Danny Lasoski and James McFadden were parked about a yard apart at Volusia Speedway Park, acting as milestone bookends for the years of history between them.
Specifically, Roth Motorsports’ history – a 25-year thread of wins with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series.
Six years after Dennis and Teresa Roth founded Roth Motorsports, Lasoski brought the team its first World of Outlaws victory at Land of Legends Raceway on June 4, 1998. Then, 25 years later, McFadden parked the team’s iconic #83 car in Victory Lane at Volusia for its 100th Series win on March 5, 2023.
“It’s pretty unreal, obviously,” McFadden said. “Dennis and Teresa have had a car on the tour for so long and have had some awesome drivers drive for them over the years, so to, one, drive that car is unreal, and to get them that milestone is pretty special.
“Winning races means different things for different people and, obviously, 100 Outlaw wins is a pretty special thing for any car owner. To be part of that, to be the guy that did that is pretty cool. Something that I’m pretty happy I was able to achieve for him and something when I’m a bit older I’ll be pretty excited about.”
Lasoski knows that feeling. While 25 years and several more wins apart from bringing Roth Motorsports its first victory, it’s still a night he relishes.
“We partied big that night,” he said with his classic “Dude” smile.
“We kept getting seconds and seconds, and then we won… It was really exciting for [Dennis]. To hear his voice when I called him was really neat. I’m glad I’m on the list as the first one.”
His relationship with Roth stemmed from them needing a driver and Lasoski needing a ride. Roth parted ways with Randy Hannigan after the 1997 Knoxville Nationals and tapped Lasoski to fill the seat for the World of Outlaws’ West Coast Swing. And they found themselves in Victory Lane before they even got there.
Stopping at a local show at Red River Valley Speedway along the way, Lasoski won in his first start with the team. They then proceeded to score five top-10 finishes in the eight west coast stops.
Lasoski finished off the year with another team before joining Roth Motorsports full-time in 1998. He brought them four wins in total that year – including their first Knoxville Nationals triumph – and 41 overall in the five years he drove for Roth.
After Lasoski, there were 13 other drivers who helped bring Roth to its milestone victory this year with McFadden – Tim Kaeding (19), Joey Saldana (6), Tim Shaffer (6), Daryn Pittman (5), Aaron Reutzel (4), David Gravel (4), Paul McMahan (4), Sammy Swindell (3), Cory Eliason (2), Kyle Hirst (1), Shane Stewart (1), Jac Haudenschild (1) and Mark Kinser (1).
McFadden started driving for Roth last year, scoring their 99th win late in the season at Lakeside Speedway. Now, with an early victory out of the way this year – which also brought Toyota its first World of Outlaws triumph with the TRD Toyota 410 engine – the Australian is eager to keep Roth’s history of wins growing.
“The team morale is up, which is well documented after my deal last year with taking so long to win a race,” McFadden said. “Got that over and done with, so that’s big. Hopefully that takes the shackles off a little bit and the pressure off, and we can just keep building on it.”
While the thread to 100 wins is complete, a new one begins to the next milestone as Roth’s history with the World of Outlaws is far from complete.
“It’s a great honor to get 100 wins with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series, and to do it with Toyota USA/Toyota Racing Development makes it even more special as it was their first ever series win!” Dennis Roth said. “It’s no easy feat to win with the Series, and we have been very fortunate to have some exceptional drivers earn victories for us along the way. We love racing with The Greatest Show on Dirt and look forward to our future with the Series! We want to thank each and every driver and team member who has helped make this all possible.”
The team’s next two chances to win again will be at the Talladega Short Track, Friday, March 24, and Magnolia Motor Speedway, Saturday, March 25. For tickets, CLICK HERE.
If you can’t make it to the tracks, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVision.
