Colmnist Brian Hilderbrand: IROC date adds to busy year for Outlaws racer

Wednesday, July 9, 2003 | 10:03 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

As if being embroiled in a tight points battle and running five O'Reilly World of Outlaws Series races in seven days weren't enough to keep him occupied, Danny Lasoski plans to squeeze in an IROC race on Saturday at Chicagoland Speedway.

"The Dude," however, isn't complaining about his schedule.

"It's really not that hectic of a week because I truly love to race," Lasoski said. "So being in a racecar every day is kind of like having Christmas every day. We'll bounce back and forth between IROC practice and the Outlaw deal all week, and that's something I look forward to."

Lasoski, who won the 2001 WoO championship and drives for reigning NASCAR Winston Cup champion Tony Stewart, holds a slim 38-point lead over 17-time WoO champion Steve Kinser heading into tonight's Outlaws show in Beaver Dam, Wis. Kinser also is running in the IROC series this season.

Lasoski won Saturday night's "A" feature at Knoxville Raceway for his ninth victory of the season but Kinser has scored five wins in the past seven races and 19 on the season to keep the heat on Lasoski.

"Our win at Knoxville was really important," Lasoski said. "Steve's been winning more than we have, but we've been right there every time. Knowing that Knoxville is the home of our Super Bowl -- the Knoxville Nationals -- that's really the race we want to win. The point championship is our ultimate goal, but that race means everything to us.

"We're running five nights this week and we've got to stay in contention with Steve and I think we've got the car to do it."

Although Lasoski has fewer victories than Kinser, Lasoski has more poles (17-4), top-five finishes (35-34) and top-10 finishes (45-39) than Kinser. That, team owner Stewart said, is the way championships are won.

"They've gone out and won races and when they're not winning, it seems like they're right there finishing second or third every time they run," Stewart said of his Outlaws team. "You can't ask for much more than that.

"It's like I've always told them: If you win races, the points will take care of themselves. They've been really consistent this year and, in my opinion, they're doing everything right ... and they have the right mindset to go out and win another championship."

Tracy holds an eight-point lead over Bruno Junqueira in the series standings after nine of 19 races.

"It's a great feeling to be able to go to Toronto for the first Canadian race of the season with the lead in the championship," said Tracy, who won on the streets of Toronto in 1993. "Coming home for a race at this stage of the season provides added incentive to keep plugging away toward our goal (of winning the championship).

"I can't think of a better way to celebrate the tenth anniversary of my race victory in Toronto than by winning this year. Toronto is one of my favorite tracks in the series but I realize there's no such thing as a home-track advantage. We're going to need to qualify well because it's a very tight street circuit with limited passing. We've had some success getting on the front row and, hopefully, that will continue in Toronto."

Tracy has qualified on the front row in six of nine races this season, including two pole positions.

Nicole-Nadine Frentzen, who races go-karts in her native Germany, was held by police after she was caught driving the car with her 11-year-old sister and a 12-year-old friend as passengers, the Reuters News Agency reported. She was released to the custody of her parents and faces charges of driving without a license.

Her brother finished 12th in Sunday's race, which was won by Williams-BMW driver Ralf Schumacher.

In addition to his work with the Speedway, Cagle served as a troubleshooter for NASCAR and was involved in the construction of Kansas Speedway, which opened in 2001.