(Bill W) May 27, 2012 – A torrid battle for the lead in lapped traffic on Sunday night, ended in disaster for leader, Brian Brown. For Danny Lasoski, who inherited the lead, it was what he needed to record his second career MOWA win. Both have come at the 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa.
Twenty-seven entries checked in to the MOWA event at the 3/8-mile oval. By the time the 20-car, 30-lap feature hit the track, Lasoski started on the pole by virtue of a Dash win. However, it was Brown who raced to lead lap one, from his starting spot inside row two after passing both Lasoski and Jerrod Hull.
Brown cruised out front using both the high and low sides on both ends, while Lasoski followed in pursuit. Brown pulled away until hitting heavy lapped traffic about lap seven. Lasoski reeled him in as the pair tried to lap a trio of cars. On lap nine, Brown and the lapped car of Jeremy Standridge contacted. The result was Brown suffering race ending damage to the left rear wheel. Standridge ended upside down, but was uninjured.
Lasoski assumed the lead ahead of Hull, AJ Bruns, Bobby Mincer in a 360 and Jim Moughan Jr. Lasoski pulled away from there on, and saw little challenge for the lead. One more caution plagued the event on lap 13, when Chris Urish spun. While Hull nailed down second, a battle for third ensued between Moughan and Bruns. In the end, it was Bruns who grabbed the spot. Moughan was fourth ahead of Ryan Bunton.
"He made an excellent move there early to take the lead," said Lasoski of Brown. "You are supposed to do the opposite of what the leader does, and that's what he did. To be honest, it helped me to find out where my car was better. Sometimes it better to be second than out front. I saw he got excited and ran over the lapped car. It was too bad, because it would have been a good one. I came up here when my Dad raced. I liked it then, and I like it now."
"Danny had us covered no doubt," said Hull. "Brian had some hard luck. We put a little harder left rear tire on than we should have, I think. We'll work on it, and get better. Hopefully, we can climb one more spot next time. We'll take a first and a second any day."
"The first part of the race, I was just kind of hanging there," said the third running Bruns. "Once we got to the lapped cars, I started finding something. I had lost a couple spots on the bottom, but the top started rolling for me. I'm just happy to be standing here on the podium with these guys!"
Finishing sixth through tenth were Hard Charger, Ben Wagoner, Ryan Jamison, Mincer, Ian Madsen and Brad Greer. Bret Tripplett, Bruns and Matt Sutton won heat races. Lasoski took quick time and the Dash, and Wagoner won the B main.
The next event on the MOWA schedule will be on Friday, June 15 at the Lincoln Speedway in Lincoln, Illinois. For more information, visit www.MidwestOpenWheel.com!
MOWA Sprint Series Main Event (started), 30 laps: 1. 33, Danny Lasoski, Dover, MO (1) 2. 12, Jerrod Hull, Sikeston, MO (2) 3. 44, AJ Bruns, Athens, IL (4) 4. 1m, Jim Moughan Jr., Springfield, IL (6) 5. 6R, Ryan Bunton, Morton, IL (11) 6. 84, Ben Wagoner, Emden, IL (18) 7. 51J, Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis, IA (16) 8. 15, Bobby Mincer, Burlington, IA (7) 9. 55, Ian Madsen, St. Mary's, NSW, Aust. (12) 10. 3B, Brad Greer, Coulterville, IL (9) 11. 3, Matt Sutton, Macomb, IL (15) 12. 53H, Matt Harms, Lacon, IL (20) 13. 77u, Chris Urish, Elkhart, IL (13) 14. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (3) 15. 10s, Jeremy Standridge, Springfield, IL (14) 16. 99w, Korey Weyant, Springfield, IL (5) 17. 14P, Jordan Goldesberry, Springfield, IL (8) 18. 22, Bret Tripplett, Lincoln, IL (10) 19. 99, Jimmy Davies, Oquawka, IL (17) 20. 7m, Geoff Dodge, Colorado Springs, CO (19). Lap Leaders: Brown 1-9, Lasoski 10-30. BMRS Hard Charger: Ben Wagoner. VP Race Fuels Winner: Jeremy Standridge.
Cooper Racing Enterprises Heat one (started, 10 laps): 1. Bret Tripplett (2) 2. Chris Urish (1) 3. Danny Lasoski (6) 4. Korey Weyant (3) 5. Jordan Goldesberry (4) / 6. Ben Wagoner (7) 7. 52F, Logan Faucon, Elkhart, IL (9) 8. 88, Terry Babb, Decatur, IL (8) 9. Ian Madsen (5)
Midland Performance Parts Heat two (started, 10 laps): 1. AJ Bruns (3) 2. Brian Brown (6) 3. Ryan Bunton (2) 4. Jim Moughan Jr. (5) 5. Matt Harms (8) / 6. Ryan Jamison (1) 7. 9, Paul Nienhiser, Chapin, IL (7) 8. 6B, Andy Baugh, Mason City, IL (4) DNS – 28, Justin Springer, Pekin, IL
Super Shox Heat three (started, 10 laps): 1. Matt Sutton (1) 2. Jerrod Hull (5) 3. Bobby Mincer (3) 4. Geoff Dodge (4) 5. Jeremy Standridge (2) / 6. Brad Greer (6) 7. 83, Ron Standridge, Springfield, IL (8) 8. Jimmy Davies (7) 9. 5, Caleb Wankel, Jacksonville, IL (9)
Dash (started, 8 laps): 1. Danny Lasoski (2) 2. Jerrod Hull (4) 3. Brian Brown (6) 4. AJ Bruns (5) 5. Korey Weyant (8) 6. Jim Moughan Jr. (3) 7. Geoff Dodge (1) 8. Jordan Goldesberry (7)
Race Bumpers B Main (started, 12 laps): 1. Ben Wagoner (3) 2. Ryan Jamison (4) 3. Jimmy Davies (5) 4. Brad Greer (1) 5. Ian Madsen (2) / 6. Paul Nienhiser (6) 7. Caleb Wankel (9) 8. Logan Faucon (10) 9. Ron Standridge (7) 10. Terry Babb (8) DNS – Andy Baugh, Justin Springer
Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. Danny Lasoski (6) 12.991; 2. Brian Brown (7) 13.211; 3. Brad Greer (8) 13.378; 4. Ian Madsen (13) 13.472; 5. Jim Moughan Jr. (4) 13.565; 6. Jerrod Hull (5) 13.584; 7. Jordan Goldesberry (9) 13.734; 8. Andy Baugh (1) 13.829; 9. Geoff Dodge (17) 13.859; 10. Korey Weyant (25) 13.949; 11. AJ Bruns (18) 13.962; 12. Bobby Mincer (19) 14.019; 13. Bret Tripplett (3) 14.028; 14. Ryan Bunton (23) 14.084; 15. Jeremy Standridge (20) 14.142; 16. Chris Urish (15) 14.154; 17. Ryan Jamison (11) 14.164; 18. Matt Sutton (12) 14.212; 19. Ben Wagoner (22) 14.260; 20. Paul Nienhiser (24) 14.309; 21. Jimmy Davies (2) 14.342; 22. Terry Babb (27) 14.492; 23. Justin Springer (26) 14.560; 24. Ron Standridge (10) 14.604; 25. Logan Faucon (21) 14.679; 26. Matt Harms (14) 14.747; 27. Caleb Wankel (16) 16.212.