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Morrissey Tops Pioneer
Plaza 60 for Second Win of 2004 at Slinger!
By Dan Margetta |
August
1, 2004; Slinger, WI - Rookie Andrew
Morrissey prevailed in a green-white-checkered finish to nail down his second win of the
season in an action-packed Pioneer Plaza 60-lap late model feature Sunday night at the
Slinger Super Speedway.
Morrissey edged David Prunty for the lead with three laps to go and then held him off for
the two-lap dash toward the finish that was set up by a late caution for a spin by Dennis
Prunty in turn two on lap 58.
“I want to thank him (Prunty)
for giving me room and racing me clean there at the end,” Morrissey told the crowd
from victory lane. “I don’t think I breathed the whole time I was out
there.”
Austin Konetski started on the pole and dominated the early stages, shooting out to a
sizeable lead while Prunty battled with Gregg Haese, Lowell Bennett, and Conrad Morgan. A
spin by Chad Barker on lap 14 drew the first caution flag and Konetski continued to lead
on the restart over Prunty and Haese while Bennett and Morgan disputed the fourth
position. Fender rubbing between the two veterans on lap 18 bunched up the cars behind
them and resulted in John Mueller spinning down the frontstretch to bring out the yellow
flag. Bennett experienced problems immediately on the restart and exited the speedway,
bringing Morrissey into the top five. While Konetski led during the middle stages, Dave
Feiler was the fastest driver on the speedway, using the inside groove to advance from
sixth place on lap 25 all the way to second by lap 40, passing Morrissey, Prunty, and
Haese along the way.
Feiler quickly caught Konetski and began to pressure him for the lead as Prunty and
Morrissey took over third and fourth respectively when Haese became caught in the outside
lane. Konetski worked lapped traffic and held off Feiler’s charge until lap 55 when
Feiler shot to the inside entering turn three in a bid for the lead. The charge ended
abruptly when Feiler’s car twitched in the middle of the corner and collected
Konetski on the outside, sending Feiler spinning and Konetski into the wall.
Prunty inherited the lead for the restart with Morrissey now in second place ahead of
Haese, Conrad Morgan, and Brad Mueller. Morrissey made several attempts on the inside to
unseat Prunty for the lead as racing resumed before finally taking to the outside lane to
pull off the pass by edging Prunty at the stripe on lap 58. Dennis Prunty spun in turn two
and the ensuing caution flag set up the green-white-checkered finish. Morrissey took off
on the restart and held off Prunty over the final laps to take the victory by about four
car-lengths. Haese completed his best run of the season with a strong third place finish
while Morgan and Mueller rounded out the top five. Travis Dassow was sixth and was
followed at the checkered flag by Dave Teske and Ryan Mathews. Al Schill and Eric Fransen
completed the top ten finishers.
Dennis Prunty won the 30-lap late model semi-feature over Eric Fransen and Mike Egan.
Randy Schuler was fourth and Scott Schoeni was fifth. Morrissey claimed top honors in the
late model fast dash and Mueller set fast time again by touring the speedway in 11.386
seconds.
The Midwest Sportsman Championship Series made it’s second stop of the season at the
Slinger Super Speedway and James Swan made the most of it by winning the 40-lap feature.
Dave Obermeyer raced into the lead at the start as Josh Bauer slid ahead of George Schultz
for second while Swan raced with Bobby Giers for the fourth spot. Todd Gehring stalled in
turn two to slow the race under caution on lap seven and two laps after the restart, Bauer
worked his way around Obermeyer to take the lead. Swan was on the charge and took third
place from Schultz on the same lap and then shot around Obermeyer for second on lap ten.
Obermeyer began to fade and Schultz, Jeremy Miller, Giers, and Colin Bamke all were able
to pass him while Swan tracked down Bauer for the lead. Swan caught Bauer and took over
the lead on lap 15 and the top five stabilized for a few laps before Bamke moved to the
inside of Giers for fifth on lap 24. Bamke pulled alongside Giers on the frontstretch, but
Giers would not give up the position easily and Bamke found himself spinning into turn one
to bring out the caution flag. During the caution period, Giers was shown the black flag
for his involvement in the incident moving Gary LaMonte into the top five. Swan led on the
restart over Bauer, Schultz, Miller, and LaMonte. While the leaders raced ahead, Schultz,
LaMonte, and Miller raced intensely for third place with Schultz sliding through the
corners numerous times but never losing control and maintaining the position. Swan drove
to the win while Bauer finished in second. Schultz crossed the finish line in third place
while LaMonte nipped Miller at the line to come home in fourth.
Bobby Hacker won the 18-lap Midwest Sportsman semi-feature by holding off Jay Shambeau and
Mike Graczkowski. Jan Kantner finished fourth and Jeremy Bloomberg was fifth. Bauer took
the win in the fast dash and Swan was the fastest qualifier after turning in a lap at
12.645 seconds.
Dale Prunty won the 25-lap Eldorado Trailer Sales Midwest Modified 25-lap main event to
claim his second feature victory of the season.
Russ Moberly led the beginning laps over Jason Feyereisen and Steve Schulz who raced just
ahead of Prunty, Dan Miller, and Wes Biswell. Biswell was driving the car normally piloted
by Ken Wills after he experienced problems with his own car earlier in the evening. The
caution flag flew early when Ron Schmitt spun and hit the turn three wall on lap four. As
racing resumed, Moberly held the lead but Prunty, Miller, and Biswell were working the
outside lane and heading to the front.
Prunty used the outside groove to take
second from Feyereisen and then charged by Moberly and into the lead on lap eight. Miller
followed Prunty, but his charge was derailed on lap 11 when he tangled with Moberly and
both cars spun down the backstretch. Miller’s misfortune placed Biswell into second
place and he tried to run down Prunty for the lead. Prunty and Biswell were well ahead of
Feyereisen, who held third place and Schulz in fourth. Prunty held off any challenge
Biswell could mount and raced to his second feature win of the season. Feyereisen finished
a distant third and Schulz was fourth. Ron Schmitt finished in fifth place. Biswell won
the fast dash and Prunty set fast time at 12.330 seconds.
Shawn Gavin and Ryan DeStefano were the winners of the Slinger Bees races and P.J. Cain
turned back the challenges of Joe DeStefano Jr. to win the Thunderstocks feature. Doug
Pasbrig was third while LesWeidenhoeft and Joe DeStefano Sr. completed the top five. Troy
Arena won the Port-A-John Speedway Guest car event and DeStefano Sr. returned to win the
Spectator Elimination races in his 1974 Chevy. Willy Van Camp closed out the evening with
a win in the Figure 8 event.
For Complete results from the RACESTAT computer CLICK HERE
Miller High Life at the Slinger Super Speedway
By Lanae Weyer
Special; Slinger, WI - This Sunday night,
Miller High Life presents a 60 lap late model feature and a Demo Derby 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
Midwest Sportsman and Demo Derby for no increase in admission. Miller will be having fifty
cents off specials on Miller High Life and Miller High Life Light at the track.
Just added for the August 15th
Johnsonville Foods Night the Limited Late Models will be in competition for a special
added event at the Slinger Super Speedway. The cars compete at Jefferson and Columbus on a
weekly basis, and will race at Slinger in a special one-time program for the 2004 season.
Fans can also 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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