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It's Win #3 For Bennett In Wisconsin Drywall Distributors 75
By Dan Margetta
Slinger, WI-July 17—Lowell Bennett chalked up his third feature win of the
season after a hard-fought victory over Brad Mueller in the Wisconsin Drywall
Distributors 75 Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway.
Bennett persistently worked the outside groove to grab the top spot from Josh
Bauer with five laps to go and then turned back a final four-lap charge from
Mueller to take the checkered flag for a two car-length victory.
“We had to work tonight…what a race! “ Bennett told the crowd following
the event. “I about had my tongue hanging out and I’m not afraid to admit
I’m a little tired after that one. I guess I’ll have to do some more
exercising.”
Bauer started from the pole position and immediately jumped into the lead with
Travis Dassow falling in line behind him, just ahead of Mike Egan, Bennett,
and Nick Schumacher. The inside line was the preferred groove early on as
Schumacher became caught up top and was shuffled back as David Prunty and
Mueller passed by. Bauer began to stretch his lead over Dassow and Egan while
Bennett and Prunty tried their hand on the top side as the leaders caught
lapped traffic. Bennett and Prunty were able to drive around Egan using the
outside by lap 35 and began to close on Dassow for second. Within ten laps,
both Bennett and Prunty dispatched Dassow for second, continuing to use the
outer groove. Contact between Fred Winn and Robert Maynor in turn one on lap
57 sent Maynor spinning directly in front of the leaders who spun to avoid the
incident. All the top-runners avoided contact except for Prunty and Dassow as
they clipped each other in the turn, severely damaging both cars and taking
them out of contention.
Bauer led Bennett and Egan for the restart with Mueller and Austin Konetski
taking over the spots vacated by Dassow and Prunty and as racing resumed,
Bennett began to look both high and low for an opportunity to take the lead.
Bennett finally decided on the outside and pulled alongside Bauer while
Mueller passed Egan for third by lap 65. With the leaders racing side-by-side,
Mueller and Egan soon joined the fight for the lead, which became a tight
four-car battle. Aggressive racing amongst the leaders nearly produced a
catastrophe in turn one on lap 67 as Bauer’s car turned sideways but
everyone kept their cool and by the time everything straightened out on the
backstretch, Bennett edged into the lead with Mueller taking over second
place. Bauer slipped back to fifth place following the ordeal as Egan and Al
Schill moved ahead into third and fourth. A tangle between Schumacher and
Konetski while disputing the seventh spot drew a final caution flag on lap 71,
setting up a four-lap dash to the finish.
Bennett spun the tires a bit on the restart and kicked loose exiting turn four
as Mueller dogged him for the lead, but it wasn’t enough to derail the
four-time track champion from the top spot. Bennett hung on over the final
laps and turned back Mueller’s challenge to score his third victory of the
season. Mike Egan turned in his strongest performance of the season with a
very respectable third place finish while Schill and Bauer completed the top
five. Ken Wills also had his best run to date, netting a sixth place finish at
the stripe ahead of Randy Schuler and Robert Maynor, who also looked very
good, finishing in eighth. Konetski and Schumacher rounded out the top ten.
Scott Schoeni won the 30-lap late model semi-feature over Jerry Eckhardt and
Mike McCabe. Ron Ragan finished in fourth place and Bill Shavlik crossed the
stripe in fifth. Dave Feiler was the winner of the fast dash and Brad Mueller
set fast time after touring the speedway in 11.417 seconds.
Mike Graczkowski charged to his first feature win of the season in the 30-lap
Midwest Sportsman feature, holding off Brad Keith and Gary LaMonte for the
win.
Scott Schambeau and Mike Borchardt led the field to the green and neither
could gain an advantage as they raced alongside each other. Schambeau held the
inside and was able to ease ahead exiting the turns, but Borchardt battled
back on the outside to draw even on the straightaway. Behind the top two,
Graczkowski and Dave Thomas also raced in formation for third place just ahead
of Jay Schambeau and Pat McIntee. LaMonte and James Swan also closed in on the
lead pack as everyone jockeyed for position on the track. All the leaders
pin-balled off each other on the frontstretch on lap 19, momentarily creating
a four-wide situation that sent Thomas into the marbles, shuffling the running
order with Schambeau leading Graczkowski, Borchardt, and LaMonte. At the same
time the excitement was stirring at the head of the field, Tom Elsinger’s
car burst into flames and fire-balled into the infield, producing the yellow
flag. Elsinger was not seriously injured in the mishap as the safety crew
quickly extinguished the blaze.
