Egan Wins Five Corners Dodge/Charcoal Grill 75! By Dan Margetta

(Slinger, WI) September 11, 2005 - Mike Egan held off Brad Mueller and Dave Feiler in a wild three-car finish for his second victory of the year in the Five Corners Dodge/Charcoal Grill 75-lap late model feature Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway.

Photo Highlights

The celebration begins for the number 89 machines of Mike Egan (red) and Brad Mueller (blue). Egan collected his second feature win of the season in Super Late Model action, while Mueller wrapped up his third straight championship. Brad Mueller (left) is joined by his father Jerry (right) after winning his third straight Super Late Model title at Slinger Super Speedway. Mike Egan is joined by Miss Slinger Super Speedway after winning his second Super Late Model feature win of the 2005 season after taking the checkered in the Five Corners Dodge/Charcoal Grill 75. David Prunty (#1) saw his last hopes at a season title in the Super Late Models disappear after spinning during the main event. Mike Egan (#89) stayed busy while leading the Super Late Model feature.  Dave Feiler (#93) and Brad Mueller (#89) both were looking for a way to win the contest. Nick Schumacher (#16) didn't have much luck during the Super Late Model feature making contact with Robert Maynor (#18) while the rest of the field scatters... however... ... earlier in the evening the rookie pilot did have the good fortune to win the Super Late Model dash event. Ron Schmitt (#6) survived a late race caution to capture the Midwest Modified main event. Steve Huelsbeck #61) captured the Midwest Modified dash race. Season points champion in the Midwest Modifieds Dale Prunty (#17) set fast qualifying honors this evening. The Limited Late Models made another guest appearance with Chris Ratajczyk (#21) brining home the win in the feature event. Scott Nottestad (#14) paced the qualifying in the Limited Late Models. Brad Keith (#48) took top honors in the Midwest Sportsman main event. Eric Schultz was victorious in the Thunderstocks feature race. Jake Vanoskey won on of the two Slinger Bee contests. Chalk one up for the ladies as Tanya Manke made her way to the winners circle after capturing a Slinger Bee contest.

“I’m starting to like this,” Egan proclaimed after scoring his second victory in three weeks, this time with his mirrors full of Slinger veterans Mueller and Feiler. “These guys are the greatest racers in the state and everyone that has supported me has been waiting for over 20 years for this to happen.”

Austin Konetski and Dennis Prunty paced the field at the start and Prunty, Egan, and Nick Schumacher all charged in the upper groove to grab the first three positions in the opening laps. An early tangle between Chad Barker and Scott Schoeni in turn one put the field under caution on lap three. Prunty led on the restart and maintained command of the race for the first five laps before Egan took the top spot with an aggressive inside move on lap six. Schumacher also took advantage of Prunty being caught on the outside and moved into second place while behind them Konetski, John Mueller, and Conrad Morgan battled within the top five. David Prunty entered the event with an outside shot at the track championship and he began to advance through the field, but his chances took a sour turn on lap nine when he looped his car in turn four to bring out the second caution flag.

Egan led on the restart, but Schumacher had his car hooked up on the inside and he began to put the pressure on, taking numerous looks to the inside. Schumacher was finally able to find room on the inside and he raced around Egan for the lead by lap 15 while Brad Mueller and Feiler worked traffic to find themselves in fifth and sixth just behind Dennis Prunty and John Mueller. Schumacher began to ease ahead as the rest of the top five ran nose to tail to try to track him down. The complexion of the race changed drastically on lap 28 through a series of events that began with a spin by Tommy Pecaro in turn four. Robert Maynor also spun his machine in an effort to avoid the incident that occurred directly in front of the leaders and Schumacher found himself with nowhere to go and he piled into Maynor’s car.

The incident forced Schumacher to retire from the race and Egan assumed the lead for the restart with Dennis Prunty, John Mueller, Brad Mueller, and Feiler holding down the rest of the top five spots. Egan began to pull away on the restart as John Mueller battled Prunty for second. Prunty’s car washed wide in turn four on lap 34 and as he saved his car in the outside lane, John Mueller was forced to slow to avoid hitting him, allowing both Brad Mueller and Feiler to race by on the inside. Brad Mueller and Feiler then began to slowly reel in Egan as John Mueller dove to the inside of Prunty to try to take the fourth spot.

With Egan’s lead shrinking, John Mueller and Prunty continued to race alongside each other until lap 45 when Prunty skated high again, losing several positions but keeping his car out of the fence. Mueller and Feiler closed the gap by lap 60 and were right on Egan’s tail for the closing laps. Mueller took to the topside and Feiler held the inside lane as they both looked for a way around Egan who could feel the pressure from both grooves. Egan was able to hold off the challenges and raced to the win while Mueller nipped Feiler at the line for second. John Mueller wrapped up another strong run with a fourth place finish while Ken Wills also ran a solid race to finish fifth.

Mueller’s second place finish was enough to earn him his third straight track championship in the late model division.

“That was a blast,” Mueller told the crowd after the race. “It’s quite an accomplishment (winning three championships in a row) and I’ve got the most consistent pit crew in the world.”

Scott Schoeni won the 30-lap late model semi-feature over Chad Barker and Randy Schuler. Mike Strupp and Mark Bitzan rounded out the top five. Nick Schumacher was the winner of the fast dash and Brad Mueller blistered qualifying, circling the speedway in 11.365 seconds.

Brad Keith took top honors in the 30-lap Midwest Sportsman feature event after working his way through the field and then holding off Dave Thomas and James Swan at the finish.

