Northwest auto-racing notebook: Lasoski eager to go racing

He felt miserable, and the vision in his right eye wasn't all that keen.

The doctor futilely told him not to race, said he was only "about 60 percent" healthy. But Danny Lasoski, reigning World of Outlaws sprint-car champion, was 100 percent irritated he had already missed four races.

So he thanked Johnny Herrera for keeping warm the seat of his Tony Stewart-owned J.D. Byrider Eagle and jumped back into it. He wasn't going to miss the Knoxville (Iowa) Nationals or the Wild, Wild Northwest Tour that stopped at Elma in Grays Harbor County last weekend and will move Friday to Skagit Speedway in Alger.

Lasoski was defying doctor's orders. "I don't care," he said. "I'm way too impatient, and I can't stand anybody else driving my car. Johnny did a great job. I couldn't ask him to do any more, but this is my team. I'm the world's worst loser."

He crinkled a smile, but even that looked like it hurt. Lasoski is mending from a concussion, broken ankle, broken ribs and internal injuries suffered in a race July 26 at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa., seemingly a world removed from his intense battle to slice Steve Kinser's lead in the point standings.

"I'm behind on all my driving and thinking. It's all because I hit my head. If I could have gotten back in my car that day, I would've," said Lasoski, of Dover, Mo. "I got my bell rung, and I was out 12 minutes. I remember absolutely nothing. I know it takes time (to recover fully), but I'm impatient.

"It was kind of an exciting year," he said, "until we had this happen. You might make up one race, but you're not going to make up four."

He had dropped from second to fourth place in the standings, but with his gritty third-place finish Saturday at Elma he leapfrogged Craig Dollansky into third. He's 25 points behind Joey Saldana but 286 away from Kinser.

"You keep putting out 100 percent and trying to win as many races as you can," Lasoski said. He said he's using this setback to experiment with tire compounds and chassis set-ups that he ordinarily wouldn't have the luxury of testing.

This has been a frustrating stretch for him, Stewart and their close friend, drag racer Gary Scelzi. Stewart, the NASCAR Winston Cup headliner said he is contrite about punching a photographer at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway earlier this month and has been grappling with anger-management issues. Scelzi, a three-time Top Fuel champion and two-time Seattle winner, has been without a ride since May.

Lasoski predicted Scelzi would be the first of the three to end the run of bad luck. He said he expected to see Scelzi back on track soon, in a Funny Car. Asked if he thought Scelzi would be driving for Schumacher Racing, which already fields the Funny Cars of Whit Bazemore and Scotty Cannon, Lasoski raised his eyebrows and gave an "I-can't-tell" look.

Lasoski seems to be making his own luck. And if he's moving back up the ladder at just 60 percent speed, the rest of the Outlaws had better look out.

Keeping it in the family

They share more than initials. Karl Kinser and Kale Kahne have a passion for sprint-car racing.

Kinser is the father of driver Mark Kinser, the former series champion and the Elma stop's only two-time winner. He has traded his own driving dominance for the distinction of the Outlaws' winningest car owner. Kahne, brother of Kasey Kahne, rising NASCAR star and Busch Series regular, is a 2002 graduate of Enumclaw High School and is just starting to make his contribution to motorsports.

Kahne is working on Mark Kinser's crew for the second straight summer and said he hopes to stay on full-time. If Kinser's scouting report is accurate, Kahne is a shoo-in.

The Oolitic, Ind., driver said his father has remarked that Kahne is a quick learner, one who performs a new task correctly the first time. "My dad's really impressed with him," Kinser said, quickly adding, "and my dad's not impressed with very many young kids."

While Kale Kahne and the Kinsers were struggling Saturday at Grays Harbor Raceway Park, Kasey Kahne was faring well at Michigan International Speedway. He finished 10th in the Cabella's 250 NASCAR Busch Series race.

Former Snohomish resident Larry Gunselman started 42nd in that race and finished 28th. Points leader Greg Biffle, of Vancouver, Wash., started 28th and ended up 42nd when his engine broke after just 18 laps. Biffle had entered with an 82-point lead over Keller and a streak of nine top-three finishes in the last 10 races.

Notes

• The General Motors Ecotec Pure Power Tour, a drag racing-themed exhibit, will be among the attractions Saturday and Sunday at the Super Chevy Show at Pacific Raceways in Kent. The interactive display will showcase modified vehicles from the front-wheel- drive drag-racing circuit, including the Chevy Cavalier with the Ecotec 2.2-liter engine that Stephanie Reaves, the former Pro Stock Motorcycle racer, debuted. She recently became the fastest woman in Sport Compact drag racing. On display also will be the Pontiac Sunfire of Marty Ladwig, who won the IDRC Advanced Clutch Nationals in his debut. The tour also will feature engine displays and interactive driving simulator race games.

• Remember Everett's Kris Becker, the first woman to compete and win on a nitro-burning Harley drag bike? How about "Queen of the Desert" Tammy Sessions? She was one of two women first granted pro AMA racing licenses in 1973. Recall Jim Pomeroy of Yakima, the first American to win a World Motocross GP in 1973? The Pacific Northwest Museum of Motorcycling is reliving their glory days and showcasing local legends and racing machines in its "Fastest Corner in the Northwest: Motorcycle Racing Around Seattle 1910-2002." The exhibit, presented in conjunction with the Museum of History and Industry, will close Sept. 2. It includes 15 racing motorcycles dating from 1908 to 2002 and more than 60 photographs illustrating a rich race history in and around Seattle.