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MUELLER BACK IN VICTORY LANE AFTER EDEN MEAT MARKET 65!!
By Dan
Margetta |
(Slinger,
WI) May 7, 2006 - Defending track champion Brad Mueller
ended a long losing streak in grand fashion by holding off Josh
Bauer, David Prunty, and Al Schill in a barn-burner to score his
first late model feature win in over a year in the Eden Meat Market
65 Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway.
“Unbelievable,” Mueller exclaimed from Victory Lane after taking the
lead from Bauer late in the race. “Josh (Bauer) ran a heck of a race
and I was just waiting to see if I could reel him in, but then we
had a restart there and I had all the confidence in this new car. To
do this the second time out in this racecar, I think we have
something to reckon with here this year.”
Dave Teske led the early laps as Bauer settled into second place
ahead of Gary LaMonte, Rich Loch, and Tony Strupp. Teske stretched
his lead over Bauer as they broke away from the pack while Loch took
over third place by lap 11. Meanwhile, Mueller and David Prunty used
the inside line to move forward and into the top five by lap 20.
With Teske continuing to lead over Bauer, Mueller and Prunty went to
work on Loch for third place, eventually moving Loch back to fifth
by lap 40. Bauer gradually caught Teske by lap 45 and used the
outside lane to move alongside in a battle for the top spot. Bauer
and Teske ran side-by-side over the next five laps and in doing so,
allowed Mueller to close in to make it a three-car battle up front.
As the leaders approached lapped traffic, the inside groove was not
the place to be and Teske found himself picked by a lapped car,
allowing Bauer and Mueller to race by and into first and second.
Prunty and Loch also were able to pass Teske before he was able to
get outside and rejoin the leaders. Bauer’s car began to kick loose
off the corners and Mueller edged closer, looking several times to
the outside before a Scott Schoeni spin on lap 58 bunched the field
up under the caution flag with seven laps to go.
With double-file restarts put in effect this season, Mueller found
himself on the high groove and used the lane to take advantage of
Bauer’s loose handling conditions by positioning himself to Bauer’s
outside for the final laps. With Mueller alongside, Bauer was unable
to let his car run free exiting the turns and lap after lap, Mueller
edged slightly ahead before taking over the top spot with three laps
to go. Once out front, Mueller was able to turn back Bauer’s
challenges to score the victory, his first in over a year. Bauer
held off Prunty for second by less than a car length and Schill
finished in fourth, a half car-length behind Prunty. Teske fought
his way back to fifth place ahead of Lowell Bennett and Rich Loch.
Nick Schumacher, Ken Wills, and Colin Bamke rounded out the top ten
finishers.
Scott Schoeni won the 30-lap late model semi-feature over Fred Winn
and Mike McCabe. Tom Hromadka finished in fourth place and Mark
Bitzan was fifth. Tony Strupp was the winner of the fast dash and
John Mueller was the fastest qualifier of the evening after turning
in a lap of 11.385 seconds.
Mike Graczkowski worked the outside groove and held off Brad Keith
and Jeff Holtz to win the Old Wisconsin Smokehouse 30-lap Midwest
Sportsman feature.
“One of the tricks we learned about getting around this track isn’t
about motors or how much money you spend, it’s about getting through
these turns,” Graczkowski explained following the win. “Over the
winter me and the boys worked hard to get this car to do that and
I’m happy that it paid off, I’m pretty fired up right now!”
Dean Olla and Mike Borchardt led the field at the start with Olla
immediately jumping into the lead as Jeff Holtz edged ahead of
Borchardt for second. Rob Braun and Brad Keith filled their tire
tracks in fourth and fifth place respectively. The action came to a
halt suddenly on lap two when fast qualifier Dave Thomas took a wild
upside-down ride along the backstretch to bring out the red flag.
Thomas’ car ramped the backstretch wall exiting turn two and turned
over on its roof, sliding the length of the straightaway before
bouncing off the turn three wall and sliding to a stop upside-down
in the infield. Thomas emerged from the scary ordeal unhurt as Olla
led Holtz and Borchardt under the red flag.
