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Loch Ends Long Drought And Haese Scores First Career Win At Slinger
by Dan Margetta
Slinger, WI-August 21—Rich Loch ended a long dry spell as he scored the win
in the first 50-lap late model feature Sunday night at the Slinger Super
Speedway and Gregg Haese took top honors for his first ever Slinger feature
win in the caution-filled nightcap as part of the Coca-Cola and Subway-Eat
Fresh Fan Appreciation Twin 50’s Night.
“This is what we’ve been waiting for all year long,” Loch exclaimed
after scoring his first Slinger feature win in over a year. “It seems like
it has taken forever to get back here in victory lane.”
Loch and Mike Egan led the field to the green flag and both drivers set into a
side-by-side battle for the lead immediately at the start of the first 50-lap
event. Loch was able to ease ahead to take sole possession of the top spot,
using the inside lane on lap four while Nick Schumacher and Brad Mueller began
to dispute the third position. Gregg Haese and Robert Maynor touched on the
backstretch on lap six which sent both cars sliding into the infield and as
the cars reached turn three, a minor stack-up occurred behind them involving
the cars of Matt Kocourek, Chad Barker, and Fred Winn. Loch led Egan on the
restart and those two edged ahead while Mueller looked to the high side for a
way around Schumacher for third. After numerous unsuccessful attempts on the
outside, Mueller finally was able to turn under Schumacher and take the spot
by lap 20 as behind them, Austin Konetski, Lowell Bennett, Dennis Prunty, and
Al Schill were involved in a heated race over fifth place. As Loch continued
to show the way, Schumacher began to drop back as he was freight-trained by
the line of cars in the inside lane, while Mueller began to track down Egan
for second. With ten laps to go and Loch comfortably out front, Mueller slid
under Egan and made the pass for second place as Konetski and Bennett raced
hard for fourth while Dennis Prunty exited the event with mechanical problems.
Loch was unchallenged over the final laps and drove to the win with Mueller
having to settle for second place. Egan finished a strong third while Bennett
edged Konetski to claim a fourth place finish.
“I had a very good car and I had a lot of fast guys behind me,” Haese
explained after winning the second 50-lap event that was strewn with
incidents, leaving only five cars on the track at the finish. “I was kind of
nervous that they were going to start catching me, but everything went in the
right direction and we won. It was a good night.”
Chad Barker and Randy Schuler paced the field at the start and Schuler jumped
into the early lead while Haese advanced from the outside of row two to snag
second in the opening laps. Barker fell into third place and was followed
closely by Travis Dassow and Matt Kocourek as the field was slowed under the
caution flag for the first time when Austin Konetski experienced mechanical
problems on lap ten. Haese maintained his lead on the restart over Schuler and
the rest of the top five as John Mueller advanced to battle with Kocourek over
fifth. The tussle for fifth resulted in Kocourek spinning in turn one on lap
14 and the field was slowed under the yellow flag a second time. As Haese led
on the restart, Barker and Schuler touched entering turn one and Schuler
looped around exiting turn two. By the time the dust settled, Rich Loch and
Mike Egan piled into Schuler’s stopped car and the red flag was flown to
clear the track.
A lap after racing resumed, the fireworks started again as contact between Al
Schill and Dave Feiler spun both cars in turn one, collecting Kocourek in the
process and the race was halted again with Haese leading Dassow, Nich
Schumacher, Lowell Bennett, and Brad Mueller. Back under green, Haese still
led but further back John Mueller worked his way back through the field and
caught the top five as Dassow looked for a way around Haese for the lead.
Dassow pressured Haese for numerous laps before sliding wide in turn four on
lap 26. Dassow’s momentary misfortune benefited John Mueller as he took
advantage of the situation, passing three cars on the inside lane as
Schumacher and Brad Mueller were forced to slow down to avoid Dassow. John
Mueller’s good fortunes came to an abrupt end three laps later as he slowed
on the backstretch and the yellow flag appeared for a fifth time when Fred
Winn collided with Mueller’s wounded machine. Haese was perfect over the
final laps and continued to lead as Feiler rebounded from his earlier incident
to join the top five in the closing stages. Feiler worked his way up to second
place in the waning laps but couldn’t catch Haese who raced to his first
ever Slinger late model feature victory. Feiler finished second and Brad
Mueller was third. Dassow took the checkered flag for a strong fourth place
finish and Ken Wills crossed the line in fifth.
Feiler’s second place finish in the nightcap earned him the overall
Coca-Cola/Subway Series point championship over Brad Mueller and Austin
Konetski. Mark Bitzan held off Scott Schoeni to win the 30-lap late model
semi-feature as Jeff Way, Kris Kelly, and Jerry Eckhardt rounded out the top
five finishers. Dennis Prunty won the fast dash and John Mueller was the
fastest qualifier at 11.413 seconds.
