Mueller Gets Second Victory of the Season In Bob Fish 100! By Dan Margetta

(Slinger, WI); August 31, 2008 - Brad Mueller survived an intense battle with Collin Bamke and then held off Mike Strupp to drive to victory in the Bob Fish 100 Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway for his second late model feature triumph of the season.

“It’s crazy and to win on Bob Fish night means more to me than you can ever imagine,” an excited Mueller stated from victory lane. “Bamke ran me really, really hard and we got together a couple times but it was more of a racing deal than anything and kudos to him. He ran a great race."

Photo Highlights

Brad Mueller (#89) celebrates in victory lane after topping the Bob Fish 100 on Sunday evening at Slinger Super Speedway. Randy Schuler (#72) checks out victory lane after winning the Super Late Model Semi-feature contest. Defending champion David Prunty sets fast time for the Super late models. Brad Mueller (#89) gave a preview of things to come by winning the Super Late Model dash event. Rob Braun (#98) took his second Limited Late Model feature victory of the 2008 season at Slinger Super Speedway. Jon Reynolds Jr. continued his streak in setting fast time for the Limited Late Models. Brad Keith (#48) topped Limited Late Model dash action. James Swan (#97) flew to victory in the Midwest Sportsman main event. Kenny Joosten (#47) was victorious in the Midwest Sportsman dash event. Mike Graczkowski sets fast time for the Midwest Sportsman division. Midwest modified fast qualifier Steve Schultz wins the feature event. Jim Bentzler (#6) grabbed the main event win in Thunderstocks action. Al Stippich sets fast time for the Thunderstocks. Tom Berens (#99) the evening's Slinger Bee's main event winner. Scott Goetzke (#4) won the Figure Eight contest.

Dan Jung led the opening laps over Brad Dahmer and Matt Kocourek while Mueller and Strupp slotted into fourth and fifth respectively. Dale Prunty and Lowell Bennett made contact entering turn three and as their cars became stuck together nose to tail, they came to a halt in turn four to draw the caution flag on lap 14 with Jung leading over Dahmer and Mueller. Jung chose the inside line for the restart and continued to lead over Mueller and Dahmer as racing resumed as Mike Strupp, Dennis Prunty, and Bamke began to move up. The yellow flag waved soon thereafter on lap 19 as Strupp spun in turn one with assistance from the car behind him, resulting in a chain-reaction crash that swept up the cars of Dennis Prunty, Mike Meyerhofer, Tommy Hromadka, Mike Egan, and Jamie Wallace. All cars with the exception of Meyerhofer’s were able to continue and on the restart, Mueller used the outside groove to outgun Jung for the lead on lap 20 while Josh Bauer and Bamke raced into third and fourth. Bamke worked his way into second place a few laps later and began to pressure Mueller for the lead, using the inside lane to charge into a side by side tussle for the lead. With Bamke stuck to the inside and Mueller working well in the high groove the two put on a door to door show for the top spot with Mueller edging Bamke at the stripe just before another caution flag slowdown occurred on lap 25 when Pete Wiedmeyer spun in turn one.

This time Bamke held the outside line as racing resumed and he used it to shoot around Mueller and into the lead on lap 26 while Bauer held the third spot ahead of Jung and David Prunty. The battle between Jung and Prunty over fourth became intense on lap 34 and contact between the two produced an accordion-like effect on the cars behind them and before things could be sorted out, Prunty’s car spun wildly into the infield as the race remained under green. Prunty was able to rejoin the race, but fell a lap down as Bamke continued to hold off Mueller for the lead. Another multi-car incident in turn three on lap 38 involving Randy Schuler, Mike Egan, Jamie Wallace, Al Schill, and Dennis Prunty resulted in the fourth caution flag of the event. Bamke chose the inside lane for the restart and with Mueller alongside, the two renewed their fight for the lead and once again the outside proved to be the place to be as Mueller used it to clear his way to the lead on lap 39 as Bauer began to close in from third. With Mueller maintaining the point over Bamke and Bauer, Mike Strupp was the man on move in the second half as he broke into the top five by lap 60, just behind Dale Prunty who had worked his way to fourth. Conrad Morgan spun while racing for position with Jung on lap 65 to bring out the final caution flag of the event.

Mueller held onto the lead on the restart as Strupp resumed his march forward, moving into third place a few laps later. As Mueller extended his lead, Strupp wasn’t finished as he caught Bamke for second place, completing the pass in the final ten laps. As fast as Strupp was however, Mueller was not to be challenged and he charged to the victory for his second late model feature win of the season. Strupp had to settle for second while Bamke crossed the line with a strong third place finish. Bauer and Dale Prunty rounded out the top five while Al Schill and Brad Dahmer finished sixth and seventh respectively. Jamie Wallace rebounded for an eighth place result while Matt Kocourek and Conrad Morgan completed the top ten.

