LaCosta passes 19 in All-Star race

MAT-SU - Racing in the Kool Seal Late Model All-Star Challenge was everything Palmer race car driver Corey LaCosta hoped for, and then some.

It was the most intense race Ive ever been in, the Passin Alaskan said of the 200-lap race.

The North Star Speedways 1999 rookie of the year was able to pass enough Lower 48 all-stars to finish in 16th place. He qualified 28th in a field of 35 racers representing 19 states at the Lonesome Pine Raceway last Saturday in Coburn, Va.

Paul Shull, owner of Shulls Racing, rented LaCosta a 1999 Pontiac Grand Prix to drive.

The car was 400 pounds more than my car up here and 200 horsepower less, LaCosta said. As a racer Im not really satisfied with a 16th-place finish, but on the other hand, I was the only (Shull) car to finish out of three that they were racing.

I was still better than 19 other racers out there, he said.

When Alaska North Star Racing owner Lud Larson and LaCosta arrived at the Lonesome Pine track Tuesday before the race, they had just a few days to replace the cars decals with $400 worth of Alaskan art and buy $1,200 worth of new tires. In all, the team from Alaska spent about $4,000 to race with Busch series regulars such as Catfish Parker and Greg Marlow.

It rained every day except Saturday, LaCosta said. I was only able to get about 30 practice laps in before the race.

Dodging and weaving between accidents, LaCosta maneuvered as close as 10th place, earning recognition in his first nationally televised race, which will be aired on Fox Sports Network at 8 p.m. on May 2 and again at 3 p.m. on May 3.

LaCosta said there were often three cars going into a corner when there was only room for two.

There was a wreck on every corner of the race, he said. It was like two drag strips with two hairpins at each end. There were wrecks all around me. One time I just had a baby hole to go through when I was the meat on a sandwich. I went completely sideways, but I never looped it.

While LaCosta admitted he brought home volumes of experience from the all-star race, because of his lack of experience in dealing with yellow flags, he ended up losing positions on the restarts.

These guys didnt let up, he said. These guys raced harder than anyone Ive ever raced against.

LaCosta was also popular with the local media.

We made all the papers while we were down there and I even did a one-hour radio show [broadcast] in five states.

Their misconceptions about Alaska were comical, he said, referring to comments he heard about Alaskans living in igloos. I was happy to go down and represent Alaska.