As racing resumed, Holtz took to the outside and snagged the lead
from Olla as Graczkowski used his inside position on the double-file
restart to work his way around Keith and Braun. Graczkowski moved
around Olla a few laps later as Keith and Braun went to work on
Borchardt. On lap seven Keith and Braun split Borchardt in a
momentarily three-wide move and began to track down Holtz and
Graczkowski for the top spots. Simultaneous spins by Corey Funk and
Mark Kissinger in turn three and James Swan and Jay Shambeau in turn
two put the field under the caution flag on lap eight. On the
restart, Graczkowski moved to the outside of Holtz and the two ran
door-to-door over the next 11 laps before Graczkowsi edged ahead on
lap 19. As Grackzowski and Holtz battled for the top spot, Keith
closed in on the lead duo, moving directly behind them as the laps
began to dwindle. Graczkowski swung wide off turn four on lap 20 and
as he saved the car, Holtz was forced to check up slightly as Keith
motored by to take second place. Graczkowski drove smooth over the
final laps and he took the checkered flag ahead of Keith for the
win. Holtz crossed the finish line for a strong third place finish
while Mike Borchardt and Rob Braun rounded out the top five.
Scott Ascher was the winner of the Midwest Sportsman dash and Dave
Thomas set fast time with a lap of 12.598 seconds.
Joel Houpt charged to his first Slinger Midwest Modified feature
win, holding off Steve Huelsbeck and Dale Prunty at the finish of
the 25-lap main event.
Matt Pate paced the early going as Joey Bentfield, Bill Tandetzke,
Ron Schmitt, and Houpt all scrambled for positions behind him. Houpt
made the most forward progress as he advanced from his fifth
starting position to take the lead by lap ten while Huelsbeck also
charged from deep in the field to take second place while Pate
battled with Jason Feyereisen and Schmitt for third place. The race
was slowed under the caution flag on lap 15 as the tussle for third
place ended with Pate, Feyereisen, and Schmitt tangled together
against the third turn wall. As racing resumed, Huelsbeck made
several attempts to pass Houpt for the lead, but Houpt would not be
denied the victory and he held on to take the checkered flag for the
win. Huelsbeck finished in second ahead of Dale Prunty and John
Kruschel. Bill Tandetzke finished in fifth place.
Houpt also picked up the win in the Midwest Modified fast dash and
Feyereisen set fast time at 12.388 seconds.
Rick Schaefer won the Thunderstocks feature over Shawn Hoeffler and
Joe DeStefano. Brad Jakes and Aaron Cain were fourth and fifth
respectively. Tom Berens raced to the win in the Slinger Bees event,
crossing the finish line ahead of Matt Schatz and Shawn Gavin. C.J.
Corallini finished in fourth place and Jason Hennes was fifth. Scott
Goetzke closed out the evening with a victory in the 10-lap Figure 8
event.
For Complete results from the RACESTAT computer
CLICK HERE
CULVERS OF
JACKSON MOTHERS DAY 60
Free Carnations to the first 500 Moms and 50,000 Penny Drop for kids
(Slinger, WI) Special; – Sunday
Night May 14 - Culvers of JACKSON Mother's Day 60 featuring a 60-lap
Late Model Feature. Joining the Late Models will be Midwest
Sportsman, Midwest Modified, Complete Car Care Slinger Bee’s, Figure
8’s and One on One Spectator eliminations, Plus Limited Late Models.
Gates open at 4:45, Qualifying at 5:15pm, and Racing at 7:00pm.
The first 500 Moms will receive FREE Carnations compliments of
Sonya’s Rose in Jackson. At intermission kids 11 and under get a
chance to dash for cash. Slinger Speedway is dropping 50,000 penny’s
on the front stretch for the kids to gather up.
Slinger Speedway is looking for contestants for the May 21st Roll
Over Contest. The first 10 entries will be rolling for $200 to win.
To enter call the track office: 262-644-5921
There are select advertising and sponsorship opportunities as well
as company and group hospitality outings available for the 2006
season. For more information, contact the speedway at: 262-370-0440,
the track office at: 262-644-5921 or our web site at:
www.slingersuperspeedway.com.
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