Schill Makes Right Choice and Wins Piggly Wiggly 60! by Dan Margetta

(Slinger, WI); May 6, 2007 - Al Schill made the right lane choice on a late race restart and went on to win the Piggly Wiggly 60-lap late model feature Sunday afternoon at the Slinger Super Speedway.

Photo Highlights

Al Schill (#14) topped the Piggly Wiggly 60 at Slinger Super Speedway on Sunday Afternoon. Fluid on the track was cited as the cause for a multi car spin which occurred during the Super Late Model feature.  As a result, race leaders Lowell Bennett (#2) and Al Schill (#14) retained their lead positions and fought to the checkered for the win. Chris Carlson (#6) would top the Super Late Model semi-feature contest. Sometimes the track just isn't wide enough!  A multi-car mishap slows the pace during the Super Late Model semi-feature. Mike Strupp (#10) turned in the fastest lap in Super Late Model qualifying. Dave McCardel set fast time in Limited Late Model qualifying. Wes Biswell (#23) would captured the Midwest Modified feature contest. Steve Schultz (#45) the afternoon's fastest qualifier in the Midwest Modifieds. James Swan (#97) netted the quickest qualifying lap during the Midwest Sportsman portion of the program..

Originally choosing the inside lane for an aborted restart with eleven laps to go, Schill reversed his decision on the second attempt, using the high line to pull away from challengers Josh Bauer and Lowell Bennett at the finish.

“I made the wrong choice at first taking the bottom where the floor dry was bad and almost got into them on the restart, “ Schill explained after scoring his first feature win of the season. “But then I got my second chance, “ Schill continued, “I knew where to go the second time and I wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice.”

Schill started on the outside of the front row and immediately shot into the lead at the start while Mike Egan followed in second ahead of Bennett, Collin Bamke, and Bauer. Behind the leaders, Shawn Roethle’s car appeared to get crossed up coming off turn two and he tangled with Fred Winn, sending Roethle’s car up the racetrack in turn three and into Dennis Prunty. Prunty’s car smacked the turn three wall hard and the race was slowed under the yellow flag.

Schill used the inside lane to maintain the lead on the restart and along with Egan put some distance on the rest of the field as Bennett appeared to spin the tires slightly as racing resumed. Bennett recovered nicely and gradually began to catch Egan, taking the second spot on lap 12 while behind him Bauer and Bamke raced side by side over the fourth spot with David Prunty closing in. Bauer eventually won the battle with Bamke a few laps later, bringing Prunty with him and into the top five. With Bennett beginning to catch Schill for the lead, Bauer raced his way around Egan to take third on lap 22 and two laps later, Prunty grabbed the fourth spot. By the halfway mark, Bennett was glued to Schill’s rear bumper and after making a few looks to the inside, took to the top side to drive into the lead on lap 39. Schill remained close behind the leader with Bauer and Prunty within striking distance when the caution flag appeared again on lap 46 when fast qualifier Mike Strupp spun and tagged the turn one wall.

As racing resumed, Bennett and Schill fought door to door for the lead, with Schill using the outside and Bennett working the low groove. The race nearly changed drastically when Matt Raudabaugh experienced mechanical problems and apparently dropped fluid on the racetrack on lap 49. As the leaders raced side by side into the corner, nearly the entire field scattered and received some damage as the yellow flag flew. It was determined the caution was the result of fluid on the track and all drivers who were able to continue were allowed to keep their spots for the restart with Schill leading over Bennett.

Schill originally chose the inside line but the restart was aborted when the field wasn’t properly aligned and on the second attempt, he chose the outside lane, using it to pull into the lead. Bauer also used the outside lane to grab second place while Bennett fell into line just ahead of Prunty in third. Schill drove to the victory over Bauer while Bennett held off Prunty for third. Bamke finished a respectable fifth while Conrad Morgan took the checkered flag in sixth. Brad Keith turned in his best performance of the season with a seventh place finish while Matt Kocourek,

Chris Carlson scored the victory in the 30-lap late model semi-feature over Randy Schuler and Mike Meyerhofer. Tommy Hromadka and John Mueller rounded out the top five finishers. Josh Bauer won the late model fast dash and Mike Strupp was the fastest qualifier at 11.432 seconds.

Defending track champion Mike Graczkowski took the lead with three laps to go and went on to win the 30-lap Midwest Sportsman feature over Jay Shambeau and Pat McIntee.

Shambeau led the early going, battling door to door with Jimmie Evans while Graczkowski, McIntee, and Bobby Giers followed in two abreast formation. Mark Kissinger’s car experienced mechanical problems on lap seven and the caution flag waved for fluid on the track which caused cars at the tail of the field to spin. Shambeau and Evans renewed their side by side battle as racing resumed with Shambeau working the outside groove to gain a slight advantage. Shambeau was able to take sole possession of the top spot on lap 13 as Graczkowski also advanced past Evans and into second. Farther back, James Swan and Kenny Joosten were working their way forward and into the top five. The race was slowed twice for single car spins on lap 15 and again on lap 16 as Shambeau continued to lead over Graczkowski. Graczkowski worked the upper groove following the final restart and he was able to use the high lane to charge his way around Shambeau and into the lead on lap 22. Behind the lead duo, McIntee was able to battle his way into third place while Giers and Swan disputed fourth. At the stripe, Graczkowski took the win over Shambeau while McIntee followed in third. Swan used an aggressive last lap move to snag fourth place from Giers who was forced to settle for fifth.