Schambeau led on the restart but Graczkowski quickly shot by, bringing LaMonte
with him on lap 20 just before the field slowed under the yellow flag again
for a spin by Dave Thomas in turn three. Once racing resumed, Graczkowski had
his hands full with LaMonte over the final laps as Brad Keith began a late
charge toward the front, taking over third place by lap 25. LaMonte’s
efforts sent his car wide off turn two with two laps to go, allowing Keith to
close in and challenge for second. With Keith battling LaMonte for second,
Graczkowski was able to get away and drive to the victory. Keith out-dueled
LaMonte to finish second while Scott and Jay Schambeau rounded out the top
five in fourth and fifth respectively.
In other Midwest Sportsman action, Keith won the fast dash and LaMonte was the
fastest qualifier with a lap of 12.660 seconds.
Steve Schulz took the lead early on in the Midwest Modified 25-lap feature and
held off charges by Dale Prunty and Ron Schmitt to score the win.
Schulz took the green flag from the outside of the front row and used the
outside groove to battle Joe Houpt for the top spot during the opening two
laps. Schulz eventually powered his way into the lead while Wes Biswell and
Dale Prunty also took to the high side to work their way around Houpt and into
second and third place respectively. Schulz continued to lead over Biswell and
Prunty on lap ten while Schmitt and Jason Feyereisen entered the top five.
Prunty was able to maneuver his way by Biswell for second place and began to
track down Schulz as the field slowed under the caution flag for a spin by
David McCardle in turn four. Schulz led Prunty on the restart and the top two
ran nose to tail while Schmitt began to work on Biswell for third. McCardle
and Roger Schmid tangled in turn four on lap 18 and once again the yellow flag
appeared. As was the case a few laps earlier, Schulz was able to get a small
jump on Prunty as the green reappeared. Over the closing laps, Prunty could
close to Schulz’s bumper but was unable to mount a serious challenge as
Schulz drove to the victory. Prunty settled for second while Schmitt came out
on top of a wild scramble for third place at the checkered flag, edging
Biswell and Feyereisen.
Earlier in the evening, Schulz won the fast dash and Feyereisen was the
fastest qualifier at 12.340 seconds.
Aaron Cain took home top honors in the 12-lap Thunderstock feature, taking the
checkered flag ahead of Ryan DeStefano and Mark Kissinger. Joe DeStefano Sr.
and Chris Beine finished fourth and fifth respectively. Jamie Vetter and Miles
Dornbrook each won Slinger Bees races while Ryan Dunkelberger topped the
Spectator Eliminator races in a 2004 Chevy Monte Carlo. Chris Price closed the
night with a win in the Figure 8 event.
Event: Wisconsin Drywall Distributors Night
Date: July 17, 2005
Late Model Feature 75-laps
1. Lowell Bennett (Neenah) 15. Jerry Eckhardt
(Johnson Creek)
2. Brad Mueller (Random Lake) 16. David Prunty (Brownsville)
3. Mike Egan (Slinger)
17. Travis Dassow (West Bend)
4. Al Schill (Franklin) 18.
Dave Feiler (Sun Prairie)
5. Josh Bauer (Random Lake) 19. Dennis Prunty (Lomira)
6. Ken Wills (Milwaukee) 20. John
Mueller (Hubertus)
