NEW EGYPT — Garden State fans will have ringside seats for the national battle of the titans, as the 25th anniversary O’Reilly Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Tour rolls into New Egypt Speedway Monday to present its patented brand of fire-breathing, mud-slinging action celebrated as "the greatest show on dirt."
The titans at the top of the World of Outlaws standings halfway through this silver anniversary season are former series champions Danny "the Dude" Lasoski of Dover, Mo., and "King of the Outlaws" Steve Kinser, Bloomington, Ind., who are battling furiously for the championship title on this multimillion dollar tour. Lasoski, who drives the No. 20 J.D. Byrider Eagle for NASCAR Winston Cup champion Tony Stewart, has won eight "A" feature events and two preliminaries, and has finished out of the top 10 only twice this year.
"I’m really happy for the team," said Stewart, who will be making his own appearance at New Egypt Speedway on Wednesday, Aug. 20, to meet fans and pilot a big-block Modified on NASCAR’s day off.
"I’ve always told them (his teammates): if you win races, the points will take care of themselves. They’ve been really consistent this year and, in my opinion, they have the right mindset to go out and win another championship," Stewart said.
Kinser, however, is a most formidable foe. In 2003, the 17-time World of Outlaws champ has won 14 main events and five preliminaries in his familiar No. 11 Quaker State Maxim.
"Steve’s been winning more than we have, but we’ve been right there every time," Lasoski said recently. "We’re running a lot of races and we’ve got to stay in contention with Steve, but I think we’ve got the car to do it."
Their Garden State stop on Monday will prove interesting for one reason, in the two Outlaws events run to date at New Egypt, neither Kinser nor Lasoski has really gotten a handle on the tricky half-mile tri-oval. In 2001, Lasoski and Kinser finished fourth and fifth, respectively, as North Dakota’s Donny Schatz made off with the money. Last year, the top duo didn’t fare that well. Johnny Herrera subbed for Lasoski, who was injured in a violent crash just days earlier, while Kinser was a disappointing eighth to first-time winner and home-state favorite P.J. Chesson, who wowed the huge crowd with his exuberant victory lane dramatics.
Gates open at 2 p.m. Monday, with warm-ups at 6:30 and time trials starting at 7:15. Tickets are available at the speedway on Saturday nights or the day of the show, All reserved seats cost $32, with general admission seating (race day only) priced at $30.