Fransen Takes Enders Corporation/Design to Construct 75 For His First Win of the Year! By Dan Margetta

June 7, 2004; Slinger, WI - Eric Fransen battled Al Schill in the early going and then held off a charging Brad Mueller to win the Enders Corporation/Design to Construct 75-lap late model feature Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway.

“I was better than Al (Schill) in the middle of the corners and was trying to figure out a way to get around him and he gave me room,” stated Fransen afterwards, describing his pass for the lead on lap 43. “And then Brad (Mueller) ran me clean there at the end, but that’s the way we race here,” Fransen continued after posting his first feature win of the season.

Schill and Fransen used the outside to outgun Austin Konetski into turn one for the top spots at the drop of the green flag, while Toby Rott, Randy Schuler, and Travis Dassow jockeyed for position behind them. The caution flag flew early as a spin involving David Prunty and Brad Hartman in turn four, slowed the field on lap 11. Racing resumed for only a lap after the restart as contact between Rott and Schuler sent Rott spinning down the backstretch on lap 12, resulting in another caution flag as Schill continued to lead over Fransen, Konetski, Dassow, and Donavan Morgan.

Fransen dogged Schill on the restart with Konetski and Dassow close behind while Morgan maintained fifth until minor contact with cars around him, forced him out of the groove on lap 30 and sent him back several spots. With the top four running nose to tail, Mueller began to use the outside lane to work his way into the top five just before the third and final caution of the event appeared on lap 35 for a spin by Chad Barker in turn two.

Once again, Schill maintained the lead on the restart with Fransen and Konetski running bumper to bumper in his tire tracks while Dassow and Mueller staged a battle over the fourth position. Mueller took over fourth place by lap 40 as Fransen began to work the outside lane in an effort to get around Schill. The effort finally paid off on lap 43 and Fransen was able to race around Schill to take the top spot while Mueller closed in on Konetski for third. Schill kept Fransen in his sights while Mueller went to work on Konetski, using the inside lane to aggressively take the spot on lap 50. The resulting contact from the pass caused the handling to go away on Konetski’s car and he faded back, losing positions to Dave Teske and Fred Winn.

Once around Konetski, Mueller set his sights on Schill for second and took to his familiar outside groove to try to get the job done while Fransen continued to lead. With ten laps to go, Mueller worked his way into second and began to chase Fransen who once again began to catch some lapped cars. As Mueller closed to his bumper, Fransen masterfully worked the traffic, never letting Mueller get his nose alongside to mount a challenge. Fransen held Mueller at bay over the final laps and drove under the checkered flags to score his first victory of the season, which netted him an extra $3,000 courtesy of Enders Corporation. Schill finished a strong third while Teske wrapped up a solid effort with a fourth place finish. Winn also turned in an impressive performance to come home in the fifth position. Mike Strupp had his best race of the season and finished sixth ahead of Dassow, Morgan, Andrew Morrissey, and Konetski, who rebounded to finish tenth.

Mike Egan held off Strupp to take the win in the 30-lap late model semi-feature over the visiting Nathan Haseleu and Ken Wills, who was driving a late model for the first time. Ed Grober finished fifth. Dave Teske won the fast dash and David Prunty set fast time at 11.445 seconds.

The Midwest Sportsman put on the best feature of the night as Josh Bauer turned back a last lap charge by George Schultz to take the win by a fender.

