-Danny Smith, 6. 44-Ronny Howard, 7. 44c-Henry Gustavus, 8. 31-Justin Webb.
Fifth Heat (10 Laps): 1. 187-Kyle Larson, 2. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 3. 17b-Ryan Bickett, 4. 8z-Zach Pringle, 5. 11g-Mike Goodman, 6. 0c-Zach Chappell, 7. 44w-Austen Wheatley, 8. 3h-Nate Van Haaften.
Sixth Heat (10 Laps): 1. 3a-A.G. Rains, 2. 1mx-Danny Lasoski, 3. 88-Tim Crawley, 4. 21b-Brian Brown, 5. 47-Dale Howard, 6. 51b-Jimmy Brooks, 7. 12-Steven Schaberg, 8. 58-Wade Oliver.
Qualifying Races – Top 14 in Combined Passing/Finishing Points to “A” Feature; Balance to “B” Mains
First Qualifier (10 Laps): 1. 22h-Randy Hannagan, 2. 21b-Brian Brown, 3. 3g-Stevie Smith, 4. 41-Jason Johnson, 5. 28s-Jeff Swindell, 6. 49-Brad Sweet, 7. C4-Casey Rowland, 8. 0c-Zach Chappell, 9. 44-Ronny Howard, 10. 12-Steven Schaberg.
Second Qualifier (10 Laps): 1. 14k-Kyle Bellm, 2. 3a-A.G. Rains, 3. 1-Sammy Swindell, 4. 05-Brad Loyet, 5. 9x-Gary Wright, 6. 9s-Justin Sturch, 7. 1m-Jim Moughan, 8. 15b-Sean McClelland, 9. 51b-Jimmy Brooks. DNS: 58-Wade Oliver.
Third Qualifier (10 Laps): 1. 91d-Cody Darrah, 2. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 3. 81-Danny Wood, 4. 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 5. 26-Marshall Skinner, 6. 87j-Justin Carver, 7. 19k-Klint Angelette, 8. 44c-Henry Gustavus, 9. 31-Justin Webb, 10. 51x-Beau Smith.
Fourth Qualifier (10 Laps): 1. 1mx-Danny Lasoski, 2. 91s-Jason Sides, 3. X1m-Jack Dover, 4. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 5. 11g-Mike Goodman, 6. 40-Ernie Ainsworth, 7. 3h-Nate Van Haaften, 8. 4bx-Kevin Baugh, 9. X-Charlie Louden, 10. 8z-Zach Pringle (Disqualified; nose wing too far forward after finishing second).
Fifth Qualifier (10 Laps): 1. 9-Joey Saldana, 2. 4s-Danny Smith, 3. 88-Tim Crawley, 4. 187-Kyle Larson, 5. 47-Dale Howard, 6. 44w-Austen Wheatley, 7. 17b-Ryan Bickett, 8. 38p-Rick Pringle, 9. 23j-Junior Jenkins.
“B” Features – Top 2 From Each Advance to “A” Feature
First “B” Feature (10 Laps): 1. 21b-Brian Brown, 2. 14k-Kyle Bellm, 3. 05-Brad Loyet, 4. 3h-Nate Van Haaften, 5. 40-Ernie Ainsworth, 6. 0c-Zach Chappell, 7. 11g-Mike Goodman, 8. 58-Wade Oliver, 9. 26-Marshall Skinner. DNS: 38p-Rick Pringle, X-Charlie Louden, 31-Justin Webb.
Second “B” Feature (10 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson, 2. 9x-Gary Wright, 3. 87j-Justin Carver, 4. X1m-Jack Dover, 5. 9s-Justin Sturch, 6. 8z-Zach Pringle, 7. 44w-Austen Wheatley, 8. 44c-Henry Gustavus, 9. 12-Steven Schaberg, 10. 19k-Klint Angelette, 11. 44-Ronny Howard, 12. 51x-Beau Smith.
Third “B” Feature (10 Laps): 1. 49-Brad Sweet, 2. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 3. 4s-Danny Smith, 4. 47-Dale Howard, 5. 15b-Sean McClelland, 6. C4-Casey Rowland, 7. 1m-Jim Moughan, 8. 17b-Ryan Bickett, 9. 23j-Junior Jenkins, 10. 4bx-Kevin Baugh, 11. 51b-Jimmy Brooks.
“A” Feature – Top 3 Finishers Locked into Saturday night’s $15,000 to win STN Finale.
A Feature (25 Laps – Starting position in parentheses): 1. 1mx-Danny Lasoski (4), 2. 91s-Jason Sides (1), 3. 1-Sammy Swindell (2), 4. 88-Tim Crawley (10), 5. 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr. (8), 6. 187-Kyle Larson (9), 7. 41-Jason Johnson (16), 8. 3g-Stevie Smith (12), 9. 22h-Randy Hannagan (13), 10. 49-Brad Sweet (17), 11. 45x-Johnny Herrera (14), 12. 21b-Brian Brown (15), 13. 28s-Jeff Swindell (11), 14. 9x-Gary Wright (19), 15. 14k-Kyle Bellm (18), 16. 03-Joe Wood, Jr. (20), 17. 9-Joey Saldana (5), 18. 3a-A.G. Rainns (6), 19. 81-Danny Wood (7), 20. 91d-Cody Darrah (3).
Lap Leaders: Jason Sides 1-10, Danny Lasoski 11, Sides 12-14, Lasoski 15-25.