7. Randy Schuler (Mequon)
8. Robert Maynor (Colgate)
9. Austin Konetski (Janesville)
10. Nick Schumacher (Hartford)
11. Fred Winn (Sussex)
12. Scott Schoeni (Slinger)
13. Tommy Hromadka (Brookfield)
14. Mark Bitzan (Menomonee Falls)
Late Model Semi Feature- 30 lap
1. Scott Schoeni (Slinger) 4.
Ron Ragan (Hartford)
2. Jerry Eckhardt (Johnson Creek) 5. Bill Shavlik (West Bend)
3. Mike McCabe (New Berlin)
Late Model Fast Dash- Dave Feiler (Sun Prairie)
Late Model Fast Time- Brad Mueller (Random Lake) 11.417
seconds
Midwest Modified Feature 25 laps
1. Steve Schulz (Waukesha) 4. Wes Biswell
(Sussex)
2. Dale Prunty (Allenton) 5. Jason
Feyereisen (Random Lake)
3. Ron Schmitt (Jackson)
Midwest Modified Fast Dash- Steven Schulz (Waukesha)
Midwest Modified Fast Time- Jason Feyereisen (Random Lake) 12.340
seconds
Midwest Sportsman Feature 30 laps
1. Mike Graczkowski (Jackson) 4. Jay Schambeau (Hubertus)
2. Brad Keith (West Bend) 5. James Swan
(Lake Geneva)
3. Gary LaMonte (West Allis)
Midwest Sportsman Fast Dash- Brad Keith (West Bend)
Midwest Sportsman Fast Time- Gary LaMonte (West Allis) 12.660 seconds
Thunderstocks Feature 12 laps
1. Aaron Cain (West Bend) 4. Joe DeStefano Sr.
(Colgate)
2. Ryan DeStefano (Colgate) 5. Chris Beine (Slinger)
3. Mark Kissinger (West Bend)
Slinger Bees Heat #1 8 laps
1. Jamie Vetter (Oak Creek) 4. C.J. Corallini (North Lake)
2. Travis Buchholz (Hartland) 5. Matt Schatz (West Bend)
3. Shawn Gavin (Jackson)
Slinger Bees Heat #2 8 laps
1. Miles Dornbrook (Hartford) 4. Nick Walder (Waukesha)
2. Jeff Stoffel (West Bend) 5. Andy Soine (Slinger)
3. Frank Verhunce (Mayville)
Port-A-John Speedway Guest Car Winner- Tommy Elsinger (Jackson)
Spectator Elimination Winner- Ryan Dunkelberger
Figure 8 Winner- Chris Price (Black Creek)
Season Points
Late Model Division: 1. Brad Mueller (Random Lake) 675; 2. Austin Konetski (South Beloit, IL) 565; 3. David Prunty (Brownsville) 564; 4. Lowell Bennett (Neenah) 559; 5. Dave Feiler (Sun Prairie) 525; 6. Dennis Prunty (Lomira) 522; 7. John Mueller (Hubertus) 513; 8. Nick Schumacher (Germantown) 472. 9. Rich Loch (Franklin) 377; 10. Travis Dassow (West Bend) 374; 11. Mike Egan (Slinger) 344; 12. Scott Schoeni (Slinger) 340; 13. Fred Winn (Sussex) 333; 14. Andrew Morrissey (De Forest) 325; 15. Randy Schuler (Mequon) 322; 16. Al Schill (Franklin) 314 17. Mark Bitzan (Menomonee Falls) 295; 18. Ken Wills (Milwaukee) 294; 19. Robert Maynor (Colgate) 262; 20. Tommy Hromadka (Brookfield) 258.
Midwest Modified Division: 1. Dale Prunty (Allenton) 1103; 2. Ron Schmitt (Jackson) 1039; 3. Steven Schulz (Menomonee Falls) 984; 4. Steve Huelsbeck (Milwaukee) 920; 5. Wes Biswell (Sussex) 871; 6. Jason Feyereisen (Randon Lake) 861; 7. Russ Grade (Hartland) 731; 8. David McCardle (Menomonee Falls) 660; 9. Joe Houpt (Mequon) 551; 10. Russ Moberly (West Bend) 487.
Midwest Sportsman Division: 1. James Swan (Lake Geneva) 787; 2. Gary LaMonte (West Allis) 668; 3. Brad Keith (West Bend) 666; 4. Collin Bamke (Slinger) 590; 5. Mike Graczkowski (Jackson) 541; 6. Pat McIntee (West Bend) 471; 7. Jay Schambeau (Hubertus) 440; 8. Dave Thomas (Franklin) 408; 9. Scott Schambeau (Milwaukee) 397; 10. Gary Tisler (Reedsville) 344.
Figure 8: 1. Donald Van Camp Jr. (Seymour) 755; 2. Scott Goetzke (Iron Ridge) 640; 3. Shane Becker (Iron Ridge) 620; 4. Chris Price (Anchorage) 595; 5. Paul Williams (Hartford) 480.
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