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Bennett Wins Again at
Slinger!
By Weyer / Margetta |
June
16, 2002; Slinger, WI - For the second time in five days,
Lowell Bennett found his way to Victory Lane as he won the Super Shirts and Solutions
65-lap late model feature during the Scout Night Father’s Day Special Sunday night at
the Slinger Super Speedway.
Bennett, who also won a 75-lap late model feature at the high-banked
¼ mile oval on June 11, took the lead with nine laps to go and held off David Prunty for
his third feature victory of the season.
“It was a fun race, just like it was Tuesday night,” stated Bennett afterwards.
“We started way in the back and just picked them off one at a time.”
Cindy Peterson and Prunty held the top two positions at the start as they used the outside
lane to power around pole-sitter Larry Los while rookie Austin Konetski settled into
fourth place just ahead of a side-by-side battle for fifth between Conrad and Donavan
Morgan. Peterson continued to lead on lap 15 with Prunty in tow as Konetski worked his way
around Los for third as Bennett raced from his tenth starting position into the top five.
Five laps later, Bennett moved into fourth and dropped Los into a battle for position with
the Morgans and Eric Fransen.
Prunty made his bid for the lead on lap 25 by edging to the inside of Peterson and as they
raced alongside each other, Konetski and Bennett were able to close in. Prunty completed
the pass to take sole possession of the lead on lap 27 and Konetski pulled alongside
Peterson to challenge for second. Prunty led at the halfway point to win the $100 Mac
Tools Halfway Bonus as Peterson turned back Konetski’s challenge to retain second
place.
As Konetski tried to regroup, Bennett quickly raced around the rookie to
claim third place on lap 35 and ten laps later he powered by Peterson for second. Bennett
began to close in on Prunty as the leaders encountered lapped traffic. Bennett was able to
pressure his way to the inside of Prunty on lap 56 entering turn one. Bennett and Prunty
remained side-by-side as they raced down the backstretch into turn three. As the pair
exited turn four, Bennett used the inside groove to power by Prunty and claim the lead.
Bennett began to open up a sizeable lead when Dan Mills spun on lap 61 to set up a four
lap sprint to the finish. Because there were less than five laps to go, all lapped cars
were placed at the end of the line for the restart leaving Bennett, Prunty, Peterson,
Fransen, Konetski, Donavan and Conrad Morgan to settle the finish.
Bennett was quick on the button as the green flag waved and he was never
seriously challenged over the final four laps and took the checkered flag a car length and
a half ahead of Prunty. Peterson finished third and Fransen was fourth as Konetski had his
best finish of the season in fifth. Donavan Morgan held off his father to claim sixth
while Rich Loch, Al Schill, and Larry Los completed the top ten finishers.
Schill won the 30-lap semi-feature over Joe Gross and Scott Shoeni and Bill Shavlik
crossed the finish line first in the 10-lap consolation race. Shavlik subsequently failed
post-race technical inspection and was disqualified, leaving the event with no official
winner. Donovan Morgan won the dash and Rich Loch set fast time at 11.690 seconds.
Dan Jung raced to his second feature win of the season in the 30-lap Midwest modified main
event.
Gregg Pawelski led the first four laps before Jung took over on lap five as Andy Evraets,
Lenny Gallenberg, and Mike Graczkowski followed close behind. Evraets raced around
Pawelski to take second by lap ten and Graczkowski passed Gallenberg to take fourth place.
Graczkowski quickly found his way around Pawelski for third by the
race’s halfway point as Jung continued to show the way over Evraets. Dale Prunty and
Jeff Holtz worked their way from deep in the field to get within sight of the leaders by
lap 20. Graczkowski moved around Evraets for second and he brought Prunty with him to take
third as Evraets fell back into a battle with Holtz.
Lapped traffic became a factor over the final laps as first Prunty became
trapped behind a slower car with two laps to go and then on the final lap Graczkowski made
contact with another lapped machine as Jung extended his lead. Graczkowksi was able to
keep moving but the incident slowed him down enough to allow Prunty to pass him and finish
second as Jung scored the win. Graczkowski settled for third as Holtz held off Wes Biswell
to finish fourth and fifth respectively.
Biswell won the fast dash and Prunty was the fastest qualifier with a lap of 12.561
seconds.
Todd Gehring won his first feature event of the season when he captured the win in the
20-lap Slinger stinger feature.
The race got off to a rocky start when Roger Schmid broke an axle on the front stretch on
the opening lap triggering a chain-reaction multi-car wreck. Most of the field became
entangled in the melee and the race was red flagged, as several cars were unable to
continue. Joseph Osterman received extra attention from the safety crew for a possible
neck injury but he was not transported from the track.
Once the race resumed, Nathan Fick led James Littrell and Gehring until
Gehring used the outside groove to move around Littrell and pull even with Fick on lap
four. One lap later, Gehring was in the lead over Fick and Littrell as Jason Feyereisen,
Pat McIntee, and Scott Shambeau closed in on the top three. Gehring continued to lead at
the halfway point as Feyereisen, McIntee, and Shambeau all passed Fick and Littrell on the
outside for second through fourth.
McIntee worked his way around Feyereisen for second a lap later and began
to track down Gehring for the lead. McIntee caught Gehring but could not make a pass and
Gehring crossed the finish line first for a car length victory. Feyereisen finished third
and Shambeau was fourth, a full straightaway behind the top two. David Pichler rebounded
from the first lap incident to finish fifth.
Gehring won the dash and McIntee was the fastest qualifier with a lap of 13.532 seconds.
Tom Gee Jr. won the 25-lap sport truck feature. Gee held off Hank Calmes and Rob
Vandermoss for the win. Dan Hansen and Robyn Wussow finished fourth and fifth
respectively.
Joe Mueller and Dave Berndt won the team cruiser race and a steady rain shower hit the
speedway during the running of the spectator elimination races, forcing the rest of the
evening’s events to be cancelled. Angie Viss won the Coca-Cola Kids Party and will
receive a special racing party at the Slinger Super Speedway next Sunday night during the
Ritter/Parker Store 70.
For
Complete results from the RACESTAT computer CLICK
HERE |
