Danny Lasoski to race in WOO in 1995
IT'S OFFICIAL: 'THE DUDE' IS GOING WORLD OF OUTLAWS RACING By Richard Day DES MOINES, IA (November 17) - Danny Lasoski, the defending Knoxville Raceway champion, will be racing for the World of Outlaws' ...
IT'S OFFICIAL: 'THE DUDE' IS GOING WORLD OF OUTLAWS RACING By Richard Day DES MOINES, IA (November 17) - Danny Lasoski, the defending Knoxville Raceway champion, will be racing for the World of Outlaws' championship in 1995, Strange Performance Racing announced Friday. "The Dude" won his sixth Knoxville championship in 1994 - his first season in the #47 Casey's General Stores Maxim. After undergoing major abdominal surgery early in the year, he won 34 "A" Features and finished third at the Knoxville Nationals. While his cancer treatments have continued, Danny remains optimistic about racing with the best sprint car drivers in the world. "We're really looking forward to racing all year with the World of Outlaws in 1995," Lasoski said. "My car owner has never tried to run the complete World of Outlaws tour, and I've never had the opportunity to run with the series for a full year. "It's inviting that Steve (Kinser) isn't going to be racing, but that's not our reasoning. We think we have a pretty good team and we can win some races. That's not to say we're going to win the championship, but we're sure going to try hard. There's a lot of good guys who are capable of winning it. I think it's really going to be interesting next year." Lasoski followed 1989 Copenhagen-Skoal Shootout champion Bobby Davis, Jr., in Casey Luna's #10 sprinter midway through the 1991 season and was replaced by Jac Haudenschild a year later. Car owner Gil Sonner, a veteran of more than 40 years in racing, is equally excited about joining the World of Outlaws' tour. "I knew Danny was good, but I didn't know he was that good," he said after Lasoski captured the Knoxville Raceway championship last season. Haudenschild, an 11-year veteran on the World of Outlaws' tour, recently left the dirt ovals for Bob Bondurant School of High Performance. "That was really nice," Haudenschild said. "I learned a lot about shifting gears and a lot of other little things that you don't pick up in dirt racing. "It was fun, I really had a good time. We drove Formula 4 cars. They're pretty small and have little, midget-like tires on them. They had a good feel to them, though." When asked if he aspired to go IndyCar racing some day, "The Wild Child" said, "Yeah, I'd like to get into that. I don't really have anything going right now. I've talked to a few people, but I really haven't pushed it that much. I'd like to try it sometime." Haudenschild said he and mechanics Dennis Kohler, Mitch Wilson and Darrell Green would start building new #22 Pennzoil Maxims in early December. "Everything is looking good. Hopefully we'll be able to hit a lick next year." Kenny Jacobs, who finished only 36 points behind "The Wild Child" in the Copenhagen-Skoal Shootout point standings last season, has been ride- hunting since Motter Brothers Racing indicated a driver change was in order several weeks ago. "I haven't been able to get anything going with a World of Outlaws team," Jacobs said. "Everybody I've talked to wants me to bring them a sponsor, and I haven't been able to come up with one. "So Ed Haudenschild, Jac's brother, and I are going to run an All-Star team for Warren Johnson. I couldn't do this without Ed Haudenschild. He and Gary Stanton will be helping me. "I'm going to run the operation, something I've never done in my life. I'm going to do my best to take care of Mr. Johnson. It looks like things will be all right; I guess we'll know by the middle of next summer. "I really wish I could get a World of Outlaws ride. My whole family is going to miss racing with the series. I was planning to race with the World of Outlaws at least another couple of years. Hopefully, something else will come along so I can." Sammy Swindell will be splitting his racing schedule between the World of Outlaws and the NASCAR SuperTruck Series in 1995. The 1981-1982 World of Outlaws champion recently signed a contract with Hooters Restaurants to sponsor the sprint car he will own and drive. He says his SuperTruck schedule will allow him to run approximately 30 World of Outlaws events next season. "I'm really looking forward to next year," Swindell said. "We'll be running two series, but we'll still be running fewer races than we have in the past. That will give us more time to spend at home. "I'm really glad to have Hooters sponsoring my sprint car. We've been working with them for quite a while. This gives me an opportunity to do some things I've always wanted to do, like have my own team. I'll have more control of what's going on this way." Sammy added that Keith Laney, Richard King and Jim Norris will be members of his sprint car team. Swindell drove Brad Akins' and Bob Sutton's #38 Channel Lock-sponsored truck into seventh place in the season-opening race at Tucson Raceway Park Sunday. WoO*eot
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