Bennett Wins KFC Pepsi Challenge Al Schill Jr. Memorial 77! By Dan Margetta

(Slinger, WI); August 24, 2008 - Lowell Bennett took a major step in securing his fifth track champion by securing the win in the KFC Pepsi Challenge Al Schill Jr. Memorial 77-lap late model feature Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway, besting Jeremy Lepak and Mike Strupp at the finish.

Conrad Morgan and Al Schill brought the field to the green flag and Schill set out to lead the opening lap from the outside as Morgan and Bennett battled for second with veteran Scott Hansen, who made his return to the Slinger high-banks after a six year absence.

Photo Highlights

Lowell Bennett (#2) salutes the crowd after winning the Al Schill Jr. Memorial 77, and is joined in victory lane by the event sponsors. Fred Winn (#75) winds up facing the wrong direction early in the Al Schill Jr. Memorial 77, Super Late Model feature contest. Veteran's Al Schill Jr. (#14) and Conrad Morgan (#92) do battle for position during the Super Late Model feature contest. Al Schill Sr. (#14) won the special Super Late Model Trophy Dash, run in honor of his late son, Al Schill Jr.  Brad Mueller (#89) proved fastest of the evening in Super Late Model qualifying. Steve Apel (#16) celebrated his 20th birthday with a trip to victory lane after the Limited Late Model feature contest. John Ovadal Jr. (#71) and Steve Apel (#16) head toward the checkered flag on the edge of control.  Apel would hang on for the victory. Jon Reynolds Jr. (#10) the defending Limited Late Model champion set the pace in qualifying. Scott Ascher has his car painted like the last car Al Schill Jr. drove. Aaron Cain set fast time and topped the Thunderstocks feature contest this evening.

Fred Winn’s machine looped around between turns three and four on lap four, drawing a caution flag with Schill leading over Morgan, Bennett, and Hansen. An attempt at a restart was thwarted when Jeff Way’s car slid off the backstretch, but when racing resumed, Bennett was able to pass Morgan for second and began to track down Schill for the lead. Schill had his car stuck to the inside line and he continued to set the pace with Bennett glued to his bumper while Mike Strupp and Jeremy Lepak made their way by Morgan and into third and fourth place respectively. Bennett pressured Schill for the lead, taking numerous peeks to the inside before changing his line and taking to the high side to edge alongside the leader on lap 36. Three laps later, Bennett had the outside working, getting just far enough ahead to clear Schill for the lead as Lepak also took to the outside in an effort to move up into second. By lap 40, Lepak had fought his way into second while Bennett led as Schill disputed third place with Strupp, Brad Mueller and Jamie Wallace.

Conrad Morgan’s car developed problems on lap 41 as Brad Dahmer and Jeff Way spun around in the power steering fluid leaked on the track to draw the caution flag with Bennett leading over Lepak, Schill, and Mueller. Bennett scooted away on the restart while Lepak and Schill raced for second and Strupp used the outer groove to charge by Mueller into fourth. Lepak finally cleared Schill for second on the outside and Strupp followed in the high lane to get third from Schill. Bennett, Lepak, and Strupp kept equal distance between their cars over the closing laps, even as they worked lapped traffic. Lepak was unable to mount a formidable charge for the lead as Bennett drove to the victory, leaving Lepak to settle for second. Strupp took the checkered flag in third place while Schill finished fourth. Collin Bamke made his first appearance since his dramatic crash in July a successful one with a respectable fifth place result. Brad Mueller crossed the stripe in sixth place ahead of Scott Hansen and Jamie Wallace. Dale Prunty and Dennis Prunty rounded out the top ten. Defending track champion David Prunty suffered mechanical problems and retired from the event, finishing seventeenth and that coupled with Bennett’s win opened up Bennett’s lead in the point standings significantly.

Scott Schoeni took top honors in the 30-lap late model semi-feature, transferring to the main event along with second place finisher Jeff Way. Randy Schuler, Jerry Eckhardt, and Kelsey Bauer finished in third through fifth place respectively. Al Schill scored a popular win in the special Al Schill Jr. Memorial seven-car, seven lap, late model fast dash. Brad Mueller was the fastest qualifier with a lap of 11.417 seconds.