David Pichler and Mike Borchardt started from the front row while Dave Thomas took to the outside lane to move up from his fourth starting position into the lead by lap three. Pichler settled into second place while Scott Ascher advanced forward to take over third place by lap ten. Ascher began pressure Pichler for second while Thomas extended his lead. Ascher’s move forward came to an end on lap 16 when he broke loose and socked the wall while looking under Pichler entering turn three to produce the first caution flag. Thomas continued to lead as racing resumed while farther back Brad Keith and James Swan used the outside lane to slice their way forward and into third and fourth place respectively. Keith and Swan were also able to get around Pichler a lap later for second place just before the yellow flag flew again when Tony Sancinati and Ascher looped around in turn three.

Thomas kept the lead on the restart but Keith and Swan wouldn’t let him get away as they held the inside lane and stayed directly in Thomas’ tire tracks. Keith finally was able to edge his way into the lead on lap 21 as Thomas fell into a battle over second with Swan while Pat McIntee and Mike Graczkowski disputed the fourth and fifth positions. A final caution flag appeared on lap 24 after Mike Borchardt spun around in turn four but Keith was up to the challenge and he led the final six laps to score the victory. Thomas finished in second place while Swan, McIntee, and Graczkowski completed the top five finishers.

Collin Bamke claimed the win in the fast dash and Keith also set fast time on the night following his qualifying lap of 12.666 seconds.

Ron Schmitt ran off with the victory in the 25-lap Midwest Modified feature after surviving a green-white-checkered finish and crossing the stripe ahead of Steve Huelsbeck and Wes Biswell.

Eddie Bentfield and Bill Tandetzke led the field to the green and Tandetzke used the outer groove to take the lead at the completion of lap one. Schmitt, who started fourth, also took to the outside and raced into second place on lap two. A lap later, Schmitt blasted his way by Tandetzke and into the lead while farther back, Biswell and Huelsbeck began to work their way forward. Huelsbeck and Biswell worked their way through the field and occupied the second and third places respectively by lap 15 as Schmitt continued to lead. Tandetzke held down the fourth spot and was fending off Dale Prunty for the position as the first caution flag flew on lap 17 when Brad Smith spun his car on the frontstretch.

Schmitt continued to show the way on the restart as Prunty and Jason Feyereisen continued to work on Tandetzke for the fourth spot. The final caution flag flew with two laps to go as Terry Helmbrecht and Bentfield tangled in turn three to set up the green-white-checkered finish. Schmitt held his own over the final two laps and raced to the win over Huelsbeck and Biswell as both Feyereisen and Prunty were able to pass Tandetzke over the final laps to finish fourth and fifth respectively. Prunty’s fifth place finish wrapped up the 2005 Slinger Track Championship in the Midwest Modified division.

Huelsbeck won the fast dash earlier in the evening and Prunty led qualifying with a lap of 12.293 seconds.

Chris Ratajczyk won the 40-lap Limited Late Model feature and with the victory, claimed the overall series championship.

Kris Kelly led the beginning laps after the event was forced to start a second time when the field became bunched up and Tyler James bounced off the frontstretch wall. While Kelly maintained his lead, Jeff Steenbergen, Kyle Jarlesberg, Dylan Schuyler, and Mike Held occupied the rest of the top five slots as Ratajczyk began to move forward through the field. By lap three, Ratajczyk was in the top five and worked his way into fourth place by lap five when the only caution flag of the race flew when Jim Syvrud, Tony Koepke, Chad Reimer, and Chris Blawat tangled in turn two. Kelly led on the restart over Steenbergen and Schuyler as Ratajczyk once again was on the move, pressuring the top three. Ratajczyk methodically worked his way forward as he took the lead from Kelly while Steenbergen entered the fray to battle Kelly for second. Steenbergen as able to complete the pass and over the closing laps began to gradually close on Ratajczyk for the lead. With two laps to go, Steenbergen was right on Ratajczyk’s bumper but his efforts fell short when he washed out wide in turn two, losing second place in the process to Kelly. Ratajczyk drove to the victory ahead of Kelly while Steenbergen settled for a third place finish. Schuyler finished in fourth place and Jarlesberg crossed the stripe in fifth place.

Ratajczyk also claimed the win in the fast dash and Scott Nottestad paced time trials after qualifying in at 12.510 seconds.

Eric Schuetz took the win in the 12-lap Thunderstocks feature while Ryan DeStefano and Paul Berndt finished second and third respectively. Bob Gigstead and Mark Kissinger rounded out the top five. Aaron Cain was declared the Thunderstock division track champion.

Tanya Manke and Jake Vanoskey each claimed victories in the Slinger Bees races and Ken Schulz won the Port-A-John Speedway Guest Car event. Carl Trapp topped the Spectator Elimination races in his 1972 Chevy Nova and Shane Becker closed the evening with a win in the Figure 8 race. Donald Van Camp was the 2005 Figure 8 Track Champion and Matt Elsinger was the winner of the Coca-Cola Kids Club Grand Prize Drawing for the Slinger Speedway replica go-cart.

For Complete results from the RACESTAT computer CLICK HERE 

Next Week At Slinger Speedway: Spectator 200 and Compact 100 Enduro Special:
Sunday Afternoon - Races Start at 2:00 pm

(Slinger, WI) Sunday Afternoon September 18th – Spectator 200 Enduro plus Compact 100 Enduro. The Spectator 200 is a 200-lap event for street type cars and novice drivers. All cars will start three abreast with $1400 going to the winner! The Compact 100 is a 100-lap event for street type 4 cylinder cars and novice drivers. This division will also start three abreast with $900 going to the winner!

Gates open at Noon with racing starting at 2:00pm.

We are starting to book advertising and sponsorship opportunities as well as company and group hospitality outings now for the 2006 season. For more information, contact the speedway’s public relations department at: 262-370-0440, the track office at: 262-644-5921 or our web site at: www.slingersuperspeedway.com.