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Bennett Wins Feature as Prunty Claims
Overal Pepsi Challenge Title!!!
By Dan Margetta |
(Slinger,
WI); September 16, 2007 -
Lowell Bennett used the outside groove following an early restart to
take the lead and never look back en route to the victory in the
40-lap Pepsi Challenge Series finale late model feature Sunday
afternoon at the Slinger Super Speedway.
“My hat’s off to this crew,” Bennett stated afterwards. “We
destroyed our other car three weeks ago and this is actually our
Kaukauna car and in the last three weeks we ran second, third, and
first. What an awesome race car and awesome race crew I’ve got.”
Dennis Prunty and Florian Wisinski brought the field to the green
flag and Prunty quickly jumped into the early lead. Bennett followed
in third place with Nick Schumacher, Matt Kocourek, and David Prunty
close behind. Wisinski became caught on the outside and fell back by
lap 15 as Bennett, Schumacher, Kocourek, and David Prunty all were
able to pass by. Dennis Prunty extended his lead over Bennett while
David Prunty used the inside to work his way into fourth place as
Nick Hammer closed in on the top five. A spin by Wisinski on lap 24
produced the first caution flag, just as Bennett eased his way
around Dennis Prunty for the lead.
Bennett chose the outside lane on the restart and used it to charge
back to the front as racing resumed, leaving Dennis Prunty to battle
with David Prunty and Nick Schumacher On lap 26, Hammer became
caught up high and he smacked the frontstretch wall, riding it all
the way through the corner before coming to rest in turn two with
the caution flag waving again. Bennett again used the outside lane
to keep his lead while Schumacher also worked the high line to pass
David Prunty and pull alongside Dennis Prunty in a battle for
second. As Bennett pulled away out front, Schumacher and Dennis
Prunty staged a tremendous battle for second with Schumacher’s car
working good on the outside lane and Prunty’s car being fast on the
inside despite kicking loose on the exits of the turns. The loose
condition on Prunty’s car contributed slightly to Schumacher’s car
sliding wide in turn four on lap 34, as David Prunty dove to the
inside to grab third place. The Prunty brothers then battle for the
second slot with Dennis Prunty taking the position by lap 36.
Bennett maintained his lead all the way to the checkered flag to
score the win over Dennis Prunty and David Prunty. David Prunty’s
third place finish was enough to earn him the overall Pepsi
Challenge Series title over Schumacher who finished fourth. Tommy
Pecaro finished a strong fifth while Mike Egan and Brad Mueller were
sixth and seventh respectively. Conrad Morgan, Matt Kocourek, and
Dale Prunty rounded out the top ten finishers.
Slinger Speedway officials decided to run heat races in a throwback
type format and Dennis Prunty held off Florian Wisinski to win the
first 16-lap late model heat. Scott Schoeni finished third followed
by Tommy Pecaro and Lowell Bennett. Conrad Morgan was the winner of
the second late model heat race over Pete Wiedmeyer and Brad Keith.
Dale Prunty and Jerry Eckhardt rounded out the top five. Matt
Kocourek was the fastest qualifier with a lap of 11.449 seconds.
Scott Ascher led flag to flag to score the win in an invigorating
limited late model feature.
Ascher immediately charged into the lead at the drop of the green
flag while Dan Jung and Rob Braun battled for second just ahead of
Steve Apel and David McCardle. Ascher extended his lead as Jung and
Braun continued to race for second place with Jung winning the
battle just before lap ten. Ascher was never headed throughout the
event and he comfortably drove to the feature win as Jung held off
Braun for second. Apel finished in fourth place with McCardle
crossing the finish line in fifth.
In earlier limited late model action, Scott Ascher claimed top
honors in the first eight lap limited late model heat race over Rob
Braun and Dan Jung. David McCardle and Steve Apel rounded out the
top five. In the second limited late model heat, Mike Schimtz scored
the win over Jerry Eckhardt and Becca Kasten. Trevor Dassow made his
Slinger Super Speedway debut and finished fourth, just ahead of Jeff
Graff. Jim Dragich was the fastest qualifier at 12.397 seconds.