Randy Schuler won the 30-lap late model semi-feature over Pete Wiedmeyer and Jeff Way. Ron Ragan and Jerry Eckhardt finished fourth and fifth. Brad Mueller scored the win in the late model fast dash and David Prunty set fast time at 11.436 seconds.

Rob Braun took top honors in the 35-lap limited late model main event, capturing his second feature victory of the season.

Jake Vanoskey set the pace at the start over Dave McCardle, Chris Blawat, and Jon Ovadal Jr. Braun raced into the fifth spot by lap ten and behind him Trevor Dassow, Scott Ascher, and Steve Apel jockeyed for position which resulted in Apel spinning in turn two on lap 13, drawing the caution flag with Vanoskey leading over Blawat and Braun. As racing resumed, Blawat used the high groove to draw alongside Vanoskey for the top spot as Braun and McCardle raced hard for third. Blawat was able to briefly lead two laps before Vanoskey retook the top spot as Braun claimed third place on lap 17 when McCardle looped around in turn three and was clipped by the car of Andy Haver, producing another caution flag. Back to green, Vanoskey kept the lead while Braun went to work on Blawat for the runner-up spot, making the pass for the position a few laps later on the inside. Once into second, Braun immediately went to the outside to challenge Vanoskey for the lead as Jon Reynolds Jr. charged to third and began to close in on the lead duo. After battling door to door for several laps, Braun finally made the outside lane work and took command of the race on lap 31. Braun then drove to the checkered flag for the win while Vanoskey ended one of his best runs of the year with a second place finish. Reynolds Jr. was third followed by Brad Keith and Chris Blawat.

Brad Keith took top honors in the limited late model fast dash and Reynolds Jr. was the fastest qualifier with a lap of 12.302 seconds.

James Swan returned to the Slinger high-banks and made his appearance a success by winning the 30-lap Midwest Sportsman feature.

Bobby Giers and Tom Elsinger brought the field to the green flag and Giers established himself as the early leader while a tangle between Andy Haver and Al Stippich on lap one, slowed the field under caution. As racing resumed with Giers out front, Kenny Joosten advanced to the second spot, bringing Swan along with him and into third ahead of Jeff Holtz and Dave Thomas. The front four remained while Joosten pressured Giers for the lead as Mike Graczkowski worked his way into fifth by lap ten. Joosten’s car suddenly slowed with mechanical problems and Swan swept by into second with Holtz and Graczkowski right behind. Swan moved to Giers’ rear bumper and edged to the inside on lap 18 to take command of the event as Holtz and Graczkowski battled for third. Behind the top four, Thomas had his hands full in fifth as Jay Shambeau and Elsinger raced on his tail, looking for a way by. Swan was never headed over the final laps and he charged to the win ahead of Giers while Holtz held off Graczkowski for third. Thomas finished in fifth.

Kenny Joosten was the winner of the Midwest Sportsman fast dash and Mike Graczkowski was the fastest qualifier after circling the speedway in 12.662 seconds.

Steven Schulz continued his undefeated season in the Midwest Modified division, scoring another win in the 30-lap main event.

Eddie Bentfield led the beginning laps over Matthew Clossey as Schulz worked his way into third place by lap eight. Two laps later, Schulz took the high groove to gain second place and began to track down Bentfield for the lead. Just past the halfway mark, Schulz swept around Bentfield and into the lead while Clossey raced with Ron Schmitt and Matt Pate for third. Once out front, Schulz was never headed and he drove to the victory over Bentfield while Clossey finished third. Schmitt and Pate were fourth and fifth respectively.

Russ Moberly was the winner of the Midwest Modified fast dash and Steven Schulz paced the division in qualifying with a 12.412 second lap.

Jim Bentzler won a wild 18-lap Thunderstock feature over Aaron Cain and Troy Martingilio. Martingilio led at the green flag over Bentzler as Dan Wood and Jesse Knutson got together while fighting for position in the top five and both cars slid to the infield, locked together as the race remained under green. Martingilio paced the opening ten laps before Bentzler made his way around with a three-wide move in traffic on lap 11 as both Al Stippich and Aaron Cain sliced their way through the field. Stippich and Cain continued to advance and were on Bentzler’s tail as the laps wound down. Stippich worked his way into the lead on lap 15 and appeared to be on his way to another win when suddenly on the final lap the left front wheel came loose and he slowed to a halt. Stippich’s misfortune handed Bentzler the lead and the win while Cain finished second despite running over Stippich’s loose wheel. Martingilio finished a strong third while John Daley and Bernie Leonard rounded out the top five. Earlier, Stippich set a new track record in qualifying with a blistering lap of 13.557 seconds to become the division’s fastest qualifier.

Tom Berens won the Slinger Bees 18-lap feature over Brandon Tackes and Brandon Schwai. Ken Schraufnagel finished fourth and Matt Klenz was fifth. Jim Romanski was the winner of the Speedway Guest Car race and Andrew Ferstad drove his Pontiac GTO to the win in the Spectator Eliminator races. Scott Goetzke drove to the victory in the Figure 8 race which was followed by a huge fireworks display.