BAKERSFIElD, CA -- Damon Lusk has had a keen interest in sports dating back to his high school days. He has participated in football, baseball and water skiing. But the sport that Lusk has held closest to his heart is auto racing.

Starting out in go-carts at the young age of 7 Lusk made his way through the different divisions to finally arrive at the place he is now. Lusk was the 1995 Rookie-of-the-Year at Tri-City Raceway in the Late Model division then in 1996 he captured the Rookie-of-the-Year title in the Super Fours. Moving on to the NASCAR Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series, Lusk finished as runner up 1997 Rookie-of-the-Year.

Lusk now races the #40 AOL Chevrolet in the NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series and sits 4th in the standings. Lusk hopes to continue pursuing his racing dream and like so many young drivers, would someday like to secure a ride in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series.

Team: AOL Racing
Car #: 40
Driver: Damon Lusk
Owner: Mark Albertson

RacingWest: What is the best part of racing at Mesa Marin?
Damon Lusk: Every time you go to Mesa you have to go there to race hard because its a hard track to pass on.

RW: Is this one of your better tracks? Why or why not?
DL: Considering that I have only seen 1/3 of the SWS tracks, Mesa is one of my favorites, and I have always wanted to race there since I was a little boy.

RW: What strategy will you use for this track? What do you think it will take to stay up front?
DL: One of the things that we always say is, "Outlast the competition" If you can do that you usually end up out front near the end of the race.

RW: On every lap it seems that the cars bottom out exiting 2 and entering 3, why does this happen and does it upset the handling of the cars?
DL: Our car never seems to bottom out, but when you hit the bumps it seems to help the car turn, but if your not in the right spot at the right time it can be your worst enemy.

RW: Years ago there were two distinctive grooves, the last few races it didn't look as if there was anymore. Can you do something to make your car work on the top and if so what?
DL: I wish I knew!

RW: Is Mesa Marin a horsepower track, we hear of teams talking about corner speed and power, which is more important at Mesa?
DL: I think at Mesa you need a ton of horsepower, but if you can't get through the corner then the power isn't to your advantage.

RW: Even though at most tracks the NASCAR officials tech the bodies, does aerodynamics help on a 1/2-mile or smaller track?
DL: I don't think so, I saw Kevin Harvick run up front at Phoenix without a right front fender, and the speed is dramatically slower.

RW: How would you like to improve on your last finish at Mesa Marin, what will you do differently this time to improve your finish?
DL: We finished 4th last time, and the car was a little bit on the loose side so ith that in mind we have a few fine tune adjustments that we think will be to our advantage.

RW: Where did you get the car that you will be using for this track?
DL: The car that we will be running is the one that was destroyed at Las Vegas. It has been completely rebuilt and it also has a new Techcraft racing engine in it.

Source: RacingWest
Posted: 5/28/99