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Bennett Finds First
Victory of the Season at Slinger! |
June
15, 2003; Slinger, WI - Lowell Bennett
used the high groove to hold off David Prunty for his first win of the season in the
Professional Plumbers & Contractors 65-lap late model feature Sunday night at the
Slinger Super Speedway.
“I tell you, that was a race,” stated Bennett afterwards. “I kept
watching him (Prunty) pop up in my mirror and we had a tight race car tonight. I
couldn’t hold it down in the turn and had to take it to the high side.”
John Mueller and Donavan Morgan led the field to the green flag with Morgan edging out
front before contact between the two resulted in both cars spinning in turn three to
produce the first caution flag on lap two. Bennett inherited the lead for the restart but
immediately came under pressure from Chris Ratajczyk, who grabbed the top spot on the next
circuit as Dennis Prunty, Ryan Mathews, and Rich Loch filled in the top five positions.
A mechanical problem on Loch’s car dropped debris on the racing surface and the
second yellow flag appeared on lap eight as the cars of Brad Dahmer, Larry Los, and Mark
Bitzen came together in turn one. Ratajczyk and Bennett occupied the top two positions on
the restart while brothers Dennis and David Prunty lined up in third and fourth ahead of
Eric Fransen in fifth. With Ratajczyk continuing to lead, Bennett moved to the outside
lane and began to gain momentum, moving alongside and passing Ratajczyk for the lead on
lap 16. David Prunty also drifted to the outside lane and raced around Ratajczyk for
second a few laps later while Fransen and Dennis Prunty battled Brad Mueller and Mike Egan
for fourth.
Once in clean air, Prunty reeled in Bennett as the leaders approached lapped traffic and
was on Bennett’s rear bumper as the defending track champion led at the halfway mark
and collected the Badgerland Motorsports Halfway Challenge. While Bennett had his car
hooked up on the outside, Prunty dove to the inside and was able to inch alongside in the
middle of the turns, but each time Bennett had enough power coming off the corners to hang
onto the lead. Meanwhile Dennis Prunty’s car seemed to develop a loose condition and
he slipped back a bit as Egan and Mueller charged by just behind Ratajczyk and Fransen.
Bennett and Prunty put on a driving clinic in the later stages as each driver gave each
other plenty of room while racing in different grooves and at the checkered flag, Bennett
took the victory by about a car length over Prunty. Ratajczyk capped off his strongest run
of the season with an impressive third place finish while Fransen and Mueller completed
the top five. Egan finished sixth followed by Dennis Prunty and Dave Teske while Conrad
Morgan and Chris Petersen rounded out the top ten finishers.
In other late model action, Toby Rott won the semi-feature over Mark Bitzan as both
drivers transferred into the main event. Scott Schoeni finished third followed by Randy
Schuler and Joe Gross. Race McComb won the late model consolation race and Brad Mueller
set fast time with an 11.419 second lap. Dennis Prunty claimed the win in the fast dash.
Dale Prunty took the win in the Midwest modified feature over Jeff Holtz and Larry
Reihbrandt as the event was shortened by five laps due to an incident on the track.
Russ Grade led the opening laps and battled side-by-side with Gregg Pawelski while Prunty,
Holtz, and Reighbrandt were in a tightly bunched pack right behind the leaders. Contact
between Pawelski and Grade caused Grade to spin backwards into the front straightaway wall
on lap 16, producing a caution flag. The event was briefly red flagged as Grade was
transported to a local hospital for precautionary measures. Prunty took over the lead for
the restart and battled with Holtz for the top spot as Reighbrandt moved up to join them
in a three-car break-away at the front of the field. Dan Miller developed a problem on lap
25 and bounced off the turn two wall, drawing another caution. As Miller’s car slid
to the infield a brief fire broke out on the machine and as the safety crew extinguished
it, the event was declared official with Prunty picking up the win. Holtz finished second
and Reighbrandt was third. Wes Biswell and Steve Shultz finished fourth and fifth
respectively.
In other Midwest modified action, Wes Biswell won the fast dash and Eick Ottman was the
fastest qualifier with a lap of 12.232 seconds.
Nick Schumacher won his second feature of the season in the 25-lap Midwest sportsman main
event.
Schumacher started the event from the ninth position and sliced his way forward as Todd
Gehring and Dave Obermeyer swapped the lead in the opening laps. Schumacher was in the
lead by lap 15 and moved ahead to a comfortable margin was Jason Taghikhani and Scott
Ascher raced with Steve Campbell and Dave Thomas for the top five spots. Schumacher never
looked back and charged to the win over Ascher and Taghikhani. Thomas finished fourth and
Josh Bauer crossed the finish line in fifth.
In other Midwest sportsman action, Ascher won the fast dash and Schumacher was the fastest
qualifier after turning a lap of 12.687 seconds.
Dave Berndt won the Slinger Bees feature over Aaron Cain and Shawn Gavin. The team cruiser
race win was claimed by the father-son duo of Joe DeStefano Sr. and Joe DeStefano Jr.
while Scott Goetzke won the Figure 8 race. Jim Bentzler won the spectator elimination
races in his Oldsmobile Cutlass and the guest car event was won by Justin Wieczorek.
For Complete results
from the RACESTAT computer CLICK
HERE
Ritter/Parker Store Presents the 2003
Student Appreciation Night and Enders Corporation to Award $5,000.00 to the Winner of the
Late Model Feature!
Slinger, WI (Spl.) – This Sunday night, long-time
track sponsor Ritter Engineering partners up with the Parker Store to present the 2003
Student Appreciation Night and eight divisions of racing at Slinger Super Speedway. In
addition, the Enders Corporation & Design 2 Construct will be on hand to promote the
Miss Slinger Super Speedway pageant and a visit by the Midwest Sportsman Championship
Series. The pageant and the MSCS event were rescheduled, after racing events were
cancelled on June 8th due to inclement weather. In effort to make up for the missed event,
Enders Corporation announced that they will add additional earnings to this weekend’s
purse. The drivers will chase the checkered flag and an additional $5,000.00 to win the
Late Model feature and $1,000.00 to win the Eldorado Trailer Sales Midwest Modified
feature.
Student appreciation affords the chance for fans between the ages of 12 and 15 to receive
free giveaways as they enter the speedway. The night was created to honor hard working
students as they complete another school year. On-track action will be highlighted by a
75-lap Late Model feature and will include a full night of racing in all eight divisions.
Enders Corporation joins Design 2 Construct to present the Miss Slinger Super Speedway
pageant and the Midwest Sportsman Championship Series event. Pageant contestants will
compete in swimwear for the title of Miss Slinger Super Speedway, which affords the winner
$1,000.00 in cash and the chance to represent the speedway throughout the 2003 race
season. The Midwest Sportsman Championship Series will be making their second of three
visits to the Slinger Super Speedway. MSCS drivers will try their luck at navigating the
high banks of Slinger Super Speedway in a 40-lap battle for the checkered flag. This
weekend’s MSCS race is one of eight series events, which are also run at Lake Geneva
Raceway and Rockford Speedway in Illinois.
Regular Sunday night racing action runs through September 21, 2003. In addition, Slinger
Super Speedway will host the 24th Annual Miller Lite Nationals on Tuesday night, July
22nd. The show will feature NASCAR Winston Cup Series drivers Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch.
Advance tickets are available for purchase by calling the speedway’s box office at
262.644.5921. |
