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Schill Charges to First
Win of Season In More Than Millwork 70!
By Dan Margetta |
June
20, 2004; Slinger, WI - The ageless Al
Schill staged a stellar battle with young Andrew Morrissey and then turned back a late
race challenge by Dave Feiler to win the More Than Millwork 70-lap late model feature
Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway.
Morrissey led briefly at the start entering turn one, but Schill had his car
wound up on the outside and by the time the field hit turn three, the 59-year old veteran
rocketed into the top spot. Morrissey immediately dropped into place behind him while Rich
Loch, David Prunty, and Conrad Morgan followed. After initially using the outside, Schill
took to the bottom to hold onto the lead as Brad Mueller and Feiler approached the top
five. Morrissey made several attempts for the lead on the inside by tapping Schill’s
rear bumper and then switched to the outside, driving around Schill for the top spot on
lap 20.
Afterwards, Schill explained he was pleased to see Morrissey go by him. “I was
actually happy he (Morrissey) took the lead because then I could pressure him and watch to
see if he made mistakes.” “He had his rear view mirror full of my car,”
Schill continued in victory lane.
Schill did not let Morrissey get away and really turned up the wick just after a restart
following the first caution that appeared on lap 24 for an incident between Austin
Konetski and Conrad Morgan. Schill kept himself stuck on Morrissey’s back bumper
while Loch took to the outside groove to try to join the lead duo. After a few laps of
running with the leaders, the move proved to be fruitless as Prunty and Mueller were able
to fill the inside gap and Loch drifted back two spots. Feiler also used the inside to
keep Loch trapped up top and he took the fifth position on lap 30.
Schill kept the pressure up on Morrissey, making numerous looks to the inside exiting the
corners as the leaders approached lapped traffic. While working lapped traffic, Schill was
able to dive inside of Morrissey and then clear him for the lead heading into turn one on
lap 50. Donavan Morgan’s spin into the wall in turn three brought the field under
caution again on lap 53 with Schill leading Morrissey, Prunty, Feiler, and Mueller.
Schill was able to momentarily get some breathing room on the restart but five laps later,
Morrissey was once again filling up his mirrors. Further back, Feiler used the outside to
take third place away from Prunty and quickly caught the top two drivers. Morrissey
decided to try the outer groove over the final ten laps and the choice proved to be the
wrong one as Feiler immediately shot to the inside and took second. Once in second place,
Feiler closed on Schill for the lead and over the final five laps remained tucked under
Schill’s rear bumper. A final charge for the win on the last lap came up short for
Feiler and Schill drove to his first feature victory of the season. Morrissey finished a
close third while Mueller and Prunty rounded out the top five. John Mueller finished sixth
ahead of Loch and Nathan Haseleu while Lowell Bennett and Ryan Mathews were ninth and
tenth respectively.
Mike Strupp claimed the win in the 30-lap late model semi-feature over Dennis Prunty and
Chad Barker while Mike Egan and Gregg Haese finished fourth and fifth. The 12-lap consi
was won by Jerry Eckhardt over Bill Shavlik and George Olson. Feiler scored the win in the
dash and Austin Konetski set fast time at 11.404 seconds.
James Swan worked his way through the field to capture the win in the 25-lap Midwest
Sportsman Series feature.
Swan started deep in the field and along with Gary LaMonte hooked up on the outside line
to move forward while Brad Keith and Jimmy Evans battled for the early lead. Jason
Taghikhani spun in turn four on lap four to bring out the caution flag and Colin Bamke
left the track with damage after hitting the wall while trying to avoid the incident.
Evans led Keith and Mike Borchardt on the restart while Swan and LaMonte sat close behind
in fourth and fifth. As racing resumed, Swan and LaMonte continued their march to the
front as they ran nose to tail in a sort of drafting fashion on the high side to drive
around first Borchardt and then a few laps later, Keith for the second spot.
