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Morrisey Wins Bob Fish
Alan Kulwici Memorial and
Fransen Tops Coca-Cola/Open Pantry 50 at Slinger!
By Dan Margetta |
August
22, 2004; Slinger, WI - Andrew
Morrissey added his name to the growing list of winners of the Bob Fish Pontiac-Buick -GMC
Alan Kulwicki Memorial and Eric Fransen used a late race pass to capture the win in the
Coca-Cola/Open Pantry 50-lap nightcap Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway.
Beginning the race from the pole
position, Morrissey avoided an early accident and then masterfully worked lapped traffic
to become the eleventh different winner of the event held in honor of the late NASCAR and
Slinger Speedway champion.
Lowell Bennett shared the front row with Morrissey at the start and battled with him for
the top spot during the early laps as Nathan Haseleu followed close behind in third place.
Fred Winn developed problems on lap seven and when the leaders encountered fluid left on
the track from Winn’s machine, they scattered into turn one with Bennett and Haseleu
backing hard into the wall. As the rest of the field attempted to avoid the melee, the
cars of John Mueller and Donavan Morgan became collected in the incident as the red flag
was displayed. Although his car broke loose as well, Morrissey was able to drive through
the mess and maintained the lead over Eric Fransen, Brad Mueller, Dave Feiler, and David
Prunty for the restart.
“I just got through it,” Morrissey explained later as he discussed avoiding the
accident with the crowd. “I got loose and was sideways and probably banked off
Lowell’s (Bennett) car but we made it through it. After that the car was really
hooked up.”
Morrissey’s car was hooked up well and he continued to lead over Fransen as the race
restarted while Mueller and Feiler began to stage a battle for third. Mueller turned back
Feiler’s challenges for several laps as Feiler looked to the inside numerous times
while exiting the corners. Feiler was finally able to sneak his nose to the inside of
Mueller near the halfway point and he pulled off the pass to grab third place while
Fransen began to slowly track down Morrissey who had caught lapped traffic. Fransen was
able to erase Morrissey’s advantage as they encountered the lapped cars and he closed
to Morrissey’s rear bumper. Morrissey was not to be denied however, and he skillfully
threaded his way through the lapped machines and drove off to his third feature win of the
season. Fransen took the checkered flag in second place while Feiler and Mueller were
third and fourth respectively. David Prunty finished in fifth place ahead of Ryan Mathews,
Austin Konetski, and Al Schill. Chad Barker and Brad Dahmer rounded out the top ten
finishers.
The lead lap cars were inverted for the start of the 50-lap nightcap which made up the
final round of the Coca-Cola/Open Pantry two race series and Conrad Morgan and Todd
Kluever led the field to the green flag. Morgan led briefly before Kluever used the
outside to claim the top spot by lap ten. Dennis Prunty and Gregg Haese also used the
outside to get around Morgan and take over the second and third positions respectively,
leaving Morgan to race with David Prunty, who held down the fifth spot.
Eric Fransen and Al Schill were the cars on the move in the early stages and they worked
their way up to challenge the top five runners by lap 15. As the two closed on David
Prunty for fifth, Fransen took to the outside while Schill looked inside of Prunty
entering turn three on lap 20. The momentarily three-wide situation resulted in Schill and
Prunty tangling together and the field was slowed under the caution flag.
Dennis Prunty led Kluever, Haese, Fransen, and Morgan for the restart and soon began to
open up a sizeable lead over the field. Fransen continued his march toward the front as he
first picked off Haese for third place and then worked his way around Kluever for second
just past the halfway mark. Once in second, Fransen began to track down Prunty for the
lead and caught him by lap 35. With Fransen running the inside groove and Prunty occupying
the outside, the leaders raced several laps side by side before Fransen prevailed on lap
41. While Fransen and Prunty raced hard for the lead, Kluever made up ground and was right
in the tire tracks of the lead duo during the closing laps. Over the final three laps,
Kluever began to pressure Prunty for second and that erased any chance Prunty had of
challenging for the lead as Fransen drove to the victory. Prunty’s second place
finish sealed the overall Coca-Cola/Open Pantry points title by just two points over
Fransen. Kluever completed his consistent run in third place while Haese had one of his
better races of the season, finishing in fourth place. Ryan Mathews was fifth.
After taking home his third feature win of the season, Fransen credited his crew with
making his car handle better after the first feature event. “We were kind of beside
ourselves,” Fransen explained. “After the first race, the car was doing all
kinds of different things. We made a lot of changes and the car worked super. It was much
better than the first race.”
