Koehler Tops Area Sportsman 40 at The 2008 Futures! By Dan Margetta

(Slinger, WI); September 21, 2008 - Kraig Koehler took the lead late in the 40-lap feature for Area Sportsman cars Sunday at the Slinger Super Speedway in the Futures event, leading the final ten laps to race to the victory.

Ed Howard led the opening three laps before George Schwalbach took his place at the front of the field on lap four, pacing the event for the next four circuits. Dylan Wenzel charged to the point on a restart following a multi-car incident on the backstretch on lap eight, using the outside groove. Soon after the restart, the yellow appeared again when Sawyer Effertz looped around on the frontstretch while running third. Wenzel maintained the point as Koehler began to advance through the field. Koehler was on Wenzel’s bumper just past the halfway mark as Scott Scholl, Jim Rohrbeck, Tim Conard, and David Gauger all fought for third. With Koehler in his tire tracks, Wenzel’s car began to kick loose off the corners and on lap 28, the back of Wenzel’s car swapped around and he spun off turn two as Koehler took over the lead. Tim Conard was the driver on the move in the closing laps as he worked his way to second and began to try to make a bid for the lead. Koehler however, proved to be too strong and he drove to the victory, leaving Conard to finish second. David Gauger Jr. took the checkered flag in third while Jim Rohrbeck and George Schwalbach completed the top five finishers.

Koehler was also the winner of the first Area Sportsman heat race over Gauger Jr. and Brad Dahmer. Jay Kalbus was fourth and Scott Scholl was fifth. Kyle Watters claimed the win in the second Area Sportsman heat race over Rohrbeck and Schwalbach. Sawyer Effertz and Nate Fick were fourth and fifth respectively. Alan Trudell was the fastest qualifier after turning a lap of 13.258 seconds.

Bernie Leonard broke through for his first Slinger feature victory of the season by charging to the win in the 30-lap Thunderstock main event over Rick Schaefer and Dan Wood. Schaefer made numerous attempts to snag the lead from Leonard but Leonard proved to be too strong and he drove to the checkered flag for the win. Troy Martingilio and Aaron Cain crossed the finish line in fourth and fifth respectively. John Daley took top honors in the first Thunderstock heat race over Wood, Martingilio, and Jim Bentzler. Joel Steffen finished fifth. Jerry Kulas Jr. scored the win in the second Thunderstock heat race over Jack Stern while Steven Sauer, Ben Monday, and Leonard finished third through fifth. Stephanie Losiniecki raced to the victory in the third and final Thunderstock heat race over Jake Larson and Lincoln Kaegard. Kale Peterman and Jake Krueger were fourth and fifth. Aaron Cain set fast time for the Thunderstocks with a lap of 13.737 seconds.

Rodney Mundt dominated the 30-lap Slinger Bees feature early on before holding off a charging Gary Stark at the checkered flag for the win. Mundt took the lead on lap six and maintained it throughout most of the event, briefly losing the point to Tom Berens on restarts before charging back to the front. Stark had some early minor problems before rebounding through the field to pull to Mundt’s bumper in the final laps. A late caution flag set up a green-white-checkered finish with Mundt leading over Stark and Phil Malouf. Mundt proved to be up for the challenge and he raced to the win while Stark held off Malouf for second. Erik Turner crossed the finish line in fourth place and Dave Gauger Sr. was fifth.

Rick Wenzel won the 15-lap Slinger Bees Semi-Feature over B.J. Davenport and Joe Lang. Mike Lang finished fourth and Jamie Slagg was fifth. Mundt held off Stark and Malouf to win the first Slinger Bees heat race while Chester Ace held off Randall Willhorn for the fourth spot. Erik Turner scored the win in the second Slinger Bees heat race over Tim Gorecki, Mike McKay, Carlyn Voigt, and Tom Berens. Kyle Reidner was the winner of the third Slinger Bees heat, besting Joe Lang and Austin Luedtke at the finish. Erik Long finished fourth and Brandon Tackes was fifth. The fourth Slinger Bees heat race win was captured by Rick Wenzel over Mike Lang, B.J. Davenport, and Nate Strobel. Dale Cordy was fifth. Gary Stark set the fastest time in qualifying after circling the speedway in 14.914 seconds.

Newly crowned track Figure 8 champion, Scott Goetzke bested a strong field to win the 25-lap Figure 8 race, while Kyle Reidner returned to take the overall win in the 75-lap Enduro along with the small car class win. The big car class win in the Enduro was captured by Les Wiedenhoeft, who finished second overall.