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 KNOXVILLE,
IA (August 8) -- The second preliminary night of racing in the 42nd
annual Mopar Parts Knoxville Nationals was held last night at
Knoxville Raceway. At the end of the night, Donny Schatz was in the
winner's circle giving Team-Hoosier its 30th straight win in the
Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series. The victory increased Hoosier's
overall record to 61-4 in the series. The night also marked the first
time in nearly two weeks defending series champion Danny Lasoski
resumed competing after suffering a terrible crash at Williams Grove
Speedway. Lasoski wasted no time letting everyone know he was back
when he set fast time of the evening on the track on which he had won
seven track championships.
The second night of racing had 63 drivers entered for
qualifying with 47 of them competing on Hoosier tires. Showing no
ill-signs of not having raced in nearly two weeks, Danny Lasoski set
fast time of 15.277 seconds around the track he once called home
having won 78 features races at the 1/2-mile facility.
Team-Hoosier captured three of the five heat races
contested. Jaymie Moyle, Jason Myers and Travis Cram won heats three,
four and five, respectively.
Both "last-chance" races were also won by
Hoosier-shod drivers. Matt Moro won the C-feature, while Mark Kinser
won the 12-lap B-feature.
In the 25-lap feature, all three tire brands were
represented with Team-Hoosier accounting for 17 cars in the 24-car
field. The race was a wild one in that it had five lead changes among
four different drivers before a winner emerged. Shane Stewart led the
first four laps from the pole before giving way to third starting
Donny Schatz. Schatz held the lead through lap 17, when Tyler Walker
moved into the lead after starting on the outside pole. Walker was
then overtaken by eighth starting Danny Lasoski who led lap 21, before
being passed by Donny Schatz. Schatz, using a pair of Hoosier D12's
led the remaining four laps to take the win. Schatz collected $10,090
for his night's work.
Tyler Walker finished second and also used a pair of
D12's. Walker pocketed $7,100 for his runner-up finish. Danny Lasoski
wound up in third using a Hoosier RD12/D12 combination. Lasoski's take
on the night was $6,125.
The Team-Hoosier 1-2-3 finish was the 48th of the
season in 65 nights of racing in the Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series.
Other top ten finishers on Hoosier tires were: Mark
Kinser (5th), Ricky Logan (7th), Greg Hodnett (8th), and Kerry Madsen
(9th). Fourteen of the top seventeen finishers rode on Hoosier tires.
Hoosier Open Wheel Dirt Product Manager Neil Cowman is
in Knoxville and reported the details for this report. Cowman stated,
"For the second night in a row, the Hoosier brand performed
well." Cowman added, "But best of all, was having Danny
(Lasoski) back in the #20 racing again."
The third night of the 4-night Knoxville Nationals
will be contested tonight culminating in Saturday's $125,000 to-win
finale.
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