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IT’S WIN #3 FOR
BENNETT IN WISCONSIN DRYWALL DISTRIBUTORS 75!
By Dan
Margetta |
(Slinger,
WI) July 17, 2005 - Lowell Bennett chalked up his third feature win of the
season after a hard-fought victory over Brad Mueller in the Wisconsin Drywall Distributors
75 Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway.
Bennett persistently
worked the outside groove to grab the top spot from Josh Bauer with five laps to go and
then turned back a final four-lap charge from Mueller to take the checkered flag for a two
car-length victory.
“We had to work tonight…what a race! “ Bennett told the crowd following the
event. “I about had my tongue hanging out and I’m not afraid to admit I’m a
little tired after that one. I guess I’ll have to do some more exercising.”
Bauer started from the pole position and immediately jumped into the lead with Travis
Dassow falling in line behind him, just ahead of Mike Egan, Bennett, and Nick Schumacher.
The inside line was the preferred groove early on as Schumacher became caught up top and
was shuffled back as David Prunty and Mueller passed by. Bauer began to stretch his lead
over Dassow and Egan while Bennett and Prunty tried their hand on the top side as the
leaders caught lapped traffic. Bennett and Prunty were able to drive around Egan using the
outside by lap 35 and began to close on Dassow for second. Within ten laps, both Bennett
and Prunty dispatched Dassow for second, continuing to use the outer groove. Contact
between Fred Winn and Robert Maynor in turn one on lap 57 sent Maynor spinning directly in
front of the leaders who spun to avoid the incident. All the top-runners avoided contact
except for Prunty and Dassow as they clipped each other in the turn, severely damaging
both cars and taking them out of contention.
Bauer led Bennett and Egan for the restart with Mueller and Austin Konetski taking over
the spots vacated by Dassow and Prunty and as racing resumed, Bennett began to look both
high and low for an opportunity to take the lead. Bennett finally decided on the outside
and pulled alongside Bauer while Mueller passed Egan for third by lap 65. With the leaders
racing side-by-side, Mueller and Egan soon joined the fight for the lead, which became a
tight four-car battle. Aggressive racing amongst the leaders nearly produced a catastrophe
in turn one on lap 67 as Bauer’s car turned sideways but everyone kept their cool and
by the time everything straightened out on the backstretch, Bennett edged into the lead
with Mueller taking over second place. Bauer slipped back to fifth place following the
ordeal as Egan and Al Schill moved ahead into third and fourth. A tangle between
Schumacher and Konetski while disputing the seventh spot drew a final caution flag on lap
71, setting up a four-lap dash to the finish.
Bennett spun the tires a bit on the restart and kicked loose exiting turn four as Mueller
dogged him for the lead, but it wasn’t enough to derail the four-time track champion
from the top spot. Bennett hung on over the final laps and turned back Mueller’s
challenge to score his third victory of the season. Mike Egan turned in his strongest
performance of the season with a very respectable third place finish while Schill and
Bauer completed the top five. Ken Wills also had his best run to date, netting a sixth
place finish at the stripe ahead of Randy Schuler and Robert Maynor, who also looked very
good, finishing in eighth. Konetski and Schumacher rounded out the top ten.
Scott Schoeni won the 30-lap late model semi-feature over Jerry Eckhardt and Mike McCabe.
Ron Ragan finished in fourth place and Bill Shavlik crossed the stripe in fifth. Dave
Feiler was the winner of the fast dash and Brad Mueller set fast time after touring the
speedway in 11.417 seconds.
Mike Graczkowski charged to his first feature win of the season in the 30-lap Midwest
Sportsman feature, holding off Brad Keith and Gary LaMonte for the win.
