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Mueller Back In Victory
Lane After Ritter/Parker 75!
By Dan Margetta |
July
25, 2004; Slinger, WI -Defending track
champion Brad Mueller drove to a convincing win in the Ritter/Parker Store 75-lap late
model feature at the Slinger Super Speedway Sunday night..
After passing Lowell Bennett for
the lead on lap 45, Mueller was unchallenged for the remainder of the caution-free race
and cruised to a fifteen car-length victory over Bennett and Dave Feiler.
“I was talking to Lowell (Bennett)
before the race and we decided it would be great if we ran one, two tonight and I told him
this time it was my turn to be out front,” Mueller exclaimed from victory lane.
“We’ve thrashed on this car all week, “ he continued. “We’ve been
trying to get it to be good on the long runs and I think we got it right tonight.”
Travis Dassow scooted out to the early lead at the drop of the green as Donavan Morgan
slipped into second place while Fred Winn, Bennett, Feiler, and Mueller jockeyed for
position behind the top two. Dassow stretched out his lead over Morgan by lap ten while
Bennett and Mueller got around Winn to take over third and fourth. Bennett worked the
inside to catch Morgan for second ten laps later as Dassow maintained a solid lead. Once
in second place, Bennett began to gradually close in on Dassow while Mueller worked the
outside lane, taking third place from Morgan on lap 25. Bennett was squarely in
Dassow’s mirror by lap 30 and after a few attempts to pass using the outside, he
ducked to the inside on lap 33 and passed Dassow for the lead. Mueller was moving his way
forward using the outside and he also caught and passed Dassow for second place on lap 36
while Feiler began his charge to the front, taking fourth from Morgan on the same lap.
The leaders caught up to lapped traffic and having his car perform well on the outside
enabled Mueller to close and eventually pass Bennett for the lead on lap 45. Once in
front, Mueller maintained his torrid pace and began to drive away from Bennett as Feiler
battled with Dassow for third. After several laps of side by side racing, Feiler took the
third spot from Dassow and tried to reel in the lead duo. The final laps of the race
belonged to Mueller as he pulled out to a sizeable lead, taking the checkered flag nearly
a straightaway ahead of Bennett. Feiler finished a solid third and Dassow wrapped up
another impressive run with a fourth place finish. John Mueller ran a consistent race to
finish fifth.
Dennis Prunty won the 30-lap late model semi-feature and Mike Strupp finished second.
Randy Schuler was third while Robert Maynor and Bill Shavlik rounded out the top five.
Donavan Morgan captured the win in the fast dash and Mueller was the fastest qualifier
with a lap of 11.352 seconds.
Gary LaMonte led the final four laps of a very competitive Midwest Sportsman 30-lap
feature to nail down the win.
Jimmy Evans and Jay Schambeau swapped the lead numerous times over the first 19 laps as
the field raced in two by two formation with neither the inside lane or the outside lane
able to get an advantage. Behind Evans and Schambeau, Colin Bamke, LaMonte, Mike
Graczkowski, and James Swan all raced under a blanket as each driver tried to find a way
to move forward. Evans finally eased into the lead by himself on lap 20, leaving Schambeau
to battle Bamke, Graczkowski,, LaMonte, and Bamke for second place. With the laps winding
down, the racing became intense in the top five and the first and only caution flag
appeared on lap 26 after Swan and Bamke tangled, sending both drivers to the back for the
restart.
Evans held the lead on the restart but he faced the tough task of having to hold off
LaMonte and Josh Bauer as they occupied the second and third spots, ahead of Graczkowski
and Schambeau. LaMonte was quick on the button at the green flag and immediately shot to
the inside, taking the lead from Evans soon after the restart. Evans was caught on the
outside and began to fade as Bauer and Graczkowski passed him for second and third
respectively. LaMonte held off Bauer to score the victory while Graczkowski finished
third. Evans crossed the finish line in fourth place and Schambeau was fifth.
Dave Obermeyer raced to his first victory of the season when he claimed top honors in the
fast dash and LaMonte blistered the speedway to set fast time at 12.649 seconds.
Ron Schmitt claimed his first feature victory of the season in the 25-lap Eldorado Trailer
Sales Midwest modified feature.
Schmitt took the green flag from the outside of the first row and followed early leader
Russ Moberly for six laps before taking command of the event with an inside pass on lap
seven. As Schmitt held the lead, Wes Biswell, Dale Prunty, and Ken Wills were using the
outside lane to move through the pack and by lap nine Prunty took over second place from
Moberly. Prunty made a challenge for the lead by ducking to the inside of Schmitt on lap
nine, but the move proved costly as he spun between turns one and two.
One lap later, Moberly spun after racing
hard with Biswell for second and the caution flag appeared with Schmitt leading Biswell,
Jason Feyereisen, Wills, and Dan Miller. Once racing resumed, Schmitt maintained the top
spot over Biswell, Feyereisen, and Wills while Miller battled with Jeff Holtz for fifth.
The intense racing between the two contributed to the next caution flag as Miller spun on
the backstretch on lap 21. The final nine laps were run under green and Schmitt was up to
the challenge as he held off Biswell for the win. Wills made a late race charge to grab
third from Fereyeisen at the checkered. Steve Schulz was fifth.
Mark Kissinger won the 12-lap Thunderstocks feature over Aaron Cain and Les Weidenhoeft.
Joe DeStefano Sr. was fourth followed by Rick Schaefer. Bob Losiniecki won the first
Slinger Bee event and Dustin Osberg was the winner of the second. David Malone won the
Port-A-John Speedway Guest car race. Brian Brooks drove his 1998 Camaro to the win in the
Spectator Elimination events and Scott Goetzke overcame an early spin to win the Figure 8
race.
For Complete
results from the RACESTAT computer CLICK HERE
Pioneer Plaza Night at the Slinger
Super Speedway
By Lanae Weyer
Slinger, WI (Spl.) – This Sunday night, Pioneer Plaza in Richfield
presents a 60 lap late model feature at the Slinger Super Speedway. The night will also be
highlighted by 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 and Midwest Sportsman Championship Series.
With ten different feature winners to date in the late model division, the
2004 season has been extremely competitive as current point leader Brad Mueller tries to
defend his track championship over Dave Feiler who sits in second place in the point
standings.
In the Midwest Sportsman division Gary Lamonte leads James Swan by 24
points and Josh Bauer by 71 points in the tight battle for the Season Championship.
Wes Biswell holds a 28 point lead over defending Champion Dale Prunty in
the Eldorado Trailer Sales Midwest Modified division.
The competition is at an all time high with tight point battles in all the
divisions and fans can pick up discounted tickets at Pioneer Plaza for regular Sunday
night racing all season long.
Regular Sunday night racing action at Slinger Super Speedway runs through
September 19, 2004. Spectator gates open at 4:45 p.m. with time trials at 5:15 p.m. and
racing scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. The Slinger Super Speedway is located ¼ mile West of
Highway 41 on Highway 144 in Slinger. For availability and other sponsorship opportunities
including track signage and billboards contact the Public Relations Department at (262)
628-7929.
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