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Bennett Scores Second Win
as Slinger Veterans Shine In the Mother's Day Special 60!
By Dan Margetta |
May 9,
2004; Slinger, WI - With 15 late model
track championships between them, Lowell Bennett, Al Schill, and Conrad Morgan duked it
out for the win in the 60-lap Mother’s Day Special late model feature Sunday night at
the Slinger Super Speedway before Bennett raced away to his second victory of the season.
Bennett who started fifth, caught Morgan for the lead by lap 31 and after several
laps of massaging Morgan’s left rear fender, finally was able to loosen him up enough
to take the lead on lap 42. Bennett then drove off to a twelve car-length victory over
Schill and Morgan who finished second and third respectively.
“He was protecting it (the lead), he wanted to win too and he was running good,”
Bennett stated afterwards in describing his pass on Morgan for the lead. “The last
few laps he was getting a little looser coming in and he was chasing it up the hill. I saw
my opportunity to get in there on the bottom and I took it.”
Morgan and Austin Konetski came out in the top two spots after some aggressive racing in
the early laps that saw some minor contact between the cars at the head of the field. With
the rest of the field, including Jamie Wallace, Fred Winn, and Bennett still trying to
sort out positions behind them, Morgan and Konetski staged their own battle for the top
spot. Konetski took to the high side and moved alongside Morgan on lap 15, staying on the
throttle coming off turn two and placing his car in a narrowing outside groove as the
leaders raced side-by-side. Konetski’s no-fear rim-riding charge to the front came to
a halt however a few circuits later when he spun in turn three on lap 18 to bring out the
first caution flag.
Morgan led Wallace for the restart but the field quickly fell under the yellow lights
again when Wallace looped his machine in turn four a lap later, placing Bennett into
second with Winn, Schill, and Dave Feiler holding down third through fifth. The top five
remained static over the next few laps as the caution flag waved for a third and final
time on lap 25 when Dennis Prunty spun in turn four.
Morgan continued to lead over Bennett at the halfway mark as Schill used the inside lane
to edge his way around Winn for third, leaving him to hold off Feiler and Donovan Morgan
for the fourth spot. Bennett closed to Morgan’s rear bumper and continually looked to
both the high and low sides in an effort to find away around the six-time late model
champion. Bennett’s opportunity finally came on lap 42 and he nudged his way by on
the inside for the lead as Schill closed in to battle Morgan for second. As Bennett moved
ahead, Schill and Morgan raced alongside each other for several laps for second place in
the closing moments before Schill finally took the spot with five laps to go. Bennett led
the field to the checkered flag to score his second feature victory of the season over
Schill and Morgan who crossed the stripe in second and third. Feiler finished a strong
fourth ahead of Donovan Morgan in fifth. David Prunty, Brad Mueller, Dave Teske, Winn, and
Tony Strupp rounded out the top ten finishers.
Coming off his feature win a week ago, Chad Barker won the 30-lap late model semi-feature
over Mike Egan, Chris Ratajczyk, Mark Bitzan, and Brad Dahmer. Donovan Morgan bested the
top six qualifiers to win the fast dash and David Prunty set fast time at 11.488 seconds.
Jeff Holtz drove to a flag-to-flag win in the 30-lap Midwest Modified feature to capture
his first main event win of the season.
Holtz immediately forged into the lead at the start while Jason Feyereisen and Russ Grade
disputed second place, just ahead of Wes Biswell and Dan Miller. Holtz was able to scoot
away out front as the next five cars were blanketed together in the race for the second
through the fifth place positions. With Holtz well out front, Grade held his ground on the
inside groove while Feyereisen and the others worked the top side. Dale Prunty began to
work his way toward the front from deep in the field and by lap 12 he was already up to
fourth place. The rest of the field finally strung out at the halfway point with Holtz
still well ahead of Feyereisen, Biswell, Prunty, and Grade. A few laps later, Grade
experienced a tire problem and faded back allowing Steve Schulz to take over fifth. Holtz
was never headed as he comfortable drove to the win over Feyereisen who had to hold off a
determined Prunty for second. Biswell finished fourth and Schulz rounded out the top five.
Holtz also took the checkered flag first in the Midwest Modified dash and Schulz was the
fastest qualifier with a lap of 12.294 seconds.
Josh Bauer held off a determined Pat McIntee and Gary LaMonte to nail down the win in the
25-lap Midwest Sportsman feature.
Bauer charged from the sixth starting position to second place by lap five as Jimmie Evans
led the opening circuits. Following Evans and Bauer, Jeremy Miller, McIntee, and LaMonte
moved into the top five just before the yellow flag appeared when Mike Graczkowski spun in
turn one. Bauer maintained the top spot on the restart as McIntee and LaMonte advanced
forward to claim second and third when Evans began to fall back. Another caution slowed
the field on lap 16 for an incident involving Johnny Carrao and Brad Keith in turn four,
erasing Bauer’s advantage and allowing McIntee and LaMonte to close up for the
restart. As the top three ran nose-to-tail, a group of cars including Miller and James
Swan raced hard and close for the fourth spot. While McIntee and LaMonte could run with
Bauer in the closing laps, they were unable to find a way to pass him and Bauer crossed
the finish line for the win with both McIntee and LaMonte in his tire tracks. Swan emerged
from the back to finish in fourth place ahead of Miller who was fifth.
Mike Graczkowski drove to victory in the dash and LaMonte was the fastest qualifier after
turning in a lap at 12.679 seconds.
P.J. Cain held off Les Wiedenhoeft to win the 20-lap Thunderstocks feature. Joe DeStefano
Jr. took the checkered flag in third while Mark Kissinger and Rick Bruskiewicz rounded out
the top five.
Glenn Weber and Joseph Bentfield each claimed victories in Slinger Bees heat races and Rob
Meyers drove his 1985 Chevy Monte Carlo to the win in the Spectator Eliminator events.
Shane Becker completed the night by scoring the win in the Figure 8 race.
For Complete results from the
RACESTAT computer CLICK HERE
SLINGER SUPER SPEEDWAY PRESENTS AL
SCHILL JR. MEMORIAL
Slinger, Wis., (May 9, 2004) -
The Slinger Super Speedway will pay tribute to the late Al Schill Jr. with a special
60-lap late model feature this Sunday night, May 16th.
The evening will consist of a full racing program in the Late Model, Eldorado Trailer
Sales Midwest Modifieds, Midwest Sportsman, the new Thunderstocks, Figure 8’s,
Spectator Races, Slinger Bees, and Port A John Speedway Guest Cars. Kids 11 and under will
be able to participate in a 10,000 nickel drop at the intermission.
Spectator gates open at 4:45 PM with time trials at 5:15 PM and racing 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 Sunday night racing action, runs through September 19, 2004.
Fans may test their driving ability in 2004 by renting one of the Port A John Speedway
Guest Cars, which are still available on selected nights. contact the speedway’s
office at 262.644.5921 for further information or visit their web-site at
www.slingersuperspeedway.com.
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
including track signage and billboards contact the Public Relations Department at (262)
628-7929. |
