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Schill Races to Fourth
Feature Win in Johnsonville Foods 75!! |
August
17, 2003; Slinger, WI - Al Schill continued his winning ways Sunday night at the
Slinger Super Speedway as he nailed down his fourth late model feature win of the season
in the Johnsonville Foods 75.
Schill passed Eric Fransen for the lead just prior to the
halfway point and then held off current point leader Brad Mueller at the finish.
Fred Winn claimed the lead at the start in front of Dave Teske, Travis Dassow, Fransen,
and David Prunty while Mueller, Schill, and Rich Loch ran together further back and began
their march toward the front. Teske worked his way around Winn for the lead on lap 15,
bringing Fransen and Prunty with him and dropping Winn back to fourth just ahead of
Schill. Fransen pressured Teske for the top spot and was able to edge to the inside on lap
19 to take command of the race. Teske fell back into line in second, which lasted for
another lap before he spun off turn two after contact with Prunty. The race remained under
the green flag and Prunty was shown the black flag for his involvement while Schill moved
into second place.
Fransen eased out to an eight-car length lead over Schill by lap 24 when the caution flag
appeared as Winn spun in turn four and bottle-necked the field behind him. Fransen led
Schill, Loch, and Mueller on the restart and headed for the outer lane as Schill tried the
inside line. Schill moved alongside Fransen and the two raced door-handle to door-handle
for the lead with neither driver able to pull ahead. After some hard racing, Schill was
finally able to push his way ahead on lap 31, using the inside lane to secure the lead.
Fransen immediately fell in line behind and went to work on Schill’s rear bumper,
pressuring the veteran for the lead with Loch and Mueller directly behind.
Schill maneuvered his way through lapped traffic and was able to extend his advantage over
Fransen, Loch, and Mueller while Lowell Bennett and Dennis Prunty staged a fierce battle
for fifth. With Schill pulling away, Loch made several attempts to pass Fransen on the
inside while Mueller took to the outer groove and passed both of them on lap 49 to move
into second. Loch was also able to get by Fransen a few laps later and the top four
stabilized with Schill leading Mueller, Loch, and Fransen as Bennett and Prunty continued
their skirmish for fifth.
Schill’s
advantage continued to grow as Loch and Mueller began to battle for second with the laps
winding down. Schill remained untouched and drove off to the victory while Mueller was
able to edge Loch for second. Fransen finished fourth and Dennis Prunty came out on top of
the battle with Bennett for fifth. Chris Ratajczyk finished seventh followed by Conrad
Morgan, Travis Dassow, and John Mueller.
Chad Barker drove to victory in the 30-lap late model semi-feature over Scott Schoeni,
Tommy Hromadka, and Robert Maynor. Dennis Prunty took the win in the dash while his
brother David Prunty was the fastest qualifier after turning a lap of 11.482 seconds.
Jeff Holtz left everyone behind as he simply drove off to his second feature victory of
the season in the Eldorado Trailer Sales Midwest Modified 30-lap main event.
Holtz immediately rocketed into the lead at the start over Russ Moberly and Steve Schultz
while Rick Ottman and Dale Prunty contested fourth place. Holtz extended his lead on the
field as Ottman and Prunty moved up as Schultz began to fade back. Moberly’s good run
took a detour near the halfway mark when he became temporarily crossed up in turn four and
by the time he straightened out, both Prunty and Ottman raced by for second and third
respectively.
Once free
of traffic, Prunty tried to reel in Holtz as Ottman became wrapped up in a battle for
third with Wes Biswell, who had just finished getting around Moberly a few laps earlier.
Holtz maintained his lead all the way to the checkered flag, scoring the win by over three
seconds ahead of Prunty. Ottman held off Biswell for third while Moberly capped off the
night by finishing fifth.
In other Eldorado Trailer Sales Midwest Modified action, Holtz added another win to his
collection on the night by taking the victory in the fast dash while Prunty set fast time
after posting a 12.273 second lap.
There was a new face in victory lane after the Midwest Sportsman Series 25-lap feature as
Jason Taghikhani held off Bobby Gutknecht and Scott Ascher for his first win of the
season.
Taghikhani got the jump on fellow front-row started Todd Gehring and took the command of
the event at the drop of the green flag. Brad Keith, Pat McIntee, and Ascher strung into
line following the top two with Gutknecht and Josh Bauer close behind looking for a way to
advance forward. Taghikhani stretched his advantage to nearly six car lengths as the
side-by-side race for second between Gehring and Keith stacked up the field. Numerous
single car spins occurred during the middle stages but the race remained under the green
flag as Gehring began to fall back, and Ascher and Gutknecht moved into second and third
place respectively.
A spin by Colin Bamke on lap 18, allowed Ascher and Gutknecht to close in on Taghikhani
for the restart. Taghikhani was up to the task and held onto the top spot as Ascher made
many attempts to get by. Ascher could close to Taghikhani’s bumper but was unable to
complete a pass as Gutknecht was in line to take advantage of any mistake on either of the
leader’s part. Neither Ascher or Gutknecht could catch Taghikhani as he raced to the
win. Gutknecht nipped Ascher at the line for second while Bauer and Nick Schumcher rounded
out the top five.
Pat McIntee chalked up the win in the fast dash and Bobby Gutknecht set the fastest time
in qualifying with a 12.722 tour of the speedway.
The first Slinger Bees feature was won by Colin Bamke, who was later disqualified for
failing post-race technical inspection. The second Slinger Bees feature win went to Joe
DeStefano Jr. The team cruiser checkered flag went to Joe DeStefano Sr. and Joe DeStefano
Jr., while Jack Sutherland made his way through the figure 8 event for the win. Chad
Wondra won the Port A John Guest car race while Jim Bentzler took the Spectator race in
his 81 Olds Cutlass. Rick Ennis won the semi truck event.
For Complete results from the RACESTAT computer CLICK
HERE
Fan Appreciation Night this Sunday at Slinger!
Slinger, WI (Spl.) – This Sunday night, Shelter From the Storm
Roofing presents a full night of racing action including a 75-lap Late Model feature at
the Slinger Super Speedway. Shelter From the Storm Roofing, located in Allenton, joins the
list of speedway sponsors in 2003. The company’s involvement with short track auto
racing, however, began on the team level with Donovan Morgan who races in Slinger’s
premier Late Model division.
The 2003 Fan Appreciation festivities will include various giveaways for fans throughout
the night, courtesy of several speedway sponsors. In addition, fans will receive free beer
and soda following the race, while supplies last.
Sunday night racing action at Slinger Super Speedway continues through September 21st. The
speedway will hold it’s special Labor Day show on Sunday, August 31st, which includes
a 100-lap Late Model feature and a huge ground and aerial fireworks display. Throughout
the remainder of the 2003 race season, Children 11 & under will receive free admission
to the track when accompanied by an adult.
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