Swan nearly pulled off the clean sweep for the evening as he earlier set fast time and then was awarded the win in the fast dash after apparent winner McIntee was disqualified for rough driving.

Rob Braun was in the right place at the right time as he captured the win in the 25-lap limited late model main event.

Jim Schmittinger paced the field at the start as the inside line appeared to be the preferred groove with Jerry Eckhardt, Braun, and Jon Reynolds Jr. all moving forward. Schmittinger continued to set the pace as Reynolds Jr. began to hook up, racing with Eckhardt for second place by lap ten. Reynolds used the outside to claim second on lap 13 just before the caution flag waved for a spin by Dan Bowe in turn three. On the restart, Reynolds began to pressure Schmittinger for the lead, making numerous looks to the outside but to no avail. Reynolds then tried the inside line and once again Schmittinger was able to hold off the challenges while behind them, Braun worked his way by Eckhardt for third place. With three laps to go, Reynolds made another attempt by diving to the inside entering turn one but upon the exit of turn two, made contact with Schmittinger, sending the leader spinning off the backstretch as the yellow flag appeared. Reynolds was placed at the rear of the field for his role in the incident, turning the lead over to Braun for the restart. Braun was up to the task for the final three laps and he held off the challenges of Eckhardt to score the win. Scott Ascher fell back early but then rebounded to finish a respectable third ahead of David McCardle and Chris Ratajczyk.

Earlier, Ascher drove to victory in the limited late model fast dash and McCardle paced qualifying by lapping the speedway in 12.262 seconds.

Wes Biswell was the winner of the 25-lap Midwest modified feature after prevailing in a close battle with Steve Huelsbeck for top honors.

Ron Schmitt held the point for the first two laps, racing alongside Huelsbeck who used the outside line to take command of the race on lap three. Biswell and Steve Schulz also used the high groove to work their way around Schmitt and into second and third place respectively. Once into second, Biswell began to track down Huelsbeck, pulling to his rear bumper by lap 15. Biswell at first tried to make the pass on the outside but then moved to the low side, pulling alongside Huelsbeck on lap 17. Both drivers put on an impressive display of racing skill as they ran wheel to wheel for five laps before Biswell was able to ease ahead on lap 22. Biswell was unchallenged over the final laps and he took the win ahead of Huelsbeck and Schulz while Schmitt and Bill Tandetzke completed the top five.

Schmitt was the winner of the Midwest modified fast dash while Schulz was the fastest qualifier at 12.307 seconds.

Paul Konechnee led flag to flag to win the 16-lap Thunderstock feature over Ryan Gutknecht and Seth Lootans. Dave Edwards charged from deep in the field to finish fourth while Al Stippich crossed the line in fifth. Rick Schaefer was the winner of the 10-lap Thunderstock semi-feature. Jim Bentzler finished second and Dustin Krebs was third. Jerry Kulas Jr took the checkered flag fourth while Roger Miller finished fifth.

C.J. Corallini charged to the win in the 14-lap Slinger Bees feature, working his way through heavy traffic to pick up the victory. Bob Losiniecki finished in second place ahead of Jared Apel and Brandon Wolf. Zach Durham finished in fifth place.

Robert Coffey drove his Pontiac Firebird to the win in the Spectator Eliminator races and Scott Goetzke closed the afternoon by taking the victory in the Figure 8 event.

(Slinger, WI) May 7, 2007 – The Culver's of Jackson Mothers Day Special will kick off Night Racing at Slinger Speedway May 13th. The Culver's of Jackson 60 lap Late Model Feature will headline the racing events this Sunday Night. Late Models will be joined by: Limited Late Models, Midwest Sportsman, Thunderstock, Slinger Bee’s and Figure 8’s. Qualifying starts at 5:15 with racing at 7:00 pm.

The first 500 Moms will receive FREE Carnations compliments of Sonya’s Rose in Jackson. www.sonyasrosecreativeflorals.com.

Win a ride in the Parker Store Two Seat Late Model! Stop in at Culver's of Jackson this week and register, the winners will get a ride Sunday night May 13th. Racecar's will be on display from 11:00 am – 1:00 pm at Culver's of Jackson Sunday afternoon May 13th and the drawing will held for the ride in the two seat late model, so stop out at Culver's of Jackson for great custard and fast cars.

There are select advertising and sponsorship opportunities as well as company and group outings available for the 2007 season. For more information, contact the speedway’s PR and Marketing at: 262-370-0440, slingerspeedway1@aol.com, or visit our web site at: www.slingersuperspeedway.com.