Mike Strupp held off Chris Ratajczyk to win the 30-lap late model semi-feature while Mike
Egan, Randy Schuler, and Tommy Hromadka completed the top five. Scott Schoeni was
victorious in the 12-lap late model consi and Dave Feiler won the fast dash. Travis Dassow
bested a field of 42 late models to set fast time for the first time in his career after
turning in a lap at 11.352 seconds.
Gary LaMonte came from deep in the field to score the win in the 30-lap Midwest Sportsman
feature.
Colin Bamke used his outside front row starting spot to jump into the lead at the start
while further back, LaMonte, James Swan, and Josh Bauer all took to the outside to begin
their charge to the front. Pat McIntee and Mike Lange tangled in turn two on lap three and
the race was slowed under the caution flag with Bamke leading over Mike Graczkowski and
Jan Kantner. LaMonte, Swan, and Bauer continued their freight train to the front as all
three used the outside lane to pick off cars and by lap ten they occupied the second
through fourth positions as Bamke maintained his lead. LaMonte closed to Bamke’s rear
bumper and after loosening Bamke up in turn three, took command of the event on lap 18.
Bamke quickly fell into line in second just ahead of Swan and Bauer. A spin by Nathan Fick
right in front of the leaders drew another caution flag on lap 20. LaMonte held off Bamke
for the remaining ten laps to score the win while Swan held off Bauer for third. Jay
Shambeau finished in fifth.
Johnny Carrao took home a popular win in the fast dash and Bauer set fast time after
touring the speedway in 12.543 seconds.
Dale Prunty cruised to another win in the 25-lap Midwest Modified main event after many
cars were eliminated in an early race incident.
Prunty charged to the top spot by lap ten and held the lead over Wes Biswell, Jason
Feyereisen, Jeff Holtz, and Steve Schulz as they came up on slower traffic. Bill
Tandetzke, Brad Smith, and Joe Osterman were racing hard for position just in front of the
leaders and as they battled, the leaders quickly closed. Prunty was able to pass the cars
cleanly but when the racing between the slower cars eventually took up both racing
grooves, Biswell and the others were forced to get on the binders, resulting in a turn one
accident that involved Biswell, Feyereisen, Holtz, and Schulz. Biswell was the only one
able to continue but the damage to his car caused a severe tire rub and he left the
speedway as Prunty led over Russ Grade, David McCardle, Russ Moberly, and Roger Schmid.
Prunty was unchallenged from there and took the win over Grade and Moberly while McCardle
and Schmid rounded out the top five.
Earlier, Biswell won the fast dash and Prunty was the fastest qualifier at 12.193 seconds.
Ryan DeStefano and Andy Soine each won Slinger Bees 8-lap events and Doug Pasbrig won the
12-lap Thunderstock race over Joe DeStefano Sr. and Eric Schuetz. Willie Van Camp took top
honors in the Spectator Elimination events and Shane Becker won the figure 8 event that
was stopped after seven laps when Mike Bunnell and Scott Goetzke made hard contact with
the turn two wall. Neither driver was injured but damage to the fencing on top the wall
resulted in the race being ended after seven laps. Les Blankenship won the Port-A-John
Speedway Guest Car race and the Coca-Cola big wheel races were won by Mitch Delcamp,
Richie Schultz, and Nick Lipp.
For Complete results from the RACESTAT computer CLICK HERE
Race of Champions and the Re-Scheduled E.H. Wolf &
Sons event
this Sunday at the Slinger Super Speedway!
By Lanae Weyer
Special; Slinger, WI - This Sunday
Night August 29th Behling Racing presents The Race of Champions along with the E. H. Wolf
& Sons Special originally scheduled for Memorial Day at the Slinger Super Speedway.
The evening will be highlighted by twin Late Model and Eldorado Trailer Sales Modified
features and a full night of racing action for no increase in admission. Other divisions
competing include the Slinger Bees, Thunderstocks, Figure 8’s, Port A John Speedway
Guest Cars, Spectator Eliminators, Midwest Sportsman.
As an added bonus to the September 12th Season Championships schedule the speedway will be
giving away fifteen adult Green Bay Packer jackets along with a pair of tickets for an
upcoming packer game.
Interested Novice drivers can now enter the Spectator 200 Enduro for street-type cars and
the Compact 100 Special for 4 cylinder cars to be held on September 19th. Interested
drivers may call 262 644 5921 for registration forms and additional information.
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
discounted track billboards for the remainder of 04 and the 05 seasons contact the Public
Relations Department at (262) 628-7929.
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