Wallace Wins Old Wisconsin Smokehouse 60! By Dan Margetta

(Slinger, WI); July 27, 2008 - Jamie Wallace ended a six year feature victory drought Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway as he claimed victory in the Old Wisconsin Smokehouse 60-lap late model main event.

“We try as hard as we can,” Wallace stated afterwards. “Slinger is like a roller coaster, one day you’re on the top and the next day you’re trying to tread water but it was a good time tonight.”

Photo Highlights

Jamie Wallace celebrated his first Super Late Model victory at Slinger Super Speedway of the 2008 season.  It snapped a 6 year victory drought and he was joined in victory lane by the sponsors of the Old Wisconsin Smokehouse 60. Jamie Wallace (#87) goes wheel to wheel with Lowell Bennett (#2) during the Super Late Model feature contest. Conrad Morgan (#92) and Dan Jung (#0) battle for the early lead in the Super Late Model main event. Nick Schumacher (#16) edges Dennis Prunty (#42) for top honors in the Super Late Model dash. Mike Strupp turned in the fastest qualifying lap for the Super Late Models this evening. Trevor Dassow (#92) scored a victory in the Limited Late Model dash event. Ryan DeStefano (#0) turned in the fastest qualifying lap in Limited Late Model action. Jeff Holtz (#3) won the Midwest Sportsman feature contest for the second consecutive week. Jeff Holtz (#3) works the outside line around Mike Borchardt Jr. (#29) during the Midwest Sportsman feature contest. Mike Graczkowski (#2) earned the fastest qualifying lap in Midwest Sportsman competition. Aaron Cain (#5) set fast time and later came back to win the feature in Thunderstocks action this evening.

Conrad Morgan and Dan Jung paced the field at the start with Morgan getting the jump at the start to lead the opening lap as Scott Schoeni, Wallace, and Dennis Prunty also used the inside line to shuffle Jung to fifth by lap five. The lead cars ran nose to tail on the bottom of the speedway as Morgan continued to set the pace. Behind the leaders, Jung and Nick Schumacher raced three wide with a lapped car while trying to negotiate their way through traffic, resulting in Jung’s car spinning around in turn one to produce the caution flag on lap 14. Morgan chose the inside line for the restart with Schoeni lining up alongside as Wallace and Dennis Prunty occupied the row behind them. As racing resumed, Wallace was hooked up on the inside and as Morgan led, he used the line to pass Schoeni for second place. Three laps later, Wallace positioned his car under Morgan’s exiting turn two and took the lead while Lowell Bennett also utilized the inside to advance to third place. With Morgan up on the outside, Bennett tried to take second place racing down the frontstretch on lap 19 but as the field entered turn one, contact among the cars sent Morgan spiraling into the corner where he was tagged by the car of David Prunty. The impact sent Morgan’s car back across the track into turn two and he was hit again by the car of Dale Prunty while Dennis Prunty also received damage but continued on as the caution flag waved.

Wallace lined up for the restart on the low side but Bennett charged to the lead from the outside as racing resumed on lap 20. Wallace didn’t let Bennett get away and remained in his tire tracks as behind them, Schoeni was busy battling with Dennis Prunty, Mike Strupp, and Tommy Hromadka for third. Wallace continued to stalk Bennett for the lead, pulling right up to his rear bumper a few times before finally edging to the inside for a run on lap 45. Two laps later, Bennett slipped slightly in turn three and Wallace charged by and into the lead while Dennis Prunty raced into third place ahead of Schoeni and Mike Meyerhofer who entered the top five. Schoeni lost the handle on his car a few laps later and slid towards the infield, as Mike Strupp moved into fifth. Wallace held his ground over the final laps and scored his first Slinger feature win since May of 2002 while Bennett took the checkered flag in second place. Dennis Prunty drove his battle-scarred car to a third place result while Meyerhofer and Mike Strupp were fourth and fifth respectively.

Nick Schumacher was the winner of the late model fast dash and Mike Strupp toured the speedway in 11.561 seconds to nail down top honors in qualifying.

Jon Ovadal Jr. cruised to victory in the 30-lap limited late model feature, leading the event from flag to flag.

Ovadal jumped to the point at the drop of the green flag as Scott Ascher and Wes Biswell raced into second and third place ahead of Jimmy Dragich and Steve Apel. With Ovadal remaining out front, Apel moved to fourth place by lap ten as Dave McCardle, Jon Reynolds Jr. and Trevor Dassow all looked to make their way forward and into the top five. The close racing between the cars behind the leader, created a momentary log-jam and as the cars became stacked up, Jake Vanoskey spun exiting turn two on lap 17 to draw a caution flag with Ovadal leading Ascher, Biswell, and Apel. On the restart, Ovadal went right back to the lead while Biswell charged into second place on the inside, bringing Apel along with him and into third. Ovadal was no match for the rest of the field and he drove to the comfortable win over Biswell and Apel. Jon Reynolds Jr. used a late run to finish fourth while Trever Dassow made an impressive late-race charge to take the checkered flag in fifth.