Steve Apel celebrated his twentieth birthday with his first career feature victory in a wild 35-lap main event.

Jake Vanoskey led the first three laps before Wes Biswell used an outside move to gain the top spot on lap four while Jon Ovadal Jr., Apel, and Jon Reynolds Jr. rounded out the top five in the early going. The yellow flag appeared on lap six for a single car spin and on the restart Ovadal and Reynolds worked their way into second and third behind Biswell while Apel raced around Vanoskey to gain the fourth position. The front-running cars became stacked up momentarily exiting turn four on lap eight, resulting in the cars of Trevor Dassow and Chris Ratajczyk turning around as the caution waved. During the caution period, Reynolds left the speedway and upon his return, lined up at the tail of the field with Biswell leading Ovadal and Apel. After an aborted restart in which an incident on the frontstretch damaged the cars of Brad Keith, Pat McIntee, Josh Wallace, and David McCardle, racing eventually resumed with Ovadal holding onto the lead over Apel. Ovadal built up a sizeable lead at the midway point but Apel began to close in considerably as the laps began to wind down. Apel caught Ovadal in the final laps and as the white flag flew, pulled alongside as the two battled wheel to wheel for the win. The two rubbed side-to-side down the backstretch and as they entered turn three glued together racing toward the checkered flag, Ovadal’s car spun around as Apel charged to the win. Chris Blawat finished third while Wes Biswell and Jerry Eckhardt were fourth and fifth respectively after crashing together at the finish with front of Eckhardt’s car resting on the driver’s side window of Biswell’s.

Earlier in the evening, Ovadal scored the win in the limited late model fast dash and Jon Reynolds Jr. was the fastest qualifier after turning a lap at 12.253 seconds.

Mike Graczkowski’s crew worked extra hard to repair his car from an incident last week, and the determined effort paid off with a win in the 30-lap Midwest Sportsman feature.

Dave Thomas set the pace at the start while Jeff Holtz charged into second place by lap five with Graczkowski right behind him in third. Graczkowski raced his way into second place by lap ten and began to pressure Thomas for the lead. Graczkowski took the top spot on lap 15 with an impressive outside lane pass, leaving Thomas to battle with Holtz for second. With Graczkowski out front, Thomas turned back Holtz’s challenges until lap 27 when Holtz charged to the outside to take the spot and set his sights on the lead. On the final lap, Holtz caught Graczkowski and both drivers took the white flag side by side. They remained door to door through turns one and two and into turn three, before Holtz spun exiting turn four as Graczkowski raced to the win. Thomas finished in second place ahead of Kenny Joosten, Mike Borchardt Jr. and Andy Haver. Dave Thomas won the Midwest Sportsman fast dash and Jeff Holtz set fast time after touring the speedway in 12.797 seconds.

Aaron Cain held off Al Stippich to win the 18-lap Thunderstock feature, leading the final five laps. Bernie Leonard held the top spot for the first nine laps before getting turned around in heavy traffic. Jessie Knutson took over the lead from there and set the pace as Cain and Stippich moved forward after starting deep in the field. Knutson held onto the lead until he encountered lapped traffic, losing the point to Cain on lap 13. Stippich advanced forward through the field to take second place late in the event and he chased Cain to the checkered flag as Cain scored the victory. Jack Stern was third followed by John Daley and Ryan Farrell. Cain was also the fastest qualifier at 13.668 seconds.

Ken Schraufnagel sliced his way through the field to take top honors in the Slinger Bee 18-lap feature. Erik Long charged to a second place finish while Matt Westphal took the checkered flag in third place ahead of Brandon Schwai and Brandon Tackes. In addition to the feature win, Schraufnagel also set fast time at 16.046 seconds.

Trevor Michaels won the Speedway Guest Car race and Steve Fohrer drove a new 2008 BMW to the win in the Spectator Eliminator races. Scott Goetzke captured the win, by besting a field of seven cars in the Figure 8 race.