Newly crowned track champion Kenny Joosten charged to the win in the
25-lap Midwest Sportsman main event.
Mike Borchardt paced the opening laps over Tom Elsinger, Pat McIntee,
and Jay Shambeau as Joosten advanced to fifth place at the
completion of the first lap. By lap three, Joosten had worked his
way into third place and two laps later, he charged into second with
Borchardt continuing to lead. On lap seven, Joosten charged by
Borchardt to take command of the race while McIntee and Graczkowski
also worked their way forward behind him. As Joosten continued to
lead, McIntee raced into second place on lap 14 as Dave Thomas
launched his way into the top five. Two laps later as Thomas was
slicing his way forward, he looped his car in turn two and the race
remained under the green with Joosten maintaining his lead. Joosten
led all the way to the checkered flag, scoring the win while McIntee
finished a strong second. Graczkowski crossed the finish line in
third place while Borchardt and Tom Elsinger completed the top five
finishers.
Mike Borchardt won the first Midwest Sportsman heat race over Tom
Elsinger and Mike Graczkowski. Pat McIntee finished fourth and Jay
Shambeau was fifth. Jimmie Evans took top honors in the second
Midwest Sportsman heat over Dan Church and Andy Haver. David
Marshall and Wayne Markkola. Dave Thomas was the fastest qualifier
at 12.712 seconds.
Steve Huelsbeck survived an early incident to come back for the
victory in the 20-lap Midwest Modified feature.
Huelsbeck and Ron Schmitt led the field to the green flag but both
cars tangled together in the first turn, resulting in a complete
restart of the event. For the second restart, Huelsbeck charged into
the lead over Joey Bentfield and Wes Biswell. Biswell took sole
possession of second place on the next lap and began to try to track
down Huelsbeck for the lead. The race boiled down to Huelsbeck and
Biswell as both enjoyed a sizeable lead over the third place car of
Bentfield. Ron Schmitt charged from the back of the pack to move
into third place in the final laps. On the last lap, Biswell closed
to Huelsbeck’s rear bumper but could not make a challenge as
Huelsbeck charged under the checkered flag for the win. Biswell
settled for second place followed by Schmitt and Bentfield. Bill
Tandetzke finished in fifth place.
Matt Pate held off Tandetzke to win the first eight-lap Midwest
Modified heat race as Tim Bell and Eddie Bentfield were third and
fourth respectively. Steve Huelsbeck was the winner of the second
Midwest Modified heat over Ron Schmitt and Wes Biswell. Joey
Bentfield finished in fourth place. Ron Schmitt was the fastest
qualifier with a lap of 12.477 seconds.
Aaron Cain took the lead on lap 11 and went on to take the victory
in the 18-lap Thunderstock feature over Ryan Gutknecht and Seth
Lootans. Troy Martingilio finished fourth and Joel Steffen took the
checkered flag in fifth place. Seth Lootans paced qualifying after
touring the speedway in 13.630 seconds.
Zach Durham raced to his second consecutive win in the Slinger Bees
feature, holding off a hard charging Tanya Manke and C.J. Corallini
at the line. Brandon Schwai and Scott Watry rounded out the top
five. The event was slowed under the red flag on lap two after a
multi-car incident resulted in Michael St. Martin’s car rolling over
in turn two. St. Martin was not seriously injured in the incident.
Steve Oswald won the first Speedway Guest Car race and Bill Ostovich
was the winner of the second Speedway Guest Car event. Robert Coffey
Jr. was the winner of the Spectator Eliminator races and Shane
Becker took top honors in the Figure 8 race.
For Complete
results from the RACESTAT computer
CLICK HERE
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Jim Dragich (#71) earned his first fast qualifying honor of the
season in Limited Late Model action.
Zach Durham set fast time and won the feature in the Slinger
Bee's.