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Bennett Finds Victory Lane in Culver's
of Jackson 60!
by Dan Margetta |
(Slinger,
WI); May 13, 2007 -
There was no catching Lowell Bennett Sunday night at the Slinger
Super Speedway as he solidly charged to the win in the Culver’s of
Jackson 60-lap late model feature, taking the checkered flag ten car
lengths ahead of Collin Bamke.
“He (Bamke) had a good car there and I was watching him,” Bennett
explained from Victory Lane. “He was pretty strong for a long time,”
Bennett continued after scoring his first feature win of the season.
“ But I just kept going the way I was and when he faded a little
bit, I knew I was comfy.”
Nick Schumacher shot into the lead at the drop of the green flag
from his outside front row starting position as early on the top
groove looked to be the preferred line as both Conrad Morgan and
Bennett used it to move into second and third respectively. Behind
the leaders, Bamke, David Prunty, and Al Schill staged a duel of
their own over the fifth spot while Fred Winn occupied the fourth
position. A mechanical issued on John Mueller’s car sent it skidding
up the banking and into the turn four wall to bring out the first
yellow flag of the race on lap 21.
Schumacher chose the inside line for the restart, leaving Bennett to
take the high line with Morgan, Winn, Bamke, Schill, and Prunty
lined up double-file behind them. As racing resumed, Bennett worked
the top groove to edge ahead slightly, leading the next few laps at
the line with Schumacher remaining tough alongside him down low.
While Bennett and Schumacher disputed the lead, Schill and Prunty
battled aggressively over sixth and both cars got out of shape
exiting turn two and only a heads-up courtesy move by Prunty saved
an incident and the race remained green. The second caution flag
appeared on lap 24 when an aggressive move sent Winn sliding around
in turn one.
Bennett chose the upper lane for the restart and immediately charged
ahead as the green flag reappeared while Bamke also used the top
side to take over second, leaving Schumacher to race with Schill and
Prunty for third. Bennett extended his lead through the mid-stages
of the race as Bamke attempted to close. Schill’s race came to an
end on lap 43 when he exited with mechanical problems leaving
Schumacher to contend with Prunty and Mike Egan for third. Bamke was
able to close slightly when the leaders caught lapped traffic, but
could never get close enough to seriously contend for the win as
Bennett drove to the checkered flag and the victory. Schumacher
finished third while Prunty and Egan rounded out the top five. Josh
Bauer crossed the stripe in sixth ahead of Conrad Morgan and fast
qualifier Mike Strupp. Matt Kocourek finished ninth and Matt
Raudabaugh turned in a strong run to finish tenth.
Randy Schuler won the 30-lap late model semi-feature over Scott
Schoeni and Chris Carlson. Jon Ovadal Jr. and Gary LaMonte were
fourth and fifth respectively. David Prunty won the late model fast
dash and Mike Strupp paced qualifying for the second consecutive
week at 11.353 seconds.
Chris Blawat captured his first career feature victory by besting
Jon Reynolds Jr. for the win in a near photo finish in the 25-lap
limited late model main event.
Blawat took command of the event at the start over Tyler James and
Jim Schmittinger while Reynolds and David McCardle followed.
Reynolds began to slice his way forward, taking second place by the
halfway mark while Blawat continued to lead. Dan Jung and Chris
Ratajczyk charged their way forward and into the top five by the
20-lap mark as Reynolds began to close on Blawat. With three laps to
go, Reynolds moved to the outside and alongside Blawat, leading
briefly at the stripe. On the final lap, Blawat and Reynolds fought
side by side for the win with Blawat using the inside and Reynolds
looking stout on the top. In the final corner, Blawat leaned on
Reynolds slightly and it was just enough to give him a run to the
checkered flag where he edged Reynolds by less than a car length for
the win. James completed a strong run with a third place finish
while Jung held off Ratajczyk for the fourth spot in a hotly
contested battle at the stripe.
Ryan DeStefano raced to the win in the limited late model fast dash
and Dan Jung was the fastest qualifier after turning in a lap of
12.274 seconds.
Scott Shambeau led flag to flag en route to the win in the 25-lap
Midwest Sportsman feature.
Shambeau used the outside lane to jump into the lead at the start
while Bobby Gutknecht and Jeff Holtz worked their way around Andrew
Kulka and into second and third. Pat McIntee and James Swan also
began to weave their way toward the front while Shambeau began to
extend his lead. The top five remained stagnant as the laps clicked
away with Shambeau looking comfortable out front. Shambeau’s lead
evaporated on lap 10 when the caution appeared for a Jake Vanosky
spin in turn two. Shambeau once again shot into the lead as racing
resumed as the inside line began to edge forward with Holtz taking
over second place ahead of Swan and Dave Thomas. With Shambeau out
front, Swan used the outside line to get second place from Holtz on
lap 22 while Thomas fought to hold off Kenny Joosten in fourth. At
the line, Shambeau took the checkered flag first to score the win
while Swan finished second ahead of Holtz and Thomas. Joosten
finished in the fifth position.
Kenny Joosten was the winner of the Midwest Sportsman fast dash and
James Swan set fast time with a lap of 12.618 seconds.
Seth Lootans took the lead from Ryan Gutknecht with five laps to go
and went on to win the 20-lap Thunderstock feature. Paul Konieczny
finished second while Gutknecht, Aaron Cain, and John Daley rounded
out the top five.
Bob Losiniecki won the Slinger Bees feature by being in the right
place at the right time on the final lap. C.J. Corallini appeared to
be on his way to victory when a lapped car spun and collected him in
turn four as he raced to the checkered flag. Losiniecki avoided the
incident and charged to the win over Jared Apel while Corallini
recovered to finish third. Brandon Wolf and Bill Roska were fourth
and fifth place respectively. Donald Van Camp closed the night with
a win in an exciting Figure 8 event that was slowed once by a hard
collision in the “X” between Justin Poenitsch and Robert St. George.
Neither driver was injured.
For Complete
results from the RACESTAT computer
CLICK HERE
Russ Darrow Toyota Alan Kulwicki Memorial
Roll Over Contest
(Slinger, WI) Russ Darrow Toyota of West Bend presents the
Alan Kulwicki Memorial this Sunday night May 20. A 70 lap Late Model
Feature will headline the racing events. Late Models will be joined
by: Limited Late Models, Midwest Modified, Midwest Sportsman,
Thunderstock, Slinger Bee’s Figure 8’s and The West Bend Savings
Bank Speedway Guest Cars . Qualifying starts at 5:15 with racing at
7:00 pm.
Stop in at Russ Darrow Toyota on Highway 33 in West Bend to register
for FREE Slinger Super Speedway tickets and a chance to drive Toyota
Tundra around the Worlds Fastest ¼ Mile Oval. At Russ Darrow we
think we're the best Toyota dealer in the USA. Let us show you why!
www.russdarrow.com
The seasons first Roll Over Contest will take place this Sunday
night. $200 will be awarded to the winner of the car that rolls the
most times. Turn your old junk car into cash this Sunday! Just knock
out the windows and go! Any vehicle is legal. Call the track office
for details: 262-644-5921.
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.
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