Bauer jumped into the lead at the start as Jason Taghikhani, Colin Bamke, and Pat McIntee raced side by side just ahead of Schultz and Jeremy Miller. A spin by Gary LaMonte in turn four produced a caution flag on lap eight and Bobby Gutknecht left the track with damage as a result of the incident. Bauer kept the lead on the restart while McIntee moved into second and Miller advanced positions when Bamke fell back on the outside. Bauer held a comfortable lead over McIntee and Miller as the race wound down, but his advantage was erased when the two came together while battling for second on lap 22 resulting in McIntee spinning and Miller also going to the rear of the field for his involvement. That set up a three-lap shoot-out for the win between Bauer and Schultz who had been quietly moving up through the field. Bauer was unable to shake Schultz on the restart and on the final lap Schultz made a last ditch run on the inside exiting turn four and pulled alongside Bauer, but came up about a fender short at the stripe as Bauer took the win. Taghikhani finished third while James Swan and Bamke rounded out the top five. Bauer’s victory was worth an extra $1,000 from the Enders Corporation.

Bobby Gutknecht won the dash and Gary LaMonte was the fastest qualifier with a lap of 12.695 seconds.

After having some tough luck last year, things finally went right for Dan Miller as led flag to flag en route to capturing his first Midwest modified 30-lap feature win of the season.

Miller charged to the front from his outside front row starting position and took command of the event at the start over Ron Schmitt, Wes Biswell, and Jason Feyereisen. Biswell and Feyereisen followed Miller in the outside lane and used the groove to take the second and third positions. Rick Ottman and Steve Schulz came together and spun in turn three to bring out the yellow flag on lap 10 and shortly after the race resumed, Ottman’s problems continued as he made hard contact with the turn two wall a few laps later. Miller led Biswell on the restart as Prunty challenged Feyereisen for third, taking the position by lap 20. Shortly after taking third, Prunty closed in on Biswell and was able to take that position a few laps later while Jeff Holtz worked his way into the top five. Miller was determined to finally take home a victory and he held off Prunty’s charge over the final laps and scored the win. Prunty settled for second at the finish just ahead of Biswell and Feyereisen. Holtz crossed the finish line in fifth place. The win was worth an extra $1,000 for Miller courtesy of Enders Corporation.

Steve Schulz won the fast dash and Prunty turned in the fastest qualifying lap when he circled in the speedway in 12.246 seconds.

Glenn Weber won the first Slinger Bees heat race over Chris Bishop and Joseph Bentfield. Andy Soine and Kurt Brown rounded out the top five. Tom Berens scored the win in the second Slinger Bees heat, taking the checkered flag ahead of Bob Losiniscki and Ryan DeStefano. Ron Kosciescza was fourth and Robin Van Hoff finished fifth.

Joe DeStefano Jr. was the winner of the Thunderstocks event over Mark Kissinger and Chris Beine. Les Wiedenhoeft and P.J. Cain completed the top five. The Speedway Guest Car event winner was Jack from Knoble and Associates and Shane Becker raced to the win in the Figure 8 event.

During the intermission, Sara Olson was crowned Miss Slinger Speedway for 2004. Melissa Wanta was the first runner-up and Lisa Yunk was the second runner-up.

For Complete results from the RACESTAT computer CLICK HERE

PPC NIGHT AT THE RACES SET FOR THIS SUNDAY AT SLINGER!

Slinger, Wis., (Special) - PPC, the Professional Plumbers & Contractors presents a 75-lap Late Model feature and a full night of action in all divisions, this Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway.

The evening will also give fans the chance to meet the track’s late model drivers as they will have a special autograph and photo opportunity during the night’s events. The special session is part of the speedway’s new late model driver appreciation to honor the late model drivers. Driver appreciation events in the other divisions will take place later in the season.

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 Midwest Sportsman Championship Series event originally scheduled for May 23rd, has now been rescheduled for August 1st.

The Slinger Super Speedway Sunday night racing action runs through September 19, 2004, and recently announced promotions include the Outlaw Monster Truck Show, and the 25th Annual Miller Lite Nationals featuring Matt Kenseth and Johnny Sauter on Tuesday July 13th. Tickets for all events are on sale at the speedway office. For more information contact the speedway at 262.644.5921 or visit their web site at slingersuperspeedway.com

For availability and other sponsorship opportunities including track signage and billboards contact the Public Relations Department at (262) 628-7929.