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AGELESS SCHILL BACK IN
VICTORY LANE IN KEITH'S MARINA 85!
By Dan Margetta |
(Slinger,
WI) July 3, 2005 - Proving he still knows how to get it done, 60-year old Al
Schill led wire to wire en route to a popular victory in the Keith’s Marina 85-lap
late model feature Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway.
“It’s great
when everything works so good,” Schill exclaimed after scoring his first victory of
the season, his 40th year in competition. “When the track got loose, my car picked up
speed and the others fell off,” Schill continued.
Schill’s win was anything but easy, as puffs of smoke wisped from his car through the
corners in the closing laps, but the engine held together and he was able to hold off
Dennis Prunty and Brad Mueller at the finish line.
“We tried to find it (the source of the smoke) a few times this year and we’ll
check it again this week,” Schill promised. “Hopefully we’ll have it
figured out by next week.”
Schill started on the pole and immediately began to race Josh Bauer for the lead while
Travis Dassow, Brad Dahmer, and David Prunty fell into line behind them. Schill stayed
hooked to the bottom groove while Bauer took to the high side and the two of them raced
side-by-side until Schill was able to prevail by lap ten. Bauer slid back to third place
on lap 19 as Dassow snuck by him on the inside and immediately began to pressure Schill
for the top spot. Bauer remained loyal to the outside and a few laps later, once again was
able to march forward, pulling ahead of Dassow for second place. Bauer then challenged
Schill at the front and once again the two raced alongside each other with Bauer able to
edge ahead to lead momentarily. Behind the top three, brothers Dennis and David Prunty
were battling with Brad Mueller, Lowell Bennett, and Dave Feiler as they all tried to move
through the field.
Bauer’s bid at the win came to an end on lap 44 as his engine began to pop and he was
forced to retire from the event. With Bauer’s exit, Dennis Prunty moved into second
place behind Schill while Mueller used the top groove to snag third place from Dassow, who
was being pressured by David Prunty. Bennett and Feiler were jockeying for position behind
them on lap 62 when contact sent Feiler skittering up the track in turn one. As
Feiler’s car came down the banking, he collided with Bennett and by the time the dust
settled, Austin Konetski was caught up in the incident as well.
Schill launched on the restart and maintained the top spot over Dennis Prunty and Mueller
while David Prunty and Dassow renewed their battle over fourth place. The race was back
under the caution flag within a few laps as Dan Jung had a right rear tire go down which
sent him into the turn one wall on lap 69.
Once again, Schill took off on the restart as Mueller began to put the heat on Dennis
Prunty for second. Mueller tried numerous times to root his way under Prunty but each
time, he was unable to draw far enough alongside to make the move. Over the final laps,
Schill was able to stretch out his lead despite the small puffs of smoke that appeared
from under his machine in the corners. Schill took the checkered flag for his first
victory of the season while Prunty held off a hard charging Mueller for second. David
Prunty finished fourth and Dassow wrapped up one of his strongest races to date with a
fifth place finish. John Mueller finished in sixth place while Nick Schumacher, Ken Wills,
and Fred Winn were seventh through ninth respectively. Rich Loch rounded out the top ten.
Mark Bitzan won the 30-lap late model semi-feature over Chris Ratajczyk who barely edged
newcomer Brian Johnson Jr. for second place and the final transfer position into the
feature. Mike Egan and Robert Maynor completed the top five finishers. Landry Potter made
a return visit to the Slinger high-banks and scored the win in the 15-lap late model
consolation race over Bill Shavlik and Jim Jesoshek. Brandon Hill finished in fourth place
and George Olson was fifth. David Prunty won the fast dash while John Mueller set fast
time at 11.269 seconds.
James Swan made the outside groove work as he raced to the win in the 40-lap Midwest
Sportsman Championship Series main event.