While Swan and LaMonte worked to catch Evans for the lead, Jeremy Miller and Josh Bauer
were also heading towards the front and entered the top five by lap 15. Todd Gehring got
out of shape in turn two on lap 16 and slid to the inside where he was tagged hard by
Taghikhani but the race remained under the green as Gehring continued on and Taghikhani
slid into the infield. The outside line proved to be the fastest as Evans began to drift
back and Swan, LaMonte, Miller, and Bauer all were able to get by during the final laps.
Once out front, Swan drove to the victory over LaMonte while Miller and Bauer took the
checkered flag in third and fourth respectively. Evans finished fifth.
Swan also won the fast dash and Bauer was the fastest qualifier after turning in a lap at
12.634 seconds.
Nick Schumacher guest-drove Dan Miller’s ride and made the most of his time in the
car by taking the win in the 30-lap Eldorado Trailer Sales Midwest Modified feature and
preventing Dale Prunty from scoring a clean sweep.
Jeff Holtz led the opening laps over Ron Schmitt, Russ Grade, and Steve Schulz while
Schumacher and Prunty looked to advance forward after starting far back in the field.
Schulz and Grade made contact in turn two and slid into the infield on lap two while
battling for third. The incident between Schulz and Grade caused those behind them to slow
down and further back Roger Schmid made hard contact with Eddie Bentfield, resulting in
the appearance of the caution flag. Holtz maintained his lead on the restart while
Schumacher and Prunty made the high lane work, moving into fourth and fifth by lap 10.
Seven laps later, the two had worked their way into third and fourth and by lap 22,
Schumacher was in second place with Prunty following in third. Schumacher aggressively
worked the outside, sliding his car in the corners in almost dirt track-like fashion, and
took the lead from Holtz on lap 26. Schumacher drove away to the win from there while
Holtz finished second and Prunty was third. Ron Schmitt and Wes Biswell completed the top
five.
Prunty won the dash and also set fast time at 12.154 seconds which set him up for a
possible clean sweep, which fell just short when he finished third in the feature.
Ryan DeStefano and Andy Soine each won Slinger Bee’s events and the Thunderstocks
feature win went to Joe DeStefano Jr. Jim Schmittinger won the Spectator Elimination races
in his Corvette and Tony Bosch won the Speedway Guest Car race. Donald Van Camp closed the
evening by winning the Figure 8 event.
For Complete results from the
RACESTAT computer CLICK HERE
Keith’s Marina Presents the 2004
Firework Extravaganza at the Slinger Super Speedway
By Lanae Weyer
Slinger, WI (Spl.) – This Sunday night, track sponsor Keith’s
Marina will present the 2004 Fireworks Extravaganza at the Slinger Super Speedway. The
night will be highlighted by a 85-lap Late Model feature and a full night of racing in all
divisions including the Eldorado Trailer Sales Midwest Modifieds, Slinger Bees,
Thunderstocks, Figure 8’s, Port A John Speedway Guest Cars, Spectator Eliminators at
the new Midwest Sportsman division. In addition to the on track action, the night will
feature the areas largest ground and aerial firework display.
Keith's Marina, located in West Bend, has daily inventory changes and offers a large array
of new boats. With over 500 new and used boats in stock, Keith’s Marina sells boats,
motors, parts & service. Call 262.334.9389 for special prices.
Regular Sunday night racing action at Slinger Super Speedway runs through September 19,
2004. In addition, the track will host the 25th Annual Miller Lite Nationals on Tuesday
night, July 13th. The show will feature NASCAR Nextel Cup Series drivers Matt Kenseth and
Scott Wimmer. Other drivers include Busch Series driver Johnny Sauter, Craftsman Truck
Series driver Chris Wimmer, defending Miller Lite Nationals Champion Rich Bickle, Dick and
Chuck Trickle plus more to be announced at a later date. Advance tickets are available for
purchase by calling the speedway’s box office at 262.644.5921. |