Trevor Dassow took top honors in the limited late model fast dash and Ryan DeStefano set fast time at 12.411 seconds.

Jeff Holtz found victory lane for the second consecutive week as he scored the win in the 30-lap Midwest Sportsman feature event.

Jay Shambeau and Kenny Joosten led the field to the green and Joosten set the early pace from the outside lane. As Joosten led, Mike Graczkowski also used the outside to advance into second place while Holtz worked his way up from the back of the pack to third. Graczkowski tracked down Joosten for the lead and after a few unsuccessful attempts to pass on the inside, took to the high groove to move alongside Joosten by lap 10. Joosten and Graczkowski raced side by side for several laps with Graczkowski getting the edge entering the corners but Joosten remained strong coming off the turn and maintained the lead. With the top two battled door to door, Holtz began to sneak in the picture and by lap 15 was right on the bumpers of the top two. On lap 17, Graczkowski swung wide exiting turn two and Holtz capitalized on the situation and raced into second just behind Joosten. With Holtz pressuring Joosten for the lead, Joosten’s car suddenly slowed on lap 20 and he coasted to the infield as Holtz rocketed around for the lead. Graczkowski kept Holtz in his sights and again took to the high line in an attempt to get by for the top spot. On lap 23, Graczkowski’s car once again drifted wide exiting turn two and that gave Holtz the distance he needed to streak away while Graczkowski fell into a battle with Mike Borchardt Jr. for second. Holtz was unchallenged over the final laps and he drove to his second feature win in a row as Graczkowski held off Borchardt Jr. for second. Bobby Giers finished fourth and Jay Shambeau crossed the finish line in fifth.

Kenny Joosten was the winner of the Midwest Sportsman fast dash and Mike Graczkowski was the fastest qualifier with a lap of 12.730 seconds.

Sam Haven used a last lap pass on Dan Vixmer to win the 25-lap Wisconsin Sport Truck feature.

Pat Gorshials led the first two laps before Vixmer rocketed his way through the field on the outside and took command on lap three. The field was slowed under the caution flag on lap four when Kyle Quella slammed the turn four wall and ended up tipped on his side on the frontstretch. Vixmer once again charged to the lead as racing resumed, building up a substantial margin while Sam Haven got his truck hooked up on the outside and began to make his way forward. Haven worked his way to second and closed the gap to Vixmer, pulling right behind the leader with five laps to go. On the final lap, Haven got a run off turn two on the outside and charged by Vixmer down the backstretch for the lead. Haven held on through turns three and four and crossed the finish line first for the win. Vixmer finished second ahead of Sean Gruette, Josh Jeske, and Mark Ziegelbauer.

Todd Kostichka and Vixmer each won Wisconsin Sport Truck heat races and Kyle Quella was the fastest qualilfier at 13.605 seconds.

Aaron Cain won the 18-lap Thunderstock feature, taking the checkered flag ahead of Al Stippich and John Daley. Jack Stern led the first two laps before Jesse Knutson took command of the race. Knutson paced the next two laps before Jim Bentzler took his turn at the front, leading lap six with Cain glued to his bumper. Cain took to the outside lane and dispatched Bentzler for the lead a lap later. Troy Martingilio and Ryan Farrell tangled in turn three on lap nine with the right side of Farrell’s car being torn away in the incident which produced the caution flag with Cain leading over John Daley, Bentzler, and Al Stippich. Back under green, Stippich made his move, driving by both Bentzler and Daley and into second place while Cain set the pace. Cain was unstoppable over the final laps and he held off Stippich for the win while Daley took third place ahead of Bentzler and Bernie Leonard. Cain was also the fastest qualifier at 13.711 seconds.

Derek Hoerig used an outside pass to take the lead with six laps to go and went on to score his first Slinger Bees win of the season over Matt Klenz and Erik Long. Mike Lang and Ken Schraufnagel rounded out the top five finishers. Schraufnagel was the fastest qualifier at 15.959 seconds. Marty Kadlitz was the winner of the Speedway Guest Car race and Andrew Ferstad won the Spectator Eliminator races in his Pontiac. Scott Goetzke won the Figure 8 race to close out the night.