 |
Fransen Makes His 4th Trip
to Victory Lane in Moore/Wallace/Post Printing 75! |
September
14, 2003; Slinger, WI - Eric Fransen
dodged two early incidents before holding off Lowell Bennett to capture his fourth late
model feature win of the season in the Moore/Wallace/Post Printing 75 Sunday night at the
Slinger Super Speedway.
“I’m sure glad this race wasn’t any longer,” Fransen
explained from victory lane afterwards. “Lowell is good on long runs and I was doing
everything I could to hold him off.”
Fransen took the green flag from the seventh starting spot and became entrenched in the
pack as pole sitter Dennis Prunty launched into the early lead over Randy Schuler, Donavan
Morgan, Austin Konetski, and Rich Loch. As the front-runners jockeyed for position, the
field became stacked up entering turn three and the cars of Dave Teske and Dan Jung became
tangled together. After the contact with Teske’s car, Jung’s machine rocketed
through the infield and climbed the banking before coming to rest against the turn four
wall as the caution flag waved.
Prunty continued to lead as racing resumed but it didn’t take long for the leaders to
mix it up again as two laps later, the field bunched together again and this time the
domino-like jam-up collected the cars of Conrad Morgan, David Prunty, and Fred Winn.
Prunty led Konetski, D. Morgan, and Loch on the restart as Fransen, Bennett, and Brad
Mueller maneuvered their way towards the top five as the field began to settle down.
Fransen was able to snag fourth place on lap 17 when Loch bobbled momentarily in turn four
and began to set his sights on Morgan for third while Prunty and Konetski remained at the
head of the field. Fransen took the position from Morgan on lap 25 and found himself
directly behind the leaders four laps later when the third and final caution flag waved
for debris on the track.
As racing resumed, Fransen immediately dove to the inside of Konetski to grab second
and Bennett followed his move a few laps later to advance into third. Prunty led at the
halfway mark to claim the Badgerland Motorsports Halfway Challenge. While Prunty worked
the low groove, Fransen ran on the outside and gradually caught the leader, taking the top
spot with an outside pass on lap 48. Two laps later, Bennett also used the outer groove to
get around Prunty for second while Al Schill and Mueller raced hard for the fourth spot.
Bennett was able to close to Fransen’s back bumper in the closing stages but he was
unable to make a charge as Fransen raced to his fourth victory of the season. Schill
finished third followed by Prunty and Mueller. Mueller’s fifth place finish enabled
him to capture his first career track championship as he claimed the 2003 late model crown
by 118 points over Schill.
Scott Schoeni walked away with the win in the 30-lap late model semi-feature over Toby
Rott and Danny Heying. Donavan Morgan won the dash and Mueller was the fastest qualifier
at 11.359 seconds.
Rick Ottman pulled away from the field and posted the win in the 30-lap Eldorado Trailer
Sales Midwest Modified feature.
Russ Moberly drove into the initial lead while Ottman raced into second place at the start
ahead of Larry Reihbrandt, Wes Biswell, and Jeff Holtz. Moberly was able to cling to the
lead during the first half of the event over Ottman and Reighbrandt as the top six
remained clumped together in a group. Ottman was able to race around Moberly for the lead
on the outside on lap 16 and gradually began to pull away as the laps wound down. Ottman
took the checkered flag for the win over Moberly, who capped off his strong run with a
second place finish. Reighbrandt was third followed by Holtz and Jason Feyereisen.
Dale Prunty finished in seventh place and was crowned the 2003 Eldorado Trailer Sales
Midwest Modified track champion as he dominated the division throughout the season.
Moberly’s strong night also included a win in the dash while Feyereisen was the
fastest qualifier at 12.135 seconds.
Pat McIntee drove to a “look what I found” victory in the Midwest Sportsman
Series 25-lap feature after Jason Taghikhani spun while leading on the final lap.
Taghikhani jumped into the lead at the start over Mike Graczkowski and McIntee and held
the top spot throughout most of the race. McIntee passed Graczkowksi for second on lap ten
and kept Taghikhani in sight as Nick Schumacher charged his way into third. Josh Larsen
and Colin Bamke swapped the fourth spot over the final laps while Taghikhani continued to
hold off McIntee and Schumacher for the lead. Taghikhani’s lead lasted until the
final turn of the final lap, when he spun coming to the checkered flag, enabling McIntee
to charge by for the win over Schumacher. Graczkowski was third while Larsen held off
Bamke for fourth at the finish.
Schumacher’s top five finish solidified his standing as the 2003 Midwest Sportsman
track champion.
Taghikhani also won the dash for the evening and Schumacher set fast time with a lap of
12.728 seconds.
Mark Kissinger and Ryan Dunkelburger won the Team Cruiser race and the Slinger Bees
feature wins were split by Aaron Cain and Tom Berens. Berens, was later disqualified
following post-race inspection. Cain was also crowned the Slinger Bees track champion.
Mark Ritger won the Figure 8 event, which was enough to capture the track championship for
another year. Jim Schmittinger won the Spectator Elimation races in his 1987 Buick Grand
National. Bill Buhring of the Greenfield Fire Dept. won the Port-A-John Speedway Guest Car
race. Vinson Egle won the demolition derby.
For Complete
results from the RACESTAT computer CLICK HERE
Enduro Special at Slinger!
Special; Slinger, WI – This Sunday afternoon, Slinger Super
Speedway presents the 2003 Enduro Special at the world’s fastest quarter-mile oval.
The night will feature a Spectator 200 and a Compact 100. Participants are still being
sought for both events. Interested drivers should call the speedway’s main office at
262-644-5921 for more information. Gates open at 12 Noon for Sunday’s event, with on
track activities beginning at 2pm.
The Slinger Super Speedway 2004 racing season kicks off Sunday afternoon, April 18, 2004
with the Miller Lite Twin 75’s. On Saturday, April 17, 2004 fans get a season preview
as representatives from all divisions take to the track for the speedway’s annual
practice day. General admission on practice day is free for all fans. |
