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KALBUS, STIPPICH, AND MALOUF ALL
WINNERS IN THE
FUTURE’S EVENT AT SLINGER!!
By
Dan Margetta |
(Slinger,
WI); September 24, 2006 - Jay Kalbus captured the
win in the 50-lap Area Sportsman feature Sunday afternoon at the
Slinger Super Speedway while Al Stippich and Phil Malouf each scored
wins in the Hobby Stock and Four Cylinder main events during the
Future’s Event.
Kalbus survived an early incident to dominate the 50-lap Area
Sportsman feature, taking the victory with the back deck lid pushed
straight up. “We’re going to say it must have helped us,” Kalbus
joked afterwards about the damaged deck lid. “It must have given us
some extra downforce.”
Dale Weatherwax led the opening laps as Kalbus worked his way
forward through the tightly bunched field. The action started early
on lap three as Eaan Carson and Curt Naddel made contact exiting
turn four while battling for third place, sending Carson spinning to
the inside where he was first slightly tagged by Brent Gergen and
then hit much harder by James Helmer. The second collision sent
Carson spinning back across the frontstretch where he was impacted
by Naddel and three other cars. Kalbus made his way through the
incident but suffered some damage to the rear of his car.
As racing resumed, Kalbus advanced his way forward, working his way
into the lead by passing Weatherwax while Gergen and Mike Meyerhofer
raced for third place. As Kalbus extended his lead, Meyerhofer and
Weatherwax began to work lapped traffic while battling over second
place. As the worked the traffic, they raced three-wide around a
lapped car which ended up clipping Meyerhofer’s back end, sending
him spinning around in turn four to produce the second caution flag
on lap 20.
As the green flag appeared again, Kalbus once again stretched his
lead while Weatherwax, Gergen, and Andy Casavant all fought for
position as further back, Errol Berry and fast qualfier Chico
Reidner disputed the fifth spot. As Berry and Reidner charged down
the backstretch, they became hooked together on lap 31 and both cars
slid through the infield before coming to rest in turn three,
producing another caution flag. This time on the restart, Weatherwax
was able to keep up with Kalbus for a few laps but eventually Kalbus
was able to extend his lead once again.
The final caution flag of the race occurred on lap 35 when
Meyerhofer experienced a mechanical problem, sending him spinning
hard into the turn one wall. Reidner and John Henning were racing
directly behind Meyerhofer and both became caught up in the fluid
laid down from Meyerhofer’s car and both also hit the turn one wall.
Once again Weatherwax was able to keep pace with Kalbus for a few
laps, but as the circuits wound down, Kalbus pulled away and drove
to the win. Weatherwax finished in second place ahead of Gergen and
Casavant. Adam Pontzlaff moved up late in the event to finish fifth.
Al Stippich won the 35-lap Hobby Stock feature in exciting fashion,
edging Paul Konieczny for the win by about a half car length.
Brad Joeckes paced the beginning laps over Justin Okruhlica and
Steven Sauer while Stippich began to slice his way forward after
starting tenth. On lap two, Okruhlica spun in turn one and impacted
the turn one wall hard, forcing him to retire to the pits as the
race remained under the green flag. Stippich, Mark Kissinger, and
Ken Au all worked the outside to advance forward into the top five.
With Joeckes out front, the leaders began to work lapped traffic and
Stippich moved his way into third place, directly behind Sauer.
Sauer and Stippich raced three-wide to split a lapped car and as
they exited turn four side-by-side, Sauer spun into the infield as
Kissinger and Au raced by.
Once into second place, Stippich tracked down Joeckes and took
command of the race on lap 22 while Paul Konieczny joined Kissinger
and Au in the top five. Konieczny began to move ahead, taking over
second place late in the event as he began to close on Stippich in
traffic. Konieczny made an attempt to get the lead, using the
outside lane on the final lap but came up about a half car length
short at the stripe as Stippich took the win. Kissinger finished in
third place ahead of Au and Brad Norgaard.
Jamie Vetter won the Hobby Stock semi-feature over Jim Bentzler and
Crystal Koenig while Norgaard was the fastest qualifier of the
afternoon.
Phil Malouf drove to the win in the 30-lap Four Cylinder feature,
using the outside lane to score the convincing victory.
Trevor Howard led the first eleven laps as Malouf took to the
extreme outside groove to move forward from his starting spot deep
in the field. Malouf continued his outside charge, eventually
tracking down Howard to take the lead on lap 12. Behind the leader,
Kyle Watters charged into second place after battling Bobby Selsing
for the spot. Selsing then raced hard with Matt Booker and Kyle
Smith over third place while Malouf extended his lead. Malouf took
the checkered flag nearly a half-lap ahead of Watters, who finished
a strong second. Selsing finished third while Smith nipped Booker to
finish in the fourth spot.
Shawn Scheel won the Four Cylinder semi-feature over Jason Hennes
and Shane Becker. Roman Blank and Tim Kirchner completed the top
five. Malouf was also the fastest qualifier for the afternoon.
Donald Van Camp closed out the afternoon and the season with a
victory in an exciting 25-lap Figure 8 event. Scott Goetzke finished
in second place and Paul Williams was third. Grant Greenwald and
Justin Poenitsch completed the top five.
For Complete
results from the RACESTAT computer
CLICK HERE
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