Bennett And Mathews Split The Miller Lite Twin 75’s Spring Opener at Slinger Super Speedway! By Dan Margetta

April 25, 2004; Slinger, WI - Longtime Slinger veteran Lowell Bennett drove to victory in the first Miller Lite 75-lap late model feature while relative newcomer Ryan Mathews scored his first feature win in the second event during the Miller Lite Twin 75’s Spring Opener Sunday afternoon at the Slinger Super Speedway.

Photo Highlights

Multi-time track champion Lowell Bennett grabbed the victory in the first 75 lap main event during the Miller Lite Twin 75's, the 2004 season opening program at Slinger Super Speedway. Ryan Mathews (#21) and Chad Barker (#68) show off their sharp looking machinery while the battle for the lead in the second 75 lap main event for the Late Models. Gregg Haese (#30) and Dave Feiler (#93) have an unplanned encounter during the first 75 lap Late Model main event. Ryan Mathews celebrates his first career feature victory in Late Model action at the Slinger Super Speedway. Donavan Morgan (#99) challenges Ryan Mathews (#21) for position during one of the 75 lap main events. Defending track champion Brad Mueller (#89) turned in the fastest qualifying effort of the day and participated in opening ceremonies. Veteran racer Bill Prietzel (#5) captured top honors in the Midwest Sportsman feature contest. Using the low line Bill Prietzel (#5) slips past Josh Bauer (#71) for the lead during Midwest Sportsman action.

Bennett ran away and hid from the field in the opening event, taking the lead from his outside front row starting position at the drop of the green flag while Toby Rott, Chad Barker, Dave Teske, and Austin Konetski stacked up for position behind him. An early caution on lap seven for a spin involving Gregg Haese and Dave Feiler bunched the field again, but Bennett quickly pulled ahead on the restart as the rest of the field jostled for the bottom groove.

Barker was able to get around Rott for second by lap ten, leaving Rott to battle with Teske and Konetski for position as further back Eric Fransen and Brad Mueller began making their way towards the front of the field. Bennett continued to stretch his lead over Barker at the halfway mark while a game of bumper-tag in turn two between Teske and Rott got both cars out shape allowing Konetski, Fransen, and Mueller to get by.

Slicing his way through lapped traffic, Bennett remained unchallenged for the top spot as the top five positions stabilized until the second and final caution flew on lap 52 when Brad Hartman spun in turn four. With four lapped cars separating him from the second place car of Barker, Bennett quickly went to work on the restart and once again established a sizeable lead. Fransen and Mueller used the outside groove to snag third and fourth by lap 55 as they took advantage of the traffic to pin Konetski behind a lapped car and drop him to fifth.

With Bennett still leading, Fransen went to work on Barker for second, taking the position with an inside move by lap 70 and Mueller made a similar move to take third a lap later. Bennett clicked off the final laps and took the checkered flag to win by a comfortable margin over Fransen and Mueller. Barker and Konetski completed their strong runs by finishing fourth and fifth respectively.

“We had an awesome time here today and had a lot of fun,” Bennett stated afterwards from victory lane. “(The traffic) is what makes it fun here at Slinger.”

While the opening event was fun for the four-time track champion, the nightcap didn’t turn out as well as a broken camshaft ended his day early and relegated him to a 21st place finish.

Mathews turned in an eye-opening performance in the second event as like Bennett, he took the lead at the onset and was never headed as he drove to his first career feature victory at Slinger.

Mathews battled side-by-side with Barker during the opening laps as Mueller, Bennett, Fransen, and Konetski occupied the top six positions. As was the case in the opening race, the inside groove was the preferred line and three caution flags for single car spins kept the field together through the first 30 laps. Mathews turned back the challenges of Barker and established himself as the leader just past halfway while Mueller, Bennett, and Fransen battled for third. Bennett’s race ended on lap 45, the result of a broken camshaft, and the field was slowed again under the caution flag.

Mathews was up to the task on the restart and drove perfect over the final 30 laps to score the win about three car-lengths ahead of Barker. Mueller finished a strong third while Fransen and Konetski rounded out the top five.

“We wanted to come out of the box strong our second year and that’s what we are doing,” Mathews stated afterwards. “This is our first late model feature win since 2002 so I guess we were a bit overdue.”

John Zimmerman returned to the Slinger Super Speedway and promptly won the 30-lap late model semi-feature over Scott Schoeni and Fred Winn. Randy Schuler and Russ Blakely completed the top five.

A field of 40 late models was on hand and Mueller bested the 39 cars that took qualifying laps to set quick time at 11.472 seconds for the event that was delayed some two hours by a rain shower.

In keeping with the theme of first career victories, veteran Bill Prietzel nailed down his first Slinger feature win in the 40-lap Midwest Sportsman main event.

Prietzel immediately dropped into second place at the start while Josh Bauer grabbed the early lead. Pat McIntee, Steve Campbell, and Jeremy Miller raced for positions behind the top two before the first and only caution of the race flew on lap five when Bobby Gutknecht spun in turn three. Prietzel dogged Bauer on the restart and pulled alongside numerous times before finally making the pass for the lead near the halfway mark. While Prietzel battled Bauer for the lead, McIntee moved into third place as Miller and Campbell followed in his tire tracks. While Bauer kept Prietzel in his sights during the closing laps, he was unable to mount a challenge as “The Franklin Flyer” drove to his first ever Slinger feature win. McIntee crossed the finish line in third followed by Miller and Campbell.

For Complete results from the RACESTAT computer CLICK HERE

Mid-State Equipment Regular Season Opener!

Special; Slinger, WI – This Sunday night, May 2nd, Mid-State Equipment presents the regular season opener at the Slinger Super Speedway highlighted by a 60-lap late model feature along with a 50,000 penny drop for kids ages 11 and under.

The evening will feature a complete racing program in all eight divisions and kids ages 4-7 will have a chance to compete in Mid-State Equipment pedal tractor races. The 25 contestants for the pedal tractor races will be drawn from entries accepted at the Coca-Cola Kid’s Club table on Sunday night. The winner of the pedal tractor race feature will receive a John Deere tractor.

Mid-State Equipment has six locations throughout Southeastern Wisconsin including their newest location on Hwy 60 in Jackson. They feature John Deere, Kubota, and SCAG power, agricultural, and commercial equipment, including the RTV900 Utility Vehicle. Mid-State also has a full service line of rental equipment for homeowners and contractors. For more information, see their website at www.midstateequipment.com.

Spectator gates open at 4:45 PM with time trials at 5:15 PM and racing for the Mid-State Equipment Regular Season Opener begins at 7PM. The Slinger Super Speedway is located ¼ mile west of Hwy 41 on Hwy 144 in Slinger. For more information, call the track office at (262) 644-5921.

The Slinger Super Speedway is proud to announce the addition of the brand new Turn One VIP Suite which is available for sponsorship parties for groups up to 50 people on certain Sunday nights during the season. For availability and other sponsorship opportunities contact the Public Relations Department at (262) 628-7929.