Brad Keith held off a hard-charging James Swan to win an exciting 30-lap
Midwest Sportsman feature.
Jay Shambeau used the outside groove to lead the opening circuits as Scott
Ascher advanced into second ahead of Jan Kantner and Gary Tisler. Keith moved
into fifth place and raced hard for position with Swan, Collin Bamke, and Gary
LaMonte. Shambeau and Ascher made slight contact on lap five and that got both
cars out of shape but both drivers saved their machines and avoided spinning.
Ashcher, however, was tagged from behind with tore the rear bumper cover loose
from his car and the flapping piece of debris produced the caution flag.
Shambeau paced the field as racing resumed but Keith worked the top side and
took over second place by lap ten as Graczkowsi, Swan, LaMonte, and Bamke
fought hard behind him. Graczkowksi got a little out of shape exiting turn two
on lap 11 and was forced to use the whole width of the track to regain control
of his car while Swan threaded the needle, staying on the gas to miss
Graczkowski’s car and take over third place. Both Keith and Swan then took
to the top groove and worked their way by Shambeau and into first and second
respectively a few laps later. Once out front, Keith and Swan staged a classic
duel for the lead with Swan making numerous attempts on the outside to get by.
On the final lap, Swan was able to draw alongside Keith in turn three using
the top lane but Keith proved to be too strong off the corner and charged to
the win with Swan trailing him at his tailpipes. Bamke held off LaMonte to
finish in third place and Shambeau finished in fifth place.
Keith also won the Midwest Sportsman fast dash earlier in the evening and
LaMonte set fast time at 12.653 seconds.
Steven Schulz left the field in his mirrors as he cruised to victory in the
25-lap Midwest Modified feature.
Schulz started from the outside of the front row and out-gunned Eddie
Bentfield to take command of the race at the start. Ron Schmitt kept Schulz
honest throughout most of the event as he stayed in Schulz’s tracks while
Wes Biswell raced with Steve Huelsbeck and Jason Feyereisen for third. The top
five remained static and Schulz saw his lead grow on lap 16 when Schmitt slid
wide in turn two. Schulz was unchallenged on his way to the checkered flag and
scored a comfortable win over Schmitt and Biswell. Huelsbeck and Feyereisen
rounded out the top five.
Schmitt was also the winner of the fast dash and Dale Prunty paced qualifying,
turning in a lap of 12.293 seconds.
Joe DeStefano Jr. won the 12-lap Thunderstock feature over Rick Schaefer and
Joe DeStefano Sr. Aaron Cain finished in fourth and Bob Gigstead was fifth.
Ryan Zielski and Steve Paukner each scored wins in Slinger Bees events and Ron
Olson took top honors in a wild Port-A-John Speedway Guest Car race. Russ
Lorbecki won the Spectator Elimination events in his Camaro and Scott Goetzke
closed the night with a win in the Figure 8 race.
Event: Coca-Cola & Subway Fan Appreciation
Night
Date: Aug. 21, 2005
Late Model Feature #1 50-laps
1. Rich Loch
(Muskego) 15.
Randy Schuler (Mequon)
2. Brad Mueller (Random Lake) 16. Chad Barker (Hubertus)
3. Mike Egan
(Slinger) 17. Fred
Winn (Sussex)
4. Lowell Bennett (Neenah) 18. Robert
Maynor (Colgate)
5. Austin Konetski (Janesville) 19. Dennis Prunty (Lomira)
6. Al Schill (Franklin)
20. Mike Strupp (Theresa)
7. David Prunty (Brownsville)
8. Nick Schumacher (Hartford)
9. Dave Feiler (Sun Prairie)
10. John Mueller (Hubertus)
11. Ken Wills (Milwaukee)
12. Matt Kocourek (Lake Geneva)
13. Gregg Haese (Two Rivers)
14. Travis Dassow (West Bend)
Late Model Feature #2 50-laps
1. Gregg Haese (Two Rivers) 15. Chad Barker
(Hubertus)
2. Dave Feiler (Sun Prairie) 16. Mike Egan
(Slinger)
3. Brad Mueller (Random Lake) 17. Rich Loch (Muskego)
4. Travis Dassow (West Bend) 18. Austin Konetski
(Janesville)
5. Ken Wills (Milwaukee)
6. Nick Schumacher (Hartford)
7. John Mueller (Hubertus)
8. Fred Winn (Sussex)
9. David Prunty (Brownsville)
10. Lowell Bennett (Neenah)
11. Al Schill (Franklin)
12. Robert Maynor (Colgate)
13. Matt Kocourek (Lake Geneva)
14. Randy Schuler (Mequon)
Late Model Semi Feature- 30 lap
1. Mark Bitzan (Menomonee Falls) 4. Chris Kelly (Norway, MI)
2. Scott Schoeni (Slinger) 5.
Jerry Eckhardt (Johnson Creek)
3. Jeff Way (Burlington)
Late Model Fast Dash- Dennis Prunty (Lomira)
Late Model Fast Time- John Mueller (Hubertus) 11.413 seconds
Midwest Modified Feature 25 laps
1. Steve Schulz (Menomonee Falls) 4. Steve Huelsbeck (Milwaukee)
2. Ron Schmitt
(Jackson) 5.