Swan took the green flag from the eighth starting slot as Bobby Giers marched into the
early lead over Mike Graczkowski, Scott Shambeau and Scott Ascher. Graczkowski used the
inside lane and worked his way around Giers to take command of the event by lap ten. Swan
and Gary LaMonte both took to the top of the speedway and began to pick off cars as they
sliced forward in tandem, storming into the top five by lap 15. At the halfway point,
Graczkowski led but Swan and LaMonte advanced into second and third respectively and were
tracking down the distance between themselves and the leader. Graczkowski’s lead was
erased on lap 29 when LaMonte spun in turn two to draw a caution flag.
On the restart, Swan immediately took to the outside and moved alongside Graczkowski for
the lead. Swan was able to complete the pass a lap later while Dave Thomas, Collin Bamke,
and Kenny Joosten fought for third. Swan cruised to the victory while Graczkowski crossed
the stripe in second. Bamke won the battle for third place at the finish while Joosten and
Thomas rounded out the top five.
Adam Berge was the winner of the 18-lap Midwest Sportsman semi-feature over Jimmy Evans
and Jeff Steenbergen. John Fiorita was fourth and Gary Tisler finished in fifth place.
Bamke was the winner of the fast dash and LaMonte was the fastest qualifier after turning
in a lap of 12.563 seconds.
The Midwest Modified feature provided the most excitement on the evening and when it was
over, Ron Schmitt edged Dale Prunty to win the 25-lap event.
Schmitt took the lead at the drop of the green flag over Russ Moberly and David McCardle
while Steve Huelsbeck, Steven Schulz, and Prunty followed. Roger Schmid spun on lap two
and was able to continue as the race remained under green. As Schmid came back up to speed
he found himself directly in front of the lead battle between Schmitt and Prunty. The
leaders were unable to pass the lapped car, which tightly bunched the field, resulting in
some close contact racing, but everyone kept their cars under control. Debris on the
speedway on lap 21 brought out the caution flag to unwind the field for the single file
restart. As the race resumed, Prunty went to work on getting around Schmitt for the lead.
With two laps remaining, the leaders made slight contact but once again, they straightened
out their cars with Schmitt choosing the low groove and Prunty racing up top. On the final
lap the two ran side by side with Prunty making a final run toward the checkered flag.
Prunty’s run came up short as Schmitt powered off the final turn to take the victory
by less than a car length. Schulz finished in third place ahead of Huelsbeck and Wes
Biswell.
Huelsbeck won the Midwest Modified fast dash and Jason Feyereisen circled the speedway in
12.099 seconds which netted him fast time on the night.
Mark Kissinger won the 12-lap Thunderstock feature over Ryan DeStefano and Craig
Schattschneider. Paul Berndt and Shawn Hoeffler rounded out the top five. Shawn Friedeck
and Jared Apel each on Slinger Bees races while John Schulz was the winner of the
Port-A-John Speedway Guest Car race. Jason Wallace drove his Honda Civic to the win in the
Spectator Eliminator races while Donald Van Camp was declared the winner of the Figure 8
event that was ended early following an incident between Paul Williams and Shane Becker in
the “X”.
For Complete results from the RACESTAT computer CLICK HERE
SUBWAY
EAT FRESH 60 PRESENTED BY COKE
Coca Cola 500 Big Wheel Races for Kids
(Slinger, WI) Sunday Night July 10th Coke and Subway eat fresh night! 60 Lap Late Model
Feature and Full Racing Program. Free Bike drawing for kids 11 and under and Coca Cola 500
Big Wheel Races for Kids! Plus Limited Late Models. Gates open at 4:45, Qualifying at
5:15, and Racing at 7:00.
Stop by your local SUBWAY® restaurant and try your favorite sub toasted, or let us
suggest a couple that we came up with ourselves that showcase the great tastes of
toasting!
There are select advertising and sponsorship opportunities as well as company and group
outings available for the 2005 season. For more information, contact the speedway’s
public relations department at: 262-370-0440, the track office at: 262-644-5921 or visit
our web site at: www.slingersuperspeedway.com.
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