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Bennett and Morgan take Twin 50’s
in the Mobil /Coca Cola Triple Crown Classic!
By Weyer / Margetta |
May 15,
2002; Slinger, WI - Lowell Bennett rebounded from early season bad luck a week
ago to nail down the first 50-lap late model feature Donavan Morgan won the night cap as
the twin races made up the first round of the Coca-Cola Triple Crown Classic presented by
Mobil Wednesday night, May 13, at the Slinger Super Speedway..
The events were contested on a Wednesday night after inclement
weather forced their postponement from the originally scheduled date of May 12.
Bennett began the first 50-lap late model feature from the inside of the second row and
patiently waited at the start as Scott Schoeni and Dan Mills decided the lead in the
opening laps. Bennett slipped by Mills for second place on lap eight and began to dog
Schoeni for the lead as Jamie Wallace, Eric Fransen, Rich Loch, and David Prunty fought
for position behind the top three cars. Schoeni held the top spot until lap 13 when
Bennett raced by and began to pull away as the first caution of the event appeared on lap
16 when Dennis Prunty spun in turn two.
Bennett again pulled away on the restart as Mills and Schoeni resumed their earlier battle
for second. Loch experienced problems on lap 19 and headed to the pits as Fransen,
Wallace, and Conrad Morgan held down the fourth through sixth places. Schoeni and Mills
ran side-by-side for second, providing a buffer for Bennett from the rest of the field as
he extended his lead. Fransen, Wallace, Morgan, and Al Schill all ran in a tight bunch
behind Schoeni and Mills as they continued to race hard for second while Bennett led
comfortably while the laps wound down.
Chris Ratajczyk and Mike Pascavis tangled exiting turn two on lap 36 to produce the second
caution flag and Schoeni edged Mills at the line for the right to line up behind Bennett
in second place for the restart. Schoeni tried to use the outside groove to challenge
Bennett on the restart but the defending champion proved to be too strong and Schoeni was
forced to try to defend second from Mills and Fransen. Mills, Fransen, Wallace, and Morgan
all got by Schoeni as he was caught in the outside lane of the speedway. Bennett was never
seriously challenged over the final laps and he led the field to the checkered flag to
score his first feature win of the season. Fransen and Morgan both were able to pass Mills
for second and third, and he crossed the finish line in fourth ahead of Schoeni and
Schill.
D. Morgan began the nightcap on the outside of the front row and immediately shot out into
the lead at the start of the second feature event. D. Morgan also pulled along Chris
Ratajczyk as the two pulled away form the stacked up field. The first caution flew as
Cindy Peterson and Todd Thelen made contact coming out of turn four making the field
scatter. When action resumed Ratajczyk pressured D. Morgan for the top spot while Dave
Teske and Jamie Wallace battled for third. C. Morgan worked his way through the field and
made his presence felt in the top five.
C. Morgan continued to move ahead as he passed the battling dual of Teske and Wallace to
claim the third spot. As the laps wound down Ratajczyk’s car began to fade. Conrad
took advantage of the situation and moved into the second position, dropping Ratajczyk
back in the clutches of Teske and Schill. Veteran Al Schill moved his way to fourth spot
by passing Ratajczyk and Wallace. D. Morgan outran his father for the win but said
“They warned me he was coming but, I figured with a nine car length lead he
wouldn’t be able to catch me in ten laps”
The Coca Cola Triple Crown consists of points earned in both events and after the first
round, C. Morgan leads the series points by 16 over Bennett. D. Morgan is third while
Fransen and Schill make up the top five in the Coke series points.
In other Late Model action Austin Konetski won the 30 lap semi feature over Pete
Weidemeyer and Larry Los. Brad Hartman was the winner of the 12 lap consi. Cindy Peterson
won the Dash and Conrad Morgan was the fastest qualifier at 11.669 seconds. Lowell Bennett
won the Mac Tools half way challenge in the first 50 lap feature.
Jeff Holtz won the 30 lap Midwest Modified feature event holding off a determined Dale
Prunty and Ed Grober.
Dan Miller took an early lead in the Feature on the second lap restart for a spin by Mike
Graczkowski. Miller led the event up until the half way point of the event, until the
noise to tail train of Jeff Holtz and Dale Prunty railed around Miller for the top two
spots. Prunty tried to make the most of the two restarts caused by spinouts of fellow
competitors, but was unable to get enough bite out of the corner’s letting Holtz pull
ahead enough for the win. Edward Grober, Dan Miller and Greg Pawelski rounded out the top
five.
In other Modified action Wes Biswell won the Fast Dash while Dale Prunty set fast time
with 12.539 seconds.
Jason Feyereisen raced to his first Slinger Stinger Feature win for the season at Slinger.
Joe DeStefano Jr. took the early lead over Jimmie Evans through out the first half of the
18 lap feature until Joseph Osterman brought out a the yellow. DeStefano led the field on
the restart until Dave Obermeyer plunged past DeStefano and Evans for the lead. Obermeyer
looked strong as he pulled away from the field until he spun in turn two. DeStefano Jr.
resumed the lead with Evans in second and Jason Feyereisen in third spot charging forward.
The final moves were put on the leaders as Jason Feyereisen, Paul Wagner and Pat McIntee
teamed up to move up to the top three spots, DeStefano Jr. and Roger Schmid rounded out
the top five.
Wagner also set fast time at 13.561seconds while Jay Shambeau won the Fast Dash.
Scott Goetzke won the Figure 8 feature event and the spectator elimination races. The Team
Cruiser race was recorded by Alan Stippich and Doug Pasbrig. Mark Fogel won the New
Slinger Bee’s race.
Adam Mueller of West Bend won the bike drawing while Roxanne Schon of West Bend took top
honors in the Coca Cola big wheel races. Brandon Matz of East Troy took second place
honors, as Brandon Williams from Hartford rounded the top three.
For
Complete results from the RACESTAT computer CLICK
HERE |