Scott Schambeau and Mike Borchardt led the field to the green and neither could gain an
advantage as they raced alongside each other. Schambeau held the inside and was able to
ease ahead exiting the turns, but Borchardt battled back on the outside to draw even on
the straightaway. Behind the top two, Graczkowski and Dave Thomas also raced in formation
for third place just ahead of Jay Schambeau and Pat McIntee. LaMonte and James Swan also
closed in on the lead pack as everyone jockeyed for position on the track. All the leaders
pin-balled off each other on the frontstretch on lap 19, momentarily creating a four-wide
situation that sent Thomas into the marbles, shuffling the running order with Schambeau
leading Graczkowski, Borchardt, and LaMonte. At the same time the excitement was stirring
at the head of the field, Tom Elsinger’s car burst into flames and fire-balled into
the infield, producing the yellow flag. Elsinger was not seriously injured in the mishap
as the safety crew quickly extinguished the blaze.
Schambeau led on the restart but Graczkowski quickly shot by, bringing LaMonte with him on
lap 20 just before the field slowed under the yellow flag again for a spin by Dave Thomas
in turn three. Once racing resumed, Graczkowski had his hands full with LaMonte over the
final laps as Brad Keith began a late charge toward the front, taking over third place by
lap 25. LaMonte’s efforts sent his car wide off turn two with two laps to go,
allowing Keith to close in and challenge for second. With Keith battling LaMonte for
second, Graczkowski was able to get away and drive to the victory. Keith out-dueled
LaMonte to finish second while Scott and Jay Schambeau rounded out the top five in fourth
and fifth respectively.
In other Midwest Sportsman action, Keith won the fast dash and LaMonte was the fastest
qualifier with a lap of 12.660 seconds.
Steve Schulz took the lead early on in the Midwest Modified 25-lap feature and held off
charges by Dale Prunty and Ron Schmitt to score the win.
Schulz took the green flag from the outside of the front row and used the outside groove
to battle Joe Houpt for the top spot during the opening two laps. Schulz eventually
powered his way into the lead while Wes Biswell and Dale Prunty also took to the high side
to work their way around Houpt and into second and third place respectively. Schulz
continued to lead over Biswell and Prunty on lap ten while Schmitt and Jason Feyereisen
entered the top five. Prunty was able to maneuver his way by Biswell for second place and
began to track down Schulz as the field slowed under the caution flag for a spin by David
McCardle in turn four. Schulz led Prunty on the restart and the top two ran nose to tail
while Schmitt began to work on Biswell for third. McCardle and Roger Schmid tangled in
turn four on lap 18 and once again the yellow flag appeared. As was the case a few laps
earlier, Schulz was able to get a small jump on Prunty as the green reappeared. Over the
closing laps, Prunty could close to Schulz’s bumper but was unable to mount a serious
challenge as Schulz drove to the victory. Prunty settled for second while Schmitt came out
on top of a wild scramble for third place at the checkered flag, edging Biswell and
Feyereisen.
Earlier in the evening, Schulz won the fast dash and Feyereisen was the fastest qualifier
at 12.340 seconds.
Aaron Cain took home top honors in the 12-lap Thunderstock feature, taking the checkered
flag ahead of Ryan DeStefano and Mark Kissinger. Joe DeStefano Sr. and Chris Beine
finished fourth and fifth respectively. Jamie Vetter and Miles Dornbrook each won Slinger
Bees races while Ryan Dunkelberger topped the Spectator Eliminator races in a 2004 Chevy
Monte Carlo. Chris Price closed the night with a win in the Figure 8 event.
For Complete results from the RACESTAT computer CLICK HERE
Ritter
Parker Store 65 - Rides for kids in race car night
(Slinger, WI) Sunday Night
July 24th Ritter Parker Store 65. See a 65 lap Late Model Feature plus a full racing
program. It’s also Rides for kids in a racecar night! Kids will get a chance to ride
around the track at intermission in a real racecar. Gates open at 4:45, Qualifying at
5:15, and Racing at 7:00.
Ritter Parker store is the #1 source for hydraulic and pneumatic needs, performance under
pressure, specializing in hose assembly while you wait. Fans are invited to check them out
online at www.ritter1.com. Serving Industry since 1951 with world class products and
solutions in Hydraulics, Pneumatics, Lubrication, Filtration, and Fluid Connectors.
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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