Jason Feyereisen (Random Lake)
3. Wes Biswell (Sussex)
Midwest Modified Fast Dash- Ron Schmitt (Jackson)
Midwest Modified Fast Time- Dale Prunty (Allenton) 12.293
seconds
Midwest Sportsman Feature 30 laps
1. Brad Keith (West Bend) 4.
Gary LaMonte (West Allis)
2. James Swan (Lake Geneva) 5. Jay
Shambeau (Hubertus)
3. Collin Bamke (Slinger)
Midwest Sportsman Fast Dash- Brad Keith (West Bend)
Midwest Sportsman Fast Time- Gary LaMonte (West Allis) 12.653
seconds
Thunderstocks Feature 15 laps
1. Joe DeStefano Jr. (Colgate) 4. Aaron Cain (West Bend)
2. Rick Schaefer (Kewaskum) 5. Bob
Gigstead (Kewaskum)
3. Joe DeStefano Sr. (Colgate)
Slinger Bees Heat #1 8 laps
1. Ryan Zielski (Slinger) 4.
Desi Wiedenhoeft (Jackson)
2. Troy Martingilio (Sussex) 5. C.J. Corallini
(North Lake)
3. Bob Losiniecki (Richfield)
Slinger Bees Heat #2 8 laps
1. Steve Paukner (Slinger) 4. Rick
Nelson (Lannon)
2. Dustin Oostburg (Slinger) 5. Justin Okruhlica
(Jackson)
3. Nick Walder (Waukesha)
Port-A-John Guest Cars Winner- Ron Olson
Spectator Elimination Winner- Russ Lorbecki (Hartford)
Figure 8 Winner- Scott Goetzke (Iron Ridge)
Current Point Standing
Late Model Division: 1. Brad Mueller (Random Lake) 975 2. David Prunty
(Brownsville) 881 3. Lowell Bennett (Neenah) 870; 4. Dave Feiler (Sun Prairie)
803 5. Austin Konetski (Janesville, WI) 766; 6. John Mueller (Hubertus) 705;
7. Dennis Prunty (Lomira) 695; 8. Nick Schumacher (Germantown) 691; 9. Mike
Egan (Slinger) 584; 10. Travis Dassow (West Bend) 554; 11. Rich Loch
(Franklin) 530; 12. Al Schill (Franklin) 507; 13. Fred Winn (Sussex) 492; 14.
Scott Schoeni (Slinger) 479; 15. Ken Wills (Milwaukee) 463; 16. Randy Schuler
(Mequon) 458; 17. Mark Bitzan (Menomonee Falls) 442; 18. Robert Maynor
(Colgate) 419; 19. Tommy Hromadka (Brookfield) 347; 20. Andrew Morrissey (De
Forest) 325.
Midwest Modified Division: 1. Dale Prunty (Allenton) 1541; 2.
Steven Schulz (Menomonee Falls) 1526; 3. Ron Schmitt (Jackson) 1496; 4. Steve
Huelsbeck (Milwaukee) 1415; 5. Wes Biswell (Sussex) 1262; 6. Jason Feyereisen
(Randon Lake) 1248; 7. Russ Grade (Hartland) 937; 8. David McCardle (Menomonee
Falls) 923; 9. Joe Houpt (Mequon) 770; 10. Russ Moberly (West Bend) 671.
Midwest Sportsman Division: 1. James Swan (Lake Geneva) 1159; 2. Brad
Keith (West Bend) 1004; 3. Collin Bamke (Slinger) 925; 4. Gary LaMonte (West
Allis) 919; 5. Pat McIntee (West Bend) 721; 6. Jay Schambeau (Hubertus) 648;
7. Dave Thomas (Franklin) 638; 8. Mike Graczkowski (Jackson) 624; 9. Scott
Schambeau (Milwaukee) 571; 10. Gary Tisler (Reedsville) 512.
Figure 8: 1. Donald Van Camp Jr. (Seymour) 1180; 2. Scott Goetzke
(Iron Ridge) 1040; 3. Shane Becker (Iron Ridge) 1005; 4. Willy Van Camp
(Appleton) 765; 5. Paul Williams (Hartford) 740.
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